You need a few bites of sunshine!

I can't complain too much about the North Country winter this year. I mean, heck, it was darn near 70 degrees on Christmas Eve, and the lowest temps we've had so far have been in the single digits (this is often 20-30 below time of year). Still, it's cold and dark, and spring is still months away for us. But fortunately, it's citrus season in the supermarkets, and who couldn't use a little tropical-flavored goodness? Since two of my friends had birthdays this week, I decided to bake some sunny, lemony cupcakes to take to share at karaoke last night. And they turned out just DELICIOUS, if I do say so myself!

Ok, ok, I started with a box mix as a time-saving short cut, but there are lots of things that you can do to make a box mix taste more like homemade. You can swap out milk, buttermilk, or sour cream for the water. (For a chocolate cake, swap out coffee or dark beer or red wine. For white or yellow cake, swap out lemon-lime or grapefruit soda or lemonade or ginger ale.) You can--and should--swap melted butter for the vegetable oil for better texture and flavor. You can add one extra egg for a slightly denser texture. Fresh lemon zest in a white or yellow cake is always a fine idea, as is adding a teaspoon of vanilla to any flavor of cake mix. You can also add other spices, extracts, nuts, berries, chocolate chips, or whatever is hanging around in your pantry or freezer that looks like it would be tasty in your cake. But the most CRUCIAL step in making a boxed mix cake taste special and like you made it all from scratch--hear me now, my people--is to make a luscious, homemade frosting to go on top!

For this particular batch, I used a lemon cake mix (otherwise, I might have used a yellow cake mix and added the zest and juice of a lemon), I swapped out whole milk for the water, melted butter for the vegetable oil, added a teaspoon of vanilla bean paste, and a pinch of salt. Then for the frosting, I made this creamy, dreamy stuff:

Lemon-Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 stick (6T) butter, room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
zest of a lemon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

In a stand mixer, blend the cream cheese and butter with the paddle until completely smooth. Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time. Mix until very smooth, then blend in the lemon zest and vanilla. Use to frost 24 completely cooled cupcakes.

A New Holiday Classic Pops Up

There has been this Tip Hero video going around Facebook for a caramel and chocolate-drizzled popcorn that looked so easy and so good, that I just had to try and make it myself. Actually, I made it for some friends for a post-holiday get-together and gift exchange, and now I think I might make it every year! It would certainly be perfect for a treat for my work colleagues...or just for ME! Mwa-ha-ha!

Holiday Popcorn
(Source: Tip Hero)

To make the popcorn:
2/3 cup popcorn kernels
1/3 cup vegetable oil (or 6 T)

1. Heat the oil in a large pot with a lid over med heat. Add three or four of the kernels to the pot and put the lid on.
2. When they pop, add the rest of the popcorn kernels and put the lid on again. Immediately remove the pot from the heat for 30 seconds. (This is to ensure the kernels are all about the same temperature so that they will pop almost at the same time).
3. Put the popcorn back on the burner, shaking the pot back and forth. It should take about two minutes for the popcorn to pop without burning or leaving too many spare kernels. When it takes several seconds between pops, it’s ready.
4. Immediately pour into a large bowl and cool to room temperature. This should make about 12 cups of popped popcorn.

To make the caramel corn:
12 cups popped popcorn
2 cups almonds (also good: peanuts, hazelnuts, cashews)
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 cup (6 oz) salted butter
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup 60% chocolate chips
2 teaspoon vegetable oil

1. Heat the oven to 250F.
2. Once the popcorn is made, combine the following ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium heat: brown sugar, butter and corn syrup. Stir while the butter and sugar melt together and let the mixture come to a boil, about eight minutes, then let it boil for two minutes.
3. Stir in the baking soda and remove the pan from the burner.
4. Put the popcorn and the nuts in a large bowl and pour the sauce over and mix well. Line two half-sheet pans with foil and spray with non-stick spray. Divide the popcorn mixture between the two trays.
5. Bake 60 minutes, stirring each pan every 15 minutes. Remove from the oven.
6. Put the choc chips and vegetable oil in a bowl or microwave-safe measuring cup and microwave 50% power two to three minutes, stirring every 45 sec or so, until completely melted.
7. Drizzle the chocolate evenly over the caramel corn on both pans. Let the pans sit at room temperature for three to four hours while the caramel corn cools down and the chocolate sets, then break apart into clusters.

