Peanut Butter Cookies

Love is in the air! Can you feel it? I just love Valentine's Day and it's not just because you can eat candy all day long, although that is a big plus!

I wanted to whip up these cookies for our family Valrntine's Day party, but then decided I would have so many leftover that I should bake them ahead of time and send some to Remy's daycare teachers. I boxed them up in a pretty pink package and gave them to the front desk to be put in the break room. I know peanuts have ot be away from the kids, so this way the teachers can still enjoy them!

We will be having some tonight and freezing a few a well. I opted for dove chocolate, instead of the reeses peanut butter hearts. I just love how creamy the chocolate is and think that the cookie has more than enough peanut butter. These are soft, moist and really yummy! I do admit that I hate the fact that you can't eat these until the heart becomes hard again - I wanted one last night but they take a few hours to set. I had one this morning and it was perfect. Yum cookies - Yay for Love!

Peanut Butter Cookies (from I heart Nap Time)
*the original recipe makes about 48 if you go with the 1" balls. I made mine a little bigger*
1 Cup butter, softened
1 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Cup Sugar
2 Eggs (room temp)
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla
2 3/4 Cup Flour
2 tsp Baking Soda
Chocolate candies
1/2 Cup Sugar, for rolling cookies in

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine peanut butter, butter, brown sugar and white sugar in a large bowl. Mix well until combined.

Add eggs and vanilla and mix well.

Add flour and baking soda and mix until combined.

Place 1/2 cup sugar in a shallow bowl. Roll cookie dough into 1" balls and then roll in sugar. Place on baking pan.

Bake 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool 1 minute. Place chocolate candy on top and then remove from pan and let cool completely.

Cinnamon Baked French Toast

Overnight French Toast has really made its mark on the blog world over the past 2 years or so. I've been wanting to try it, but put it on that Christmas Morning list that I told you about before. I decided to go with this Pioneer Woman version. It was sweet with a crunchy cinnamon topping, which added a lot of texture and flavor. I loved that it made a lot so we were able to eat it over a few days, but also that I did all of my work ahead of time.

I am still wanting to try a lot more recipes. There are some blueberry ones and some with no topping that look completely delicious, but I always know that I have this one up my sleeve. Have you tried an overnight breakfast dish yet? It's perfect for if you have company or if you know you will jsut want to be lazy in the morning. Hey, that's how I feel everyday!

Cinnamon Baked French Toast (from Pioneer Woman)
1 loaf French Bread - I used sourdough
8 large eggs
2 cups milk (we used skim, but Ree uses whole)
½ cup heavy whipping cream
¾ cups granulated sugar
2 tablespoons vanilla extract

Streusel Topping:
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold butter, cut into pieces

Spray a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with cooking spray. Tear French bread into chunks, or cut into cubes, and evenly place in the pan.


In a large bowl, mix together eggs, milk, cream, sugar, and vanilla extract. Pour evenly over bread. Cover pan with saran wrap and store in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight.

In a separate bowl, mix together flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Add butter pieces and cut into the dry mixture using a fork or your hands. Combine until the mixture resembles sand with a few pea sized chunks. Cover and store mixture in the refrigerator.

When you’re ready to bake the French toast, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove casserole from refrigerator and sprinkle crumb mixture over the top. Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until the French toast is set and golden brown.

Serve warm with butter and maple syrup.

Cream Cheese Danish

Any kind of cheese is fine by me. Add it to something sweet and it's even better. I remember eating entenmanns cheese danish when I was younger. It was a treat and I really loved it. Soemtimes when I pass it in the store I am so tempted to purchase it - but being the only sweet eating in my house, I bring myself back to the reality that I would gain 5 pounds if I put it in my cart. Come on Remy, grow up and eat lots of good stuff with Mommy!!

This past year I really wanted to try out some recipes to become traditional holiday foods. So this was on my Christmas morning list. Surprisingly, Adam liked it! He is not a sweet eater at all, as I've mentioned before, so I was loving that he enjoyed it. I made it the night before but it was easy enough that I should have made it that morning.

