Peanut Brittle - A Traditional Christmas Treat, Courtesy of My Great Grandmother

Every year during the holiday season, for as long as I can remember, my mom made peanut brittle.  What made it even better was that she used my dad’s grandmother’s recipe.  My great-grandmother lived to be 99 years old – she couldn’t tell you what she did the week prior, but could tell you stories about her life when she was a little girl.  It was pretty cool.  We called her Nana.

As you will see in the recipe, the peanut brittle sets on a greased cookie sheet.  One year for Christmas my dad surprised my mom with a big slab of marble he had purchased from a kitchen store – it was perfect for the peanut brittle making process. 

Peanut Brittle

Serves 8

1 cup white Karo
2 cups sugar
½ cup water
1 lb. raw peanuts
2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 heaping teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt

Combine Karo, sugar, and water in a large saucepan.  Bring to a boil stirring slowly to 230 degrees with a candy thermometer or until the syrup spins a thread.  Add peanuts and continue to cook to 300 degrees and the color is a nice, light amber.  Remove from heat.  Add butter, vanilla soda, and salt; stir until blended.  This will foam so have a kettle (remember, this was my great-grandmother’s recipe) large enough so that it will not run over.  Pour onto 2 greased baking sheets with cooking oil.  When cool, break into bite sized pieces. 

If you like peanut brittle, I hope you will give this a try and stop back by to let me know what you think!

Tex-Mex Deviled Eggs

Easter is right around the corner and I wanted to share one of my favorite recipes for deviled eggs.  I found this recipe years ago in the magazine, Southern Living.  This was well before the days of Pinterest so with all other recipes I wanted to keep, I ripped it out of the magazine, stuck it in a sheet protector, and added it to my 3 ring binder of recipes. 

This is a twist on your typical deviled egg recipe adding “Tex-Mex” elements such as cilantro and jalapeños.  I have served this at Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas – or sometimes even just because the hubby loves them so much.  They have always been a big hit – I hope you give these a try this Easter season and let me know what you think!

 

Tex-Mex Deviled Eggs
Makes 12 deviled eggs
Recipe courtesy of Southern Living Magazine

6 hard-boiled eggs, peeled
1 tablespoon diced green onions
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
1 small serrano or jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely chopped (wear gloves!)
¼ cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup shredded Cheddar cheese
Chili powder

Cut eggs in half crosswise; carefully remove yolks.  Mash yolks, and stir in green onions and next five ingredients. 

Spoon or pipe into egg whites halves, note that if you decide to pipe, make sure you use a tip with a large opening.  Sprinkle with cheese and chili powder.  Cover and chill before serving. 

Wintery Appetizers

The Snowman Cheese Ball that I posted a couple of days ago has received a lot of attention!  If you recall, this was the winner of the 2012 Holiday Appetizer Competition at our December Couples Euchre night.  So I wanted to feature the two appetizers from the 2011 contest as well.  Surprisingly, the two women who made these had NO idea the other was making these cute little penguins!  The voting was very close last year, the penguins with the scarves took first place with the penguins without scarves ('cause they had an igloo to keep them warm) took a close second.

 

I didn't even manage to take photos last year!  These are courtesy of one of the contestants!

The recipe for the first place winner came from Food.com and was the Perky Olive Penguins dish. 

Second place went to the Penguins and Igloo Appetizer:

What kind of creative dishes are you making this holiday season?

Chocolate Pizzelles

Pizzelle making is a tradition in my rather large Italian family..... and for some, it's not just during the holidays, but all year round!   I have never actually made them by myself.....until this year.  I've helped my dad in the past, watched my brother make them, seen photos of other family members pizzelles, this year I was ready for a solo attempt. 

I'm not big into holiday baking, I'm usually so exhausted by the time December rolls around and getting through all of the parties - it doesn't happen.  But this fall, I purchased a Cucina Pro Pizzelle Maker from my cousin Dino at Valente's Deli Bakery & Italian Market and my parents brought it down for me during a recent visit.  A pizzelle iron is key to making pizzelles - so it will be something you have to purchase if you don't have one!  Here is an image of the one I have below. 