Christmas Karaoke and Cookies

This year has had its ups and downs with more than our fair share of downs, I would say. One of the pervasive issues has been my roommate's almost constant illness for which, after countless tests, the doctors still can't form an apt diagnosis nor an effective treatment plan. As she is often down for the count, that leaves me on my own a lot, and as a very gregarious and highly extroverted person, that is a real bummer.

So last summer, I auditioned for a musical revue at the college where I teach and made friends with lots of people in the large cast. I started going to karaoke with them one or even two nights a week, and then this semester, I performed with most of the same gang in Legally Blonde the Musical, which was a BLAST! Though I've had some tough times this year, the best and happiest moments have had one common denominator: I spent them with these amazing theatre geeks that welcomed me into their strange little family of friends, even though I am the decrepit old lady of the group. (Tee hee.)

Sadly, Cyd was sick again today, so I spent Christmas in the kitchen alone, baking cookies while listening to the Into the Woods soundtrack. But later, I will join my theatre pals to see Into the Woods, and then attend a special Christmas karaoke night. To show my appreciation to my friends for accepting me into their crazy gang, I wanted to make festive packages of homemade cookies for them. I could have made something very fancy, but I recently participated in a discussion on Facebook, and when asked to name their favorite Christmas cookie, almost everyone in the thread mention the same one, though by many different names: Mexican Wedding Cookies, Russian Tea Cakes, Butternuts/Butterballs, Polvorones, or Snowballs. So that's what I decided to make...with much love to friends at the holiday season.

Snowball Cookies

Source: Cooking Classy
Yield: 2 1/2 dozen (I only got about two dozen)

1 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 tablespoon cornstarch
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans (I used a whole cup)
1 1/2 - 2 cups powdered sugar, for coating

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix butter on medium speed until creamy, about 20 seconds. Blend in 2/3 cup powdered sugar and salt. Mix in vanilla. Sprinkle cornstarch over mixture (just so it doesn't blend into one area), then with mixer set on low speed slowly add in flour and mix just until combine. Stir in pecans. 

Scoop dough out one tablespoon at a time and roll into a ball, then place balls on Silpat or parchment paper lined baking sheets and bake in preheated oven for 15-17 minutes, until bottom edges are lightly golden (don't underbake these). Remove from oven and allow to cool several minutes then while cookies are still warm, pour two cups powdered sugar into a bowl and roll cookies in powdered sugar. Transfer to a wire rack to cool then once cookies are cool, roll in powdered sugar once more, this time to generously coat. Store cookies in an airtight container.

Cookie Party 2014 and My All-Time FAVORITE Cookie!

Preparations for this year's Padula Cookie Party began rather disastrously. Because of last week's snow storm, we had to have a makeup day for finals on Saturday (UGH!!), so I was busy at school all day. Thus, I had precious little time to get my cookies ready for the exchange yesterday.

I had decided to make my all-time favorite cookie, Chocolate-Glazed Pecan Toffee Bars, from a special Christmas cookie volume by The Joy of Cooking. However, the snow storm screwed me over in another way. As you can see in the picture, the snow from the roof dumped into a big mountain just inside the fence and porch railing, giving my youngest dog, Dollop, the opportunity to scale said mountain and access the shortbread dough that I (stupidly) had chilling on the porch rail.

It also gave her a possible means to escape, so at one point, we panicked and thought she had run away (and possibly been hit on the busy road in front of the house). That about gave me a heart attack, but when we realized that she was safe on the other side of the house--thank God--I found the base of my quadruple batch of cookies looking like this (which made me want to kill that little b*tch with my own bare hands):

So I had to make another half batch of dough to repair the damage, which set me even further behind. When I finally left the house, I was extremely late and in a panic, and I didn't realize that my roommate had parked her car directly behind me, which she never does. Unfortunately, I came to realize this fact when I smashed into her car and dented it. I was running short on Christmas miracles today, that's for sure! But when I arrived at the lovely luncheon and saw my friends and all of the delicious German food that Janice and Domenica had lovingly and painstakingly prepared, from that point on, my troubles began to seem miles away. Here's a short photo essay of the grand affair:

The place setting, complete with the traditional German pickle ornament.

