Hot Chocolate Mix and Zesty Southwestern Peanut Brittle {Homemade gift ideas}

I assume you’ve noticed that we’re having quite the “homemade” Christmas around our house this year and I am trying to share with you as many ideas as I can.  One thing you can always be certain of with me, though.  Some of my gifts every year will come from my kitchen.  I have some old favorites that I have made year after year, but this year I wanted to try some new things.

In preparation for my Christmas gift cooking, I recently purchased a big bag of store brand granulated sugar because, you know, the pennies must be pinched.  I later told my husband to knock me up-side the head if I ever make such a mistake again.  This particular store brand of sugar is full of big lumps and I am having to sift it before each use and throw out a lot of unusable sugar because of all the lumps.  That’s not a very economical use of sugar, wouldn’t you agree?

Enter C&H Sugar to save the day.  Just when I didn’t know how I was going to get the cooking done when I needed to for Christmas gifts, C&H came along with a beautiful, high quality product that gives me perfect results. 

And do you know what I found out?  C&H Sugar has a great website as a resource for recipe and gift ideas.  It was on that website that I got some ideas for a few gifts that I will be giving.

I found that I had some of these darling jars in my closet that were just begging to have something delicious placed in them.  Being as cold as it’s been this fall, Hot Chocolate Mix seemed perfect. 

Making this is so easy, it’s ridiculous.  Here’s what you need:

1 3/4 cups nonfat dry milk powder
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used dark cocoa powder)
1/2 cup firmly packed C&H Brown Sugar
1/4 cup C&H Pure Cane Sugar

Instructions:

Layer ingredients carefully in a quart jar. Or if you’re like me, you might simply chose to go ahead and mix the ingredients before placing them in a jar (and my jars are smaller than a quart – they are 2 cups).   Add mini marshmallows or chocolate chips to fill additional room and add a sweet treat to your mix.  Seal tightly. To reconstitute, mix ingredients well. For a single serving, add 8 oz freshly boiled water to 1/2 cup mix in mug. Stir until completely dissolved.

But here’s what I’m really excited about.  In perusing the list of recipes on the C&H Sugar website, I came across this recipe for Zesty Southwestern Peanut Brittle.  Now, being from Texas, I just can’t pass up a “Zesty” and “Southwestern” twist to an old favorite like Peanut Brittle.  And since I had never made Peanut Brittle before, I knew I had found my new thing to try for this year. 

I was a little intimidated by the thought of making candy.  However, I found this recipe to be very easy and pretty quick to make.

Zesty Southwestern Peanut Brittle

Makes:  about 1-1/2 pounds peanut brittle

A bit of Cayenne Pepper gives this classic candy a subtle kick.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup water
1 cup corn syrup, light
2 cups C&H Pure Cane Granulated Sugar
1/4 cup butter
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups peanuts, raw shelled (I used dry roasted)
1-1/2 tsp. baking soda

Instructions:

Combine first six ingredients in a large saucepan and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture reaches 275°F on a candy thermometer. Add peanuts (this will lower the temperature a bit). Continue to cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until the mixture reaches 295°F. Remove from heat and stir in the baking soda. Pour onto a heavily buttered cookie sheet. For very thin brittle, stretch candy with a fork before it cools and hardens (or split the recipe and pour into 2 cookie sheets).
Credit: Recipe Developed and Tested By Contest Winner Gregory Ware

I divided the peanut brittle into bags of about 4 ounces each and that gave me 9 bags.  That’s NINE small gifts from one batch of peanut brittle that probably only cost a couple of dollars to make.  These will be perfect for giving to Sunday School teachers and the aides and administrators at the school.

So thank you to C&H Sugar for the wonderful gift and recipe ideas on your website and also for sponsoring this post with a $20 gift card to help out with the expenses of my Peanut Brittle experiment.  I might not have tried it without you.

***

I have linked this post to Chocolate Friday hosted by Lisa at Stop and Smell the Chocolates.  Join us over there for more chocolate recipes!

Is there a meeting for this?

Last night, I was working on dinner. Nathan walked through the kitchen and stopped at the oven. He clicked on the light and looked inside.

"That's weird."

Mike and I looked at one another and then looked at him and both asked, "What's weird?"

Shrugging his shoulders he said, "It's empty."

Hi. My name is Donna and apparently I have a baking problem.