Next time I would love to try this individual cheese danish recipe. They look so yummy!

Cream Cheese Danish (from The Adventures of Kitchen Girl)
2 cans ready to use refrigerated crescent rolls
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg white

Glaze:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 13X9-inch baking pan.

Lay a pack of crescent rolls in the pan and pinch the openings together.

Beat the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and egg together until smooth. Spread the mixture over the crescent rolls evenly and then lay the second pack of crescent rolls on top of the cheese mixture and brush with egg white.

Bake for 35-45 minutes until the top is golden brown. Top with glaze after cooling for 20 minutes

Cranberry Mojitos

OK....so I know I am waaaay behind in my postings. The holiday/new year got the best of me and I never got around to posting, but I did take plenty of photos. So here I am, sharing with you now.

Here's a cocktail that is a combo of one of my favorite drinks (mojitio!!) and a holiday staple: cranberries. Of course, you can enjoy this any time of the year, but it's perfect for a holiday party too.
Cranberry Mojito (from We Are Not Martha)
8 oz. fresh cranberries
1 C sugar
1 C water
20 mint leaves
2 T lime juice
Ice
4 oz. rum
4-6 oz. soda water

Put cranberries, sugar, and water in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat.

Then lower the heat a bit to medium-low and continue to cook for about 10 minutes, before your berries start bursting. Remove from heat

Once the berry mixture has cooled, you can strain them.

Put about 10 leaves of mint and a T of lime juice in each glass. With the back of a wooden spoon or a muddler mash the mint up.


Put ice in each glass and pour 2 oz. of the cranberry syrup and 2 oz. rum into each glass.

Top off each glass with soda water. And sprinkle some fresh cranberries in for garnish.

White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies

I wonder when cookies became a Holiday staple? I mean, if you are looking to bake something from Thanksgiving-New Years it is probably one of the first things that you think of. Especially when you have a cookie exchange, company or need a personal gift - you look for something new with a little kick.

Enter these babies. They pretty much scream Holiday Time. I love how the cornstarch makes them thick and soft and the cranberries add a perfect twist to the sweetness. Usually I'm not really a white chocolate chip kind of girl, but this cookie is an exception.

I love cookies for the reason that you can bake them, freeze and when you pull them out they are just as perfect as when they go in. If you're having a party it makes it so easy to have your dessert taken care of early. Or if you're making them as gifts you can do it ahead of time so that you arent in such a rush the night before you see the person.

I currently have a freezer full of 3 types of cookies (about 2.5 dozen or so of each) plus an entire gallon bag of Buckeye bark. Um yea, I think I'm on cookie overload, but this is the one time of year where I feel that is perfectly acceptable :) So even if you have no real excuse to bake more cookies, just throw them in the freezer once they are cooled and you can enjoy them yourself for weeks to come. Happy baking!

White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies (from Sallys Baking Addiction)
3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
3/4 cup dried cranberries


In a large bowl using a hand-held mixer or stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars together on medium speed until fluffy and light in color.

Mix in egg and vanilla.

On low speed, mix in flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt.  Stir in white chocolate chips & dried cranberries. Chill dough (covered) for 30 minutes or up to 3 days. (I left mine in the fridge for a couple of hours and it was perfectly firm when I scooped it up)

Preheat oven to 350F.

Drop balls of dough (1.5 tablespoons each) onto cookie sheet OR used a standard-sized cookie scoop.

Bake for 8-9 minutes, until barely golden brown around the edges.  Do NOT cook them longer than 9 minutes.

 Remove and let cool for 5-10 minutes on the cookie sheet.  Transfer to cooling rack.

Cinnamon Roll Pull Apart Bread

Since it's our first Thanksgiving and Christmas as our own little family, I really wanted to start some traditions. I am carrying on the new pjs on christmas eve tradition that my family always had, but I wanted more. I had found this recipe and marked it under 'Christmas Baking' so that I would easily remember it. When we trimmed our tree, I had this sitting out to snack on. Maybe thats why Adam didn't actually put any ornaments on? Im not sure, but I do know that I want this to become a yearly thing.