The beautiful Weihnachten tablescape.

Christmas dolls that Janice and Domenica made. Their bodies are figs, and their heads are walnuts. So cute!

The delicious German meal! Clockwise from the bottom: There was smoked ham from the German butcher in Lacolle, QC, sweet and sour red cabbage (rotkohl), potato pancakes with homemade applesauce and sour cream, cheesy spaetzle, and (in the middle), these ginourmous, fluffy, lemon-scented dumplings with butter.

A sampling of desserts, including German cookies, and this amazing cake called a Schichttorte that Domenica made that had 20 layers then was covered in chocolate and garnished with almonds. WOW!

This year's cookies ready to be swapped! (I put mine in the cute little Santa and Rudolph bags in the middle of the table.)









I made EIGHT batches of the toffee bars (=128 pieces), which was plenty for the cookie party, for another Christmas gathering with different group of friends that evening, and I still had a lot left over. Today was an extremely difficult day at school, not only because I needed to get all my final grades done (seven classes' worth), but because the president had informed us that we would be facing layoffs and would be informed today. So we all got to sit at our desks most of the day, waiting for the phone to ring to find out if we still had a job or not. JUST TERRIBLE! Thus, I decided to bring the remainder of the cookies in to share with my colleagues to cheer us all up a little. Here's what was left by this afternoon. I think people liked them. (Tee hee.)

Chocolate-Glazed Toffee Bars
(Source: adapted from The Joy of Christmas Cookies)

Grease an 8 x 8-inch baking pan (double for 9x13, quadruple for a half sheet pan)

Whisk together thoroughly:
2/3 cups AP flour
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
Sprinkle over the top: 4 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces

Using a pastry blender, two knives, or your fingertips, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Sprinkle over the top and stir in to blend two teaspoons milk. Knead until the milk is distributed and the particles begin to hold together. If necessary, add a teaspoon or two more milk, until the mixture holds together but is not wet. (Alternatively, in a food processor, process the dry ingredients and butter in on/off pulses until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs; be careful not to overprocess. A bit at a time, add the milk, and process in on/off pulses until the particles begin to hold together; if necessary, add just enough additional milk so the mixture holds together but is not wet.) Firmly press the dough into the pan to form a smooth, even layer. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, position a rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake the chilled dough for 10 minutes; set aside to cool slightly. Toast, stirring occasionally in a baking pan, until very lightly browned, 5 to 8 minutes: 1 1/2 cups chopped pecans (I do this in a dry skillet on the stove top.) Set aside to cool.

Combine in a medium, heavy saucepan and, stirring frequently, bring to a boil over medium heat:
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons clover honey
1 tablespoon milk
1/8 teaspoon salt

Boil the mixture, uncovered, for 3 minutes; remove from the heat. Stir in the toasted pecans along with one teaspoon vanilla. Spread the mixture evenly over the baked layer. Bake until the crumb mixture is bubbly, golden brown, and just slightly darker at the edges, 17 to 20 minutes. Remove the pan to a rack to cool slightly.

Sprinkle over the top: 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips. Let stand for several minutes until the chocolate chips partially melt, then smooth across the surface with a table knife to partially spread the chocolate. (The surface should not be completely covered with chocolate. I prefer it to be evenly covered, so I use another couple/few tablespoons of chocolate chips.) Sprinkle over the top two tablespoons finely chopped pecans.

Let the chocolate cool until thickened but still slightly soft, then cut into bars; let cool completely before lifting the bars from the pan. Retrace the cuts to separate the bars, if necessary.

Yield: Twenty-four 2-2/3 x 1-inch bars (I prefer to cut 16.)

Legally Blonde the Musical

The thing that is consuming my whole life this semester is that I am performing in our college and community show, Legally Blonde the Musical. Normally, I don't do shows during the school year, only in the summer. But I couldn't resist doing this super-fun and infectiously entertaining musical. And I have a GREAT part that I just LOVE! I auditioned for the small but memorable role of Enid Hoopes (Enid Wexler in the movie), and even though she has only a handful of lines and a few verses to sing, she's a HILARIOUS character!

