Pumpkin Spice Muddy Buddies

I saw a recipe for these over a year ago on Pinterest, and I pinned it, thinking I would make them LAST year.

Well, all of the recipes that I found contained Pumpkin Spice Hershey Kisses.

So, for one second, allow me to vent about the fact that after Halloween, there is NOTHING fall in the candy aisle. EVERYTHING is Christmas.

It really chaps my chicken that we skip right over Thanksgiving anymore.

Maybe I don't WANT green and red M&M's for Thanksgiving??

Okay...I'll stop.

The guy that manages the grocery section at my Super Target did make me feel a tad bit better when he told me that they haven't been shipped Pumpkin Spice Kisses for a year.

Time to improvise.

I picked out the yellow, brown and orange M&M's from a regular package. 

(I guess because I am just that stubborn!)

I used about 1/4-1/2 cup was all, merely for color, they were so good, I didn't think it needed anything else!!

Pumpkin Spice Muddy Buddies

8 cups of Cinnamon Chex Cereal

6 squares of vanilla flavored Almond bark

4 Tablespoons vegetable oil

2 cups powdered sugar

3-4 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice (I used 4)

M&M's (optional)

Pour cereal in a big bowl.

In another bowl combine sugar and spices with a fork.

Melt almond bark in oil, in 30 second intervals, in your microwave. Stirring until smooth.

Pour over cereal and stir (gently) but well until completely covered.

Nutter Butter Acorns

We made these the last couple of years, I don't know why I never took pictures of them?

I think they are ADORABLE.

And 

so.darn.tempting.

They are so little you can just pop 'em in your mouth!

Perfect blend of peanut butter and chocolate.

I think you should make some of these up for the kids at Thanksgiving...

or anytime really?

NUTTER BUTTER Acorns

Taste of Home

1/2 cup chocolate chips, + 48 pieces

48 Mini Nutter Butter Cookies

48 Hershey Kisses, unwrapped

Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper.

Melt 1/2 cup of chocolate chips in the microwave.

Dip the flat end of the kiss in the melted chocolate and stick to one side of the Nutter Butter and place on the cookie sheet.

Place in refrigerator until set.

Do the same thing with the chocolate chips to make the "stem."

Put back in refrigerator to set completely.

Pop one in your mouth and say thanks!!

Sometimes it's ok to talk with your mouth full!

Asian Slaw

 My oh MY was this good!!

We gobbled it right up with our teriyaki chicken and rice!

If there is one thing my family loves, it's fresh crunchy veggies, and this salad was FULL of them, and topped with this AMAZING Ginger Soy Dressing!

Nom...Nom...Nom...Nom!!

Asian Slaw

adapted from The Compound Eye of a Dragonfly

4 cups broccoli slaw (1 - 12 ounce package)

2 cups shredded carrots

1 - 8 ounce package sugar snap peas

1 sliced red bell pepper

Tops of 3 green onions, sliced

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

1/2 cup salted peanuts (or to liking)

1/3-1/2 cup sunflower seeds

Ginger and Soy Dressing

Toss the slaw ingredients in the prepared dressing, and enjoy cold!

Don't plan on leftovers!! 

Ginger Soy Dressing

I had a taste for teriyaki chicken and rice tonight.

I wanted to make up some Asian Slaw to go with it. 

I searched "Asian Slaw" on Pinterest and found this recipe on a blog called "The Compound Eye of a Dragonfly."

After I read the recipe for the dressing I knew it was exactly what I was looking for!

We have these Mongolian Grill restaurants here called Hu Hot.

They have this yummy salad I LOVE to get when I go there, and this dressing tastes REALLY similar.

Tomorrow I will post the recipe for the slaw, but for now, here's the dressing!

Ginger Soy Dressing

the compound eye of a dragon fly

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1 Tablespoon low sodium soy sauce

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 Tablespoon peanut butter

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon hot sauce (I used Siracha)

1 Tablespoon minced fresh ginger

1 clove minced garlic

I put all of the ingredients in a glass mason jar and shook it until the peanut butter was dissolved.

