Twix Caramel Popcorn

I've been looking for different ways to embellish my popcorn ever since purchasing my whirley pop. Caramel popcorn was something I wanted to try. but then I stumbled upon this recipe on Two Peas and Their Pod. All I can say...dear.Lord.

5 quarts plain air popped popcorn
1 cup butter
2 cups light brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
20 "fun size" twix candy bars cut up
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips melted to drizzle over popcorn (I used bittersweet)

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Place popcorn in bowl and set aside.
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in brown sugar, corn syrup and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil without stirring for 4 minutes.Remove from heat and stir in baking soda and vanilla. Drizzle caramel over popcorn. Stirring to coat. Gently stir until it is all coated. Place popcorn on two large baking sheets and bake in a preheated oven stirring every 15 minutes, for about and hour. Remove from oven and let cool completely.
Break popcorn into pieces and toss in chopped twix bars, drizzle with melted chocolate. Let sit for about 30 minutes or until chocolate has hardened. Store in air tight container. (If it makes it that far)

I dare you to wait til that chocolate hardens...not gonna happen folks.

Chicken Soup

It's the first thing my mom taught me how to make. I've adapted it a little over the years. Chicken soup is that soup that warms you from the inside out. Everyone should have a favorite chicken soup that they make for their loved ones. This is mine. 

 

3 to 4 pound whole chicken

5 carrots peeled and sliced into 1/2 inch rounds

4 celery stalks sliced 

6 ounces frozen corn

1/2 bag egg noodles

1 14 ounce can drained diced tomatoes

4 chicken boullion cubes

2 bay leaf

dried parsley

head of garlic

1 medium onion

2 tsp whole peppercorns

1 Tbsp dried parsley

I use a 3 1/2 to 4 pound whole chicken, in my opinion, the best chicken soup is made with a whole chicken or chicken on the bone. All of the lovely, deep, delicious flavor is in the bones. Rinse your chicken well. get all that junk out of the inside and discard. Place in your largest soup pot and cover with cold water. I use enough water to just cover the chicken. Then throw in a medium onion, slice in half, skin and all, a whole carrot, I do not peel the carrot I rinse the carrot and break it in half and throw in the pot. I take a whole head of garlic skin and all and cut down the middle and add it to the pot. Add 2 bay leaves. 2 tsp whole peppercorns. Once you pull off your 4 celery stalks that you will add to the the soup later take that center part of the celery, the part with all the leaves that you usually throw away and put those in the pot. No need to chop, just throw them in. Those leaves have so much flavor! This is all to flavor your broth. These will all be discarded but for now it's going to help make the most delicious chicken broth, the very heart of your soup. Bring the soup to a simmer, it is important not to boil the soup, you want a nice, suttle simmer. Simmer for about an hour or until you notice that the legs are loosening and the meat is pulling away from the bones.Remove the chicken to a bowl and let cool slightly. Set a large bowl under a large strainer and pour the stock through the strainer. Discard the cooked vegetables. Pour the broth back into your soup pot. Add your sliced carrots and celery and simmer until tender. Add parsley. While it's simmering start removing the cooled chicken from the bones. I like large chunks. I just use my fingers. Add salt and pepper to your broth to taste add 4 chicken boullion cubes. Add 1/2 bag of egg noodles, or whatever noodle you want to use. It's important not to add too many noodles because the noodles will absorb a lot of the broth. Once the noodles are cooked add the frozen corn, and the chicken back in. I put tomatoes in my soup, I love tomatoes, they are good for you and they fight cancer, why not put them in? But if you do not like tomatoes then you don't put them in. Cook for 10 minutes more and enjoy. It's even better the next day...the longer it sits the better it is.

Chocolate Cake Reeses Peanut Butter Chunk Cookie

My all time favorite combination...chocolate and peanut butter. I will wrestle a person to the ground for a Reeses peanut butter cup. Devils Food cake? is there any better cake? on earth? combine the two,to make a perfectly wonderful and easy cookie. No mixer needed. you don't really even need a spoon, use your God given hands, if that's how you want to roll. Make this cookie...today.

recipe from Picky Palate

1 box of devils food cake mix

1 stick of unsalted butter, melted. (if dough seems dry, add 2 tbsp more melted butter to batter)

1 large egg

2 cups mini semi sweet chocolate chips (I used regular size)

25 mini reeses peanut butter cups

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or silpat.

Place unwrapped peanut butter cups in a large ziploc and squish them until you have nice chuncks.

Place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix together with a spoon or your hands. If the dough seems dry you can add that additional 2 Tbsp melted butter. Using a medium cookie scoop place dough onto cookie sheet., 1 inch apart. Press dough with hand to flatten slightly. Bake for 13-15 minutes until cooked through. Let cool on cookie sheet for 10 minutes before moving to a cooling rack.