More importantly, in the last few shows I've done, I've had a terrific solo, duet, or trio, but I really wanted to be in some of the big ensemble numbers with the rest of the cast. And happily, for the songs that I love best in this show, Enid is in all of them! Granted, we have to assume that she had another career, spent time in the Peace Corps, etc. before coming to law school as a "non-traditional" aged student, but oh well.

I just loved this cast SO MUCH, that I wanted to show my affection and appreciation for them once the show got underway. So for opening night, I brought...wait for it...Legally Blondies! And for closing night, I brought something to share that was based on a Greek character, Nikos Argitakos, played by my wonderful friend, Michael Bergman. My dish was called (again, drumroll, please): R.G. Tacos, or Really Great/Greek Tacos! Am I not just the cleverest thing? Har har.

Legally Blondies
(Source: adapted from Taste of Home)

1-1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts, optional
1/2 cup toffee bits, optional

1. In a large bowl, combine the brown sugar, butter, eggs and vanilla just until blended. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; add to brown sugar mixture. Stir in chocolate chips (and nuts and toffee bits, if using).
2. Spread into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. Bake at 350° for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Cut into bars. Yield: 3 dozen.

R.G. (Really Good/Greek) Tacos

Seasoned Beef:
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 lbs. ground beef
1 large red onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon lemon pepper
1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup red wine
juice of half a large lemon

Add the olive oil to a large skillet over medium heat and cook the ground beef and onions until the meat is browned and the onions are tender. In the last few minutes of cooking, add the garlic to the saute, and the oregano, seasonings, and the red wine. Reduce until the wine is absorbed. Remove from heat, squeeze the lemon juice into the meat mixture, and add to a crock pot set on "warm" to serve buffet-style. Include the following items to the Greek taco buffet. 

Note: Gluten-free guests can skip the pitas or tortillas and make a Greek salad, so shred extra lettuce for them.

Greek Salad "Salsa"
Combine the following ingredients:
1 box Campari tomatoes, diced
1/2 large English cucumber, seeded and diced
1 small red onion, cut into thin slivers
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
juice of half a large lemon
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
pinch of sugar, to taste
salt and pepper, to taste

Other ingredients/toppings:
pitas or flour tortillas
prepared hummus (your favorite kind)
prepared tzatziki with 4 oz. of crumbled feta stirred in (you may wish to thin with lemon juice)
sliced kalamata olives
shredded Romaine lettuce

Pecan pie...in a muffin? YES, PLEASE!

OH SHOOT! I made these delicious little pecan pie muffins, and they were so good that we gobbled them up before I remembered to take a picture. So photo credit goes to someone named Dianne from St. Cloud, MN on All Recipes. In any case, these were so easy to throw together, and if you like pecan pie, this aptly-named muffin is calling your name!

Pecan Pie Muffins
(Source: All Recipes)

1 cup packed light brown sugar 1/2 cup all-purpose flour pinch of salt 1 cup chopped pecans

2/3 cup butter, softened 2 eggs, beaten 1 teaspoon vanilla

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 9 muffin cups with paper liners and spray with cooking spray (or 18 mini-muffins).
2.	In a medium bowl, stir together brown sugar and flour. Melt the butter with the pecans in a small sauce pan until they begin to smell toasty and slightly browned. Remove from heat and cool for five minutes. Whisk the eggs until fluffy, then combine with the cooled melted butter and nuts and the vanilla. Add this mixture to the dry ingredients, stirring just t combine. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups.
3.	Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 20 to 25 minutes. Cool on wire racks when done.

Bitchin' Brownies!

I am a recent convert to Bitchin' Kitchen on the Cooking Channel. Nadia G is HI-larious, and her recipes always look amazing! Yesterday, my roomie helped me make Nadia G's Dark Chocolate and Goat Cheese Brownies. The recipe calls for refrigerating them after baking and cooling, so I just tried one today, and they ROCK! They have a dense texture, deep, fudgy flavor with notes of caramel (due to lots of brown sugar), and the goat cheese swirl is much like cream cheese, but with more tang. The only changes that I made to the recipe were to make half again as much of the goat cheese topping (to use the whole 6 oz. roll), and I sweetened it with white sugar so that it didn't turn the topping brown. Oh, and I added a teaspoon of vanilla, so maybe it was off-white. Anyway, they are DELISH!

