Curried Pecans

Tags

brown sugar, curry, ginger, nuts, pecans, postaday2011, salad, side dishes, vegetarian

Our wireless continues to give us trouble… so hopefully I’ll get this post up while I have a connection.  I love the smell of candied pecans and they certainly are delicious around the holidays… In the summer, I opt for a different twist: Curried Pecans. On Sunday I whipped up a batch. These curried pecans are the perfect addition to liven up you summer salads, or are a tasty snack to munch on their own.

Curried Pecans

Ingredients:
1/2 c. butter, 1/2 c. light brown sugar, 2 1/2 Tbsp. curry powder, 1 1/2 Tbsp. ground ginger

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Melt butter in saucepan over low heat. Add brown sugar and stir until dissolved. Stir in curry and ginger. Toss pecans into sauce and mix until well coasted. Spread pecans evenly on a baking tray and bake 15 minutes. Cool pecans and serve. Store in an airtight container.

Mmm…

Do you have any unusual pecan recipes?

Dark Chocolate Dipped Coconut Macaroons

Tags

American macaroons, chocolate, coconut, dark chocolate, decadent, dessert, dessert recipe, dessert table, egg whites, gourmet, macaroon, postaday2011, recipe, snack, sweets, sweets table

MIA: My internet has been horrible this past week, unable to access it for more than 10 minutes a session. Arrrg!!!

Coconut and dark chocolate have long been two ingredients I love together. So of course on Mother’s Day, I made a batch of tasty coconut macaroons (as well as some jumbo chocolate covered strawberries).

Dark Chocolate Dipped Coconut Macaroons

Ingredients:
3-4 large egg whites, 1/2 c. sugar, 1 Tbs. almond extract, 1 pk. shredded coconut, dark chocolate

Directions:
Preheat oven 300°F. Grease baking sheet and set aside. In food processor, briefly chop 1/2 of the coconut so it breaks into smaller pieces. Whip together egg whites, sugar and extract. Mix in coconut and stir. I sprinkled in some flour and rolled mixture out like dough, using a cookie cutter to shape. You can simply dollop on baking tray or use an icing bag to decoratively shape macaroons. Bake for about 15 minutes, tops should become golden brown. If they’re not browning and you’re afraid of over drying macaroons, remove from oven and use a baker’s torch to brown tops. Remove macaroons from tray and place on cooling rack. Dip into dark chocolate and cool to harden.

For Cinco de Mayo, I made these with lime zest and rum extract. Mmm… 

What was your Mother’s Day treat???

The Cliché Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Tags

brunch, candy making, chocolate, dark chocolate, dessert, food, foodie, fruit, postaday2011, strawberry, Valentine's Day

I love chocolate covered strawberries… I know they’re very cliché around Valentine’s Day, but with the berries on sale and dark chocolate at home, who can resist? So Hubster, Pumpkin & I indulged in this perfect ending to our day.

The Cliché Chocolate Covered Strawberries

I like my chocolate covered strawberries simple & classic; no sprinkles or multiple types of chocolate drizzled overtop. The photo isn’t the best, but I didn’t have time to retake it before hands were getting in the way.

What cliché food items do you still indulge in?

 

Chocolate Covered Pirouettes & Pretzels Rods

Tags

back up plan, Candy, cookie, cookies, dessert, luncheon, party snack, pot luck, pretzels, snack

When All Else Fails

There are good days and there are bad days. Then there are perfect days and epically bad days… Yesterday, was the latter…

I’m still not feeling 100% and today is our holiday luncheon at work… I like to make tasty and beautiful desserts.

Plan #1
Make a butter rum pound cake topped with dark chocolate ganache and garnished with crushed peppermints… I only have half the ingredients I needed… and I didn’t have time (or energy) to run out to the store…

Plan #2
I had planned to make an almond angel food cake with chocolate ganache… I’ve made it many times before. I was whipping my egg whites and soft peaks had formed, but I wasn’t getting the stiff peaks I needs before I added my flour mixture. My metal bowl was completely grease-free… yet still no stiff peaks… Then I went for my bundt pan… ah, it’s in storage. I quickly grab my baby bundt pan and attempt to make mini angel food cakes. I couldn’t figure out the timing, and teh texture of the cake was all wrong.