I would bake it a couple of minutes less than the suggested 25, but I like everything just slightly gooey. And it made a perfect breakfast for the next morning, too. Like I said before, back to healthy eating for me. I dont even want to imagine the calorie count in this loaf, which we ate in under 24 hours.

Cinnamon Roll Pull Apart Bread (from My Chocolate Therapy)
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tbsp cornstarch
3/4 tsp salt
2 1/4 tsp dried active yeast
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup water
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the filling
2/3 cup dark brown sugar
2 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp cornstarch

1/4 cup butter, melted

For the Glaze
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
hot water

In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attached, place the cornstarch, sugar, yeast, salt and 2 cups of flour.

Heat the milk and butter together in a small saucepan until the butter is melted. Remove from the heat and add the water. Let this cool for about a minute, then add the vanilla, and pour all the liquid into the bowl with the flour. Stir this all together until all the dry ingredients are moistened.

Start the mixer on a low speed as you add the eggs one at a time until they're just incorporated. Stop the mixer and add 1/2 cup more flour to the bowl. Mix again at low speed for about half a minute. Add 2 more tbsp of flour and mix in on medium speed until you get a smooth, slightly sticky dough (about 45 seconds).

On a work surface sprinkled with 2 tbsp of flour, knead the dough until it's not sticky (about 1 minute). Place the dough in a large, oiled bowl and cover it with cling film. Leave the dough to rise in a warm place until it's doubled in size which should take about an hour.


While the dough rises, make the filling by combining the dark brown sugar, cinnamon and cornstarch in a small bowl.

Once the dough is ready, lightly flour your work surface and gently tip the dough onto it, sprinkling a little more flour on top of the dough. Roll the dough out into roughly a 40 x 40 cm square, then brush about 2/3 of the butter over the entire surface of the dough.

Sprinkle 3/4 of the filling mixture evenly on top of the butter on the dough, then roll the dough tightly into a log.

Place the log horizontally on your work surface. Take a piece of thread and place it vertically on your work surface. With the thread still vertical, place log on top of the middle of the thread. Move the thread to the left or right, so it is still under the dough, and is 1 cm in from the end of the log. Take the ends of the thread and hold them above the log. Cross them over each other once and pull them away from each other until the thread has cut through the dough completely.

On a piece of baking paper, use a rolling pin to flatten each slice to 3-4 mm thick (or just flatten in your hand like I did) Brush the top of each flattened slice with a little of the remaining melted butter, ans sprinkle on about 3/4 tsp of filling mixture. Place them on top of each other so you have 4-5 stacks each containing about 5 slices.

Grease a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan and preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Place your stacks of dough into the greased loaf pan, cover loosely with clingfilm, and leave to rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes

Bake the bread for 25-35 minutes when it should be golden brown on top. (like I said, I baked for 25 minutes and it was slightly more cooked then I prefer). Let it cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Meanwhile make the glaze by stirring the vanilla then the hot water, a little at a time into the powdered sugar in a small bowl until you get a slightly runny icing.

Turn the loaf onto your plate and drizzle the icing overtop.

 

Pumpkin Pound Cake

I know that people often associate pumpkin with fall. There is this general idea that you wait until October to bake with it and stop in December. I for one am taking a stand against this, because pumpkin things are so delicious that we should be able to enjoy them year round!

I have been craving things like banana bread, pumpkin bread, carrot cake, etc. and so I decided to bake this pumpkin pound cake that I had pinned a while back. Since it's spring time there is no problem finding pumpkin puree on the shelf at your local grocery store, which is always half the battle for me come autumn.

I have devoured way too much of this already and will be happy to package it up for someone else to eat tomorrow. I enjoyed the addition of the vanilla pudding mix - I do think it added something new and helped keep the center moist and flavorful. If I would have been serving this for guests instead of slicing and freezing, I would have added the powdered sugar because that just tops it all off. I do recommend using a bundt pan (I need to go buy one!) if you can.