You may remember that I visited Valente's Deli Bakery & Italian Market a few months ago - you can check out that blog post here.

Making these Italian cookies really isn't hard - the first couple of pizzelles sometimes stick.  I sprayed my iron with a little bit of olive oil spray before getting started.

The recipe below is a combination of what was in the book that came with the iron as well as input from my dad.  Everyone in my family has their own recipe....and like many dishes my family makes, most don't want to share their secrets!  The hubby isn't a big fan of anise, so I decided to start with a batch of chocolate pizzelles instead of traditional ones with anise (some use seed, some use oil - we'll save that for another blog post!)

These make great gifts for the holidays - I remember giving them to MY teachers each year before Christmas Break.  My parents were even clever enough to save coffee cans throughout the year and wrap them with Christmas paper.....pizzelles fit PERFECTLY into a coffee can....although, can you still buy coffee in a can?  Not sure about that one....

I hope you have fun with your pizzelle making this year, I look forward to adding it as an annual tradition in my home!

Chocolate Pizzelles
Makes about 2 dozen

3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 stick butter, melted and cooled
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3 tablespoons cocoa

Beat eggs and sugar until light yellow.  Add cooled, melted butter (make sure it is cooled so you don't end up with scrambled eggs) and vanilla.  Beat until blended.  Sift remaining ingredients and add to mixture.  Fold until just blended.

Heat pizzelle iron. I would suggest spraying with a little bit of olive oil spray first.  Add about 1 tablespoon of batter on grid just behind the center of the pattern.  Bake until golden brown, about 30-40 seconds.  Remove and cool on a rack.  Repeat with remaining batter.

Snowman Cheese Ball

If you follow my page on Facebook, you'll know that over the weekend we were the hosts for our monthly Couples Euchre game....party 2 of 5 happening in my home this December!  The hubby and I have hosted the December Euchre for years - we like to get the most bang for our buck with all of our decorations.

As with every monthly Couples Euchre, each couple brings an appetizer to share.  Several years ago the hubby and I turned it into a competition - giving the 1st place winner a small prize (usually a holiday-like appetizer tray) and bragging rights for an entire year.  Some years have had a theme...this year I was so busy, the theme was "Best Overall" - very vague, but geared the contestants towards presentation and taste.

Once everyone arrives, the appetizers are labeled with a number and then each person casts their secret vote.  The past couple of years the votes typically go to just two of the dishes - this year was no different.  It was a close one, but the Snowman Cheese Ball was the big winner!

Below you'll find photo before the taste testing started along with a photo of the winner (with the partially eaten snowman!)  Recipe courtesy of Betty Crocker - in my opinion, you can never go wrong with a Betty Crocker recipe.

Thanks to all of our friends who participated in this year's contest - and congrats to the winner!

Snowman Cheese Ball
Serves 7
Recipe courtesy of Betty Crocker

3 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
4 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons basil pesto
1 tablespoon grated onion
1/4 teaspoon yellow mustard
2 drops red pepper sauce
1 container (4 ounces) whipped cream cheese, softened
Decorations (see below under Tips from Betty)
Assorted crackers

Mix 3 packages cream cheese and the Cheddar cheese; divide into 3 equal parts. Combine 2 parts to equal two-thirds of mixture; mix in pesto. Mix onion, mustard and pepper sauce into remaining one-third mixture.

Cover each cheese mixture and refrigerate about 4 hours or until firm enough to shape. Shape each cheese mixture into ball. Wrap each ball, label and freeze.

About 12 hours before serving, remove balls from freezer. Thaw in wrappers in refrigerator.

Arrange balls on serving plate with smaller ball on top for head of snowman. Frost snowman with whipped cream cheese before serving. Decorate as desired. Serve with crackers. Store covered in refrigerator.

Tips from Betty:

You can make this cute little guy up to 1 month ahead!

Guests may be a little reluctant to start sampling your delicious creation, so make extra to fill serving bowls to help get them started.

Use your imagination to decorate this whimsical snowman! You can use fresh rosemary and dried cranberries (crown), chopped olive pieces or raisins (eyes and buttons), pimiento or red bell pepper (mouth), radicchio or carrot ribbon (scarf), and asparagus spears or celery sticks (arms).

