Holiday treats are one of my favorite things of the season.  I love all the chocolates, caramels, cookies, homemade candies and breads...who doesn't?  My favorite is the ginormous box of assorted chocolates.  And guess what?  The rest of my family doesn't really like the chewy, creamy, nutty, or fruity fillings, but to me, they are just right.  So I eat the whole box.  It's not healthy, (and I usually regret it afterwards and vow to eat healthier in the new year), but it sure is fun.

The best treats though are the ones that come from neighbors and friends. There's nothing better than coming home and finding a plate full of cookies and toffee on the porch.  I love this neighborly tradition, but it seems like people are losing it.  Is it just me or are you getting less neighbor treats?  When I was a kid, we knew exactly who was going to bring plates of treats, and what they would bring. It always felt so good to know the neighbors were thinking of you and wanted to spread some holiday cheer.

As much as I like this tradition, I'm guilty of not always following it.  Life is so busy during the holidays.  You know how it is.  This year though I wanted to do something.  My mom always made cinnamon roll wreaths. They were amazing and so much fun to make, and I thought about baking some myself this year.  But they are way too time consuming for my life right now. 

I'm all about simple and easy these days.  These two delicious treats are just that. 

Holiday treat #1:

Chocolate dipped oreos are so, so simple to make.  They are one of those things that kills me to pay up the yin yang for at chocolate shops, and yet I still do it...becausethey are that good. 


Ingredients:
1. Chocolate chips. Any kind- semi-sweet (my fave), milk chocolate, or white chocolate.
2. Oreos.  Lots and lots of oreos.


Here's what to do:
1. Lay out a long piece of wax paper for drying.
2. Melt chocolate chips in microwave.  Deep, narrow containers work best.
3. Dip oreo half way into melted chocolate. 
4. Shake off excess chocolate.
5. Place oreo on wax paper.
6. Repeat process until oreos or chocolate are gone.


They are so very easy, and so very irresistible.

*********

Easy treat #2 are these crunchy sweet almonds. They are a little more involved, but still very easy.

Ingredients:
4 cups whole almonds
Butter (to grease pans)
1 egg white
1/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spread almonds in single layer on baking pan. Bake 8 to 10 minutes until lightly toasted.  Remove from oven and cool completely (about 30 minutes).  Reduce oven temp to 300 degrees F. Generously grease 2 baking pans. In a large bowl whisk egg white until foamy. Whisk in sugars, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt.  Stir in almonds and toss until well coated.  Divide nuts between pans, spreading out in a single layer.  Bake for 10 minutes.  Remove from oven, stir, and separate nuts. Return to oven and bake another 10-12 minutes, until nuts are pale golden brown and appear dry.  Remove from oven and let sit for 3 to 5 minutes.  When nuts begin to harden, quickly loosen them from pan with a metal spatula, and spread out on wax paper to finish cooling.  Store in airtight container up to 1 week.




Enjoy these easy holiday treats. You will love them, and your neighbors will love you. 

Don't call it a come back

I've been debating in my head how to start posting again on this blog.
Do I need to explain my leave of absence? Or do I just jump right in and pretend the last 6 months didn't pass without one. single. post.
In my very first post I made this noble speech about committing to the blog, posting faithfully, and making it my space. Blah blah blah.  Blah blah.  My real life, says it's not the right time.
Casual, yes.
Committed, no.
Sounds like a bad relationship doesn't it?  Well that's as much of an explanation I'm giving. It's probably more than is needed 'cause who's reading this anyway?

The other day I decided to check out my blog as if I was a real reader and you know what?  That last post I did about the lemon chicken with play dough in it?  Disgusting. It makes my stomach turn every time I even think about it. So it's been bugging me ever since, thinking that if someone did actually read my blog, that would be the last thing they would see and remember.  Gross.

Hopefully this will leave a better taste in your mouth.

