candy making

sunday afternoon, i tried my hand at making english toffee... 

i am happy to report, it was quite the success!

KP2

it all started friday afternoon when i was having a quick conversation with jeremy in between writing progress notes for my patients.  i mentioned that maybe we should have fondue this weekend (because why not?!) and cassandra looks right over at me.  her face told me that she wanted in and that the fondue was definitely going to happen.  earlier we had been talking about the need for another knitting party to practice our knitting skills so KP2 with fondue was born and planned for the next night.  good thing i share an office with such a cool girl that loves chocolate and crafting as much as i do.

milk chocolate fondue

bag of milk chocolate chips

3/4 cup of heavy cream

fondue is so easy it's almost criminal.  (try dipping potato chips for a fun twist.)  i can't believe i survived as long as i did without my own fondue pot.  that thing is amazing and my life is now complete!  hooray for perfect christmas presents.  thanks mom and dad. 

 after we were sugared out, we got to our knitting.
and chatting and netflix-watching.

cassandra mastered purling in the course of the night while i worked up the courage to start a bunny. it was a great time.  something about good conversation and creating things with my hands... it soothes my soul and makes me feel alive.

sunday baking

just making some festive cookies over here...

chocolate peppermint cookies, and they are delicious!

bring on the peppermint

last night i had the hunkering to make something and jeremy was studying for finals.  so with only three ingredients and some down time peppermint bark came to be!  don't be intimidated, if i can make this delicious treat late into the night after a long day at work, anyone can. 

i found the recipe here.  (i melted the chocolate in the microwave in thirty second increments while stirring in between and it worked great.) the whole thing is easy and peasy and like i said, only three ingredients: dark chocolate, white chocolate, and candy canes.   i have a feeling a few more batches will be made around here this holiday season.

pumpkin waffles

i thought it was a little unfair to talk about pumpkin waffles and homemade buttermilk syrup and not share the recipe.  you may be past the pumpkin craze and bringing on the peppermint for december.  if so, you can file this away for next fall.

Pumpkin Waffles

Mix Together:

2 cups flour

2 T baking powder

1 T cinnamon

1 T sugar

½ t nutmeg

¼ t ground coriander

¼ t salt

Add:

4 egg yolks

1 cup pumpkin

1 T vanilla

1 ½ cup milk

¾ cup margarine melted

Beat 4 egg whites till stiff peaks and fold 

into batter.  Then throw them into your waffle iron.

Buttermilk Syrup

½ cube butter

½ cup buttermilk

1 cup sugar

1 t light corn syrup

Bring to a boil and reduce heat.

Add:

1 t baking soda

1 t vanilla.

 It will bubble up, so make sure you use a large 

enough pan to allow for this. 

Stir over low heat until it caramelizes.  

ENJOY!

cinnamon-sugar

each sunday night we get in the mood for some dessert.

this week we tried out some cinnamon-sugar ribbon bread.

it was definitely a keeper!
and easier to make than i thought it would be. recipe found here.

cookie in a cup

at about 9:30 last night i decided i really wanted a cookie.  since there wasn't adequate time to make a batch, i looked up mug recipes.  i have never done the mug in the microwave baking, but i figured this was the perfect opportunity.  i convinced jeremy he needed his own treat, too and we began our single serving baking adventure.  we used the recipe over here, and they turned out perfect.  just a little mixing and microwaving for 1 minute and BAM! freshly baked cookie ready for eating.  i added a little bit of ice cream to mine and it was quite lovely.  i want to make the peanut butter cookie in a cup next.

some pie with my cool whip

here's a delicious treat with only 5 ingredients!

which are all delicious on their own so you know it's going to be good.

raspberry pineapple pie

12 oz frozen raspberries
8 oz crushed pineapple
1 pkg vanilla pudding (cook and serve)
graham cracker crust
 cool whip for topping

dump the fruit and pudding mix in a pan.
heat and stir until you have a saucy mixture.
pour into crust and chill.  top with cool whip.  enjoy!

 so easy!  and tasty.  you can even switch out the raspberries for strawberries if you prefer.  i got the original recipe from here (my friend is one of the hosts... go elora!). 

lookie, lookie!

we got all adventurous over here and made chicken pot pie.  it's even packed with veggies... and i actually ATE them.  here's the recipe in case you are feeling adventurous, too.  or maybe this isn't deemed "adventurous" for you.  no matter.  our version has lots of shortcuts.  :)

pillsbury pie crust
1/3 cup butter
1-2 tablespoons minced onion
1/3 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 can chicken broth
1/2 cup milk
2 1/2 cups shredded chicken
(we just use 2 cans of chicken)
1 bag of frozen veggies

heat oven to 425 degrees.  in 2 quart saucepan melt butter.  add onion and cook until tender.   stir in flour, salt, and pepper.  stir in broth and milk gradually.  stir until thick and bubbly.  stir in chicken and veggies and remove from heat.  line pie pan with crust, fill with goodies, top with more crust, and cut slits.  bake 20 min, put foil strips on edges so they don't burn, cook for 15-20 more minutes (35-40 minutes total).  let stand for 10 minutes... and then EAT!

gettin' festive

check out this fancy cheeseball i made for last night's bash:

it was crazy delicious! especially with pretzels.

