Peppermint Bark

I inquired of my Twitter followers the other day what they might like to have a recipe for and @lisahanockjasie asked for peppermint bark. I'd never done it before that, but I can tell you it's so very easy that there's no need to ever buy it.

You need very few ingredients and even less time to get this one done. I made one with white coating and one with chocolate and the kids liked both equally well. Be careful when melting chocolate or coating - you need absolutely dry equipment to start with and add the room temperature extract only after the chocolate or coating is already melted and still quite hot.

The candy can be added after the extract or, as I did - after the chocolate is spread onto parchment. Adding the extra drizzle of the opposite flavor helped adhere the candy to the bark, as well.


Crushing candy canes can be a challenge. I used a hammer to gently crush mine. I originally tried the food processor, but wound up with inconsistently crushed candies - some were powder and some too large. I laid them on a baking sheet and gently hammered them until they were the size I needed.

Peppermint Bark
Makes 2 sheets (approx. 15x15) of candy
Printable Recipe

12 ounces chocolate chips or chocolate candy melts
12 ounces white chocolate chips or white candy coating
1 teaspoon peppermint extract or several drops peppermint oil
4 candy canes, crushed

1. Set aside 1/4 cup of both types of candy melts.
2. Melt each color of chocolate separately either in the microwave or in a double boiler. If using a double boiler the water in the bottom pot should NOT be boiling, but simmering. Even steam from the bottom pot can cause the chocolate to seize.
3. Once the chocolate is melted, add a teaspoon of peppermint oil to each color and stir thoroughly but very gently. Once the extract or oil has been successfully added (it doesn't seize the chocolate) stir it a bit more vigorously until it cools a bit. This will help to temper the chocolate and it will set up better than if you simply melt and pour.
4. Pour the chocolate onto the parchment and spread to desired thickness.
5. Top with chopped candies.
6. Melt reserved chips or coating and drizzle alternate colors over each. Drizzle white over chocolate and chocolate over white.
7. Let cool and dry completely before cutting with a very sharp knife or breaking into pieces.

Delicious Holiday Books and Gifts

Each year my thoughts about Holiday gift-giving turn inevitably to food. Here are a few ideas for this year that fill the bill no matter what you'd like to give. From edible gifts that are a bit more expensive to homemade budget gifts to delectable books. Enjoy!


For a scrumptious countdown to the holidays, the chocolate lover on your list will love the Fannie May truffle assortment gift box ($17.99-$25.99) from Fannie May fine chocolates. The 16- or 25-piece assortment features a variety of Fannie May treats to indulge in, including Classic, French Vanilla, White Russian and Orange Royale flavors, all tucked inside a gift-ready holiday box. For more information, visit http://www.fanniemay.com/.
*Who doesn't love truffles? Fannie May is one that we like a lot here.



For a new twist on a festive favorite, Cheryl & Co. will introduce Buttercream Frosted Brownies ($28.95 - $65.95) just in time for the holidays. Home of the famous Buttercream Frosted Cookies, the Buttercream Frosted Brownies collection will feature hot fudge brownies, fudge brownies and peanut butter brownies. For more information, visit http://www.cherylandco.com/.
*Those brownies are dangerous! We loved ours and I highly recommend them.




For a gift that truly “pops,” The Popcorn Factory offers Big Snow design tins ($24.99$39.99). Available with The Popcorn Factory’s traditional three-way combo of robust cheese, butter and caramel corn, these tins are a classic gift that keeps on giving – in two-, three-and-a-half- or six-and-a-half gallon sizes. Tins can be personalized with a photo or message label on top. For more information, visit http://www.thepopcornfactory.com/.
*Popcorn from The Popcorn Factory is a favorite here; always fresh, crisp and delicious.


Thanks to Jamie Plaxco of MWWGroup for information and samples.
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This holiday season give the gift of food with creative home made gifts that are as eye catching as delicious! Tasteofhome.com has the Top 25 gifts that require simple ingredients but will have your friends and family talking until next year’s holiday season!