Plan #3
Melt dark chocolate in double boiler and dip in pretzel rods & pirouette cookies. Easy? Normally yes, but my double boiler is also in storage… So I have to place my small sauce pan in my larger one, keeping it balanced with my left hand… if it were to tip and get a drop of water in the chocolate, it would be ruined… Once chocolate hardened I placed the chocolate dipped pirouettes (I had chocolate pirouettes and vanilla) and chocolate dipped pretzel rods in a glass bowl… and headed to bed.

Chocolate Dipped Pirouettes & Pretzel Rods

Normally, I’d make these a little more gourmet by sprinkling with crushed pistachios or drizzling stripes on with white chocolate… but tonight it was the perfect balance or sweet and salty and easy…

Here’s to today being a better day…

Christmas Train – Gummi Candy

Tags

Christmas candy, Christmas party, Christmas trains, food, gummi candy, gummy candy, holiday candy, kid recipe, kid snack, kid's activities, Polar Express, recipe, trains

I’ve made homemade gummi candy several times in the past year. First for my nephew’s birthday party, to celebrate Spring with Pumpkin and to welcome my BFF’s new baby. With Christmas right around the corner, I thought green and red Polar Express would be appropriate. Most people wear their pajamas and sip hot chocolate while reading the book or watching the movie, however we were busy making our gummi trains…

Polar Express Gummi Candy

What quirky spins do your family add to your classic traditions?

Chocolate Topped Pretzels

Tags

Candy, chocolate, chocolate pretzels, pretzels, shower favors, snack

My BFF’s baby shower was a few weekends ago, and I made all the food. There were about 60 people at the shower and I had great reviews on everything I made. I forgot to take pictures of all the food until it was too late. Over the next few days, I’ll share a few of the things I made.

I got the idea of these chocolate topped pretzels from my other BFF’s sister (she made them for the last shower).

Chocolate Topped Pretzels

I started with small pretzel square and placed a vanilla wafer on each of them, I used orchid, light blue and light green. Then I microwaved them for 2 minutes on full power. I pressed a chocolate candy (I used green and blue dark chocolate M&M’s) into the melted chocolate and placed into the fridge until it was hardened.

These are the perfect balance of sweet and salty. Mmm, thanks for the idea Ashley.

Bring Back the Kitchen Challenge

Tags

Baking, bring back the kitchen, control, cooking, cooking challenge, feminism, kitchen, recipe, take back the kitchen

There are many reasons why people today do not cook and bake.  Some feminist think they’re making a point by refusing to cook, some people claim they have no time, some say they were never taught (their mothers were liberating themselves from the kitchen, seriously, giving up control make you stronger?). Whatever the reason, it’s time for you to take the challenge. You need to eat to live, why not eat something that tastes good? Please do not tell me McDonald’s cheeseburgers or a frozen dinner actually satisfy your taste buds.

In college I was shocked  at how few of my girlfriends knew how to cook. Growing up, my mother always made new and exciting things (and sometimes “interesting” things). I got to help her, so it instilled the passion for food. It wasn’t a chore, or a hassle; it was creative, an art form. It didn’t feel like we were perpetuating the stereotypical rolls, afterall we were cooking for us.

Play With Garnishes: Carrot Flower & Orange/Celery Butterfly

YoungWifey’s Challenge: Cook one new recipe a week (this works for new cooks as well as old)! If you think you don’t have time, you can make an entire meal in 30 minutes (Thanks Rachel Ray!). Use a recipe on a food package, from a friend or relative, a cookbook, a television show or online. It could be a meal, a side dish, dessert or candy! If it turned out well, take a picture and save the recipe. If it didn’t turn out, blame the recipe.  Let me know what recipes you’ve tried by posting a comment here or on my Facebook page!

What did you make and how did it turn out? Where did you get your recipe? Will you make it again?