Ack!

I cannot post to my regular blog…anybody know what’s up?

Dipped Pretzels

Surely everybody and their brother know how to make these things, right?

So, for those who know what they’re doing, consider this a reminder to get off your bum and make these super simple delectable treats.  And for those who haven’t a clue, no worries, super simple, I promise.

You’ll need:

waxed paper

1 pkg almond bark

1 bag pretzels (the picture shown are thin minis, I do regular size thins as well)

sprinkles optional

In a microwave safe bowl..I prefer my glass mixing bowls, deep bottom..think tall and skinny, rather than fat and wide, melt almond bark according to package directions.  In my experience, that means about 90 seconds on high, stir, then repeat as needed at 15 second intervals.

Once completely melted, dip pretzels.  Carefully, gently shake off the excess and place the pretzels on waxed paper.  If you desire sprinkles of any sort on there, sprinkle them on shortly after dipping, otherwise the bark cools too quickly and the sprinkles will not stick.

That’s it.  Let them cool until the bark hardens.  Then hide them. Or better yet, place them high in a tree, down the road.  That way each time you go snag a handful, you are working off the calories and it all evens out just fine.

I’m wanting to add a bit of peppermint extract to the almond bark.  Or sprinkle with crushed candy cane.  Yummy eh?

Comforting Mac & Cheese

Comforting Mac & Cheese

(sorry no pic yet)

16 oz elbow macaroni
5 tbsp butter
1 small onion, chopped
approximately 3 tbsp flour
3 cups warm milk
1 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp ground red pepper
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
3 cups shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 375*
Grease (non-stick spray) baking pan (original recipe says 9×13, but I like it just fine in my 9×11)
In a large pot, cook macaroni per instructions, al dente.

 

Meanwhile, chop your onion.  This is also a good time to go ahead and gather your spices and measure your cheese. Put all that into a separate bowl for quick access.  It’s not necessary, and does involve dirtying another dish, but, sometimes it’s just helpful.
Drain pasta and set aside.
Melt butter in large pan (I just use the same pan I cooked the macaroni in) over medium heat, add in chopped onion cooking until just tender.
Next make a roux by whisking in the flour. You may need more or less. I like to use whole wheat flour, no clumps! But a mix of WW and unbleached works nicely.
Once you have a good roux there, slowly whisk in your warmed milk. (my original recipe said ‘hot’ but, it really doesn’t matter..I just went ahead with ‘warm’ so that I wasn’t cooling things down too much…I was ready to EAT!)
Now you should have a nice looking ‘gravy’. Add in your cheese and spices (feel free to adjust to your taste, my measurements are purely guesstimates), stir just a bit, get that cheese melted. This will only take a minute.
Add in your drained macaroni, stir to coat. Then spread into prepared pan.
The original recipe mentioned putting some bread crumbs on top, but I didn’t have any. Last time though, I thought I’d try some saltine crackers. I just crushed about 6 in my hand and sprinkled them on top.
Pop it in the oven for 15 minutes. There ya go!
I think it could handle a little more crunch on top even. The crackers were VERY good.

Good ole comfort food baby!

Saltine Toffee

Update: This evidently is NOT the original recipe I used ‘oh so long ago’. One cup was too much sugar. Try 1/2 cup.  I will make again and repost that update, but figured I’d go ahead and leave this up for now because of interest. So so sorry guys!

This recipe has been floating around forever.  I’m surprised I haven’t posted it already.  This is oh so easy!  But also oh so addicting.  You’ve been warned!

You will need:

a cookie sheet with sides aka jelly roll pan

foil

1 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 sleeves saltine crackers

First, preheat oven to 350* F. Then you line your pan with foil.

Next, start melting your butter.

See, I told you this was easy. No ‘thang’ yet huh?

Ok, now while you have the butter melting over medium – medium-high heat, lay your crackers out on your foil lined pan.  Lay them nice and neat, in straight rows, sides touching.  You may need to break some crackers to fill the pan completely.

Imagine a picture of saltine crackers resting peacefully in a foil lined 11 x 15 jelly roll pan *here*

Once your butter is nearly melted, add in your sugar.

Some may put butter and sugar in at the same time then turn on the heat.  I’ve always partially melted my butter first and gotten good results.  I don’t know that it really matters.  See, again…so easy!  Just give it a stir and let it melt. But don’t go far.  This will only take a few minutes.  You want to be back here when it starts to boil.

Now, go finish laying out your crackers if you’ve not done so yet.

Alright, now your butter/sugar mixture should be just beginning to boil.

*Juuuust* boiling and beginning to foam.  Some recipes say you want it to foam.  I have found I do NOT want a full on foam.

Next you give this another stir then pour it over your crackers.  Spreading it out with a spatula as needed to fully cover.

Now place the pan in the 350* oven and bake for about 5 minutes.  Careful! You want it to *just* get bubbly again.

Remove from oven.

Oooo look at that golden bubbly goodness!

Now you have the option of leaving it just like this.  Sweet buttery yumminess! Though, the ‘traditional’ way is to then top with chocolate.

Sprinkle some chocolate chips over the top immediately after removing from the oven. The warm mixture will gently melt the chips so you can spread it over top.

Or

You can melt some chocolate chips and then DRIZZLE that over the crackers, again, immediately out of the oven.

You can even melt different kinds of chocolate and drizzle some of each on top.

I was out of chocolate chips this time so I improvised.  I’m not sure how it’s going to turn out, but….I just mixed some cocoa powder with butter/oil, heated slightly and attempted to drizzle.  It didn’t wanna drizzle well.

It’s more like ‘blobbing’ than drizzling.  But, you get the idea.  I much prefer the melted chocolate DRIZZLE over the spread.

Let cool.  Then break into pieces.

Sexy Strawberry Dressing

1/2 cup frozen strawberries

3 Tablespoons olive oil

2 Tablespoons Balsamic vinegar

2 Tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon  ground black pepper

Add everything to a blender and pulse until smooth.  Use immediately or chill before serving.

We love this on a bed of romaine with sliced steak on top.  Also awesome with fresh spinach!

(The 12 yr old named this recipe…it was Tangy or Sexy…sexy works LOL)

PS

I’ll try to remember pics next time.

Cake Balls

I can’t take credit for this recipe.  I  blame credit Pioneer Woman who technically can’t claim it either. She posts about that here in which she properly gives Bakerella all the glory.

 

Here’s my less than perfect attempt at the lucious creations:

You can click the links above for the original recipe, but it’s really simple:

Bake a cake, let it cool. Mush it up with a can of icing, roll it into balls, chill to firm, then dip in melted chocolate.  Voila!

Dreamy!

Raspberry Trifle Update

Now with pics.