Pumpkin Pound Cake (via pinterest from Sing for your Supper)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup canola oil
3 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 package instant vanilla pudding mix
1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

In a large bowl, combine sugar and oil until blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, cloves and pudding mix; add to egg mixture alternately with pumpkin, beating well after each addition.
 
Transfer to a greased bundt pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 60-65 minutes or until toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack. Remove from pan and cool completely. Dust with confectioners’ sugar. Serves 12-16

*Somehow I don't own a bundt pan and didn't even realize, so I made mine in a wilton pumpkin mold - you could also use a loaf pan. Just up the baking time (mine needed about 15 more minutes)

Chocolate Turtle Cookies

I think that I just found my new go-to holiday/event cookie recipe. These little round caramel pockets are so good and just have a great presentation about themselves. The glossy caramel is what really does it, in my opinion. And I love how they aren't too sweet - the chocolate cookie dough is just chocolatey enough to get the flavor without overwhelming when combined with the caramel.

My thighs will hate me for this recipe, or rather I will hate them, but sometimes it's just all worth it!

Chocolate Turtle Cookies (via Pinterest, from Pixelated Crumb)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1 large egg, separated, plus 1 egg white
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups pecans, chopped fine
14 soft caramel candies
3 tablespoons heavy cream

 Combine flour, cocoa, and salt in bowl. With electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 2 minutes. Add egg yolk, milk, and vanilla and mix until incorporated. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture until just combined. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, 1 hour.

Adjust oven rack to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk egg whites in bowl until frothy. Place pecans in another bowl. Roll dough into 1-inch balls, dip in egg whites, then roll in pecans. Place balls 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Using 1/2-teaspoon measure, make indentation in center of each ball. Bake until set, about 12 minutes, switching and rotating sheets halfway through baking.

Microwave caramels and cream in bowl, stirring occasionally, until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Once cookies are removed from oven, gently re-press existing indentations. Fill each with 1/2 teaspoon caramel mixture. Cool 10 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

PB & White Chocolate Chex Mix

If you're looking for something that is poppable and addicting, then you've come to the right post. Something that I love about this, besides how incredibly easy it is to make, is that you can custom fit it to any holiday with your sprinkles. Christmas, Valentines, St Pattys, Easter, 4th of July, Halloween, you name it! The most difficult part is waiting for everything to cool off as the aroma of chocolate and peanut butter overtakes your kitchen.

I admit that I like things sweet, so I used more confectioners sugar than the original recipe and I covered about 70% of my cereal mix in it and then 30% with sprinkles. You can add in any other things you want, too. I think that I would add raisins next time, and maybe some almonds.

PB & White Chocolate Chex Mix (from Apple a Day)

7 c. Rice Chex cereal
2 c. mini pretzels

1 c. white chocolate chips

1/2 c. smooth peanut butter

1/4 c. butter

1 c. confectioners' sugar

1/4 c. Sprinkles (any shape or variety, optional)

Place cereal and pretzels in a very large bowl.  In a spearate, small microwavable bowl, microwave baking chips, peanut butter and butter, uncovered, on high for 1 minute.  Stir, then continue heating in 30 second intervals, stopping each time to stir, until mixture is completely melted and smooth.  

Pour peanut butter mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated.

Place 1/2 of the cereal mixture in 1-gallon plastic bag. Add powdered sugar, seal, and shake until well coated. Spread on wax paper and sprinkle additional sugar on top, so that they are coated with white, sugary goodness. Let cool, 15-20 minutes.

Meanwhile, stir sprinkles into remaining cereal mixture. Spread on wax paper to cool, 15-20 minutes.  

In serving bowl, mix both cereal mixtures. Store in airtight container or divide among individual baggies and tie with festive ribbon.

