Advent Event: 16-14 Days

What happened?!?! 

It happens to me every time I start an advent calendar: I start out doing it faithfully every day, and then it hit a wall. 

In this case the wall hit me...came right out and smacked me.  And it was like it was a taunting wall because I was specifically doing a "foodie" advent calendar and blam...first case of food poisoning in my life!!

Ahh!

So while I was miserable the last few days, I did have visions of sugarplums dancing in my head, so here are abbreviated days, with a catch up for today to follow shortly. 

Day 16.  Sugarplums.  I literally had sugarplums dancing through my head, but after I got on the Internet to find out what they actually are, I found out mine were nothing like the real thing - fake sugarplums, I guess.  I was thinking they were something along the lines of a baked apple or poached pear.  Wrong!  I was thinking, "Wouldn't it be wonderful if I could find a slow cooker recipe for sugarplums?"  Wrong, again. 

For the uneducated (that was me about 5 minutes ago), sugarplums are a type of candy made from dried fruit (not just plums) shaped into a ring.  Sounds interesting, right? 
So I found this recipe from Betty and think I might just have to try it:  

Day 15. Nuts.  I almost drove myself bonkers (did you see what I did there?) trying to figure out what to do with some nuts I got that no one seems to be interested in.  We hosted Thanksgiving at our house and I thought it would be lovely and somewhat decorative to put some nuts in a serving piece and place a nutcracker (old fashioned, not crazy looking, spooky figurine) next to it, so people could snack before or after the meal.  How many were eaten by the end of the day?  Not a one!

So, we are going out of town on Friday and I am at a loss.  They aren't the kind of nuts you can take with you on the road because they are in the shell and frankly, I don't think I want nutshells all over the car. 
So, my advent calendar treat is a question for you: What should I do with all my nuts?  Should I give them to a neighbor?  Find a squirrel?  Help!

Day 14.  Cooking with Class.  The only event I went out to do whilst sick was the annual open house for my local (and favorite) recreational cooking school, Cooking with Class!  I love this mother and daughter team of entreprenuers! 

Each year they have a Christmas open house and this one was wonderful.  They have food and wine tastings...which I couldn't partake (the aforementioned wall).  And they offer discounts on lots of great stuff.  I needed to pick up a very special gift for someone important, so I made the effort to get down there right when the doors opened.  It was packed and full of happy foodie shoppers - my kind of people!

So my foodie treat for the day is a shout out to my Cooking with Class people!  I love you guys and can't wait to take more classes with you in the future. 

If you are local, truly consider taking a class with them...any class; they are all good.  If you are not local, I encourage you to find a local cooking school and dive right in.  You will meet like minded food lovers and new friends. Oh, and you will get to eat amazing food!

Thanks for sticking with me...here's hoping there aren't any more obstacles to Christmas!

Advent Event: 17 Days

Tonight I did a little late night shopping (fueled by a stop at Starbucks to get a hot cocoa) and now that I am home and doing the advent thing...I think it is time for a little midnight snack - holiday style. 

I saw these on one of the home shopping channels and I WANT!

  

Peppermint Ice Cream from the Pioneer Woman (if only she delivered)

We got a box of this popcorn just yesterday and yeah it is yummy!

And to finish off...an orange.

Yes, that is really the order I would eat all these things.  And yes, I would eat each of these things in one sitting.  This is the reason I should go to bed before 10:30; then I can keep the midnight munchies at bay.



Advent Event: 19 Days

Ok, this one is way late in the day, but here it is.

Tonight we went to see our first movie since having our little one (she will be 6 months old on Sunday!).  It is not that we haven't had a babysitter (believe me strangers tell us they would babysit her...yes, strangers...the answer is no); but more that there hasn't been anything enticing enough at the theater to make the effort.  But as a foodie, the enticement is always the food at the movies. 

Popcorn and coke...and a snicker bar...and maybe a few nachos...and maybe a few Sour Patch Kids...and...ooohh, that ice cream sounds good!

What is it about the movies that stirs up the junk food addict in me?  I have actually gone to the movies not because I wanted to see the movie, but because I wanted to sit in a dark room and eat popcorn ravenously and drink a MASSIVE coke whilst thinking no one can see me!

So today's advent calendar foodie treat: permission to let your junk food flag fly!

And the good thing is there are some great movies that come out around the holidays that are just ripe for food pairings.  Here is a sampling:

If only the theater sold a spot of tea and some crumpets to go along with this one.

Only candy at this one (Skittles, Snickers, and a sugar coma) to match the squeaky voices.  You should check out this preview, it made me laugh out loud a couple of times!

For this one, I think I will go to one of those theaters where you can order a meal...hamburger sounds good.