Pine Cone Christmas Tree Craft {Homemade Gift Idea}

We got busy this weekend on doing some Christmas crafts and making some more Christmas gifts. One went really well. The other… let’s just say it could have gone better.

First let me explain that last year with the big new pre-lit tree that we had purchased on clearance the year before, we passed our other tree down to the kids so that they could have their own tree for all their ornaments and to decorate however they want. I try to come up with new and fun ways for them to decorate it. Last year, we made paper chains. This year…. oh I had a great idea for this year.

Popcorn strings.

Yeah. That’s the thing that didn’t go so well. There was more eating of all the broken popcorn pieces than stringing going on.

This was the final result.

Yes, there are, in fact, popcorn strings on the tree. Well, strings might be a slight overstatement. See those two little white lines going across the top. Yeah, those. Those are our popcorn strings. Sarah’s is about 1 foot long and Nathan’s is a bit less than that.

The problem was that I purchased tapestry needles so that the kids wouldn’t poke themselves and have bloody popcorn strings. The tapestry needles were just too big and broke most of the popcorn in half as you pushed it through. So, I’ve got some tweaking to do in my approach to this one. We may try again next year with a little sharper needles.

*** Edited to add: I just got an email suggesting to pop the popcorn a couple of days ahead of time and let it get stale to keep it from breaking apart. That might also solve the problem of the more eating that stringing... at least on the part of the mom. ;) ***

We also completed another craft that will be some Christmas gifts. Money is tight right now so I am working hard to do as many low cost homemade gifts as possible this year. This definitely fits that to a “T.”

You’ll Need:

Pine cones
Acrylic paint (green & white)
Paint brushes
Paper plates/newspaper
Yellow felt
Star stencil (or freehand)
Scissors
Hot glue

First, be sure to cover your working area with newspaper and have the kids put on old shirts that you don’t mind getting dirty with a little paint. Have them paint the pinecones green, covering as much of the brown up as possible.

It’s a lot to do all at once, so you may need to allow a couple of different sittings to get all of it done.

Allow the green paint to dry completely. Then have the kids go back with the white paint and put snow on the tips.

Use a stencil or free hand cut stars out of the yellow felt. Once all the paint is dry, hot glue the star to the top. You can add a ribbon or string to it to make it a hanging ornament if you like.

Have you done any Christmas crafts this year? Have they been a success? Or busted miserably?

The end of another era… {Mama Braggin’ Monday}

Every once in a while you realize that something is passing out of your life as a mom and you know you will never see it again.  Kind of like when you changed that last diaper, washed that last sippy cup or took apart the crib.  We’re not always sad to see these things go (hello… diapers?) but on some level we are because it means that our little ones are just growing up too fast for our taste.  Before we know it we will be saying good-bye to Barbies, high school and our kids themselves as they go out into the world on their own.

Well, I feel like I’ve had another one of those moments this weekend. 

Ever since we left the training swallowable toothpaste behind when she was about 3, Sarah has used some sort of kids Princess toothpaste.  For five years I have known that my little girl loved her some pink princess toothpaste.  

Then, yesterday it happened. 

8 year old: “Dad, I need more toothpaste.”

Dad: “Sure, sweetie.  We’ll go to the store probably tomorrow.”

8 year old: “But, dad, can it not be the princess kind?”

Dad: “Sure. What kind do you want?”

8 year old: “I don’t really care.  As long as it’s not the princess kind.”

I can’t believe I’m waxing nostalgic over toothpaste, but here I am… the mushy mom.  I just can’t help myself.  It just feels like this is the beginning of many more similar things to come and before I know it, she’ll be going to the prom.  Yes, it’s quite a jump to go from princess toothpaste to the prom, but you know what I mean.  It’s just one more little girl thing that I’m having to let go of. 

When I’d rather just stop time.

What has been your most recent “passing of an era” moment with your kids?

Charmed Bookmarks {Homemade Gift Idea}

I mentioned on Twitter yesterday that I was working on these charmed bookmarks yesterday to be some homemade Christmas gifts. Someone asked how I did it and I promised to take pictures and that I’d share with all of you.

This is so simple it’s not even funny.

What you’ll need:

Charms
Connector ring thingys (that’s a technical term)
Needle nose pliers (maybe)
Tape measure (optional)
Ribbon
Coordinating thread
Scissors
Sewing Machine

I found most of the supplies at Hobby Lobby. And when I was there, both ribbon and the charms were 50% off, making for some very cute, very inexpensive gifts.