Be My Valentine: Fruity Pebble Style

I have a tendency to gravitate toward sugary things - even in the cereal sense. While I love some plain chex or cornflakes, my heart belongs to lucky charms, cinnamon toast crunch, cocoa krispies and fruity pebbles. I try to only give in every once in a while, but love the colors and sugary goodness that these all bring to the table.

Valentines Day is the perfect time to use bright colors and heart shaped cookie cutters. These would be really easy to throw together for a child's friends or teachers, too. Caution: these are like a sugar explosion in your mouth! You probably won't be able to eat more than 1 at a time without needing a break, but they are super yummy and cute.

Fruity Pebbles Bars (from The Novice Chef - if you haven't, you must check out her blog. Great photography and recipes!)
4 tablespoons butter
10 oz marshmallows
6 cups Fruity Pebbles
white chocolate, for dipping

 Grease a 9x13 inch backing dish. Melt butter in a pan over medium heat. When melted, add marshmallows and stir until melted. Remove from heat.

Add cereal and mix well. Pour contents into baking dish and spread evenly. When cooled, cut into squares, or use a cookie cutter to make a shape of your choice.

Heat chocolate in a microwave safe bowl at half power in 30 second intervals, or according to package, stirring after each interval until chocolate fully melts. Dip top into white chocolate and sprinkle with extra fruity pebbles if you wish.

Swirly, Twirly Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies

I haven't baked in a LONG time, and have been bookmarking a lot of new recipes lately. I found myself in need of a Valentine's Day treat and when I saw these brownies in my google reader, I just knew that I had to make them. Of course, I say that about A LOT of things but I actually did get around to baking these babies up.

I am pretty disappointed that mine didn't turn out as pretty, it's because when I mixed the milk with the 3/4 cups of batter, it didn't thin as much as it should have. So I might suggest making sure it's thin enough to swirl across the top and combine with the cheesecake. You also may try to swirl it into the bottom layer, I was just swirling the top cheesecake and dropped batter layers.

Either way, these were easy to put together. And they are still festive! They would also be good for memorial day, fourth of July, etc.

Swirly, Twirly Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies (From the Novice Chef)
Red Velvet Layer:
3 1/4 cups flour
2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3 large eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon red food coloring
2 teaspoons white vinegar
2 tablespoons milk

Cheesecake Layer:
2 8oz packages cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13 x 18 jelly roll pan with butter or spray with Baker's Joy.

In large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, red food coloring, and white vinegar.
Combine the dry and wet ingredients, until completely combined. The batter will be really thick! I loved this aspect as it made it very easy to clean up my bowl :)

Remove 3/4 cup of the batter and place it in a medium bowl. Whisk in the 2 tablespoons of milk (into the 3/4 cup of batter you just took out). Set aside the 3/4 cup batter.

Pour the remaining batter into the prepared jelly roll pan and smooth out the batter to reach all the edges.

In your stand mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla, beating until combined and there are no lumps. Pour the cream cheese mixture on top of the red velvet layer and smooth mixture till it reaches all the edges.

Drop spoonfuls of the remaining red velvet batter (that you mixed with milk) onto the top of the cheesecake layer. Drag the tip of a knife through the red velvet and the cheesecake layers to create swirls.

Bake for 30 minutes, rotating half way through, or just until the center is set and it no longer jiggles. Let cool completely on a wire rack before cutting.

Pre-Christmas Weekend

I seriously love the week before Christmas so much that I don't even care that today is Monday! We have a Holiday Lunch outside of the office today and we leave Wednesday for Orlando - I am just taking the season in because it will soon be just a memory!

We had a nice, relaxing weekend and I am ready for a week off. Here's a photo recap:

 Since Adam was gone all week I was ready to get out of the house on Friday night, and so excited that we decided to get sushi!! We went to Lemongrass, I stuck to shrimp and soft shell crab, and we were definitely impressed. There is not much around our area in terms of places to eat out, so it's nice that we found a sushi place.  My shirt and sweater are both from GAP, but neither are online anymore.