A couple of years ago I was given a case of sweetened condensed milk. Very generous of the friends that gave it to me, and very yummy, but that's a lot.  I mean what do you do with a case of it?  There's my year supply of that product.

I remembered sitting on a train in China watching some friends open a can of that sweet milk, but they had made it into caramel. How?  By boiling the can.  What?  Did you know you could do that?  So with my case of milk, I figured I could spare a couple of cans to experiment.  And I'm so glad I did.  Oh my gosh.  It makes delicious creamy caramel, awesome for dipping apples in.  What is better than crisp caramel apples on a crisp  autumn day?

Here's what you do.  Take your can of sweetened condensed milk and remove the label.  Submerge the entire can in boiling water for 3 hours.  Now the water is going to boil down, so you will need to add more boiling water.  Don't add cool water, add boiling water so that the milk continues to boil the entire 3 hours.  I keep a second pot of water simmering on the stove ready to be added to my milk pot.

After three hours you will have caramel, but don't plan on eating it right away.  Please let the can of milk cool completely before you open it, otherwise if will explode and you will have boiling hot caramel on your body and all over your kitchen. (FYI- I have not actually experienced this, just read about it on line. Safety first.)
I like to boil my cans in the evening and let them cool overnight.

There you have it.  The easiest caramel dip in the world.  Now go try that and stop thinking about lemon play dough chicken.

Just in case you were wondering...

...it's not a good idea to let your kids use your garlic press to make "hair" with their play dough, then neglect to thoroughly clean it; and continue to use said garlic press to prepare dinner. Because, if you do this, you may be shocked as you open the oven door and discover bright turquoise polka dots on your lemon garlic chicken.  

Thank goodness for frozen pizza.

Whoopie Pies to Celebrate

Happy Valentines Day!

  I hope you all enjoyed celebrating with your loved ones.  

 

My sweet husband surprised me with a large box of chocolates.  It was wonderful, however,

the longer I go without eating sugar daily, the more I feel my body's intolerance to it.  I get shaky and sick. So, when I saw the beautiful red heart shaped box wrapped up all pretty, I knew I was doomed.  You see, chocolates are my favorite, favorite, favorite sweet treat to eat.  All of those gooey, chewy centers put a smile on my face. 

  

Those gooey, chewy centers took that smile off my face too.  I had a major tummy ache, the kind you are always warning your kids about.  I should be more mature than this right?  Ya, well, I really can't resist the chocolates.

 By dinner time, I felt so sick, and I only ate 2, 3, or  was it 4 chocolates?  I lost count, but really it wasn't more than 4, I promise. 

All I wanted was some good nutritious veggies, and that's what I got in the delicious stir-fry my husband made. (On a side note...he has definitely been holding out on me as far as his cooking abilities.  After 10 years of marriage, he's starting to whip up these awesome dishes that blow my socks off.  I didn't know he had it in him....we'll talk more about this later.)

Wholesome food made my tummy feel so much better, but I was doomed once again.  Do you want to know why?

Because of these:

  For weeks I had been planning to make these RED VELVET WHOOPIE PIES for my family on Valentines Day.  I baked my little heart out all afternoon, and I wasn't about to let this day pass, without eating one.

So I did, eat one

 or at least 3/4 of one before  I was back to tummy ache and now wanting to puke.  But let me tell you, that whoopie pie was so very delicious, I wouldn't change a thing.

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

2 oz. semisweet chocolate chips

3/4 C butter, softened

1 C sugar

2 eggs

1/2 C sour cream

1 Tbsp red food coloring

1 1/2 tsp white vinegar

1 tsp vanilla 

2 1/4 C flour

1/4 C baking cocoa

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

Filling:

8 oz. cream cheese softened

1/2 C butter, softened

2 1/2 C confectioners' sugar

2 tsp vanilla

Instructions:

In microwave, melt chocolate; stir until smooth.  Set aside.

In large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in eggs, sour cream, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla.  Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt and baking soda; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well.  Stir in melted chocolate.