Monday Musing

Do you ever just want a do over? Or are you a what's done is done lets move on type? I would like a do over for this weekend. It was not.fun. Little Eme did not get his tonsils out last Thursday like was planned, it was on the calendar, it was written in black ink. He woke up and he ate half a pop tart. He went unnoticed, it was over our heads. It was not happening. I know now that God had his hand in it. Eme was not supposed to have surgery last Thursday. He woke up Saturday with an awful stomach bug. Stomach bugs send me over the edge. I become a crazy warrior who's main purpose in life is to battle the bug until it is gone, trying to keep it from getting it's nasty claws into anyone else in my home. My hands are raw and cracked and bleeding from all the scrubbing. I smell of bleach and lysol. It's still undetermined if I won the battle but so far...so good. While Eme dozed on the couch with a trash can beside his sweet head I snuck upstairs to watch some TV. I am Legend was on. I love that movie. I adore Will Smith. 

Who doesn't? It made me feel better for a minute until the crazy zombie appeared.

and then he had to kill his dog once she was bitten by the scary zombie dogs.

not a feel good movie.....at.all. Not a great weekend. 

Anyway on a lighter note. 

1. Book club is tonight, we are eating chinese.

2. The Golden Globes are Sunday and I can't wait. (Crazy, Stupid Love is my favorite movie of 2011)

3. Beyonce and Jay Z had a baby girl! (Let's hope she looks like her momma)

Red Velvet Cheesecake Cookies

I've admired these cookies for over a month and today I finally made them. There were several steps involved in making this cookie, it's definitely not something you whip together at the last minute. But trust me...they are worth every single step. They are delicious!! They are supposed to have melted white chocolate drizzled over them, but I'll be honest my chocolate turned into a ball of something that did not resemble chocolate once I pulled it from the microwave. White chocolate is tricky that way... so i skipped that part, I don't miss a thing, they are amazing just the way they are.

Recipe from Two Peas and their Pod

For the cookies
1 box red velvet cake mix
2 Tbsp all purpose flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla

For the filling
4 oz cream cheese (room temperature)
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

For the white chocolate drizzle
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips, melted

To make the cookies combine the cake mix and the flour in a bowl and whisk to get out any lumps. In the bowl of a stand mixer mix together the cake, flour mix with the eggs, oil and vanilla. Mix until smooth. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours. (The dough will be oily)

To make the cheesecake filling, using a mixer combine the cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth. Using a spoon scoop out the cheesecake filling and scoop onto a plate, continue doing until you have 10 tsp sized scoops. Place in freezer to harden for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone pad. To assemble the cookies take about 1/4 cup of red velvet dough and flatten in your had, take 1 tsp of your frozen cheesecake filling and place in the center. Gently wrap the cookie around the filling (make sure you completely cover the filling so it doesn't leak out) and roll into a ball. Place onto prepared cookie sheet. Only cook 3 to 4 cookies at a time they are rather large and spread while baking. Bake for 11-13 minutes or until the cookies begin to crackle. Let the cookies cool on a baking sheet for 5 minutes before moving them to a cooling rack.

Melt the white chocolate chips in the microwave or over a double boiler, drizzle over the cooled cookies, and let cool completely, the chocolate will harden. If you are storing the cookies for longer then a day, store in the frig.

Homemade Marshmallows

I was always intrigued, I almost bought the expensive ones from Williams Sonoma, I decided to just go for it and make them myself. It was not hard, a little messy. Am I glad I did it? yes. Would I do it again? Probably not, the bag ones are yummy enough, and way more convenient. Did my 10 year old tell me they were the best marshmallows he's ever had? Yes. Mission Accomplished.

Recipe by Alton Brown

3 pkgs unflavored gelatin

1 cup ice cold water, divided

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup light corn syrup

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp pure vanilla extract (I used 1 Tbsp)

1/4 cup confectioners sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

nonstick spray

Place the gelatin in the bowl of a stand mixer, add water. Let sit white you prepare the sugar mixture.

In a small sauce pan, combine the remaining half cup of water, the sugar, corn syrup and salt. Place over medium high heat. Cover and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes. Uncover, clip a candy thermometer to the side of the pan and cook until it reaches 240 degrees F approx 7-8 minutes. Once it reaches that temp, immediately remove from heat. Turn the mixer (using a whisk attachment) on low and slowly pour the sugar mixture into the gelatin mixture.Once all the sugar has been added turn mixer to high and whip until the mixture is very thick and lukewarm. Approx 12-14 minutes. Add vanilla during the last minute of mixing. While it's mixing prepare your dish,

Combine the confectioners sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl. Lightly spray a 13X9 baking dish and sprinkle the sugar cornstarch over the pan to coat. Return the rest of sugar back to bowl for later. When ready por the marshmallow mixture into prepared plan use a sprayed spatula to help spread in evenly.Dust the tops with more sugar, cornstarch mixture. Lightly cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 4 hours. After the 4 hours turn onto a cutting board and use a pizza cutter to cut to sizes you want. Dip the cut sides into remaining cornstarch, sugar mixture. Store in airtight container.

Pinterest

If you have not jumped on the Pinterest train yet you are missing out people. It. is. AWESOME! And a tad bit addicting. You can get so many ideas! About EVERYTHING! Here a sneak at some things i've pinned lately.

Sold yet? check it out, ask for an invite. Be a Pinterest addict like me.