Eggnog Fudge

Need a way to use up any leftover eggnog? Try this fudge it's relatively easy and tastes amazing. Even though a fudge recipe is short and doesn't take much time it still can be a little bit of an art form. Before starting this recipe make sure you have a candy thermometer!!!!! One of the steps requires you to boil some of the ingredients, and they MUST reach a certain temperature or it will never give you the right consistency; leaving you with a gooey mess.

I quadrupled my recipe for the holidays and it made far too much. If you make it for a party I would suggest making a batch and a half, but pouring it into the same pan so you get thicker squares of fudge. A single batch is plenty though!!!

Fair warning this stuff is incredibly addicting.

Eggnog Fudge Recipe

2 C. sugar

1/2 C. salted butter

3/4 C. Eggnog

10.5 Oz. White Chocolate bars - chopped

**(Note: I just use a bag of white chocolate chips)

1/2 tsp. Nutmeg + a little extra to sprinkle on top

7 Oz. jar of Marshmallow creme

1 tsp. Rum or Rum extract

Step 1: Line a pan (you can use square or rectangle - if you double it use a rectangle or 2 squares!) with aluminum foil and lightly butter it.

Step 2: In a large sauce pan boil the sugar butter and eggnog until a candy thermometer reads 234 degrees. This will take about 10 minutes, and make sure you are stirring constantly. Take it off the heat.

Step 3: Use a wooden spoon, and QUICKLY add the white chocolate and stir until smooth. Then add the nutmeg, marshmallow creme and rum. When well blended you can pour it in the pan and sprinkle some nutmeg on top to make it pretty!

Step 4: Let it cool at room temperature or put it in the refrigerator until hard. (**I recommend the refrigerator if you have the extra space, it is SIGNIFICANTLY faster)

Step 5: Cut into squares and enjoy!

Valentine's Flower Bouquet

Who needs a boy to give them flowers????? ok ok, every girl wants flowers! But there is nothing in the rule book that says we can't buy them for ourselves every now and then. Flowers can be expensive, so if you are spending Valentine's Day by yourself or if you just want to decorate for the holiday treat yourself to some very beautiful very delicious smelling pink roses or gerber daisies or whatever suits your fancy!

I have to admit I got this idea off pintrest...That website is so great, but it has been KILLING my productivity. At least I know every other girl is spending just as much time on it as I am. This particular project actually turned out a lot better than I thought it would. You just have to mess with it a little bit until you get everything where you want it.

I used a vase that already had a center spot for a candle. I think that's easiest, but I made another one where I just put a plastic cup in the center I could fill with water. The first thing I put in the vase were the candy hearts. You don't have to necessarily use those, I had wanted to use pink and red jelly beans, but I couldn't find a place to just get the individual colors. I was SHOCKED target didn't have a bag of them.

The second layer is just heart peeps. These were kind of tricky. I pulled some of them apart, and I would NOT recommend that. Use a knife so you get a clean cut with less white showing, OR use a round case so you never have to break them apart and you can just curve them along the edge. They are kind of tricky and don't like to stay. I crumpled up some pink toulle and stuck it behind the hearts to help keep them in place. (Lucky for me that toulle came wrapped around my flowers!)

Then I cut the roses pretty short so they would sit low in their holder. When you cut the flowers be sure to cut them at an angle, I'm not sure what exactly that does but my flowers stay fresher much longer. Someone asked me how I change the water for the flowers...haha this might sound ridiculous, but I use a turkey baster! I suck up the water, and then put clean water in! Works like a charm, and I don't ruin the candy :)

If you try this be sure to send me a picture of how it turns out, I'd love to see what candies everyone uses!!!

Champagne Marshmallows

When you think of Valentine's Day, what comes to your mind? Roses, Candy, Love, Hearts.......Champagne! Every thing you hear about Valentine's Day includes Champagne. Want to stay in our love suite for a night? Enjoy a complimentary bottle of Champagne. Don't bother going out to eat that night it can be depressing to watch all of the couples sitting there smiling over their glasses of....you guessed it Champagne.

But this year we are not worried about being a couple, we are worried about loving ourselves and everyone else worth while in our lives. Soooooo why not enjoy some Champagne ourselves? Almost everyone enjoys a glass of it every now and then. Today though we are going to do more than just drink Champagne we are going to eat it! In a big, white, fluffy kind of way. These little marshmallows are surprisingly delicious and taste great on a s'more.