Drop by tablespoons 2 in. apart onto greased or parchment lined baking sheets.  Bake at 375 degrees F. for  8-10 minutes or until edges are set.  Cool for 2 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

For filling, in a large bowl, beat cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Beat in confectioners' sugar and vanilla until smooth.  Spread filling on the bottoms of half of the cookies. Top with remaining cookies.

*This recipe comes from the Feb/Mar 2011 issue of Taste of Home Magazine.

p.s. I ran out of red food coloring, so they don't look very "red velvety", but they sure tasted it.

p.p.s. Please don't make yourself sick like I did.

Green Smoothie

 A friend of mine recently recommended I try green smoothies made with spinach leaves and berries.  She loves them and her kids love them.  Which to me is amazing, because my kids start to short circuit at the sight of anything remotely resembling the color green in their food.  

I was skeptical, but willing to try it; I like to think of myself as adventurous when it comes to food.  So yesterday I decided I was up for this food adventure and I tried it.  

My little one stopped "washing" the dishes and watched me intently as I stuffed the spinach leaves, yogurt, and blueberries into the magic bullet smoothie glass (which I  love and highly recommend).   She asked what that green stuff was. I didn't know what to say; she had caught me red  green handed.  So I just ignored her for a minute trying to come up with some whimsical explanation as to why mommy was putting green stuff in the smoothie.  That didn't work.  She asked again and I said, "huh", as if I didn't here her.  She asked again.  This time I said it was yummy stuff to make the smoothie good.  Lame, I know, but I was put on the spot.

At that point I started blending.  And the color got really weirdish brown. But my taste buds were excited- ready to partake. And then they did.  And you know what....it was not my favorite thing.  I really didn't care for the weird leafy after taste.
So I...

...I politely offered some to the little one thinking she would flat out refuse, but she surprised me.  She took it and loved it.  I took a couple more obligatory draws through the giant slurpee straw, then passed it on to her.  

I wanna...

...hot cup of cocoa with a marshmallow or two.

That's my all time favorite winter song.  I just love to hear my kids sing it in school programs.  Usually, I'm the annoying/dorky mom singing right along with them.

I've been watching my kids drink hot cocoa all winter, and I myself have not had a drop, because of my NO SUGAR thing.  Well...this weekend when I discovered my coco-motion sitting unused way back in the deepest darkest depths of the most awkward to use cupboard (you know the one I'm talking about don't you?), I decided I had had enough (don't you love it when you get to use "had" twice in a row like that?).

I dug that thing out of there and started throwing stuff into it.  You know what I discovered?  Hot cocoa only needs 3, yes that's right, 3 ingredients to be delicious.  *Note: there is an optional 4th ingredient to give it an extra kick.

Here they are:

2 C milk

1/4 C cocoa powder

1 Tbsp splenda

Dash of cinnamon (optional)
Makes 2 servings

Yep, that's all there is to it.  Throw those three things into your coco-motion, and let it whirl.  In about two minutes, you will have the most deliciously rich dark hot cocoa you've ever had.  

Your taste buds will thank you.

My New Toy

My husband gives me the best gifts ever.  He is thoughtful and does his research big time.  His birthday and Christmas are stressful for me trying to keep up.  To which he lovingly reminds me that I am his gift, and that's all he needs.  Still, it seems he gets the raw end of the deal.

This Christmas he did it again. 

After 10 years of  cooking for my crew, I am now the proud owner of a food processor.  You would think I would have one of those toys already.  But the young, naive bride that I was did not think a food processor was worth the cupboard space.  So away it went to goodwill.  I've been kicking myself for years.  

Well, no more kicking.  This one is here to stay.

Let me give you an idea just how awesome this thing is, and how much time I save:

*chopped almonds- 30 seconds

*bread crumbs- 20 seconds

*this dessert crust- 20 seconds

*salad dressing- 5 seconds

*crushed ice- 30 seconds

There are so many more options I can't wait to try.

I love my new toy.