yum. pinterest always pulls through.

jamming

with our fresh raspberries.
a first for us.

grasshoppers

last night's dessert: Grasshopper Pie!

this was a favorite of mine when i was little and jeremy loves mint
chocolate chip ice cream, so i thought we would try it. it was as good as i remembered
and WAY rich. i would recommend a small piece (and not adding extra sugar and
mixing in extra crushed cookies... oops!).

here's the recipe:

Grasshopper Pie
Oreo pie crust
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp. peppermint flavoring
green food coloring
1 jar marshmallow creme
2 c. whipping cream, whipped
crushed Oreos for topping

Mix milk, peppermint, food coloring, and marshmallow creme together.
Add whipped cream to mixture and pour into pan. Put crumbs on top. Freeze.
And then lick the bowl. TASTY!

he's not a dad

but we still celebrate father's day.

i sent him on a scavenger hunt to find his gifts (which included glazed
muffins for breakfast, a grill, marinating steak, bag of charcoal, a lighter, and lighter cubes).

then we went to church, took naps, watched a movie,
enjoyed breakheart, and finally...we grilled up the steak for dinner!

and it was the best steak of my life. seriously!
grilling is my new favorite. i can't wait for more cookouts this summer.
 want to enjoy the best steak of your life? buy flank steak, stick it in a bag with a cup of some type of italian-ish dressing and a packet of meat marinade. marinate it over night or for a couple of days. grill it up! and EAT. i love my meat seasoned a lot & this is how my parents always make it, so it is heaven for me. hope you like it! anyways... happy father's day, babe! you will be the best dad someday... far away. thanks for being a wonderful husband. you are just great! and the cutest boy EVER!

chopped and frozen

last week we made some CANDY BAR ICE CREAM.
i looooove homemade ice cream. we just made some vanilla and
chopped up some candy to make it a little more exciting.

candy bar ice cream
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup milk
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 butterfingers, chopped
1.5 twix, chopped

we mixed it all together and added the candy when it was almost done.
we just used skim milk because that's what we had and jeremy ate half of one twix
before we got around to making the ice cream, otherwise we would have
used 2 of those candy bars, too.

the stuff was delicious!
and you can dump a mixture of all sorts of goodies into it...
cookies, snickers, m&ms, strawberries, gummy bears,
peanut butter chips, andes mints, pretzels, toffee bits, marshmallows.
the possibilities are ENDLESS!

strawberries and cream

tonight for dessert we were a little ambitious and took on a Strawberries and Cream Angel Food Cake Roll.

although it was absolutely delicious, this recipe is not for the faint of heart. it's full of WAY complicated stuff and lots of steps. well, it seemed complicated to us. jeremy and i conquered a few firsts today. first time separating whites from yolks, first time attempting angel food cake, and first time rolling a cake.

we eventually pulled it together and i know it looks pretty amateur... but it is dreamy good!

recipe and superior-looking cake roll found here.

from my grandma's kitchen

Buttermilk Biscuits

1 c. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cube of butter
buttermilk

Mix the first four ingredients. Cut the butter in and add enough buttermilk to make a moist, stiff dough. Turn onto a floured board. Knead 10 times, then pat out to desired thickness. Cut and bake at 425 for 12 to 15 minutes.

My mom used to make these a lot. We love pairing
them with loads of honey. So good! It makes a pretty small
batch, so you might want to double it if there are
more than two of you.

superbowl treat

we made homemade snickers.

they don't taste exactly like snickers... but they are delicious.
and sooooo intense. eat them like you would a piece of fudge.
p.s. GO PATRIOTS! how can i live in boston and not root for the pats?!

childhood treat

we started the night planning to make some oven-baked churros,
but the main ingredient (frozen puff pastry sheets) could not be found at our grocery
store. so instead we bought some pie crust dough, covered it in
cinnamon and sugar, baked it for 7 minutes, and voila!

cinnamon and sugar pie crust cookies

my mom used to take the pie crust scraps whenever she made a
pie and make these treats for us when we were little. they are delicious.
one tip: enjoy them with a glass of milk.

taco soup

almost every night i want soup for dinner. it just warms my soul when
its cold outside. we had a skiff of snow out there this morning, but now it looks
like it never happened. and i am not sure how i feel about it. part of me wants
us to glide right through the frigid winter into spring without any harsh
weather. the other part of me wants snow, snow, and more snow.
you know... to experience the boston winter. if its going to snow it better be big.
so big that i can't leave my house. i would love to be stranded with jeremy and
spend my days drinking hot cocoa, eating delicious soup, and
watching movies with him.

if you are also in a soupy mood, you can whip up some taco soup.
that's what we had for dinner and it's delicious!


taco soup for the crock pot soul
1 can of chicken, drained
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can of corn
1 can of black beans
1 can of red kidney beans
1 can of pinto beans
1 envelope of ranch dressing mix
1 envelope of taco seasoning
1/2 cup salsa

dump the ingredients (and their juice) in a crock pot and you are golden.
so easy!! cook on low 4 to 6 hours. or on high for an hour - like we did tonight
because sometimes we don't plan dinner that far in advance.

a winter float

a scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream in hot chocolate

delicious! also awesome with peppermint ice cream.