The great thing is that these can be as simple or as ornate as you want. I like the simplicity of one charm, but you can use a string of them together or add beads as well if you like.

First attach the charm (or charms) to the little connector ring.

Measure out 12-15 inches of ribbon. Double that length and fold the ribbon in half.

Thread the ribbon through the connector ring of the charm until the charm is at the half way point. “Eyeball” or measure about 1 inch down from the fold.

Sew a short line at about that 1 inch point. I like to use a tight zig-zag stitch.

Make sure you cut the ends into a pretty angle cut.

And you’re done.

The idea is that the charm and ribbon will stick out from your Bible or book just a little.

And with the ribbon being folded and stitched, multiple pages can be marked.

So there it is. Have fun!

****

Edited on 12/8/09:

This post was linked up for Works For Me Wednesday at We Are That Family.

I can clearly see… {Mama Braggin’ Monday}

Last week Nathan had another one of his awful headaches that causes him to be sick to his stomach. Poor thing. They’re almost migraine in nature.

Mike’s mom has mentioned on more than one occasion that his sister would get headaches when she was younger and it was due to focusing issues in her eyes. So, last week when Nathan said to his dad in between the times he threw up, “I watched too much TV at Nanny’s house and it made me sick,” we decided it was time to get his eyes checked out.

I called to make the appointment with our eye doctor knowing that I needed to get Sarah in for a check-up as well. So Mike took both of them this afternoon.

The outcome of that appointment was nothing like what I expected.

In short: Nathan’s eyes are perfectly fine. And Sarah is now wearing contacts.

Yes, you read that right. Contacts at 8 years old.

It boils down to the fact that her vision is degrading so rapidly that we are hoping that the contact lens on her eye will help the eye to hold its shape and keep it from deteriorating so quickly. She’s only been in glasses for about 1 1/2 years and her uncorrected vision is already at 20/200.

Yikes.

Yeah, she’s got her daddy’s eyes.

(See the post from April, 2008 when she got her glasses here.)

They tried to help her put the contacts in at the office but couldn’t get it to work. The poor child just has eye lashes galore to get in the way, apparently. So Mike brought her home and eventually he just put them on her eyes.

She immediately noticed a big difference. Not only did they bump up the prescription again which allowed her to see leaves and not just colored clumps on the trees, but it made a big difference for it to be clear around the edges as well.

She hasn’t stopped bouncing off the walls about it yet.

So here’s to the next 10-15 years of contacts for my girl until she’s old enough and can afford the next new development in eye surgery.

Just like her daddy.

Oh, and if you take your 4 year old to the eye doctor, you may discover that they have their own way of describing how they see the letters on the charts.

They might say a letter is clear or that it is soggy.

Just so you know.

Popcorn Cake – My family’s tradition {Flavor of the Month}

Never heard of it?

Well, I must say I’m not surprised.  My man had never heard of Popcorn Cake before being indoctrinated at his first holiday event with my family.  While he thought it a little weird at the time, he admitted to me this evening that it has grown on him and he really likes it now.

I very literally cannot think of a holiday season in my family where Popcorn Cake has not been involved to a great extent.  It is a mainstay in my family that has been passed down from my dad’s mom (Nana P) to my mom and now down to my sisters and I and our kids. 

It is similar to a popcorn ball, but in cake form and better.  It’s not quite so hard and difficult to eat.  It’s a little expensive to make with all the candies, peanuts and popcorn, but SO worth it. 

And just look how cute and festive it can be by just using holiday specific M&M’s.

Its sticky, chocolaty, crunchy and gooey all at the same time goodness is something that will forever evoke memories of time with family.  Be it at my Nana P’s or my mom’s house.  It will always remind me of my Dad and his expectation that there is one in the house at all times.  It will remind me of Christmas and a myriad of other holidays that were not complete without this dear friend of a dish around.

So now I share with you the recipe.  More detailed step-by-step photos can be found on my recipe blog here.

Popcorn Cake

1 pound M&M’s candies *
1 pound dry roasted peanuts
1 gallon popped popcorn (approximately 2 microwave bags) **
1 pound marshmallows
½ cup vegetable oil
½ cup margarine ***

* Holiday specific M&M’s make this a special treat for any holiday.
** Get as close to no butter popcorn as you can.
*** I rarely use margarine any more. However, my mom tried butter while living overseas where she couldn’t get margarine and it didn’t work so well.

