Peppermint Bark.

I couldn't tell you what prompted me to make my first batch of peppermint bark. Honestly. I'm trying to figure out how I stumbled on the recipe and am coming up blank. What I do know is that it's become a hit among all my friends and family. Even Erik loves it, and he hates sweets. And now I'm going to tell you how to make it.

Spoiler alert: it's suuuuuper easy.

What you'll need:

• 1 bag of chocolate chips
• 1 bag of white chocolate or vanilla-flavored candy melts (from the craft store)
• 20ish peppermints
• Microwave-safe container or double-boiler (depending on how you want to melt the chocolate)
• 9" x 13" pan or whatever you want to put it on/in
• Something with which to crush the peppermints

I personally prefer Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips, but you can use any brand and use milk or dark, depending on your tastes. I don't advise using white chocolate chips from the grocery store because they seriously don't melt well. The candy melts are meant for melting and I don't really notice much of a taste difference. You could also use chocolate candy melts to make the whole thing easy-breezy, but I dislike the taste of milk chocolate candy melts.

Alright, step one is to unwrap those mints and double-bag them in Ziplock baggies. Then take out all of your stress and frustrations by crushing the shit out of them. My weapon of choice is this ... hammer meant for pounding out meat. (TWSS.) I suppose you can use a real hammer or maybe a rolling pin?

You want more smaller pieces than bigger ones. Basically, anything you see that you wouldn't want to bite down on, crush it. But you still want non-tooth-cracking pieces to make it look pretty. Separate it into equal parts.

Step two: melt the chocolate. I use the microwave because I'm the laziest person ever, so I throw it all in a two-cup glass measuring cup and heat it up in 30-second intervals. Make sure to stir in between and don't overcook it, because then it seizes and you can't use it.

Pour into your pan and spread evenly to the edges. Or, if you don't have a pan or don't want to use it, you can also use wax paper on a baking sheet and just spread it into a thin-ish layer. Or, be super adorable and put it into molds or cookie cutters!

Then sprinkle one half of the crushed peppermints over the top. Stick it in the fridge (or someplace cold, I've used my garage when I have no fridge space) for about fifteen minutes(?) and find something to do... like drink wine and take ridiculous iPhone selfies.

The timing is flexible; once it looks and feels really solid, you're ready for step three. But don't take it out of the fridge/garage/cold place until you're ready with the next layer. Step three is very similar to step two, except this time you're melting the white chocolate candy melts. I find that a whole bag is a little too much, so use like, three-quarters of the bag. Repeat step two - melt, pour, spread, cover in crushed peppermints, and put it back in the fridge.

At this point I usually leave it overnight. You'd probably be okay with an hour, just to make sure it's really hard (TWSS, jeez). Take it out and let it sit for five minutes, then flip it out of the pan and attempt to break it in pieces. Guys, this is the suckiest part because the peppermints hurt my hands every time. That's why I started putting it in molds.

For a variation, you can definitely reverse the order of the chocolate and put the white on the bottom - sometimes I like this better because with the small cookie cutters, when I add the hot white chocolate, the milk chocolate melts a little underneath and starts to swirl in. However, I've also seen people do a single-layer peppermint bark with just white chocolate or a milk-and-white chocolate swirl.

This is seriously the most addicting Christmas snack ever and I forget how much I love it until I make it every year. I hope you take a crack at it because it really is pretty simple and so, so yummy!

Blue Moon Cupcakes.

Back in October, I had a party at my place to celebrate Erik’s birthday. Being the Martha Stewart wanna-be that I am, I wanted to bake something, but I wanted it to be cool. Erik and his friends didn’t want frilly color-coordinated cupcakes or any type of fancy dessert.

Thanks to the power of Pinterest and the internet in general, I found a few cupcake recipes that mimicked alcoholic beverages and knew that was what I was going to make. Finding the recipe for Blue Moon Cupcakes (link to the actual recipe here) was just pure luck, considering most people like Blue Moon and it’s one of Erik’s faves.

Today (yes, only three months late) I’ll be sharing my experience making these. Spoiler alert: they’re AMAZING.