 I went with a fishtail, too, because it reminds me of my sister :)

Saturday night we bundled up and went for a 3 mile walk to look at neighborhood Christmas lights. It was chilly out but a lot of fun and I hope to get out again tonight to do the same thing. Im trying to walk as much as I can, and since it was the first time I got out of my pajamas that day I obviously wasn't active enough. This is another photot of our tree in the dark, love it and am going to miss it!

I originially said I was not going to make Christmas cookies this year because of the calories and only Adam and I being able to eat them, but when I woke up on Saturday I really wanted to get some baking - Christmas just isn't the same without cookies! I made Nestle Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies (with dark and semi sweet chips - jumbo size) and sugar cookies. I halved the sugar cookie recipe and didnt even use all of the dough and we still had too many cookies, but just enough for decorating.

Adam did request the 'soft' icing since he claims it tastes much better so I made half a batch of buttercream and colored with wilton 'no taste red' and 'kelly green' gel food coloring. Again, we had more icing than we needed so Adam iced some chocolate chips as well! Our finished products:
 

I also did a little spray tanning for our trip and started to pack! One bag down, 1 to go. All I need is a good eyebrow waxing and I think that I will be all set and ready to board that plane. Happy Monday!

My family is bringing me some Cheer!

On a lighter note than yesterday, I am so excited that my family is coming tonight! My mom and Annie are here already and everyone, except one sister, will arrive this evening! My mom has been great and cooked us nice meals, did the dishes and cleaned my tablecloth which has been dirty since thanksgiving. Thanks, Mom!! Can you tell I've been loving having Annie here too?! My phone is currently filled with photos of her and it's so nice to have her little self walking and lounging around.

 Yay we were so excited to see each other!

 Annie had to find her 'spot' in the house so she tried a lot of different places out

Poor girl hurt her back (cant believe she is getting so old already) so she cant go up and down the stairs herself, so this morning she watched me say goodbye as I left for work.

I am throwing a mini Christmas party tonight for everyone and we will really be into the swing of the season! On the menu:
Baked Brie in Puff Pastry
Cheddar and Muenster Cheese
Triscuits, Wheat Thins, Apples, Strawberries
Sliders
Cocktail Meatballs (crocked with Chili Sauuce and Grape Jelly)
Bruschetta
Shrimp Pasta Salad
Chocolate Covered Cherries, Fudge Covered Oreos, Chocolate Covered Pretzels, Candy Cane Joe Joes

I have already prepped Pecan Sticky Buns and they will come out of the freezer tonight and into the oven in the morning! We plan to see some sights, eat some food and enjoy the weekend together - it's even supposed to be sunny! I have lots of hot chocolate and peppermint tea and am just ready to see everyone. Then in 2 weeks we will be seeing them once more for Christmas! Love this time of year :)

Thanksgiving Weekend!

Welcome Back! I hope that everyone had a lovely long holiday weekend. Ours was pretty busy with Adams family in town for a week, but I am happy that I successfully pulled off the big meal! I was able to keep up my family tradition of Thanksgiving breakfast: polish sausage (we used to home make this with my grandmother but now we get it from a polish deli and my sister so kindly brought it up to me on dry ice on her last visit), eggs, rye bread and bagels. And I made a full dinner with twice baked potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, green beans wrapped in bacon, mushrooms and of course the bird. Heres a photo recap of the rest of the weekend:

 The Thanksgiving Turkey, The Bird, the Big Cheese! We brined this guy (although not long enough because we accidently forgot to defrost it up until the day before) in vegetable stock, herbs, salt - I topped the skin off with salt and pepper and then Stuffed it and baked for 6 hours at 325, removing the foil tent only at the last hour or so.