Pop popcorn and allow to cool. You may want to shake out the popcorn in a bowl to get all the un-popped seeds out.

In a very large bowl, place M&M’s, peanuts and popcorn in that order with M&M’s on bottom, peanuts on top of the M&M’s and popcorn on top of that.

In saucepan over medium heat, begin melting margarine and add oil and stir. Add in marshmallows and begin stirring while allowing the marshmallows to melt. Stir constantly with a heat-proof spatula/spoonula. Allow to boil until approximately 230ºF. The mixture will be translucent when coating the thermometer or against the bottom of the pan when you tilt it to the side.

You can do all of the above in the microwave. Just be very careful about the marshmallows expanding and overflowing your bowl.  Not that I know from personal experience or anything.

Reason # 1,253 I dislike using the microwave for cooking.  I’ll take a cook top and saucepan any day of the week thankyouverymuch.

Once the marshmallow mixture is finished cooking, pour it over the popcorn. With two wooden spoons, mix the hot marshmallow mixture into the popcorn and gradually incorporate the peanuts and M&M’s at the bottom of the bowl as the mixture cools a bit. Mix until all the ingredients are evenly distributed. (Or until at least mostly evenly distributed.)

Lightly spray angel food cake pan (or Bundt) and hands with cooking spray. Using hands, press the popcorn mixture down into the pan. This recipe will completely fill an angel food cake pan and fill a Bundt pan with a little left over. Allow the pressed cake to cool in the pan for a while (maybe 30 minutes to an hour) until the cake has set and firmed up.

Turn cake out on platter or cake taker that can be covered. You may have to lightly squeeze the pan to release it or you may use a hair-dryer on the outside of the pan to warm and release it. Continue to allow the cake to sit out and set up in open air at room temperature for another hour or so.

Use a sharp bread knife to slice the cake and eat it with your fingers. And eat some more… and some more… you get the idea.

Here’s to the next generation of Popcorn Cake lovers.

  

Enjoy!

And join us over at Bake at 350 for more family tradition dishes for this month’s installment of Flavor of the Month.

Happy Thanksgiving y'all.

And...

Gig'em Aggies!

My Best Friend {Mama Braggin' Monday}

I love these kinds of conversations with my kids. Especially at four years old.

Son: "Mom, you know who my best friend is?"

Mom: "Who's that?"

Son: "Jesus."

Mom: "Yes, son. He really is."

Son: "And He's Sarah's best friend. And your best friend. And Daddy's best friend."

Yes, son. HE IS!

Dear friend in blog world, is Jesus your best friend?

Everything Cookies & Brownies {Cookbook Review}

When my friend, Marye, asked me to review her cookbook I was thrilled to do so.  I got it in the mail and couldn’t wait to get out the flour and my trusty KitchenAid stand mixer and try out a few recipes.

But first, a little background on the author.  I met Marye through Twitter (@maryeaudet) this past spring.  She is a wonderful resource for bouncing food and flavor ideas around with (and I might add an incredible source of Christian encouragement).  She has eight kids in a wide range of ages and lives in an old restored farmhouse in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.  She does a lot of food writing and blogs at Baking Delights on a regular basis as well as other places as listed on her home page.

The impression I get from this book is that her whole approach comes from her own experience as a mom.  In other words, ladies, this is a practical cookbook written by a mom as a wonderful resource for moms. 

“Don’t wait for a rainy day to make some cookies.  Choose a recipe, gather your family together, and enjoy some quality time while creating a mouth-watering snack.”

The cookbook starts off with a chapter of “Cookie Baking Basics” which includes a lot of handy tips (i.e. substituting non-caloric sweeteners, what to do when using a glass pan instead of metal and cookie storage tips) and interesting facts as well.  For instance, did you know that “the very first decorated cookies in history are thought to be from Switzerland”? 

“Knowing how to store and ship cookies makes it easy to send a quick gift or have a cozy snack whenever you want.  Keep the cookie jar full and the family happy by using your freezer to your advantage.”

The remaining chapters (2-16) break down all of the 300 (yes, I said 300) cookie and bar recipes into genres to make them a little easier to find.  Just to give you an idea, some of the chapter titles are All Kinds of Chips, Easy Drop Cookies, Brownies and Bars, No-Bake Cookies, and Kids Can Bake!  There is even an entire chapter dedicated to Cookies for Special Needs (such gluten free and egg/dairy free) which is a great resource for that treat you have to fix for your child’s class when there is that one child with an egg allergy. 

