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Gingerbread Disaster (Potentially)

17 Dec

I’m currently trying my hand at the good old-fashioned gingerbread house!  I haven’t  made one of these in years, so I thought I would reward my end-of-the-school-year efforts with the chance to express my creative side for a bit. Of course, I’m not attempting to build it from scratch–that’s a BIG undertaking for a beginning Gingerbread-House-builder 🙂  Instead I grabbed a kit at Sam’s, and I’ve been playing around with it all night.  

I’m happy to report that after a couple of hours, an entire tube of icing, four “OH NO’S!!,” and finally a cry for extra holding hands from my mom, my house has four standing walls and a roof. Admittedly, one wall is pushed in and I had to overlap the roof edges a bit, but its on!  Woohoo!  After one final catastrophe of the whole thing collapsing inward, I’ve decided to give it the night to cement.  It’s currently being held up with chili and icing cans 🙂

 

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Mint Chocolate Dipped Cookies

15 Nov

This started as an experiment with altering the tried and true Peanut Butter filled Dipped Ritz cookies (I actually made some of those too). I have some family members who actually prefer mint to Peanut Butter and friends allergic to peanuts, so I thought I would try out something new for the Christmas season.  Happily, these yummy alternatives were quite the success! And they really are quite easy to make!

Ingredients

  • Filling
    • 1 Box of Ritz Crackers – Plain
    • 1 (10 oz) package of Nestle’s “Winter Dark Chocolate & Mint Morsels.
      • Andes Candies would probably work just as well; or try plain chocolate chips with an extra teaspoon of peppermint extract.
    • 2/3 Cup of Heavy Whipping Cream
    • 1 tsp of Peppermint Extract
    • 2/3 Cup of Powdered Sugar
  • 1 (20 oz) package of Almond Bark
  • Double Boiler (or a pot to melt Chocolate in)
  • Wax Paper

Directions (approx. 1 hour)

  • Make the Filling (approx. 30 minutes)

Chocolate Chips

  • Take out a glass microwavable bowl and add in the Chocolate Chips and Whipping Cream. I saved out a handful of chocolate chips to put on top at the end.
  • Set your microwave on half power (or Soft Melt) and microwave the mixture for 1-2 minutes. Stir after ever 30 seconds. When done, it’ll look kind of like a syrup–thick liquid.
  • Add Peppermint Extract and Powdered Sugar.  Stir it all together until the powdered sugar is as dissolved as possible. 
  • Now set it aside until it firms (approx. 20 minutes). It should have the consistency of icing (like you’d buy from the store).
  • Use 2 Ritz Crackers and Icing to make little sandwich cookies.  I used about 2 and a half packages of crackers to use up the chocolate mix.
  • Now take a Double Boiler; it has two parts and looks like this:

    • Add about 1″ of Water to the bottom and set it on to boil. Add 4 bars of Almond Bark in the top and stir it until melted.  You will probably have to keep melting more chocolate, but if you do too much at once it’ll take longer and harden before you’re done dipping.
    • Now you have everything ready to start dipping!  I use hot dog pinchers to hold the sandwiches when dipping them. Makes it easy to grab on and keep hold.  After covering them in chocolate, lay them out on the Wax Paper to harden. I crushed up the handful of chocolate chips left out and added them on top of the sandwich while the chocolate was hot. 

    They’re ready for you to enjoy!! Let me know what you think; I’m kind of proud of this recipe!

     

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    Cooking Spree!

    15 Oct

    Um. . . Yeah. I kind of went on a cooking spree. But who can blame me?!? Woke up this morning to a cold, wet day, and so far it hasn’t improved to any great extent. Still cold, damp, and dismal.  I started with the idea of warming up the house a bit by using the oven, but ended up getting a little carried away.  So I ended up making:

    • Fried Chicken
    • Egg, Sausage, and Cheese Casserole
    • Gluten-Free Apple Pie
    • Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies (decorated)

    It was just going to be the Casserole (chicken was more of a throw in for lunch thing), but then I needed to use up some apples that were starting to go bad.  Thus the Apple Pie. But I’ve kind of been in a artsy mood recently and felt the urge to decorate so I ended up making some cookies while the pie dough chilled.  😛  Anyway, here is a picture of my yummy cookies!

    Neon food coloring–I love it!
    Lol, I accidentally dyed my band-aid.
    My decorating tools 🙂
    Yum!!

     What do you do on icky days like this?

     

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    Waffle Fish: Essentially Japanese

    29 May

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    Haha, had a little fun today!  My roommate and I went wandering and we finally got the chance to try these fish-shaped waffle treats.  We’ve been dying to try them for a while, but they usually are filled with this bean paste that doesn’t sound too appetizing.  However, today the little shop across from the hotel offered the ones filled with chocolate so we took a chance and grabbed one on the spot.  It cost 100 yen (approx. $1), and was pretty good.  I thought it was a little bland (literally a pancake filled with cheap chocolate), but I think it has a lot of potential.  I want to try making one with sweeter pancake batter and perhaps a more flavorful chocolate.  Still, I had fish-shaped waffles! How awesome is that?!?

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    Cooking with Peanut Butter

    12 Feb

    Random cooking lesson of the day!  If you ever need to cook with peanut butter (i.e. Heath Peanut Butter Cookies), and you have to measure it out of a jar, don’t bother messing with it straight up.  You’ll only find yourself losing time while trying to get it to quit sticking to your measuring spoon.  The easiest way is to coat the measuring cup/spoon with water first.  Just run it through some water before scooping.  This won’t affect your recipe, but the peanut butter slides out a lot easier!  Cool huh?!?

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    Best Holiday Cheese Log!

    29 Dec

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    Ahh, sweet childhood memories.  For most of my youth, my uncle owned and operated a cheese factory.  They made American processed cheese of the best variety, including an amazing swiss and bacon cheese that made amazing grilled-cheese sandwiches.  Naturally, I love all things cheese related–grilled cheese, cheesy potatoes, corn & cheese casserole; if it comes with cheese, my day is made.  (This proved unfortunate in Asia, where cheese in not a daily staple food.  I was quite traumatized to realize that cheese there cost a fortune. 😦 )

    Anyway, I am getting off track (and now I want nachos…), but I thought I would share my favorite recipe for a holiday cheese log.  I actually started making this several years ago, but I made it again today for a family dinner.  It is just SO GOOD!  It takes a little bit of work, but the end result is definitely worth it if you enjoy cheese balls.  Great for Christmas and New Year’s Eve parties!

    Continue reading →

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    Tragedy & Success in the Kitchen

    26 Nov

    Today, Ladies and Gentlemen, I come bearing both bad news and good news.

    Continue reading →

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    Gluten Free Apple Pie

    22 Nov

    Gluten Free Apple Pie

    What is your favorite dish?  Mine is always the apple pie, and I make a mean apple pie if I do say so myself 🙂  Unfortunately, this year I had to give up gluten, so I have been attempting to replace all my favorite thanksgiving dishes non Gluten-Free (GF) items.  So here is my new pie recipe!  See?  A blessing!  I did not have to give up any of my favorite treats this year. Continue reading →

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