A few of the ideas offered:

Gingerbread Cookies

Get the kids in the kitchen to decorate a tried and true favorite. Decorative ginger bread cookies are simple, easy and fun for the whole family to get involved!



Cinnamon Hot Chocolate Mix Recipe

Give a gift for on the go with packaged hot chocolate! Mix cocoa powder, dry powder, creamer and cinnamon for some spice to give it a twist. Top with marshmallows in each individual package and send with a mug, perfect for the holiday season.



Peppermint Lollipops

Design your own festive lollipop for friends and family for a special gift. With just simple ingredients-peppermint oil, sugar, water, corn syrup and food coloring you can get creative in the kitchen with simple peppermint pops, great for after dinner treat!


Homemade Snow Globe

Get creative with a snow globe from home as a gift, layered sugar cookies with fluffy meringue topped with edible treats friends and family will sure to be impressed!


For these recipes and more like them visit http://www.tasteofhome.com/foodgifts.


Thanks to Anjali Saxena of Krupp Kommunications for information and images.

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Chocolate: A Love Story by Max Brenner, Illustrations by Yonatan Factor

Chocolate is a substance that transcends borders, boundaries and emotions. The mere mention brings a twinkle to the eye and a quickening of the pulse. Max Brenner knows this and shares his intense love for chocolate in this funky, eclectic and beautiful book. The illistrations themselves are worth the purchase, and the recipes are to-die-for. A perfect gift for the chocolate lover or art lover in your life.




Thanks to Anna Balasi of Hachette Book Group for information and book copy.


Elizabeth David's Christmas, edited by Jill Norman, illustrations by Mary Ross

Throughout her distinguished career, Elizabeth David wrote and collected many articles about Christmas food. She put together a file of these articles, recipes, and notes, and even wrote an introduction, intending to publish them as a book. It never appeared, and after her death in 1992, her literary executor
Jill Norman found the box with all this material. She put them together as Elizabeth intended, and we now have her "Christmas" edited for the American reader, handsomely illustrated and ready to guide us through this daunting festive season with good food and high spirits – and our humor intact.

Beautifully written, this new edition contains around 150 recipes
together with a selection of David's own articles, plus other writings that over the years she found interesting and helpful. Feeding friends and family for Christmas can be stressful, and this book is intended to help busy cooks plan ahead and enjoy Christmas as much as their guests. The classicsare all here: turkey (of course), but also goose; stuffings; sauces; mince pies; and Christmas puddings. For the armchair cook, the text also provides information as well as
diversion: here are the actual traditions of Christmas's past, as well as descriptions of the yuletide in other countries. In other words, a feast for mind, chef, and table.

I've been hanging on to my copy for over a year. SO entranced with it that I couldn't put it down and hardly able to find words to adequately describe it, I wanted to be sure and share it before Christmastime this year. For anyone who is a fan of Elizabeth David, a Christmas cookbook may almost seem absurd for her as she was happiest alone for that day, but this book is all her, written in as relaxed and comfortable a way as anything else she penned, with recipe done in a style that only Elizabeth David was able to deliver. A MUST read for any cook and a wonderful gift for the Ellizabeth David fan.

Thanks to Daniel Pritchard of David R. Godine, Publisher for information and book copy.


Nigella Christmas by Nigella Lawson

I don't even have this book yet, but I'm putting it here as part of my Christmas list! I think every book that Nigella has written is a must-have for anyone interested in cooking, from beginner to full-fledged chef. I have no doubt at all that this book is as wonderful as all of her others.

Merry Christmas

Everyone has holiday traditions; or they should. Our family celebrates Christmas with several traditions.

1) A real tree that we usually cut down at a tree farm that we decorate while sipping hot chocolate and munching on Christmas cookies.

2) Secret Santa~we pick names on Thanksgiving after dinner and give gifts to our recipients until Christmas Eve.

3) Our annual Christmas Eve party~just us ~we light every candle we have, light luminarias on the front walk, turn on Christmas songs, put out a table full of appetizer-type food and reveal our Secret Santas with a final gift. We also try to watch a Christmas Movie that night.

4) We put out Magic Reindeer Food before the kids go to bed on Christmas Eve.