This one has popcorn and a coke written all over it...pure indulgence. But maybe I should have two more things to eat to match the title.

By the way, we went to see the new Muppets movie tonight and I actually enjoyed most of it.  It was a little tedious in parts, but overall an enjoyable flick.  But the popcorn and coke were the best.  Good date night!

What is your favorite food/drink combination at the movies?  Don't worry, I won't judge what you shove in your face whilst you think no one is watching.

Halloween Snacks for Dinner

We had an unconventional dinner tonight including snacks.  We often do on game nights because it gives us the feeling of being at the game and eating junk food, without actually eating junk food.  So, since it is Halloween, we had spooky snacks.  We also invited Mom and Dad over to watch the game and have fun passing out candy to the trick-or-treaters.  On the menu for tonight: 
Shrimp Cocktail with Green Goblin Dressing
Deviled Ham and Cheddar Toasts
These recipes can be found in the October issue of All You (one of my favorites, by the way)

The Green Goblin Dressing was delicious.  It is a combo of basil (I omitted the parsley - because I hate it with vigor), avocado, and garlic.  Very nice flavor profile and tasted great with the shrimp.  I was concerned that we would miss the usual cocktail sauce, but I was surprised and pleased this was not the case.  The recipe makes way too much for the four of us, so I am hoping to figure out another way to use it tomorrow (hopefully, it won't go brown before then).

The Deviled Ham and Cheddar Toasts were also very enjoyable.  Loved the idea and would try this again with other toppings.  Drew and Dad enjoyed topping these with a Habanero Mustard Drew just bought the other day.  They seemed to like it. 
We pilfered the candy pumpkins for dessert and sat down to watch the game.   Not too many trick-or-treaters this year.  Mavs 93 - Clips 84.

Catching up on Spooky fun!

I did not have time to write about Thursdays with Morgan on Thursday or Friday, so this late post will have to do the trick (ha - I am enjoying this season way too much!).
Morgan and I made a couple of treats for her to share with her friends at school for Halloween.  We started wtih Witches Hats and finished up the night with carmel apples.  I got both of these recipes from the October issue of All You magazine (one of my favorites, by the way).  
The witches hats are pretty easy to make.  You need a chocolate wafer cookie and a Hershey's Kiss and some green or orange icing.  You just put a dollop of icing in the center of the cookie and then attach the Kiss to the cookie.  We finished the cookies by using cake decorating tips to decorate the hat band.  These were really cute and easy to make.  I had quite the difficulties with my icing, but we ended up making 13 sets of cookies for her friends.  I forgot to take a picture of the hats by themselves, but here is a picture of the bags.

After the hats were done, we started on making Carmel Apples.  These are a little more time consuming, but totally worth the time taken.  The recipe called for making carmel from scratch.  If you have never made carmel from scratch, it is delightful!  It is so much better than any store bought carmels.  The hard thing about this recipe is the carmel sets up extremely fast!  You really have to be on top of the process or the apples can be difficult to turn in the carmel.  I tried one of these on Friday and I can report they are really tasty!  Give these a try for sure!

You may notice the lack of popsicle sticks.  This was an improvisation on my part after getting started and realizing I forgot to buy them.  It works.  

Magic Munchie Mix

Thursdays are good because Morgan comes over to spend the night, bake something tasty, and generally enjoy time with us!  Today we mixed a couple recipes together and changed up some of the ingredients.  So I guess you could say, we made a new recipe of our own (you could say this, I, however, will not).  Here's the scoop:

Magic Munchie Mix

1 box rice Chex

1 can Planters Sweet and Crunchy peanuts

1 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup butter

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 cup marshmallows

1.  Pour cereal into a oversize bowl.  Add the peanuts.  Set aside.

2.  Combine chocolate chips, peanut butter, and butter in a microwave-safe bowl.  Cook in microwave for 1 minute on high.  Remove from microwave and stir.  Place back in the microwave and cook for another 30 seconds (depending on your microwave).  Stir again until it is smooth. 

3.  Pour the chocolate mix over the cereal mixture.  Gently fold until all pieces are coated. 

4.  Place powdered sugar in a plastic bag large enough to hold the cereal. Add cereal, close up the top and Give it a good shake until the cereal pieces are evenly covered.

5.  Cool on waxed paper.  When completely cooled, put the mixture in a sealable container, add the marshmallows, close the container and shake until well mixed.

6.  Store in the refrigerator.  Enjoy!

This is a take on a recipe I made long ago (when I was Morgan's age) and another recipe we thought sounded good (but it didn't include peanut butter).  It takes less than 20 minutes and is fun to eat.