Dip it in Chocolate

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Thursday, December 29, 2011

Chocolate-Dipped Candycanes (Stirring sticks!)

When I was in high school my friend and I used to pay visits to places like the firestation. Sometimes we would take cookies and sometimes we would take a paper and a pen on assignment for a non-existent "school project" where we had to ask questions like, "Do you have a dalmation?" Mostly we were there for the eye candy and the potential of getting to use the firepole.

Now that I am old and married and entirely uninterested in firemen or feigning school projects but still a little interested in firepoles, I am more aware and thankful for the sacrifice of public works figures like these. And I feel like at Christmastime all these people should get SOMETHING.

These candy canes are fantastic for that because they're cheap. (A box of 12 candy canes is like 98 cents and everyone knows that chocolate isn't actually bought, but magically appears in your pantry.) Also they are super cute. So that is why I love to give these as gifts.

And the potential of someday getting an offer to slide down the firepole.

Christmas Kiss Cookies

It's great when your kids give you permission to do things. Like, "Hey mom, sleep in today, while I do the dishes and wash my own underwear."

Just kidding. That's never happened.

But my two year old does tell me all the time to "shop it".

I am always happy enough to oblige with that request. And fortunately Amazon has my checking account # saved, so I don't even have to pile everyone in the car to keep him happy!

UN- fortunately, my husband is convinced he's saying "stop it".

Silly husband. I'm fairly certain it makes much more sense for my two year old to want me to buy things.

At any rate, you can have my permission to eat all of these chewy chocolatey surprise filled cookies.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Chewy Samoan Brickle

Havest thou any idea what brickle is? Yes, me neither. But it sounded like a good word for this. Also this has nothing to do with the tiny island of Samoa. But it does have similar ingredients to a Girl Scout Samoa cookie.

I have been making this so long I can't even remember where the recipe came from, and I can't find it on the internet anywhere. Sometimes we just call it crack. It is completely chewy and addictive, and it's strange because it tastes nothing like coconut or nuts. If you hate the ingredients, just trust me and make this anyways. The closest thing I can compare this to is probably Saltine toffee, but it is chewy instead of crunchy. After much deliberation I have decided this is kind of a cross between a homemade candy and a bar.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Cookies 'n' Cream Popcorn

Last week I decided to start playing with popcorn again. I am still partial to Thin Mint and Samoa but my husband went nuts for this Cookies 'n' Cream. Maybe it is a guy thing?

Christmas Caramels (and some of them might be chocolate-dipped)

I have so many posts for you it's ridiculous. Also I have lots of stories for you about how mean people can be at Christmastime, but in the spirit of a Grinch-less Christmas, I will refrain... for today.

I have been making these caramels for years (read: like 4 years). I took some to my good friend the other day and this is the message she sent me- "HANDS DOWN THE BEST HOMEMADE CARAMELS I have ever had!"

Take her word for it. Her name is Katie. You can trust her.

If you have never made caramels before I will just tell you, it's going to take you 30-45 minutes of non-stop stirring to make these. Don't do this when you have little kids underfoot, phone calls coming in, or cat sweaters to knit. Oh, you don't knit your cat sweaters for Christmas? Mmm, yeah, me neither...

I like to do it at night when the kids are in bed and my husband is home in case my arm needs a break. Also, you are going to need a candy thermometer. Be sure to calibrate it before beginning or it's pretty much pointless to use in the first place. (I usually do the ice point and boiling method, just for kicks, but either one is fine.)

The only time this recipe has failed for me, is when I decided not to use a thermometer. Duhhhhh. My candy thermometer is WAYYY off, so I usually stick it in to give me a ballpark, but poke in my digital "insta-read" meat thermometer every 5 minutes or so near the end until I reach the exact required degree. Don't be intimidated by the use of the thermometer, this recipe is really not difficult, and also you can count the non-stop stirring as a bicep workout for the day. BONUS!

Be sure to read through the recipe completely before you start because you won't have any hands free once you begin (and you might needa do a little math... but I am Math Ditz of the world, so if I can do it, you can do it!)

Also people will think you are Supreme Caramel Maker of the World when you feed them these, so feel free to embrace the title.

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Penguin Pops

I maybe should have titled this post "pops for dummies". These are seriously so easy, because you use a ready-made body you don't have to dip it in chocolate. The hardest part is the molding of the beaks and cutting out the feet. (Which really isn't hard at all). I'd estimate these take about 5 minutes to make the taffy pieces in bulk and then about 3 minutes per pop to assemble. It doesn't get easier than this!

Friday, December 9, 2011

Lemon Drop Cookies

First of all let me tell you, this is the diva of all cookies. Secondly let me tell you that I've still made these 3 times even though only about half of my cookies turn out each time. Worth it? Yep. Also this cookie is made from a mix so it only takes about 3 minutes to put together.

Chocolate-Dipped Clementines

You thought I was kidding when I said we were going to dip everything in chocolate this week, didn't you? Mmmmm, nope, pretty much not kidding at all.

The smell of clementines will always remind me of Christmas. Growing up in Europe, we spent almost every Christmas in a different country. I will have to dig up the picture of me riding a bobsled down the Olympic track in Norway so you guys can see my big dorky owl glasses and huge sweater. I told you I was super cool. The one thing that was pretty much always consistent was clementines. No matter where we were, we had clementines.

Also, when we moved back to the US, one Christmas my sister and I polished off an entire bag of oranges in one sitting. (Not clementines my friends... Oranges... Probably like 10 pounds worth. I'm pretty sure I must've had a vitamin deficiency at that point, because who does that?)

So anyways, I think these dipped-clementines are not only super Christmasy, but also classy and delicious. I highly recommend these for Christmas Eve festivities.

PS- If you love clementines, I wonder if you've made this soda yet? Delish!