Snowmen and Reindeer Christmas Ornaments

In 2011, I decided to get super crafty with my boys and make some keepsake ornaments to give as gifts to teachers, babysitters, grandparents, special friends of theirs - you get the picture.

I found the idea for these two types of ornaments from A Little Bit Funky and decided, of course, to have the boys make both the Handprint Snowman Ornaments as well as the Reindeer Thumbprint Ornaments.  You can find the specific directions by following these links.   For the red Rudolph noses, instead of red craft paint, I decided to add a drop of glue and cover with red glitter!

What kind of holiday crafts are you making this season?

Christmas Cookies - The Creativity of Our Children

We are hosting our annual holiday party this weekend.  As a first, we decided this year to have a pre-party party at our home this week.  Our to do list was short, we had some good friends who were unable to attend this weekend - so invited a couple of families over to let the kids play, catch up, and have a few cocktails. 

This was a very impromptu gathering - surprisingly, I never know where we will be in the completion of pre-party tasks a couple of days before the party. The hubby is notorious for coming up with large projects to tackle right before our big event.  We had plenty to drink in the house - I put out some cheese, crackers, fruit, veggies, hummus and ranch dressing - it was perfect! 

I then thought it would be fun to have a cookie decorating station for the kids.  I made a bunch of gingerbread cookies in different shapes, purchased a tub of frosting, sprinkles, and some red hots.   We had 6 total children, 4 boys and 2 girls - all under the age of 7.  They had a great time! 

I told them they could decorate the first one and then eat it, but that I needed all of the other ones decorated for our holiday party dessert table!  The adults all looked at me like I was crazy.  This was great motivation for the kids - they were so creative and we were all super proud of them.  As they continued to lick their fingers and then go back to decorating their cookies, the parents still questioned my decision - I stuck with it. 

I was convinced tonight by the hubby that it would not be the best idea to serve these, but what a fun night for our children!  These are now safely packed away in storage containers and ready to hand out to the hard working children this weekend. 

I used to panic about doing something like this - I'm not a fan of cleaning up messes I didn't make.  But - I have lightened up over the years, this didn't stress me out at all.  In fact, I was so impressed by the girl (OK, there were two but one was a 1 year old and she didn't do much but eat her own cookie) who took her extra sprinkles from her paper towel, folded the paper towel in half, and poured over the finished cookies.   I know she has had WAY more cookie decorating experience than I have - but what a resourceful child!  My little one on the other hand had used so many green sprinkles on just one cookie, you could no longer see it!  Once un-earthed, I suggested that he use those sprinkles to decorate future cookies.  Not surprisingly, one of my girlfriends there said that my little one continued to eat those green sprinkles with his fingers but keeping an eye on me the entire time to see if I would catch him.  I love him.

This year, remember the joy of the season.  Look into a child's eyes to see the wonder.  I have finally stopped what I am doing to do just that this year - and it is a look I hope to never forget.

Wine Cork Christmas Tree

I saw an image of a Christmas tree made of wine corks on Pinterest and thought what a great weekend craft for me.  We have been collecting corks for years - all I needed was to get out my glue gun. 

This took a little longer than expected - but it was a fun way to spend a couple of hours.  Over 130 corks later - I was finished! 

It is the perfect holiday decoration for the side table in our kitchen next to our wine themed Christmas tree.

Christmas Cranberry Margaritas

I made these last December when the hubby and I hosted Couples Euchre in our home.  At the time, I was just starting to take photos to add to this blog (that wasn't live yet) so it's not very creative on my part and pretty much a copy of what I found on Pinterest!

Not only is this gem of a cocktail a tasty (and strong) one, but it is also so pretty and festive!   The blogger who original posted this recipe is Ezra Pound Cake and you can find the original recipe here.  She adopted it from Rebecca Rather's The Pastry Queen Christmas cookbook.

The cute candy cane cocktail stirrer is part of a set of 6 - all different colors - from Neiman Marcus. I received the boxed set as a hostess gift many years ago at one of our holiday parties.  I love them - they are perfect for the Christmas season and over the years, we have enjoyed using the whistle to signal the need for another drink! 