Dark Chocolate and Goat Cheese Brownies
(Source: adapted from Bitchin' Kitchen)

BROWNIE BATTER:
1 cup chopped unsweetened dark chocolate
2 sticks butter
2 cups brown sugar
3 eggs
1 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
1 cup all-purpose flour (or pecans, if you prefer)
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

GOAT CHEESE MIXTURE:
3/4 cup fresh creamy goat cheese, at room temperature
5 tablespoons (white) sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

Making the batter: Place a double boiler over medium heat. Add the dark chocolate and butter to the top pan and stir until the chocolate has melted. (I did this in the microwave.) Once melted, remove the pan from the heat and let the chocolate cool slightly. Whisk in the brown sugar and eggs. With a wooden spoon, fold in the walnuts, flour and sea salt.

Making the goat cheese mixture: In a large mixing bowl, combine the goat cheese, sugar, egg, and vanilla. Blend using an electric beater set to low speed.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Making the brownies: Line a baking dish with parchment paper and grease with the butter. (I just sprayed the pan.) Pour the brownie batter into the baking dish, then evenly scatter spoonfuls of the goat cheese mixture over the batter. With a knife, score the surface into a pattern.

Bake the brownies for 40 minutes. (I would say mine took 50 minutes or a bit longer.) When done, remove to a wire rack to cool. Once cool, cut the brownies into bars, remove them from the baking pan and refrigerate.

This sh-- is bananas....B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

I hate bananas and banana-flavored things, but I LOVE banana nut bread! So every time my roomie's bananas start to turn brown, I rescue them by chucking them (skin on, just as they are) right into the freezer. Then when I am ready to make banana bread, I thaw them in the sink or in a bowl for just a little bit (as they thaw, they release a lot of moisture), and then they peel easily to throw the fruity innards into the batter. Recently, every time I open the freezer door, a couple of frozen black bananas jump out at me and fall on the floor. I took this a sign that it was time to bake with them.

However, I decided to try to make banana cookies instead, and I don't know why this didn't occur to me before! These cookies are soft and cakey like banana bread (in fact, the batter is nearly identical to my favorite banana bread recipe), but they are browned and crispy all over, like the best part of banana nut bread--the edges! And they keep for a long time, staying soft and not going stale, if you can avoid gobbling them all up in the first day or two, that is!

Banana Nut Cookies
(Source: adapted from Simply Recipes and Vanilla Garlic)

1/2 cup (one stick) butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar (I used half white/half brown)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup mashed bananas (about 2 1/2 large bananas)
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups flour
pinch of salt (1/4 teaspoon if using salted butter, 1/2 teaspoon if using unsalted)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup pecans, coarsely chopped (walnuts and chocolate chips are fine alternatives--I used 1 1/2 cups toasted and chopped walnuts)

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and continue to beat until the mixture is light and fluffy.

In a bowl, mix the mashed bananas and baking soda. Let sit for two minutes. The baking soda will react with the acid in the bananas which in turn will give the cookies their lift and rise.

Mix the banana mixture into the butter mixture. Mix together the flour, salt, and cinnamon and sift into the butter and banana mixture and mix until just combined.

Fold into the batter the pecans, walnuts and/or chocolate chips. Drop in dollops onto parchment paper or Silpat-lined baking sheet. Bake for 14-16 minutes or until nicely golden brown all over. Let cool on wire racks.

Yield: Makes about 30 cookies (I got 31 using a regular cookie scoop and having added an extra half cup of nuts)

One good hand is all you need to make some tasty treats!

I have been suffering with carpal tunnel syndrome maybe from as far back as my college days when I worked in a salmon cannery in Alaska, cleaning fish all summer. But it's gotten so bad over the past few years that I can't even sleep through the night because of it. So I decided to finally do something about it. I suppose there's never a great time for surgery, but I do have most of January off, enough time (I hope) to have my dominant hand done and recover in time to start grading papers again. I had the procedure done on Thursday, and with the help of some strong narcotics, the pain isn't too bad, and--TA-DAH!--I've been sleeping like a baby!

What I haven't been doing, of course, is cooking. I can move my fingers and pick up very light things, but I can't grasp anything with any amount of strength or pressure. However, I can stir with my left hand and sort of guide things with my right. It ain't much, but it's enough to make some seriously gourmet rice krispie treats like these, inspired by a version I came across on Pinterest.