5) I stay up after the kids are in bed and wrap presents by "Christmas light" and make "Santa's Footprints" on the floor with baby powder.

6) In the morning I wake the kids (YES, I am up before they are!) by ringing bells and telling them they just missed the Big Guy.

7) New this year will be a bowl full of oranges (clementines) and a small bowl full of pennies in remembrance of my grandfather Theodore Sharp~when he would wake on Christmas morning there was an orange and a penny in his stocking and they always had homemade vanilla ice cream on Christmas Day. I want my children to always understand how fortunate they are that we are able to have so much. We are actually very poor by today's standards but I still believe we are richer than most in what we do have, and I am very grateful for it. I want them to learn that as well.

On to menus! Our Christmas Eve party varies slightly in some aspects each year but there are mainstays that we cannot be without and they are:

Cajun BBQ Shrimp
Chicken Cheese Spread
A plateful of various fish; smoked oysters, kippers, etc.Nanaimos

We also usually have cheeses and crackers, a bowl of candy and Chex mix! My kids worship that stuff.

For Christmas dinner this year I wanted to go as simple as possible without losing any of the festive feel of the day. We will be having:

Roast pork loin and new potatoes with rosemary and garlic (there's mom's rosemary!)
Gravy
Green bean casserole (kids' request)
Baby asparagus
White corn
Relish tray
Homemade rolls
Salad

Dessert:

Croquembouche (I will have to take a picture)
Cherry pie
Cookies etc.

Here are a few of the recipes, I won't repeat ones I have already posted.
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Cajun BBQ Shrimp
Printable Recipe

3 slices bacon-diced fine
2 sticks- 1 c. margarine (NOT butter)
2T. Dijon mustard
1 1/2t. chili powder
1/4 t. dried basil
1/4 t. dried thyme
black pepper to taste
1T. crab boil
1/2t. Tabasco
1 1/2 lbs large shrimp-shell on

Cook bacon in a large oven proof pot until brown. Add margarine and melt. Add remaining ingredients and place in oven-uncovered. Bake at 375 degrees F for 20 minutes.

These are great even with the shell still on and eaten with the shrimp.

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Chicken Cheese Spread
Printable Recipe

2-8oz. pkgs. cream cheese (softened)
2 cans Underwood Chicken Spread
1/4 c. green pepper-small dice
1/4c. peanuts-chopped fine

Mix all and chill-allow to soften slightly before serving with crackers.

Variations on green peppers and peanuts:
red pepper and walnuts
grated carrot and raisins
dried apricot and pecans

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Magic Reindeer Food
Printable Recipe

Santa can't help but stop if the reindeer take him to your treat!
Mix together:

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup instant oatmeal
2 tbsp of glitter (substitute edible sprinkles if you live in an area with wildlife)

One More Thing!

I don't know HOW I forgot this but, I never make a turkey without first brining it.

Here is a basic brine recipe you can try, but I really prefer just plain old salt. About 1 cup for a 20 lb turkey and overnight soaking should do it.

This recipe will give you the full out method for doing it yourself.

Have a Happy Turkey Day!

Roast Brined Turkey
Serves: 10 to 12
Printable Recipe

2/3 cup salt
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 cup black pepper, cracked
Pinch dried thyme
13 cloves
13 allspice, cracked
3 bay leaves
13 juniper berries, crushed
Water
12-14 pound turkey

Combine salt, herbs and water in a pan and bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes. Allow the mixture to cool then over turkey in pot just large enough to hold both. If turkey is completely covered, don't worry about using all of brine. Cover with foil and refrigerate 6 hours or overnight, turning 2 or 3 times to make sure turkey is totally submerged.

Remove turkey from brine and pat dry with paper towels.

Place turkey on its side on rack in shallow roasting pan. Roast at 450 degrees 15 minutes. Turn turkey to other side and roast another 15 minutes. Turn breast-side up and roast another 15 minutes.

Reduce heat to 325 degrees and roast until meat thermometer inserted in center of thickest part of thigh registers 160 to 165 degrees, about 2 hours. Remove from oven and set aside 20 minutes before carving.