Give this one a try this holiday season and let me know what you think!  Cheers!

Cranberry Margaritas
Serves 4
Recipe from Ezra Pound Cake

Lime wedges
Sugar
Ice cubes (for shaking and serving)
1/2 cup cranberry juice or cranberry juice cocktail
1/2 cup silver or other 100% agave tequila
1/4 cup orange liqueur (Grand Marnier, Triple Sec, Citronage)
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
Garnishes:  thinly sliced limes and fresh cranberries

Run a lime wedge around the rim of the glass and dip the edge in sugar to coat.  Fill the glasses with ice and set aside.

In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, combine all the ingredients and shake. 

Strain into ice filled glasses and serve.

Christmas Tree Cheese and Tomato Appetizer

Another photo from last Christmas before I had The Bubbly Hostess blog up and running!  This is SUPER easy and a great appetizer for the upcoming holiday season. 

I found the image on Pinterest and it linked back to Cabot Cheese.  You can certainly use whatever cheese you like (I did) and as suggested in the recipe, swap out the cherry tomatoes for olives.  But I liked the festive red of the tomatoes on my tree!

Christmas Tree Cupcakes

I made these adorable cupcakes for Christmas dessert in 2011.  Images of Christmas Tree Cupcakes flooded Pinterest last year - I did some research while writing this post and can't even figure out which image I used for my inspiration there are so many!

Nothing from scratch on this recipe, except for the fondant, I needed such a small amount, decided to make it myself.  I used Betty Crocker's Super Moist Dark Chocolate Cake Mix for the cupcakes - and a cute Christmas themed cupcake liner from Michael's. 

Once the cupcakes were cool, I moved onto the decorating phase.  For the frosting - back to my favorite, Betty Crocker's Whipped Vanilla and simply added Wilton's Leaf Green Icing Color to get the frosting to the color consistency I wanted. 

To create the "ribbon/leaf" effect while making the trees, I used Wilton's No. 70 Leaf Decorating Tip.  One lesson I have learned over the past couple of years when decorating cupcakes is to start with your first "mound" of frosting to the middle of the cupcake, then starting on the outside of the cupcake, frost all the way around building on top of that initial drop.  That will help give it the height you are wanting here.

To decorate, I sprinkled Betty Crocker's Pearls Cupcake Gems around the frosting of the cupcake.  I'm not sure why these are not on Betty's site, but I couldn't find them there!  I bought them from my local grocery store.

For the stars, I made the fondant by combining marshmallows, water, and powdered sugar in a microwave safe bowl.  I microwaved on high in 30 second increments, stirring in between until the marshmallows were well combined with the water and powdered sugar. 

Being very careful of the fondant - it will be hot - and wearing latex gloves covered in shortening (to prevent sticking),  I moved to a workspace dusted with powdered sugar to knead in my food coloring - Wilton's Golden Yellow Icing Color  until combined well and is like a "dough-ey" consistency.  Then, rolled it out and with a small star cookie cutter, cut out the stars.

These were the perfect dessert for Christmas day.  In 2011 we enjoyed dinner at the home of good friends and the eyes of the children (and adults!) when they saw the cupcakes were wide with anticipation!

Holiday Pesto, Sun Dried Tomato, and Mozzarella Bites

I made these last holiday season but found this photo the other day and decided to add to the blog.

These are a great addition to any holiday table and super easy to make.  You can also use a good ole' sliced baguette instead of the cutouts.

Holiday Inspired Pesto, Sun Dried Tomatoes, and Mozzarella Cheese Bites
Serves 6-8

26 slices of bread (I used wheat bread)
1 clove garlic, cut in half
4-5 sun dried tomatoes packed in oil, chopped
Jar of store bought pesto (or certainly feel free to make your own, I was in a pinch for time!)
1-1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 375

Using a cookie cutter shape of your choice (I used stars and trees), cut out all of the shapes with the bread.  Rub each slice of bread with the cut side of the garlic.  Place bread on a cookie sheet and toast in the oven for 10 minutes or so until it is browned.

Once the bread is toasted, let cool.  Spread some pesto on each slice of bread, top with cheese then sun dried tomatoes.  Serve.