Bake Me More

 Two things brought on this recipe. One was the fact a friend gave me 4 quart size bags of fresh picked Georgia pecans. The second, being that I had to find something to do with 4 quart size bags of fresh picked Georgia pecans! So, amongst the millions of choices, I went with two holiday favorites. Pecan pie and one of my brother’s favorites, pecan logs.

I have never made a homemade pecan pie before, I have only cheated and bought a prepared Cracker Barrel pie (which is quite good, by the way). I searched several million sites for a recipe and narrowed it down. My final decision was based on the syrup used in the recipe. I bought some Lyle’s Golden Syrup from World Market and had yet to use it. So this recipe was perfect. Check out the link for the entire recipe and a great blog… **post with pics to follow**

The other recipe I chose, the pecan logs, was a first too. Like I said, my brother really likes these rolls. Anytime we eat out at Cracker Barrel, I am pretty sure he buys one. I found this Taste of Home Recipe while just browsing a cookbook and went with it. It IS a winner! It really was not difficult and just slightly time consuming. Oh, and I burnt my fingers a couple of times on the candy and the caramel, so be careful. By the way, this candy is VERY sweet, so you don’t need much to satisfy!

Enjoy the pictures and if you choose to prepare either recipe, enjoy. Merry Christmas!

Holiday Pecan Logs (A Taste of Home Recipe)

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons plus 1/2 cup butter, softened, divided
• 3-3/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 cup nonfat dry milk powder
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 package (14 ounces) caramels
• 1 tablespoon milk or half-and-half cream
• 2 cups chopped pecans

Directions:

Butter an 8-in. square pan with 2 teaspoons butter; set aside. Combine confectioners sugar and milk powder; set aside. In a heavy saucepan, combine 1/2 cup butter, sugar and corn syrup; cook and stir until sugar is dissolved and mixture comes to a boil. Stir in confectioners’ sugar mixture, about a third at a time, until blended.

Remove from the heat; stir in vanilla. Continue stirring until the mixture mounds slightly when dropped from a spoon. Spread into prepared pan. Cool. *Let it cool enough to handle, but not completely, or you will have to re-heat it.

Cut candy into four strips; cut each strip in half. Shape each into a log; wrap in waxed paper and twist ends. Freeze or refrigerate until firm.

Meanwhile, in a microwave, melt caramels with milk, stirring often. *Heat for 3 minutes, stirring every minute. You will have to reheat it a few times too.  logs in caramel mixture, then in pecans. Wrap in waxed paper. Store at room temperature in airtight containers. Cut into slices with a serrated knife. Yield: about 3-1/4 pounds.

*Suggestions:

1. Make sure you roll the candy while it is still warm. I waited until the candy was completely cool before rolling and it was hard as a rock. I heated it in the microwave for just about 30 seconds and it was then easy to roll.
2. Use a medium to large sized bowl to heat the caramels. Cover the roll with caramel but leave the ends open. Once you have covered the sides with pecans, dip the ends in the caramel then dip in the pecans. Otherwise you have nothing to hold on to and your precious fingers will burn!

My son’s 4th grade school year has been filled with book report after book report. One every month. Most of them have not been very complicated but I am flat out tired of them. Finally, this week his last book report of the school year was due. This one was on a biography and each student had to make an oral report. They were to dress like the character they read about and some type of “audio visual” was suggested. My son picked (well, I helped him… ok, I picked for him) a college football player. Me, being the cool mom that I am decided to make his audio visual edible, and I didn’t want a plain ole cookie or cupcake. (No, I can’t do anything simple). I remembered way back seeing a football “truffle” on Bakerella’s website. These were perfect. They would be simple to make, and I had everything I needed to do so. Mine weren’t shaped as football perfect, but they were great. Granted I prepared them, went to a baseball game, then came back home and finished them after 9 p.m.

My son did great on his oral report, and his classmates enjoyed their treat. They would have each had two, but we kind of snitched too many at home to do so…which meant I took more home to snitch!