Place in refrigerator until ready to use.

Next time I am making a double batch to use as a marinade for chicken!

I think this would make an awesome stir fry sauce, too!

How To: Hosting a Holiday Cookie Exchange

I have hosted a Cookie Exchange for the last 16 years.

It's been a lot of fun and has totally evolved throughout the years.

When I started, we all had little kids and I had it with my stay-at-home-mom friends.

Everyone would come to my house, and I would have breakfast food, the kids would play and the moms would have coffee and chat.

As the kids got older, I would still have it in the morning, some would be in pre-school/grade school and some were home.  People that came could make with at some point, with or without their kids.

Now, many of my friends have gone back to work, we all have school aged kids or our kids are out of school and we just want to go OUT.

So, for the last few years I have had my Cookie Exchange at my Sister-in-Law (to be)'s Wine Store.

Yes. Wine + Cookies= HAPPY WOMEN

Every year I have good intentions of taking photos of the event, and every year, I start having fun and completely forget.

I did manage to find a couple of photos from last year, and incorporated some cute ways to package cookies for gifts or an exchange.

Links to the yumminess, too!!

So, I will type up here on this post what I do to organize the event, so maybe you and your friends can have one, too!

Hosting your own Holiday Cookie Exchange

The month of December always fills up fast for everyone.  I always try to get my date on the calendar by mid-November.

Since the invention of facebook, I typically do a facebook event, almost all of my friends have facebook, and the one that doesn't, well it just gives me an excuse to chat with her on the phone! *smile*

I always try to select my date as close to Christmas as possible, my exchange typically falls somewhere between the 18th and the 21st.  That way guests have goodies for their family and friends during the holidays.

Each guest RSVP's with what cookie/candy they plan to bring.  I try REALLY hard to not get duplicates, or "all chocolate" or too much mint, or too many things with nuts.

Many of the people that come only bake for this, and when they return home with all of their goodies, I don't want their platter of treats to be all brown because everything is chocolate. *wink*

I want there to be a nice assortment of flavors and colors for everyone's cookie platters.

So, it's a first come first serve thing.  If you planned on making peanut butter kisses, and someone else signs up first, you go back to the drawing board and find something else.

The number of people changes every year.  Some years I have had as many as 15 people, other years there are only 8.  Whatever number of people in attendance there are, that's how many dozen cookies you will bring of your cookie.

Caramel, Toffee and Pecan Fudge boxed with a bow

For example, there are 10 of us coming, myself included, and  I am making sugar cookies, I bring 9 dozen of my cookie to the party.  Friend A brings peanut butter kisses, 9 dozen, friend B is bringing fudge,  9 dozen pieces, and so on.

Great Aunt Vern's Sugar Cookies in a tin

Everyone brings their candy/cookie wrapped/boxed with one dozen per package.  Some place theirs in bags, some boxes, some on plates and some in tins.  Whatever they decide.  On their packages, they attach their recipe for their baked good inside.

gift or bring candies like Peanut Brittle in mason jars with ribbon attached

Up-Cycled Pringles cans I made with recipe attached for my exchange last year

Turtle Bark in a tin

Everyone brings their own baked good (all 9 dozen) in a big box or basket.  I line them up, and at the end of the evening everyone takes one package from each guest (except themselves) and then leaves with 9 dozen different kinds of cookies, and all they did was make one kind.

See?

Everyone is welcome to bring an appetizer to share, and we sip wine and relax.  

Who doesn't need to relax a little by the middle of December??!!

One other fun thing we added a few years back, is we do a gift exchange.

Everyone brings a wrapped gift (dollar amount is about $15) and we place them on a table.  

We draw numbers and start at 1 and that person opens a gift.

Person number 2 can either steal the gift from the person who opened it, or open their own.