 Twice Baked Potatoes - I have always loved potatoes and this year I made it easy by prepping them the day before. I peeled them, keeping a little skin on, and chopped them into small chunks, all the same size. Soak them in a large bowl of ice water until the next day so that they dont brown. Then I boiled for 30 minutes, drained, put back into the pot with 1 or 2 tbsp butter and cover on low for 15 minutes. Add some milk and sour cream and blend with your hand mixer, or potato smasher if you like it chunkier. Pour into a casserole dish and top with cheddar slices -  bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

 Bacon Wrapped Green Beans - I liked the idea of this recipe - boil green beans and cook bacon until it just starts to cook but does not get stiff. Cut bacon in half and wrap 7 green beans into each strip and secure with a toothpick. The part that I didnt like was the glaze - butter, brown sugar, soy and garlic. I would have just done a butter overtop, or butter and brown sugar but no garlic and soy. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes.

 Pumpkin Pie! So easy I dont know why I don't make it every year. Store bought crust, pumpkin puree, sweetened condensed milk and some spices. Bake it the day before and take out of the fridge when yo userve dinner so that it comes to room temperature.

 Anyone go black friday shopping?! I went out at 12am and couldn't believe the lines. I have never seens anyhting like it - the approximate time to get into target or best buy was at l east an hour. No thanks! I went to Old Navy and then hit up target later in the day. I love this Santa shirt that I got!

 Baby was ready to start getting the house all ready for the Holidays

 We added lights to our staircase garland and put everything up outside - Ill need to get a picture to post because Adam really did a nice job on it!

And we got our tree!!! It's a tall and bushy one, I love it! There is just nothing like a lit tree to look at, and ours already has lots of present underneath :)

So excited that its the Christmas Season, officially!, and that my family will be here next week!!! Ill be back tomorrow with a weekly bump post - lets just say the sickness is not subsiding and I can hardly find anything to eat!!

The Last Pumpkin Recipe You Need

Really. Do not go looking for another pumpkin bread recipe. You don't need it. I saw this Downeast Maine Pumpkin bread recipe last year but failed to ever make it. After Dunkin Donuts released their fall pumpkin flavors on Monday, I got back to perusing the web for something pumpkin-y to bake. I came back to this and since I had all of the ingredients, I went for it. I did make a few changes, which were noted in the comments section of this recipe, and those are reflected below.

This made one loaf, 12 muffins and one mini donuts pans worth of batter for me and I love the variety of items I have to chose from, I am taking most of the muffins into my new office (I like to win my coworkers over with treats) and froze the donuts. Ill freeze most of the bread as well after it cools and I slice it. I think you could up this a bit with a crumb topping - melted butter, cinnamon sugar and a bit of flour. Either way, its nice and firm but extremely moist and pumpkin-y. If you like the Starbucks pumpkin loaf, give this a whirl for some money saving during the fall months.

Pumpkin Bread (from allrecipes.com)
1, 15oz, can Pumpkin Puree
4 Eggs
1c Vegetable Oil
2/3c Water
2c White Sugar
1c Brown Sugar
3 1/2c Flour
2 tsp Baking Soda
1.4 tsp Salt
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Nutmeg
1/2 tsp Ginger
1/2 tsp Cloves
1/4 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine ingredients from Pumpkin through Sugars and mix until combined.

In a separate bowl, mix remaining ingredients. In 3 batches, add the dry to the wet ingredients and mix until everything is combined.

Spray your pans or put liners in your muffin tins and aluminum foil in your loaf pan. Add batter to your pans and bake: 70 minutes for a loaf, 20 minutes for muffins and 12 minutes for mini donuts.

Strawberry Mojitos

The perfect 'red' to add to your 4th of July menu! This will become a popular drink around my house in the summer, especially with so many strawberries on sale this time of year.

Strawberry Mojito (from All Recipes)
3 limes, halved
1/2 bunch mint leaves plus 5 leaves chopped
7 large strawberries, quartered plus 5 slices medium/thin
1 cup white sugar
1 cup white rum
2.25 cup club soda
5 cups ice

Squeeze lime juice into pitcher and reserve skins. Add 1/2 bunch of mint, quartered strawberries and sugar. Muddle until the mint and berries and crushed.

Add rum and club soda and mix until sugar is dissolved. Add additional mint and berries, followed by ice.