Champagne Marshmallows

1 1/2 oz. gelatin (I use the knox brand)

27 oz. champagne (separated)

11 oz. corn syrup

28 oz. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

optional: seeds from 1 vanilla bean 

Plenty of Powdered Sugar!!

Step 1:

     Lightly grease a 9" x 13" 

Step 2:

     Combine the gelatin and 11 ounces of the Champagne together in a bowl you can use a mixer with. Set it aside

Step 3: 

     Pour 16 oz. of Champagne into a medium pot over medium-low heat. Simmer the champagne for about 15 minutes or until the mixture is reduced by half. You are trying to get to right around 8 oz. If you think it's gone too far, just add a little more Champagne.

Step 4:

     In the same pot add corn syrup, sugar, salt, and vanilla bean scrapings (if using) to the champagne. Turn the heat up to medium and stir. Try not to push the liquid up the sides of the pot. Leave it on the heat undisturbed until mixture registers 240 degrees on a candy thermometer. Once you reach that temperature take the pot off the heat and let it cool to 210 degrees. (DON'T BE LAZY OR GENEROUS WITH THE TEMPERATURES!)

Step 5:

     When cooled, pour the mixture into the mixing bowl with the gelatin. Using your mixer, whip the mix on medium speed for about a minute or until gelatin has fully melted. 

Step 6:

     Turn your mixture on high and whip until mixture has tripled in volume...(this takes some time, so don't get discouraged - I thought I was doing it wrong, and my mom and i fuddled with it then all of a sudden it got huge!) Pour this goo into the pan and bang it against the counter to level the mixture. 

Step 7:

      Dust the top of the giant marshmallow with some powdered sugar, cover, and refrigerate at least 4 hours (preferably overnight)

Step 8:

     To cut the marshmallows....dust a cutting board with powdered sugar. Take the marshmallow out of the pan....all of it...literally pull the entire thing out by digging your fingers under a side. Using a chef's knife, cut it into strips and then cubes of any size you life. Or use cookie cutters to get shapes. 

Step 9:

    Roll each piece in powdered sugar so it isn't sticky and enjoy!

**Note: store them in an air tight container or a zip lock bag. 

   There is a lot you could do with these. You can dye them, use cookie cutters, give them as gifts, put them in ice cream, roast them. They are very versatile and very yummy. I hope they spice up your Valentine's Day! Everyone else will be drinking their glass of Champagne only to be enjoyed for a few minutes one night. You'll get to have your Champagne and continue to enjoy it for weeks!

Valentine's Day Tree!

Since we made paper chains last night, our next project clearly needs to be a tree to put them on! If you're new to my blog you should know I can be kind of lazy. That laziness manifests itself in my unwillingness to pack up my christmas tree. Because I leave it up all year I now have two strands that are out and need to be replaced, but that's ok. Point is I just change the decorations for every season. 

This year I filled my tree with all kinds of good things. There is of course the paper heart chain, large pink ornaments, and some smaller pink and white ornaments. Some of my FAVORITE decorations though are the loofahs stuffed in the tree haha :). Target had a great deal going on where you could get two light pink or two dark pink loofahs for a dollar! Naturally I bought a ton of them as a cheap way to get ornaments on my Valentine's tree! There are also some gorgeous hearts made out of magazine covers and pages that a good family friend made as a contribution to my seasonal trees. The tree is topped off with a candy heart pillow.

Don't limit yourself in decorating your tree. There are all kinds of things you could do. Find some candy heart ornaments, or better yet get some clear ornaments at the dollar store and FILL them with candy hearts. I know Market street has some pink and red toulle that you could use to fill your tree and make it kind of funky looking. Get creative, you can do this project super cheaply. 

Here are some pictures of what my tree looks like this year....yes I know the lights are out, but I just got back to school give me the benefit of the doubt!!!

Paper Heart Chains

This week I thought I would do something every day for valentine's day. Everyone gets so down in the dumps about valentine's day if they don't have a special someone in their life, or even if they do and their significant other doesn't take it seriously. But I don't really understand why? There are so many people in your life to love, and who love you. So this year celebrate valentine's day! Single or part of a couple celebrate love on all levels. Back in the day they made you give a valentine to everyone. Part of that is so people's feelings don't get hurt, but part of it is teaching to love everyone. Valentine's day doesn't have to be about one love, so I hope all of you choose to enjoy the day, rather than mourn it :)
  
For tonight.....It's always fun to go back to your kindergarten days and remember how fun some of the simplest crafts can be. This is a slightly modified version of the paper chain. I made each link of the chain into a heart and connected them that way instead. I'm using mine as garland on my valentines tree, but you could use it as garland around your house, hanging down a window, or even in a classroom for all of you teachers.

