Chocolate Peppermint Popcorn

 

 

 

 

 

It finally snowed some here in the high deserts of Utah  It was pretty, but treacherous.  I made some delicious popcorn to go along with the season.  The white popcorn reminded me of snow.  It is just a simple recipe to throw together

 

Pop some white popcorn.  I made one batch in my air popper.  You could also use two bags of microwave popcorn, but then you won't get the white look that I desired.

 

In a large bowl, add the popcorn, some salt, and some melted butter, and mix well.  Then spread out popcorn on cookie baking pans or jelly roll pans.

 

 

Drizzle with some melted milk chocolate chips ( I used about 2/3

's of a 12-ounce bag) and then add some crushed peppermint sticks.  I always like the Bob's peppermint sticks that come in the little blue package; they are much softer than regular candy canes.

Add a cup of toasted pecans, cut in small pieces.  Make sure you add the crushed peppermint sticks and pecans when the chocolate has not hardened, and press the crushed peppermint and pecans to help it adhere to the melted chocolate.



Wrap it in a cellophane bag, and give it to someone you love.

Thanks for dropping by the couch.

Fudge Caramels

 

Well, we are on to the wonderful Christmas stretch.  I took a long Thanksgiving break.  Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! 

 

 

I have wanted to make Fudge Caramels for quite some time.  On occasion I have made other caramels, licorice and normal, but have never made chocolate caramels. They are a fun treat to make for the holidays.  they are soft and full of chocolate flavor, made with ingredients you have in your kitchen.  Yes, made with good old Hershey's cocoa powder!  The recipe is from a Hershey's Chocolate Treasury Cookbook.

 

 

 Fudge Caramels Recipe

 

2 cups sugar

2/3 cups unsweetened cocoa

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 cup light corn syrup

1 cup evaporated milk

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

 

Butter a nine-inch square glass pan; set aside.  combine sugar, cocoa, salt, and corn syrup in a heavy 3-quart saucepan.  Then add evaporated milk and water.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture boils.  Cook, stirring frequently, to 245 degrees (or firm-ball stage) or until syrup, when dropped into very cold water, forms a firm ball that does not flatten when removed from water.  Remove from heat; stir in butter and vanilla, blending well.

 

Pour into prepared pan.  Cool; cut into 1-inch squares with butter scissors or pull into pieces.  Wrap individually in waxed paper or cellophane wrappers. 

 

Candy Making Tips

 

 Always adjust your thermometer.  For example, I live at 5700 foot altitude.  Mixtures boil at a lower temperature at this altitude, which means that if I don't adjust the temperature, my candy might cook too long and come out hard.  Find out what temperature water boils at with your thermometer, and adjust accordingly.  Always use a  heavy saucepan.  While stirring, use a wet pastry brush or clean, wet dishcloth to wash down the sides of the pan to dissolve any sugar crystals.  Also when you pour the caramel mixture into the buttered glass dish, do NOT scrape the pan.  If you do scrape the pan, this could also cause the mixture to sugar. If you are making more than one batch, make sure that your pan and spoon are clean of sugar crystals. 

 

 

 

You can wrap these in waxed paper, for an old-fashioned look, but I always wrap mine in the clear cellophane wrappers.

 

 

 

Last night I had a discussion with my children how we can bring Christ more into our Christmas celebration.  They had some good ideas.  My idea is, and has been for awhile, is to make candy at Christmas for those I love.  I seldom make candy at any other time than Christmas, and I do make it with love and package it prettily. 

 

What candy are you making this Christmas?  I seldom make candy during the rest of the year, but Christmas really brings out my desire to make candy.

 

I make Grandma Utahna's English Toffee.  Sometimes I have made up to 24 batches.  It is the vintage recipe of my husband's Grandmother; she was named after her home state of Utah.  A no-thermometer recipe that is sure to please!

 

 

 

 

I also make Almond Rum Balls.  This is a much requested treat in our home; we obtained from my sister Jacqueline.

  

 

 

Sometimes I make peanut brittle.  This is a spiced up version of normal peanut brittle.  I have made this at Halloween too, thus the Halloween background.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Growing up my mother used to make the best Black Walnut Divinity.  It also seemed like we used to make endless batches of cream cheese mints. 

