Chocolate Peppermint Covered Pretzels

Happy Christmas!

A short one today, as I must get on the road to get home for Christmas!

I must admit, I did not come up with these myself, although they are VERY easy.  I found them over at Savory Sweet Life.  Although I don't have any cute kids to help me, I still managed to tackle a batch just in time for the Christmas eve shift at work.

All you need is pretzels, white and milk chocolate chips, and peppermints.  Did I say these were easy?

First, crush the peppermints.  Then, melt the chocolate chips. 

Now comes the fun part.

Dip a pretzel in the chocolate.

Now, coat it in the peppermint candies.

Place on a lined cookie sheet.  Repeat. 

Dip.

Coat.

Repeat. Over and over again. 

Chill until hardened.

These were addictively refreshing, and still very festive.  Everyone at work seemed to enjoy them. 

Finally, I will leave you with a photo of Bam Bam helping me wrap presents.

crazy little animal

Happy Holidays!!!

White Chili

Decorating the tree today!

I hate it when people start playing Christmas carols and decorating their house before Thanksgiving has even happened. I like to give Thanksgiving its own due time before moving into the Christmas spirit.  That being said, I probably should have gotten my tree up before now, but, whatever, its up now. 

Let me tell you, Bam Bam was a *huge* helper. 

If he were  human he'd be a gin drinker.

Anyway, I've been waiting for a nice blustery day to make Mom's white chili recipe, but finally gave up because, oh yeah, I live in Charleston. The weather keeps toying around with the idea of getting cold, and then changes its mind and turns warm again. I'm running around in short sleeves in the middle of December, for goodness' sake.

So, I gave up and made the chili.  I love this recipe, and its not as unhealthy as your usual beefy variety.  Here's the recipe:

White Chili

1 pound dried Great Northern beans

2 pounds boneless chicken breasts

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 medium onions, chopped

4 cloves minced garlic

2 fresh jalapenos, chopped *the original called for canned chilies, but I think fresh probably work just as well. I actually felt like I could have added a few more*

2 teaspoons cumin

1 1/2 teaspoons oregano

1/4 teaspoon cloves

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

6 cups chicken stock

3 cups (12 oz) grated Monterey Jack cheese

Sour cream, cilantro, corn chips, salsa- whatever  you like to garnish with

Place beans in heavy large pot.  Add enough cold water to cover by at least 3 inches.  Soak overnight.

Place chicken in heavy large saucepan.  Add cold water to cover and bring to a simmer.  Cook until just tender, about 15 minutes.  Drain and cool.  Cut chicken into cubes.

all chopped up and ready to go

Drain beans.  Heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat.  Add onions and saute until translucent, about 10 minutes.

 

sauteing the onions

 

Stir in garlic, then chilies, cumin, oregano, cloves, and cayenne and saute 2 minutes.

 

 japs

Place saute mixture along with beans and stock into a large pot (or crock pot- this would be an easy recipe to make while you're at work) and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer until beans are very tender, stirring occasionally, about 2 hours.

Add chicken and 1.5 cups cheese to chili and stir until cheese melts.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  

 

 My garnishes of choice.  Gotta have some Fritos scoops!

Ladle chili into bowls. Serve with remaining cheese and garnish to your liking.

 

 Mmm.  Goes well with a cold beer.

Did you think I was gonna leave you hanging without a final tree photo? I think not!

  

Bottom right hand corner is Tiger, the cat you haven't met yet :)

That pretty much does it!

My First Thanksgiving!

The spread

I really, really wanted to cook Thanksgiving dinner this year. I kind of toyed with the idea last Thanksgiving, but I had to work and there just wasn't time. This year I planned ahead and asked off several days, and Mom agreed to let me cook *and plan* everything.  Actually, she was pretty happy about not having to be the Thanksgiving cook for the first time in 20-ish+ years.  Of course, she was happy to help.
 

I've been looking forward to it for weeks.  I kept the menu simple, because it was just the immediate family, and well, obviously I'd never tackled Thanksgiving dinner before.  Here's the menu I ended up going with:

Sage Butter-Roasted Turkey with Cider Gravy 

Rustic Bread Stuffing with Red Mustard Greens, Currants, and Pine Nuts
Glazed Carrots with Molasses and Marjoram
Bacon and Thyme Sauteed Brussels Sprouts- didn't use a recipe here
Dinner Rolls (Um, not homemade- I'm not that ambitious) (this year)
 

*and*

Cranberry-Apple Crumble Pie

I'm not going to post every recipe because I think that would feel monotonous. Instead, I'm going to walk you through my cooking and planning process.

~ 

The day before Thanksgiving, I made the pie. 

Fall flavors

I've never really been partial to cranberry sauce, and neither has the rest of my family.  I think my mom has always felt kind of obligated to make it because it's "traditional".  I decided to get rid of it.  This recipe appealed to me because I was still able to work cranberries into the menu.  The tartness of the cranberries worked really well with the softly-sweet Gala apples.

Going into the oven

For some reason, I've messed up a few pie crusts lately, so I was a little nervous about this one.  I used lard for the first time as a substitute for shortening.  I ended up scrapping the first one I made because I thought it came together a little too quickly. The second crust acted much better though, so I went with it.  The crumble topping didn't go on until halfway through the baking process.

Coming out of the oven

The recipe was actually pretty simple, so I kept my fingers crossed that it was a keeper. I'll come back to the pie.   

~

I also got a little prep work done the day before the big dinner.  I bought the Brussels sprouts on the stalk because they were soo much prettier than the pre-bagged ones.  

Just found out recently that Brussels sprouts were members of the cabbage family.