The original recipe called for regular Rice Krispies, but I used Cocoa Krispies (Cocoa Pebbles would have been even more awesome) plus a half cup of mini chocolate chips to amp up the chocolatey goodness. It also called for TWICE as much of the caramel topping, but that sounded like you'd have to have a lot of insulin on hand for that! A thin layer of tender caramel was plenty sufficient, plus I added a scant cup of macadamia pieces for crunch. Very decadent but not difficult to make, even if you're one-handed.

Browned Butter Cocoa Krispies Treats with Macadamia Caramel Topping
(Source: adapted Pots and Pins, via Pinterest)

Rice Krispies Treats:
4 tablespoons butter
1 package (10 oz.) regular marshmallows or 4 cups of mini-marshmallows
6 cups Cocoa Krispies or Cocoa Pebbles
pinch of coarse salt
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips     
      
Caramel:
1 cup white sugar (next time, I'd use brown sugar here)
3/4 cup light corn syrup
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 (1 stick) cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup macadamia pieces

Butter a 9x13-inch baking dish.  In a large pan, over medium-low heat, melt butter. Cook until the butter starts to foam, smell nutty, and turn golden brown. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted.  Pour in Cocoa Krispies, salt, and mini chips and stir gently until the cereal is evenly coated. Scoop mixture into prepared baking dish and using a lightly buttered spatula or buttered fingers, press down firmly into baking dish. 

In a large heavy-bottomed sauce pan, combine sugar, corn syrup, half cup of cream and the butter.  Stirring often, bring to a boil, over medium heat, then pour in remaining half cup of cream.  Heat without stirring to 242 degrees (soft ball stage) or until a small abount of syrup dropped into cold water forms a firm but pliable ball when removed from water. This will take about 20 minutes or so; watch so it doesn't boil over.  Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and nuts.  Immediately pour over Cocoa Krispies.  Allow caramel to cool completely, then cut into bars or squares.

Might be taking that 12 Days of Christmas thing a bit too seriously...

One would assume that all the holiday baking est fini, n'est-ce pas? AU CONTRAIRE, mon frère! The lady who won one of my silent auction prizes at a benefit concert back in September is having a game night or card party or some such tonight, and she ordered small platters of sweet treats for the event. She specifically asked for those pretzel Rolo treats that are (aside from unwrapping all of the Rolos) super-easy and quite yummy--especially when topped with a cinnamon almond. Then I also made this white chocolate peanut butter krispie candy from a recipe I found on Pinterest, and lastly, the Pioneer Woman's minty brownie bites. Initial taste-testing proved more than satisfactory (tee hee), but I hope the party hostess agrees.

For the pretzel Rolo treats, you simply unwrap some Rolo candies, place them on top of small pretzels, and bake in a 300-degree oven for three or four minutes, until the Rolo is soft but not melting to the point of losing its shape (yes, I realize that I screwed up that part on mine...oh well). Then remove them from the oven and immediately place a toasted pecan (or in my case, a cinnamon almond!) on top of the Rolo and press down lightly. Let the treats cool, and that's it! At Christmas, you might also choose to use red and green M and M's for the tops of the treats. Use your imagination!


White Chocolate Peanut Butter Krispie Candy
(Source: Plain Chicken, via Pinterest)

2 cups Rice Krispies cereal
2 cups dry roasted peanuts
2 cups miniature marshmallows
1 cup peanut butter
2 pounds white chocolate chips (2 12-oz packages plus 1 1/3 cups)

In a large bowl, combine cereal, peanuts and marshmallows. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt chocolate and peanut butter on High for 1 minute and then in 30 second intervals until fully melted. Stir chocolate into cereal mixture. Mixture will be slightly runny. Drop by tablespoons onto waxed paper. Let set until firm, 2 hours. Store in an airtight container.






Pioneer Woman's Chocolate Mint Brownie Bites
(Source: The Pioneer Woman Cooks!)

50 whole Andes Mints, unwrapped
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
2 whole eggs
3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon mint extract
1 tablespoon butter
1 ounce bittersweet chocolate, chopped finely*

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray mini muffin pan generously with baking spray. Melt unsweetened chocolate in a bowl in the microwave. Remove from microwave and stir in 8 Andes mints until all melted. Let cool slightly.