You’ll need to grab the following ingredients: unsalted butter, sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, eggs, vanilla extract, red and yellow food coloring, orange zest, milk, and of course, a bottle of Blue Moon.

Perfect! Okay, the first step is to mix the dry ingredients in one bowl. That’ll be the flour, baking soda, and salt.

Next, I zested the orange, which proved to be a more difficult feat than expected. You’re looking for about a half a teaspoon; I don’t know if I managed to get that much, but I don’t think it really mattered.

After that are a series of steps I didn’t photograph. You beat the softened butter first, then add the sugar slowly, making sure it gets incorporated as you go along. Next, add the eggs one at a time – again, you’re making sure they fully mix in before adding the next one. Finally, add the food coloring, vanilla extract, and orange zest, and you’ll have the prettiest batter I ever did see:

Now it’s time to open that Blue Moon! Mix the beer and milk in a measuring cup. (Note: when I did this, the consistency was off-putting because I think the beer curdled the milk, or at least did something weird to it. However! Everything turned out fine in the end, so if this happens to you, don’t panic… like I may or may not have done.)

You’re going to alternate between adding the beer/milk mixture and the flour mixture. There’s no exact science here, but make sure the last thing you add is the remainder of the dry ingredients. Now the batter will look a little less orange, but still fun.

 

Scoop the batter into cups – about 2/3 of the way full – and bake. Let them cool completely, then decorate! The original recipe calls for homemade frosting, but I cheated and went with store-bought vanilla. You can garnish with little orange slices, but like I mentioned earlier, Erik and his friends likely wouldn’t, erm, appreciate my decorative skills; instead, I went with blue sugar.

These are so delicious and moist. The Blue Moon flavor is definitely there, but it’s not overwhelming. I couldn’t really say if non-beer drinkers would enjoy these – the Blue Moon/beer flavor may be subtle enough to not be too strange – so just be aware of that if you’re making these for a mixed crowd.

~*~*~*~

Blue Moon Cupcakes

 

Ingredients

3/4 c unsalted butter, softened

1 3/4 c sugar

2 1/2 c flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3 eggs, room temperature

1 tsp vanilla

2 drops red food coloring

10 drops yellow food coloring

1/2 tsp orange zest

1 c Blue Moon beer

1/4 c milk

Frothy White Frosting [recipe here], or any homemade/store-bought vanilla frosting

small orange slices, for garnish

Directions
1. Line 24 cupcake trays with liners. [Use white liners if you can, they become translucent during baking and really sell the mini Blue Moon image]. In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking power and salt.
2. In a large bowl beat butter on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar a little bit at a time, beating well. Once it's all added beat for 2 more minutes.
3. Add eggs, beating after each.
4. Add vanilla, food coloring and orange zest and beat.
5. Mix beer and milk in a measuring cup. Alternatively add beer / milk mixture and flour mixture to butter mixture in the large bowl, beating after each. End on the flour mixture.
6. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full. Bake for 18 minutes at 375 degrees F until cupcakes are golden and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
7. Once cool, frost each cupcake with a generous amount of frosting. Just before serving, garnish each with a small orange slice.

Closet Re-Design.

Before I repainted my room, my closet had photos taped to the door in a grid. Everyone really liked it, but it was difficult to trade old pictures for new ones and all the pictures I took down had sticky residue where the tape was. I was trying to think of a way to easily swap photos and, thanks to some internet inspiration, came up with a clothesline-like setup.

As you'll see, I also pinned up a few non-photo things, like ticket stubs and things like that. My plan is to eventually print out all the pictures I have currently and put them in some albums or boxes, so that I can easily switch photos when I get tired of the ones up there.

And now, for the pictures!

chocolatey goodness.

Folks, it's almost Valentine's Day. That can only mean one thing: time to go all Martha Stewart on random people in my life. Last night I spent some quality time with my (mom's) stand mixer, our finicky oven, and two bags of Dove chocolate. Don't worry if these pictures give you a crazy chocolate craving - the recipe's at the bottom, and they were totally easy to make.

The willpower it took not to eat half of these is really indescribable.