If there are 10 people, we play from 1 up to 10 and back down to 1 so everyone gets a chance to steal.

But the gift can only be stolen twice.

It's a lot of laughs!

Toni got a great HUSKER bag...too bad she's a huge Iowa State fan! Ha!

It's a fun activity, and there always seems to be something new and creative!

Fun to shop for , too!! 

So in a nutshell that is how I do my cookie exchange.

I hope everyone enjoys it as much as I enjoy hosting it!

girlfriends cookie exchange 2012

Regency Ginger Crisps

I've talked about my friend, Gerry, before in other posts.

She has introduced me to many authors that I love!

I have only read the first in this series, from Joanne Fluke, Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder.

All of the books in this series are named after baked goods and are based on a girl named Hannah Swensen, who owns a bakery in Minnesota.

Gerry knew I'd love these books, not only because they are clever and funny, but because after she talks about making something in the book, it shares her recipe for it.

This past weekend, I had a taste for ginger cookies.

I was going to see Gerry that night, so early that morning, I mixed up a batch of these Regency Ginger Crisps from the book to bake that afternoon and take to her that night.

They were REALLY yummy!

Joanne Fluke - Hannah Swensen Mysteries

The recipe says to flatten the cookie down with your spatula before baking, I sort of missed that part.

Maybe next time I will try that on one pan and see how they turn out?

I loved that they were crunchy on the outside , and yet soft on the inside.

Regency Ginger Crisps

The Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder - Joanne Fluke

1 1/2 sticks melted butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 large egg, beaten

1/4 cup molasses
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon ground ginger

2 1/4 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar, for coating

Melt butter and mix in brown sugar.  Let mixture cool, and then add egg.  Add soda, molasses, salt and ginger. Stir it thoroughly. Add flour and mix in. Chill the dough for 4 hours or even overnight.

Preheat  oven to 375 degrees.

Roll dough into walnut sized balls with your hands and roll them in sugar. 

Place on greased cookie sheet.

(original recipe says to flatten with a spatula, I did not.  mine were more puffy)

Bake for 10 minutes or until nicely browned.

Cool on cookie sheets for no longer than one minute, or they will stick.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream Cake

Happy 19th Birthday to my son, Spencer. 

How did THAT happen?

It seems like time ticks away, and all of those moments I asked myself "how did that happen already?" are strung together, and before I knew it he's 19 right before my eyes.

What I wouldn't do to go back to the days when I would get up to feed him in the middle of the night, turn on "Nick at Nite," tune into all of my old favorite shows like Laverne & Shirley, Happy Days, Mary Tyler Moore and Taxi.  We'd snuggle into the rocker with the light of the TV...and many nights I couldn't bare to put him back bed. His bottle would be long gone, he would be sound asleep and I would just watch the tv, cuddled up, and rocking back and forth.

Some nights, I would no more than put him back in his crib and an hour later it'd be time for the next feeding.

He was my first, and I was lucky to be able to nap when he did, or I am not sure how I would have made it?

I was young.

Now he's grown up, and going off to college.

He planned to stay and go to school here locally, and decided that wasn't the right decision for him.

So, we are moving him to the dorms in January, he tells me one of the things he will miss most is my cooking. 

aw.

I'm going to miss him like crazy.

He chose his normal birthday dinner this year, my Shrimp and Crab Pasta.

But his normal ice cream cake is either the 

Cookies and Cream Ice Cream Cake

or 

Mint Chip Brownie Ice Cream Cake

This year, we decided to switch it up.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough it was!

a slice of heaven

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream Cake

18 ounce tube of Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

1 jar Hershey's Hot Fudge Ice Cream Topping

2/3 cup Chocolate Chips

1 quart Edy's Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream, softened

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Line the bottom of a 9" spring form pan with parchment paper.

Press 2/3 of the cookie dough into the bottom of pan and bake about 20-23 minutes, or until cookie is cooked.