In a mixer with the paddle attachment, cream one stick of butter and sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time. With the mixer on low, drizzle in the cooled chocolate mixture slowly, mixing until it's combined. Add flour and mix thoroughly. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, add mint extract, then mix again.

Using a tablespoon or cookie scoop, scoop batter into mini muffin tins. Bake until done, about 13 to 15 minutes. Turn upside down out of pan and allow to cool.

Combine 25 unwrapped Andes mints in a bowl with the tablespoon of butter and chopped bittersweet chocolate. Microwave and stir until melted and smooth. Dip the brownie bites in the chocolate, concentrating on the top "cone" part. Allow to set for a few minutes. Chop the remaining Andes mints and sprinkle them on the top.

Set in the freezer for 10 minutes if you need them to set right away. Yum!

*I think one ounce of bittersweet chocolate must be a typo, as I used about a cup of bittersweet chocolate chips melted with one tablespoon of butter and the 25 Andes mints, and it was just barely enough to dip the 24 brownie bites that this recipe yielded for me.

And Lo, I Bring You Tidings of Great Potlucks which Shall Be to All People: A Christmas Epistle

I have had no fewer than FOUR holiday gatherings within a week's time, and I had to prepare something to take along to each of them! So for the first two events, I simply bought double the ingredients to make two batches of crock pot Hawaiian (pineapple) meatballs, that are always a big hit at parties.

Hawaiian/Pineapple Meatballs

4 pounds frozen (1/2 or 5/8 oz.) meatballs
2 tablespoons vegetable oil 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 teaspoon freshly-grated ginger (I use the kind in a tube)
6 tablespoons cornstarch
6 tablespoons soy sauce (I love the new Ponzu/citrus-flavored variety
6 tablespoons white vinegar (I like to use rice wine vinegar, too)
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
squeeze of sriracha
1 large (20 oz.) can crushed pineapple
2 sweet peppers, cut into thin strips (optional, but pretty--use red and green for Christmas!)

Add meatballs to the crock pot when ready to make the sauce. Heat the oil on medium high and saute for the garlic and ginger for a few minutes in a saucepan. While that is cooking, in a bowl, whisk together the corn starch, soy sauce, vinegar, water, sugar, black pepper and sriracha. Add the slurry to the saucepan and whisk constantly (so that the sauce does not get lumpy) until it thickens. When it is thick, remove from the heat and stir in the pineapple and peppers. Pour this mixture over the meatballs in the crock pot. Mix up the meatballs and sauce. Cover and heat on low for at least two hours. It will sufficiently stay 4-5 hours on low heat with an occasional stir.

Then, of course, there was the fabulous annual Padula Cookie Exchange to attend. The theme this year was a Colonial Christmas.

As for my contribution to this lovely spread of cookies, I decided to make something easy but impressive-looking.  Since two of the guests are partial to Parisian pastries (ooh, dig that groovy alliteration!), I turned to the Barefoot Contessa and her simple method for making palmiers or elephant ears. Now, if you made your own puff pastry from scratch, these cookies would be extremely complicated and time-consuming (and even tastier, no doubt).  But if you start with Pepperidge Farm, you'll be done in a jiffy! You can make them just with sugar, or add cinnamon, or I decided to add a hint of cardamom and ginger to make a tasty chai-spiced pastry.

Chai-Spiced Palmiers or "Elephant Ears"
(Source: adapted from The Barefoot Contessa, via Food Network)

1 cup sugar, divided

pinch kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon cardamom

1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

1 sheet puff pastry, defrosted (recommended: Pepperidge Farm)

 

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Combine 1/2 cup of the sugar and kosher salt and pour it over a flat surface such as a wooden board or marble slab. Unfold the sheet of puff pastry onto the sugar mixture.

Combine 1/2 cup of the sugar and the spices and spread the mixture evenly on the puff pastry. This is not about sprinkling; it's about an even covering of sugar. With a rolling pin, lightly roll the dough until it's a 13-inch square and the sugar is pressed into the puff pastry on top and bottom. Fold the sides of the square toward the center so they go halfway to the middle. Fold them again so the two folds meet exactly at the middle of the dough. Then fold one half over the other half as though closing a book. You will have 6 layers. Slice the dough into 38-inch slices and place the slices, cut side up, on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

Bake the cookies for 6 minutes, or until caramelized and brown on the bottom, then turn with a spatula and bake for another 3 to 5 minutes, until caramelized on the other side. Transfer to a baking rack to cool.