Any batter that includes melted chocolate as a key component is a-okay in my book.

More chocolate!

Confession: I make huge messes when I bake.

Final product in it's perfect form - cool enough to eat, warm enough that the chocolate bits are still melty.

I also made a batch of snickerdoodles, since they were all the rage at my birthday party last month. These are destined to be packed up and sent away to a few lucky folks - half will be in a care package to Lynds and the other half are off to Mark's place, since he's got a humongous test coming up at the end of this week.

Of course, this is just phase one. Phase two has yet to be dreamed up, but will include yummy treats for both my family and my Valentine. And then in a week, I have to figure out what to make for my mom's birthday! I love having so many excuses to bake.

---

Original recipe, found in a magazine (can also be found here, but they use Snickers instead of dark chocolate bits).

Chocolate Fudge Chunky Cookies

Prep time: 25 min.
Baking time: 10-12 min.
Difficulty: Easy

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:
• 1 bag DOVE® PROMISES® Milk Chocolate
• 1 bag chopped DOVE® PROMISES® Dark Chocolate
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

WHAT TO DO:

1. Coarsely chop the DOVE® PROMISES® Milk Chocolate and melt them either in a bowl on top of a double boiler or in the microwave for 1 to 1-1/2 minutes.
2. Stir the chocolate until smooth. Add the sugar, butter, eggs and almond extract.
3. Stir in the flour and baking powder.
4. Add 1 cup of chopped DOVE® PROMISES® Dark Chocolate.
5. Drop heaping tablespoons of batter on an ungreased cookie sheet.
6. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes.
7. Cool on the cookie sheet.

Makes 2 dozen cookies.

holiday week 2010: day 3.

Gift Wrapping
Okay folks, get ready to point your fingers at the crazy girl because I love wrapping gifts. Picking out presents is a fun journey in and of itself, but there's just something about sitting amongst a pile of successful purchases, pretty gift wrap, and shiny ribbon and bows that makes me so happy. And don't even get me started on how lovely I think a stack of wrapped gifts looks.

(Also, I totally want to gush about the gifts I got, but most of my friends read this blog and I don't want to spoil the surprise.)


Gift wrapping war zone.


All wrapped and pretty!

Cards
This is the second year that I unleashed my creative side and hand made my Christmas cards. I was extremely proud of myself this year, as I adored pretty much all of my designs.


Work station.


More supplies.


Some of the finished products!

Treats
This section is going to provide you with so much evidence as to why my family calls me their mini Martha Stewart. I might've gone a bit crazy this year, but I have so much fun making any kind of food, so it was worth it.


Cupcakes for a bake sale hosted by my cat shelter.


Peppermint bark, nom nom.


Chocolate-dipped Oreos.


Chocolate-dipped Chips Ahoy!


Lots of chocolate and sprinkles.


Chocolate-dipped pretzels!


Finished goody bags!

The Christmas season brings out the giver in me like no other time of year. I go overboard on picking out gifts and giving things a personal touch, hence why I spent so much time crafting cards and dipping everything I could find in chocolate.

What gift(s) are you super excited to give this year, or in past years?

holiday week 2010: day 1.

Pretty simple. We have three large Rubbermaid bins filled to the brim with tons of decorations. Usually it's an afternoon-long process of trading out the year-round knick knacks and replacing it all with lots of lovely Christmas trinkets. I took pictures of most of it, but we would be here forever if I found all the spots where we have decorations up.

Then it's time for the tree, which is a process I complete pretty much 100% by myself now. (My family is a bunch of Grinches... or, they're just lazy.) Since we have a pre-lit fake tree, half of my work is done by the time I take it out of the garage and set it up. Then I add gold garland and the biggest variety of ornaments I have ever seen. It's good practice for letting go of my OCD tendencies because I just hang things based on a feeling and the only thing I monitor is if there are empty spots.

Around the House












The Tree






My Room

There will only be four days in my Holiday Week, so expect long, photo-heavy posts. I hope you enjoy them anyway! Thanks to Nora for the inspiration to talk about all things Christmas for the week.