 

I would love to hear what you are making.

 

 

Thanks for dropping by the Couch! 



Simple Hunger Games Birthday Party

 

 

My sweet daughter turned 13 this month, and we celebrated with a Hunger Games Birthday Party!  My daughter is a big reader, and we have tended to have book-themed parties in the past.  You can also check out her Harry Potter and Percy Jackson parties.  The Hunger Games or "Hungry Games," as we called it was an easy party to put together.  We tried to highlight food that was mentioned in the Hunger Games and also highlighted a few food items from the second book, Catching Fire.  This was not a complicated party; we concentrated on simple foods.  For the most part, I put it together in an afternoon. 

 

I used the cake as a table decoration.  The cake was an easy cake to make.  I made a triple layer vanilla cake, and frosted it with chocolate butter cream frosting.   I used gum paste, because I already had some, to make the flames and the mockingjay medallion. You could also use fondant.   Katniss was given a Mockingjay pin from a school friend, and the Mockingjay became a symbol of the rebellion against the Capitol.   I found a template for the Mockingjay HERE and cut it out with an exacto knife and added a bit of detail. "How to Cook That's  Mockingjay is so professional; mine is just a quick make.   I used Wilton's Gold Color Spray to get the shiny effect I desired.  The cake was not an original idea by any stretch of the imagination!

 

 

The colors of a Hunger Games party would be black, orange, yellow, and maybe red.  I went with this color theme.

 

For the "Hungry Games" food I searched the Internet and borrowed every idea I could.  I loved the squirrel meat, and so did the girls at the party.  They were just meatballs I picked up at the store.  Katniss, the main character was an excellent hunter.

 

 

One of my favorite "eats" was the Tracker Jacker nest.  This is just a Rice Krispies recipe using Cheerios instead of Rice Krispies.  This was about a five minute project, and I loved how it turned out.  The Tracker Jackers were seriously dangerous insectss.  I already had the chocolate bees as I am always toying around with putting together a Bee Tablescape.

 

 

In the background of this picture is a bow and arrow.  Katniss liked to hunt, and had great skill with a bow and arrow. 

 

We set out some nuts (actually sunflower seeds) and some dried blueberries, also called Nighlock in the book.  The Nighlock takes on great significance at the end of the book --- I won't do a spoiler, just in case you haven't read the book.

 

 

 

We also purchased some Nightlock Muffins.

 

 

We also purchased a couple of artisan breads as Peeta, Katniss' co-competitor from district 12, was a baker.

 

 

 

We also set out some candy coal (didn't get a picture), as many of the men in District Nine worked in the coal mines, including Katniss' friend Gale.  We also made Cornucopia rolls (crescent rolls). not pictured. 

  

We borrowed a few foods from Catching Fire, and included them.  In the second book Finnick, a main character, had a trident he used to fish with.

 

 

Finnick also, oddly enough, would eat  sugar cubes.  This was a fun addition to the eats because most of the girls had never seen sugar cubes before.

 

 

For drink we supplied the girls with Capitol Orange Juice because Katniss went to the Capitol and was exposed to many foods that were not readily available in District Nine.  She had orange juice for the first time and liked it.

 

 

 

We also served Tracker Jacker Nectar (water) in the beehive dispenser.

 

 

 

For games, since we called it the "Hungry Games," we had a contest to see how quickly the girls could eat a set amount of marshmallows.  They also split up in pairs to see how many fish they could catch in their mouths.  The real hit of the "Hungry Games" was the candy bar game.  It is always a fun party game.  You have a pile of candy in the center.  The participants take turns rolling dice.   Sevens, elevens, and doubles means you get to take a candy bar from the center, or steal one from someone else.  The game is done when the candy is gone from the center, or whenever you determine it.  Of course the fun is stealing from someone else.  I edited the photo as I don't have permission to post the pictures of the girls -- you have to be careful these days :).

 

 

 

Thanks for dropping by our Hunger or Hungry Games party.  It was a pleasure hosting nine happy, giggly girls.