Don't know why that surprised me.

So, I cut all the Brussels sprouts off the stalk, trimmed them, and blanched them. This way, I figured, all I would have to do for dinner would be to slice them and toss them in a saute pan with some bacon, garlic, and thyme (my favorite way of cooking them).

~

Thanksgiving day, I woke up excited and ready to cook. I started, of course, by getting the turkey ready to go into the oven.  I love sage, and apple cider makes me think of fall, so this recipe seemed perfect to me.

Sage

Mom and I thought it was strange that the recipe didn't call for anything to go into the cavity of the bird.  So, we decided to stuff it with some onion, lemon, and more sage.

My dad made the comment that there is nothing pretty about a raw turkey.

So, in the turkey went.  While it roasted, we prepped the stuffing.  It could be made a couple hours ahead of time, which was great so it could be in the pan and ready to go when the turkey came out.

Ingredients

I was excited about this recipe because I love pine nuts, and I didn't want a meaty stuffing because of the bacon in the Brussels sprouts.  I thought the greens would be a nice touch.  Alas, Mother couldn't find red mustard greens at her little Morganton grocery stores, and I went to three places here in Charleston and couldn't find them either.  What really upset me the most is that I know they had them at the farmer's market, but I couldn't get off work last Saturday morning to get them.  So, we substituted kale for the greens, and it worked out fine.  We also substituted orange zest for lemon zest because I thought it might be a nicer flavor with the currants.  I added some extra chicken stock, because it seemed a little dry and I wanted to make sure it bound together properly. 

*Meanwhile*

Basting the bird

Also, Margaret brought some nice cheese and wine from A Southern Season, where she works in Chapel Hill. God, I love that place.  We enjoyed some bubbles and cheese while we were waiting for dinner. 

 Triple cream, Gruyere, and a local goat cheese from Chapel Hill

Dad and Margaret looking skeptical

Mom and I taking a break

When it came time to take the turkey out of the oven, it got slightly hairy.  The stuffing and rolls went in, and I started sauteing the Brussels sprouts and carrots. After those were just finished, I started the gravy.  No, I don't have any pictures of the carrots.  Not sure why except that I just got a *little* busy.  So, here's a turkey picture:

Gobble gobble

 

A good one of Dad carving the turkey

Finally, we sat down and enjoyed our meal. Margaret brought several bottles of red, including a Valpollicella Ripassato, a Rioja, and a Tempranillo from Argentina. We drank them in that order, and they were all delicous.

 Oh yeah

The food turned out really well! I loved the flavor of the gravy.  The stuffing was a hit, although we all agreed I could have doubled the kale and added a bit more stock as a binder.  The flavors were right on though, I just love greens and could have had more.  The carrots were a little sweet, even though I cut back on molasses and added apple cider vinegar. I didn't really mind the sweetness, because they were kind of like a substitute for a tradidional sweet potato or yam dish (another Thanksgiving tradition no one in my family is particularly fond of).

Didn't think I would forget, did you?

I absolutely loved the pie.  Considering how easy it was, it really turned out well.  The lard made the crust nice and flaky, and the overall flavor was nicely refreshing, not cloyingly sweet like some holiday desserts. I would totally make this again.

~

So, I think that pretty much covers it! I really enjoyed myself, and of course, spending time with the family was the best part by far.   

 

Halloween Sugar Cookies

Sprinkling a bat

This is my Halloween post, part II.  I really felt the need to make these cookies, even though they were pretty tedious and time consuming.  I recruited Caroline to help me with the decorations. I took my recipe from The Joy of Cooking, doubling both the cookie batter recipe and the frosting recipe:
 

Sugar Cookies

1/2 cup white or brown sugar (I used white)

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla (I used half almond extract because I love the flavor)

2 eggs

2 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Cream the butter and sugar together. Beat in remaining ingredients.  Chill the dough 3 to 4 hours before rolling.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Roll out, cut, and place cookies on a greased or lined cookie sheet. Bake 7 to 12 minutes.

Ready to be decorated

 

 I also took the frosting recipe from The Joy of Cooking:

1 lb (4 cups) confectioner's sugar

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

2 to 4 tablespoons milk or heavy or light cream

1/2 teaspoon vanilla and 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Site confectioner's sugar into a large bowl.  Add and mix the remaining ingredients and mix well with an electric mixer.  Continue beating until frosting is smooth.  It will be slightly stiff.  Add more liquid to reach the proper consistency.

I didn't know they sold black food coloring!

The frosting actually tasted really good. We separated the frosting and made three different colors: black, orange, and white. For white, I read that one or two drops of blue food coloring helps the color stay bright.

Ready to play

Then came the fun part. We had a blast decorating these special cookies.  We had a few tubes of decorative gels as well as some colored sugars. 

 

Feeling silly

 

So...many...cookies

So, we took these into work on Halloween and everyone  enjoyed them. However, there were a lot of bats left over. For some reason, no one seemed to want them (black frosting not appealing?). I was supposed to work a double and actually ended up getting cut... kind of think the cookies helped me get the night off!

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

...and the story of the pumpkin that they came from!

 
I got myself a pumpkin

Gutted and carved said pumpkin

Bam Bam was a big helper...

Now the pumpkin is a freaked out Jack-o-Lantern!

Now, what to do with all those seeds?

I tossed them with 3 tablespoons of melted butter, some sugar, salt, cinnamon, cloves, powdered ginger, nutmeg, chili powder, and cayenne. Baked them on a cookie sheet at 300 degrees for about an hour (stir every now and then).  And..

Ta da! Sweet and Spicy Pumpkin Seeds!