The last event of this festive week was a winter solstice party at Woven Meadows Farm. The evite instructed us to bring along our favorite winter cookies to share. I recalled these particularly excellent chocolate pistachio shortbread trees from a previous cookie exchange (recipe here), and though I was none too keen on rolling out dough and cutting out a bunch of cookies, I wondered if I could make them as slice and bakes? As it turns out, you can! I just divided the dough in half, rolled each part up in plastic wrap, chilled it, then sliced and baked the cookies. Once they cooled, I dipped the cookies halfway in chocolate and rolled the edges in ground pistachios. Pretty and pretty yummy!

Just when you thought this eternal post was over, I have one more holiday item to share. It was not for a party, at least not one that I attended. You see, back in September, my choir held a benefit concert and silent auction. The items that I contributed to the auction were two gift certificates for two desserts of the winner's choice. One of the gals who won one of the certificates decided to cash in on Christmas Eve. And she wanted cannoli, which I have never made before. I did not feel confident enough to make the shells, plus, I couldn't find the molds which are in a box somewhere.

So yesterday afternoon, my roommate and I drove down to Albany to check out the new Trader Joe's and do a little last-minute Christmas shopping, and we also hit up an authentic Italian bakery called Bella Napoli. They sold me two dozen cannoli shells for $0.69/apiece, and they were perfect! All I did was dip them in chocolate and pistachios (a culinary motif this year, it would seem), and then prepared a delicious fresh ricotta filling. I may have purchased the shells, but the ricotta was homemade with milk from my farm share, and that made all the difference. lease note: If you prepare these for an event, make the filling advance, but don't stuff the shells until right before your party. If they sit around longer than two or three hours, the shells will become soggy. You have been warned.

Cannoli Filling

whole milk ricotta made from a half gallon of milk (a generous two cups)
1/2 cup powdered sugar (or sweeten to taste)
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
zest of one small orange or large tangerine (very fine)
1 tablespoon ground pistachios
3 tablespoons mini chocolate chips

In the bowl of a food processor, blend the ricotta until very smooth. Add the powdered sugar, salt, vanilla, cinnamon, and orange or tangerine zest and blend again. Stir in the pistachios and chocolate chips and chill the mixture until ready to fill the cannoli.

The Monster Cookies Before Christmas

My friend June has been so busy at school this semester, that she asked me to be the co-advisor of the student gay-straight alliance club. This week, the GSA hosted a fundraising bake sale with a dark and semi-creepy "Nightmare Before Christmas" theme. Of course, I wanted to contribute something for the sale, but this was also the week of the intramural public speaking competition that I coordinate each semester, so I wasn't up for anything too involved. Plus, I find that fussy things don't always go over well at bake sales. Simpler is usually better.

I remembered that on a recent episode of "The Pioneer Woman," she made some yummy-looking (and theme-appropriate) "monster" cookies that also looked very quick and easy. The recipe calls for everything but the kitchen sink, but it's also very adaptable, so you can use whatever goodies you have on hand or prefer.

PW's Monster Cookies
(Source: adapted from The Pioneer Woman)

2 sticks (salted) butter, softened

1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 whole large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup M-n-M's (I swapped out macadamia pieces)
1/2 cup pecans, chopped
3/4 cup chocolate chips (I used bittersweet chunks)
1/2 cups peanut butter chips (I swapped out toffee bits)
2 1/4 cups Rice Krispies

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cream butter with sugars until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla and beat.

Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and kosher salt. Add to mixing bowl and mix till combined. After that, add in remaining ingredients in whatever quantity you prefer. Add more nuts if you’d like, or more M & M’s, more peanut butter chips or chocolate chips. Add Rice Crispies at the very end, mixing until just combined. Do not overmix!

Use a cookie scoop to scoop balls of dough onto a cookie sheet. (I used a half-sheet pan line with a Silpat, and used a muffin scoop to make six monster-sized cookies per pan.) Bake until golden brown, then allow to cool on a rack. (The large cookies took about 15 minutes to bake, and I got 20 cookies out of one batch of dough.)