Classic Waffles

I don't know about you, but one thing that I like to make sure of is that any guests are well fed. Food is a pretty important part of my daily life, so it's one thing I really like to focus on. We had a great dinner last night, and before my dad and Adam went golfing and my mom and I sat down for Casey Anthony's closing arguments, I wanted to make sure that we each had a full tummy. My sister Kelly got me a waffle maker for my bridal shower, so I put it to use for the first time this morning!

To make these patriotic you can use fresh blueberries or sliced strawberries in the batter, or put them on top with some whipped cream. I also used chocolate chips as a mix in.

Classic Waffles (adapted from AllRecipes) - made about 8 waffles
1 cup All Purpose Flour
1 cup Whole Wheat Flour
1 tsp salt
4 tsp Baking Soda
2 tbsp White Sugar
2 Eggs
1.5 cup Warm Milk
1/3 cup Butter, Melted
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
Mixins such as strawberries, blueberries, chocolate chips, etc.

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.

Combine all wet ingredients and fold into dry, stirring until well mixed.

If you want different mixins, just separate batter into different bowls and mix in your item.

Cook according to waffle maker instructions. You can freeze any leftovers and re-cook in the toaster oven.

Hot Chocolate on a Stick

 Last year Hot Chocolate on a Stick was all the rage on a lot of the blogs. I had a difficult time with my first batch, so I retried them tonight and realized my issues came from not reading directions thoroughly. I used a few blogs to create these, including The Novice Chef, Sprinkle Bakes and Giver's Log. Turns out that the first time I used granulated sugar instead of confectioners, although it still melted decently when I stirred it into my hot mug of milk. I used Ghiradelli Luxe Milk Chocolate and also Lindtt 70% Cocoa chocolate bars, and both worked well for me in the melting process.

If you chose to add the decorations, melt white candy wafers (I prefer Wilton Wafers). Freeze your chocolate in the molds and only take out of the freezer when your white chocolate is melted. Pop the hot chocolate out one at a time and quickly dip into the white melted wafers. Place on your chocolate transfer sheet and let it sit until dry, then peel off and your design will be on the bottom.

Hot Chocolate On A Stick
8 oz. chocolate - high quality
1/4 cup cocoa, sifted
1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar, sifted
pinch of salt
Wooden Sticks
Ice Cube Tray or Brownie Mold

Prepare your double boiler by simmering a couple inches of water in a pan, then turn down the heat so the water is below a simmer.Place glass or stainless steel bowl over the top to make a double boiler. 

Dump chocolate into the clean, dry bowl and stir as the chocolate melts. Take the chocolate off of the heat when only a few solid pieces remain. Stir until completely melted.

A little at a time, add cocoa, sugar, and salt and continue to stir until combined. The chocolate will be thicker, almost as thick as frosting, but still glossy and smooth.

Place the chocolate into your mold. I used a tablespoon and then tapped the mold on the counter to make sure the chocolate was even on top. Add a stir stick and place in the freezer.

If you want to decorate, see the instructions above. You can always add sprinkles or crushed candy cane instead of using the transfer sheets.

To drink, simply heat up 6oz of milk (this is a time to splurge for 2% instead of skim) and stir in your chocolate. These make great gifts!

Hot Spiked Cider

With apples in season and Thanksgiving on the brain, it's the time of year for cider. While I ran on the treadmill at the gym yesterday I noticed that the commercial spots in between Oprah segments were filled with wintery ads. There was snow, sledding, lights, trees and shopping deals. I am already beginning to feel like the holidays will fly by much too fast this year, so this is a drink that can help you to just relax and take all of it in, if only for a few minutes.

Hot Spiked Cider

6 oz Apple Cider

1 oz Rum

1/4 tsp Ground Cinnamon

In a saucepan, heat the cider on high heat for about 4 minutes, or until hot but not boiling. Add cinnamon and stir, then add rum and heat for another 30 seconds. Pour into your favorite mug and relax!