Touchdown Truffles (as seen here)

Ingredients:

• 1 package Oreo cookies (originals)
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• Dipping chocolate: Milk Chocolate and White

Directions:

Finely crush the Oreos and mix with the cream cheese until well blended. Shape into 1-inch balls*. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes, then remove and shape into oval football shapes. Return to fridge until the chocolate is ready for dipping.

*I used my food processor to both crush the Oreo’s and to combine with the cream cheese. The Oreo Truffle recipe on the Kraft site doesn’t call for them to be refrigerated before dipping in the chocolate, but I found this to be helpful in keeping the shape and setting the chocolate.

I couldn’t get enough peeps… so today I bought more peeps, and more chocolate. I was able to find more bunny colors too, like yellow, green, pink and orange.

Instead of placing sprinkles on these, I left the chocolate plain… and was able to temper the chocolate a little better too, leaving a shiny smooth coating. Finally, I melted some white chocolate and replaced their eyes. This is such a fun and easy project. With one more day before Easter, you must try it.

I grew up on Peeps… except when I was a kid, Easter was the only time you could find them. Now, there seems to be one (or 2, or 3) for every holiday… and in cool colors and flavors too! All I remember were pink chicks and yellow bunnies.

Scattered about the internet are billions (ok, maybe not that many) uses for Marshmallow Peeps. Some of these include turning the sweet little chicks into road kill, others do cool things like this:

So whatever your “Peep Fancy” is, have a great Easter!

Chocolate Dipped Peeps on a Stick!

Ingredients:

• Lots of peeps
• Lots of dipping chocolate
• Lots of candy sticks (or craft sticks)
• Hot water, or a microwave
• An endless imagination

Directions:

Do you really need any? Enjoy!!!

Caramel Corn Pronto!

Translate – Caramel Popcorn, quick and easy.

I love to eat popcorn. My kids say that I bleed popcorn and diet coke, funny, probably true though. When I like to “switch things up a bit”, I make caramel popcorn. It is so much better than your store bought candied corn, and better for you too. I can control what popcorn is used, and how much butter and sugar is added, plus it is fresh.

Caramel Popcorn can sometimes be a long and tedious snack. Not difficult, but time consuming, as most recipes call for baking at a low temperature for about an hour. Enter, the microwave. This microwave caramel popcorn will get you the sweet snack in under fifteen minutes – start to finish. I found the recipe at the Jolly Time Popcorn site. Jolly time is one of my favorite microwave popcorn brands.

If you are short on time, and looking for a great, lighter, treat, try this one. I made this batch for a superbowl party this last Sunday. I made over 50 servings worth in under an hour. It was awesome.

Microwave Caramel Popcorn, Fast!

Ingredients:

• 10 cups popcorn, air popped or 1 microwave bag
• 1/3 cup butter, unsalted
• 2/3 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/3 cup light corn syrup
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• Nuts or Candy Coated Chocolate (optional)

Directions:

Place popcorn in a large microwave-safe glass bowl, set aside.

In another glass bowl, microwave the butter until melted, about 45 seconds. Stir in brown sugar and corn syrup. Microwave on high until mixture boils, 1 to 3 minutes, stirring once, then on high for 3 minutes without stirring. Remove bowl and stir in soda and vanilla.

Pour the caramel mixture over the popcorn and stir until most of the popcorn is coated.  Microwave on 70% power for 1 minute. Remove and stir, then microwave at 70% for 1 more minute minute. Remove  and stir again to coat popcorn evenly. Pour popcorn onto wax paper and cool completely, about ten minutes. Break apart and serve, or store in an airtight container.

You can add nuts or candy coated chocolate if desired. Add nuts with the popcorn before coating with the caramel. If you are using chocolate, add it just before pouring on cooling sheet…or you will have a big melted blob.

Enjoy! Makes about 10 servings, about 1 cup each.