In other news the copious amounts of sugar and butter in these christmas candy recipes kind of grosses me out. For goodies for John's parents (his dad is diabetic by the way, great idea lauren) and my boss I decided to make an old recipe for PB and chocolate bars that my mom used to make.
- 2 freaking POUNDS of powdered sugar
- 3 effin sticks of butter
- 2 cups of creamy peanut butter
seriously, just thinking about it makes me want a vegetable. After I finally got all of those mixed (and had proceeded to get powdered suger all over myself and my kitchen) I patted it into the bottom of a casserole dish. I melted chocolate chips and poured it over the top. Then I waited... and waited, and waited. It was supposed to 'set' after a couple of hours. Bullshit. After two hours i 'cut' it into squares with a butter knife and then let it set all night to solidify. Did it? Not at all. So I put it in the freezer for 20 minutes. It helped, but mostly just for the chocolate part, which completely kept separating from the PB/butter mush.
I then proceeded to hand pack and mold each square as I loaded up the tins. It was labor intensive, and it really knocked the whole 'presentation' thing off it's game. F.
In other cooking (*cough* unhealthy *cough) adventures, I made a few treats for John's sister's tacky sweater party. I thought I would leave the endive/questionable but fancy appetizers to girlfriends (oh HEY jaclyn), and stick with what works when feeding people (boys) drinking beer. I.E. comfort food. Although I did kind of feel like a douche since John's sister got me a 'Clean Food' book for Christmas since she knows how much I like my healthy eating. Oops.
I started making pinwheels based on a taste of home recipe, but many subsitutions and ingredient changes later, it turned out with:- cream cheese (enough to feed an army, seriously)
- green chilies (i finally found these in the grocery store! big step for me)
- black olives
- red peppers
- white flour tortillas (so much more pliable than WW and more crowd friendly, sadly)
- ground red pepper to excess
- Mrs. Dash's 'chipotle' seasoning to EXCESS
- Salsa to put in the middle
don't you like my dollar general plates? That's just $1 folks. After much tasting during the R&D stage, I couldn't eat any at the actual party because it was SO rich. This was a hit though, and was all gone when the party was over. On the other hand, what cream cheese appetizer isn't? That stuff is like gold.
I also was completely intrigued by a recipe I found for 'cheesecake on a stick' from Delish. No seriously, doesn't that sound like the stuff dreams are made of? I kept saying since so many people there grew up around Sedalia MO (home of the Missouri State Fair, obviously) that it was my on-a-stick tribute to their local cuisine.
- no-bake cookies & cream cheesecake
- dark chocolate chips to melt
- sprinkles
- mini skewers
Please click on the link to the recipe to see what is IMPOSSIBLE for these to look like. How are they perfectly spherical? While I was at my hair appointment that morning John was attempting to roll the hardened no-bake cheesecake into balls. Equipped with melon ballers, waxed paper, and a myriad of other tools he still was befuddled (yes befuddled) with how to make them any more smooth than you see there. They were frozen with sticks in them, then dipped in melted chocolate. With the chocolate still wet we attempted to dip them into christmas sprinkles..... you know, like the picture...... except that the chocolate swallowed them all. F. We abandoned the sprinkle idea pretty quickly. So glad I spent $6 on christmas sprinkles. Not.
Despite the so-so appearance (the plate helps, right?) these were hot property too. The stick makes it fun to eat, and who doesn't love cookies and cream. Am I right or am I right?
The plaid holiday headband matched the plaid holiday shoes. BAM.
Okay everybody, only 2 more hours at this desk and then I . AM. OUTTA HERE! Too bad I'll be driving 6 hours north today for the Iowa Fam festivities and then 15 hours east on Saturday for a WEEK LONG VACATION with the fam in DC at my brother's place. Too bad we are supposed to be driving in a blizzard the whole time. No seriously like 20 inches of snow during or just before our journey.
Even this one :)
In other life altering ridiculously amazing things, a vendor sent me a Godiva gift box for spending so much in advertising with them. I can be bought with chocolate, oh yes I can. Highlight of my life. I am never going back to Russell Stover.
So Happy belated Thanksgiving! I am thankful for oh-so-many things including you dear reader .. hi five. Anyway the weekend got wrapped up with mom and I going shopping. 
On Friday I met up with my lady friends, one of whom was in town from Denver for the Holiday. Picture these people in scarves. 
On Wednesday when I burned out of work at 5pm on the dot, the brother and I got home in time to decorate the tree. 
My dad in all of his goofiness got us hats. We resisted but secretly liked them. That's right dad, I admit it.
Coming to a Christmas card near you.
After six hours of traveling in one day we finally made it to the family farm in Iowa. I didn't take photos of the food, but the meal looked approximately like this:
My momma and her sisters (shout out to three uncles lounging in the background). Because my mom is one of eleven, the family gatherings generally have about forty or so people. We are a huge family, it's pretty great.
Guess we forgot our pilgrim hats, huh?
Around the corner from the farm is the 'graffiti barn' which has existed all of my life though I've never partaken (local high school kids?) this year we decided to brave the 28 degree weather (plus wind, brrrrrr) and make our mark. Hey... the family that sprays together stays together.
At home, early the next morning we went to water aerobics where my sister was the impatient instructor. a) it's not just for old ladies, it's serious business
At home for our last family meal we had EGGS BENEDICT... mwwwwwwwah. I love it. Mom whipped up the hollandaise and I made sure everyone got one with traditional ham (yadda yadda yadda) and veggie with tomato and spinach leaves. This is becoming one of my favorite meals ever... minus how labor intensive it is.
.jpg)
I found Aida's recipe for vegetarian pot pie and I was intrigued. Growing up you couldn't get my brother and I away from those frozen delicous pot pies. I was excited to try the recipe with yet another produce item I had yet to purchase/use/knowingly eat. Fennel had a strong odor that reminded me of something, but I'm not sure what. All in all it was basically an onion, right?
The food was very tail-gate-esque. Not so healthy, but appropriate and delicous all the same (holler boy scout popcorn!).
Mom made rice crispies... which have never been my thing, but I know for a fact that the ones on the far left with the gooey carmel layer will rock your socks off (Aunt Teresa's recipe!)
