This recipe was given to me by a co-worker awhile back. It was so incredibly easy to make that it's another one of my yearly Christmas gift giving candies.
Chocolate Peanut Candy
1 pound chocolate almond bark
lightly roasted peanuts
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 tbsp canola oil
Melt chocolate almond bark, peanut butter and canola oil in a bowl in the microwave. Spoon over 8 peanut halves in a petit four baking cup. Allow to harden approximately 1 hour. Makes 60.
Winters in the upper Midwest mean hotdish. Well, I'll be honest...this did not start out to be a hotdish. It started out to be a taco pizza but it was lacking a crunch factor. I have no "junk food" in the house and after a glance outside to reconfirm that it is dark and still winter...it was time for plan b. I needed to mix up a quick batch of taco seasoning from here ~ http://micheleswomancave.blogspot.com/2012/01/taco-layer-dip.html and I was ready to continue on with dinner.
Taco Pasta Hotdish
1 pound ground beef
1/4 cup onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp taco seasoning
1 cup beef broth
1 - 8 ounce can tomato sauce
4 oz cream cheese
3 cups cooked small pasta shells
1 cup Marble Jack shredded cheese
sour cream (optional)
Brown hamburger. When almost cooked through, add in onions and garlic. When onions are translucent, add in beef broth, tomato sauce and cream cheese. Stir until cream cheese has blended into sauce. Pour over cooked pasta in a greased casserole dish and stir. Place in oven at 350° for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and top with cheese. Bake for another 15 minutes. Serve with sour cream if desired.
This is one of the fun items that I'm making to give away as a Christmas gift this year. If you're one of the people on my holiday gift list ~ continuing to read is a way to get on Santa's naughty list. Just sayin'. I combined two of my favorite essential oils and the smell is heavenly.
Lavender Sugar Scrub
3 cups sugar
3/4 cup sweet almond oil
12 drops lavender essential oil
5 drops lemon essential oil
Place all the ingredients in a medium
sized bowl and stir the oil and scent into the sugar. This makes enough for 2 pint sized canning jars. Decorate the jars and you're ready to give out as gifts.
I have always loved cinnamon coffee cake. My mom would make Aunt Jemima coffee cakes when we found them in the grocery store and I liked their little pans that they give you to bake them in. This was my almost adult version of easy bake oven (which Santa never brought me) goodies. It was a tossup to what was my favorite part ~ the streusel or squishing the egg and milk in the plastic bag to mix the dough. Sometimes vacations would be a good time to check out a grocery store to see if they carried the line. My mom found them in southern Minnesota and Yuma, Arizona. Since I do not live in either of those areas, I had to create my own coffee cakes.
Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cupcakes
1/4 cup room temperature unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Streusel
1/4 cup cold unsalted butter
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
In a small bowl, use a pastry blender to combine the cold butter, dark brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt. Mix until combined and then set aside.
In a medium sized bowl, cream together softened butter and sugar. Mix in egg, vanilla and buttermilk. Gradually mix in dry ingredients. Scoop into large muffin cups. If using a traditional ice cream scoop - it's 1 1/2 scoops for each cup. For a regular sized cup, 3/4 of a scoop. For large cups, bake at 350° for 22 minutes. Regular size are probably around 15 minutes.
Normally this is the first holiday candy that I make because it's so easy to make and freezes so well that it's easy to grab a package to take to work for an office pick-me-up, send in a Christmas package that I'm mailing out or put in a food gift bag. The picture I took is of the full pan. I cut this down into 8 equal pieces and those 8 are cut down into 24 smaller pieces.
Fudge
Put in a 2 quart saucepan ~
3 cups sugar
2/3 cup evaporated milk
3/4 cup butter
Stir and bring to a boil until the temperature on a candy thermometer reaches 235° (soft-ball stage).
Remove from heat and stir in ~
7 oz marshmallow creme
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup walnut pieces
Pour into a wax paper lined jelly roll pan and let cool completely.
When cool, put into smaller pieces (see above). I wrap first in a package of wax paper and then in aluminum foil.
I'm starting a countdown to Christmas today. Expect to see posts on my holiday baking, crafts, decorating and gifts to make and give. Last night as the snow was falling, I made rock candy. I haven't made any since I was a teenager so it was a fun journey down memory lane and with the candy thermometer that my mom willingly sent packing with me. The only difference between now and then is the many new flavors. The next batch will be Chocolate Hazelnut.
Cran-Raspberry Rock Candy
2 cups sugar
2/3 cups light corn syrup
3/4 cup water
1 tsp LorAnn Cran-Raspberry flavoring
2 drops red food coloring
1 tbsp powdered sugar
Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and sift the powdered sugar evenly over it. In a 2 quart saucepan, combine sugar, light corn syrup and water. Stir until sugar in combined and then do not stir again. Heat to 300° and remove from heat. Drop in food coloring and flavoring. Stir and pour onto the cookie sheet. Let cool and harden. After an hour you can take a clean screwdriver and pound to crack candy down to small pieces.
The powdered sugar will keep the candy pieces from sticking together. Store in an air-tight container.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I'm starting to work on my dinner tonight by getting the bread ready for stuffing and making these cranberries. I've always had/made the standard recipe on the bag of cranberries but decided to change it up this year.
Cranberries & Apples
1 bag (12 oz) cranberries
1 orange, juiced and a little zest (approximately 1/2 cup juice)
1 apple, peeled and diced
brown sugar to taste
1 dash cinnamon
Cook cranberries in orange juice until popped (on their own or with help). Remove from heat and stir in apples. Add in brown sugar so it's just sweet enough and cinnamon.