It's really not too difficult, but I took pictures of each step so it would help. You can use construction paper or any paper flexible enough to bend. For this particular garland I used sparkly scrapbook paper from target. It wasn't very expensive, and the sparkles are sooooo pretty! Construction paper is what people traditionally make the chains out of, at least in kindergarten, but the construction paper is a little flimsy and you have to work to get it to hold it's shape.

First, I cut all of the paper into strips about 2" wide. You should cut the paper in strips the long way unless you want tiny hearts. 

 Second, fold each piece of paper in half with the sparkly side up. 

You want the sparkly sides of the paper to bend inwards. If you are using construction paper you can glue them together, but the glue wasn't holding those sparkles together. I used tape. 

As you make the shapes be sure to loop the edge through the last heart you did before you glue or tape the next heart! 

And there is your chain!!!! 

It's a pretty simple project, but goes a long way in decorating for Valentine's Day. It's cheap, can go everywhere, and sometimes it's fun to just remember how much you enjoyed doing crafts, and to take your mind off of school, work, your cell phone, etc. Try it! I'd be surprised if you didn't find yourself having a ton of fun making them.

Pepperoni Pull Apart Bread!

Here it is!!!!!!! It's only been two days, but I have gotten more requests for this recipe then most of the other ones.

I have a tendency when I cook to not want to eat what I make. Mostly because I snack on things as I'm cooking, so by the end I'm no longer hungry. But I couldn't resist these. This recipe is great because it can be made for so many different things. A weeknight meal, after school snack time, a party appetizer, you name it.

The other great thing about the recipe is that it can be as easy or as hard as you want it to be. I made the dough from scratch...does that make you nervous or you don't have the time? Just use frozen dough. I bought large pepperoni's from the deli counter and cut them up, but really you can buy a package of the mini one's and you're good to go!

Pepperoni Pull Apart Bread!!!!

Dough:

1 3/4 cup warm water, divided
1 tsp sugar
1 envelope (2 1/4 tsp) instant yeast
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing bowl and springform pan
4 cups (22 oz) bread flour, plus more for dusting
1 1/2 tsp salt

To make the Rolls:

2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

4 Tbsp butter

2 lbs pizza dough (1 batch of above recipe)

6 oz mozzarella cheese, cut into small cubes (about 48)

48 slices pepperoni (from 1 package) - I bought 16 large slices and cut them in fours

2-3 cups marinara sauce, warmed, for serving

How to!

***Note: if you bought frozen dough skip steps 1-3, just make sure to let the dough thaw!

Step 1:

   put 1/2 a cup of warm water into a bowl (if you want to use a stand mixer use that bowl) and stir in sugar until dissolved. 

Step 2:

    Sprinkle the yeast over the top and let stand until frothy (this should only take a couple of minutes) then add remaining water and oil.

Step 3: 

      Add the flour and salt to the bowl. Then, I knead the dough with my hands until smooth and elastic. Not everyone likes to do that, so if you are using a mixer you want to use your dough hook. Mix on low until flour is combined then on high until dough is smooth and elastic. Cover with plastic wrap and let the dough double in size (about 1.5 - 2 hours). ***I always put mine on the dryer. I don't have confirmation that that makes it go faster, but they always say put it in a warm spot, and what's warmer than the top of the dryer?

Step 4:

    Heat the garlic and butter over medium heat just until the garlic begins to brown. Remove it from the heat and let sit. 

Step 5: 

     Lightly brush the inside of a bunt pan with garlic butter. (don't have a bundt pan? No problem! You can use any pan. I used an angel food cake pan so I could pull the sides away easily. 

Step 6:

    Pull of pieces of the dough and flatten. Lay a piece of pepperoni and a piece of mozzarella on top. Then wrap the dough around it and seal the edges together. Roll the dough in the garlic butter and place on the pan. And Repeat till the dough is gone!!!!

Step 7:

   Cover and let sit for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 

Step 8:

    Bake for 35 minutes or until the top is very brown. Let it sit for 10 minutes and then you are ready to go! I use that 10 minutes to heat up the sauce. Any sauce will do whatever is your favorite!

I promise you won't be disappointed with this recipe!