Bake the rest as mini cookies.

Heat jar of hot fudge in microwave according to jar directions.

Pour over warm cookie, reserving about 1/4 cup.

Top fudge with softened ice cream, spread evenly.

Swirl the remaining hot fudge on top of ice cream.

Top wtih chocolate chips.

Press cookies into top.

Freeze for 24 hours before serving.

S'more Football (THROW the BONES) Cupcakes

On my son's final football game, they wanted to make a BIG DEAL of things.

I made a banner for the team to run through, and there was smoke and everything!

Imagine that 00 -- my kid -- was first through the banner! ;)

After the game I handed out cupcakes. 

My son requested my S'more Cupcakes, but I wanted to jazz them up!

Here in Nebraska aka HUSKER NATION our first string defensive players are awarded  Black Shirts.

They also have a black circle on the back of their helmets, and will make and X over their chest with their arms for Skull and Crossbones.  

"Throw The Bones"

Here is an article on Wikipedia explaining more:

HUSKER Black Shirts

I decided I would make the S'More cupcakes like I always do, chocolaty cake, and marshmallow butter cream, but instead of adding teddy grahams like I usually do, I bought these BONE shaped Scooby Snacks (graham flavored crackers) added a piece of Hershey Bar, and made the little picks from 3 dimensional scrapbook stickers.

I think they turned out pretty cute! 

football player approved!

S'More Cupcake with Marshmallow Buttercream

click the link below for the recipe

S'More Cupcakes with Marshmallow Buttercream RECIPE

Sauerkraut, Bratwurst and Potato Soup

A couple of years ago I had a Soup Supper Round-Up 

on my blog.  

A blog I follow from time to time called Simply Gourmet

shared this soup, and I have to say I was intrigued!

It is a weird sounding combination, I will admit, but I knew it was one I would try someday!

My cousin, Shawn, makes his own sauerkraut, and it is amazing!!

He saw the share of this soup, and he made it right away!

And he's made it time and time again!

Every time I run into him, he asks me if I have tried it, I keep telling him, I am going to, I SWEAR!

I decided that it was TIME I did!

Every Halloween we have a soup supper at our house before we go out Trick-or-Treating.

I make three soups, two that are family favorites, and I make one new one.

This year, I made my Homemade Chicken Noodle and Beef Enchilada, and this one!

My father in law teases me about my Polish/German heritage (all in good fun) and thought this soup didn't sound like anything he would like.

He had two bowls.

It was the first crock pot empty on Halloween.

It's the perfect blend of creamy with just a bit of tang... fabulous!

My Father in Law said I needed to re-name the soup, I wasn't sure what that would be, so I left well enough alone.

Sauerkraut, Bratwurst and Potato Soup

original recipe: Simply Gourmet

6 cups chicken broth

3 cups kraut juice + water (to make 3 cups)

3 potatoes peeled and cubed

1 small onion, diced

4-5 stalks celery, diced

2 cups sliced carrots

1 stick butter

1/2 cup flour

1 1/2 cups milk

2 cups cream

2 cups sauerkraut, drained

5 bratwursts, casing removed

Drain sauerkraut, reserving juice.  Add  water to kraut juice to make 3 cups. In a large soup pot, bring chicken broth and kraut/water to a boil. Add carrots and potatoes, cover and cook until veggies are desired tenderness.

In a skillet, chop and brown bratwurst until it gets nice and brown.

Remove from pan, set aside.

Do not clean pan.  Add onion and celery to pan, and saute for about 5 minutes.

Add sauerkraut, continue browning until sauerkraut is cooked well.

Return bratwurst to kraut mixture.

Add to broth.

In a small saucepan, melt butter, add flour to melted butter and whisk, making a roux.

Slowly add milk and cream to flour mixture.

Cook on low whisking as it thickens.

Pour into broth and let soup simmer on low until heated through.

We served with a crusty loaf of french bread, Ah-MAZING!