“Storing Gluten-free Treats:  Cookies that are baked without gluten do not have the same storage times as regular cookies.  In fact, gluten-free items are at their best still warm from the oven.  Plan to eat the cookies immediately, or place in the freezer for longer storage.  Warm the cookies a few minutes in the oven and they will taste as fresh as if they were just baked.”

Overall it is a comprehensive resource for cookies and brownies.  I mean, I was amazed and honestly, a little overwhelmed at how this book almost literally takes you through cookies from A to Z.  It is a nice mix of standard recipes that you would recognize, new twists on old standards and new/different things you may have never heard of.  Everything from the most common Chocolate Chip Cookie that’s good comfort food on a rainy afternoon to the specialty Rose  Crackle Cookie that would be the perfect addition to any tea or bridal shower. 

Recipes are laid out to be simple  and concise.  There’s not a lot of fluff.  They are clear and to the point.  It’s pretty no-frills and does not have pictures with the recipes, but just gets right to the point.  Each recipe also includes tips and usually ingredient substitution/ addition/subtraction ideas.  The book is paperback and lies open nicely on your countertop to easily refer back to the recipe as you cook.

In general the ingredient lists are fairly common, but there are some very unique recipe names that would call for some specialty ingredients.  For example you would need loose leave Chai Tea Blend for the Russian Chai Tea Cakes, and you would need mascarpone cheese for the Tiramisu Brownies.  But I think if you were making some of those more specialty recipes, you’d be ready to get those special ingredients. 

Now, I’d like to show you some of my results from the Everything Cookies & Brownies cookbook.

First up, Pecan Pie Bars. 

Now, if you have read this blog for any length of time, you know that I am not a big nut fan.  However, my daddy is.  And now that my daddy is back in these United States, I am excited to get to cook for him again.  So, I made these Pecan Pie Bars for him.  I also figured that with his experience with pecan pie, that he would be a good judge of how they turned out. 

From what I could tell, I thought they turned out gorgeous.  And easy… Oh WOW!  Just see for yourself.  Marye has granted me permission to give you this recipe.

Pecan Pie Bars
(yields 36 bars)

Ingredients:

Crust:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter (cool room temperature)

Topping:
1 1/2 cups light corn syrup
4 eggs
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups chopped pecans

1.  Preheat oven to 350 F.  Line 10” x 15” jelly roll pan with parchment, allowing it to overhand sides and ends slightly.

2.  Stir together flour, 1/2 cup sugar and salt.  Cut in 1 cup butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Press firmly into the pan.

3.  Bake 20 minutes

4.  Mix together corn syrup, eggs, remaining sugars, melted butter and vanilla; whisk until smooth.  Stir in pecans.  Pour over hot crust.

5.  Bake 25 minutes, or until set.  Cool completely before cutting into bars.

**You can sprinkle 1 cup of chocolate chips over the crust before pouring on the topping for a chocolaty variation.**

Do you see how easy that is???

This is one of those recipes that you can make it once and from then on just be able to look at the ingredient list and go without looking at the directions hardly ever again.  There is nothing better, in my opinion, than a completely from scratch, homemade recipe that you can almost do in your sleep it’s so easy.  And this is one of those.

And my daddy?  He tried one and immediately hid them from anyone’s sight.  So, I’d say he liked them pretty well.  And they are more portable than regular pecan pie so he took them out to the deer lease with him the following week where, from what I gather, they were a big hit as well.

I have also made the Chocolate Toffee Cookies.  Now, these are a little more involved as they require some refrigeration.  And certainly these are cookies you make for a little bit of a special occasion when you’re willing to spend a little on ingredients.  But oh, heavens.  SO worth the 1 pound (uh-huh… 1 POUND) of bittersweet chocolate.  They are like a rich brownie in cookie form with little pockets of toffee.  Also known as “heaven in edible form.”

Overall I am impressed with the Everything Cookies & Brownies cookbook.  From the easy to read recipes to all the tips sprinkled throughout the entire book about everything from ingredients to methods.  It’s a comprehensive guide to cookies and I believe it would be well used in your kitchen.  I know it will be in mine.

Everything Cookies & Brownies can be purchased through Amazon.