Awesome-Tasting Food!! (Christmas)

This recipe was something I tried last year and turned out perfect. It takes a long time and you kinda have to "baby-sit" it, but it is VERY fun to make!!  Using a brownie mix makes this really simple. The almonds gives it a very pretty look. 

Brownie Alpine Biscotti

Prep: 25 min. Bake: 40 min. + cooling

• 1 package fudge brownie mix (13 by 9 inch size)
• 3/4 cup ground almonds
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 egg plus 3 egg whites
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds, optional
• 3 ounces white baking chocolate, optional

In a large bowl, combine the brownie mix, ground almonds, flour and baking powder. In a small bowl, whisk egg, egg whites and extract. Add to brownie mixture; stir until combined.

 Divide dough into thirds. On a greased baking sheet, shape each portion into a 7-in. x 3-1/2-in. rectangle. Bake at 350° for 24 minutes. Remove from the oven; cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes. 

 Transfer to a cutting board; cut diagonally with a serrated knife into 3/4-in. slices. Place cut side down on greased baking sheets. Bake 12-14 minutes longer or until firm. 

 Cool on wire racks. If desired, sprinkle with sliced almonds and drizzle with chocolate. Let stand until chocolate is completely set. Store in an airtight container. Yield: 2-1/2 dozen.

Instead of drizzling chocolate on the top, I dipped the end of each one in chocolate. Or you can also dip the bottom of each one in chocolate.  

~Susanna

poll time again...

Simple question: Do you like eggnog?? 

Umm...It's okay. I could never drink a whole cup of it, but if my Dad is drinking eggnog I always take a sip.  It is something I have to smell every year because it smells sooo good!!!!

What do you think?  Is it something you like? I'd love for you to vote on the right and then tell me about your favorite drink at Christmas time in the comments.

    Warm Eggnog

2 large high quality eggs
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup half and half
1/2 cup cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
nutmeg

For those of you that don't know, this is what Nutmeg looks like.

Bring 2 eggs up to room temperature. Add the eggs to a blender and blend on high until a light creamy yellow color.

In a small saucepan, heat 1/3 C sugar with the half and half and cream over a gentle heat until you can see steam rising off the surface and some bubbles start to form around the edges of the pan. With the blender running, slowly pour the hot milk mixture into the eggs through the lid. Add the vanilla and continue blending the eggnog for a minute.

Pour into glasses and enjoy!!

Have a great weekend.

~Susanna

Awesome-Tasting Food!! (Christmas)

For the month of December Awesome-Tasting Food is going to be about Christmas goodies that we've tried over the years. If you'd like to see a certain recipe on here then comment with your ideas.

This week is something I love and only found out about last year. One of the easiest Christmas treats I have ever made. I gave this treat to friends and I know if tasted really good.

Pretzel Treats

• Bite-size, waffle-shaped pretzels
• Hershey’s Kiss or Hershey’s Hugs
• M&M’s candy. You can also use peanut M&M’s 

Instructions 

     Heat the oven to 200F. Set a number of bite-size, waffle-shaped pretzels (one for each treat) in a single layer on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, then top each pretzel with an unwrapped Hershey's Kiss or Hershey's Hug.

     Bake for 4 to 6 minutes (the white chocolate will melt more quickly), until the chocolate begin to just melt. Remove the cookie sheet from the oven and quickly press an M&M into the center of each Kiss.

     Allow the treats to cool for a few minutes, then place them in the refrigerator to set, about 10 minutes. Place handfuls of the candies in clear plastic bags and tie on colorful ribbons.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have fun cooking!!

~Susanna

awesome weekend

I had a terrific Thanksgiving weekend and I hope you did too.  

My weekend really started on Wednesday because I quit school for the rest of the week and did some cooking. The only thing I really ended up making was garlic salad. That takes a long time to shred cabbage.

Charis made this pretty pumpkin roll. I didn't get to try it, so that must have meant it was good. 

Thursday I got up early (well...for Thanksgiving) and took Addy to go get Newspapers. We do the whole Black Friday shopping thing and since we don't get the paper to our house we still needed to get all the ads.  It was great because one of our local radio stations just started playing Christmas music. Being outside, driving a truck, and listening to Christmas music goes real well together.

Around noon we headed for my cousins for our "Thanksgiving Dinner."  We had a great time and good food. After lunch our friends from India taught all of us how to play Cricket. In a way it is like baseball, but I still didn't get all the rules. confusing...but a ton of fun.

That evening we took our cousin Sarah home because she was going to go shopping with us. Back at the ranch (yeah, that's our house) we pulled out all the ads, scattered them all over the table, and poured over them until they tore...they ended up that way by the time we were done. 

The plan was to get up at 3 and head out, until Mom decided to go to Walmart at 10 p.m. No one wanted to be left behind (execpt Dad) so we all headed out. Walmart was a zoo, but, oh man, it was so much fun. Being in a crowded store is like my favorite thing.  Everyone ended getting pretty much what they wanted which was surprising considering the amount of people. We went back home for a 3 hour nap and then headed out to Kohl's. 

After Kohl's we had to wait for JoAnns to open. My cousin Sarah, Addy, and I went to see if we could grab some coffee, hoping Starbucks would be open. Meanwhile Charis and Mom were the unlucky one having to wait in line. Cheers!!! it was open and with a long line, but who cares. The coffee was good and woke me up.

Shopping continued until lunch time where we ended up at our traditional food shop. By then everyone was dead (as usual) and after lunch we all went home and took big long naps. In fact I when I woke up I thought it was morning...

Thanksgiving weekend started my official Christmas season. I think this is the best time of year.  Tomorrow I'm going to set up our Willow Tree Nativity scene. It looks like this, minus the background and wisemen.

Did you have a good Thanksgiving??

~Susanna

thankful five

 This year  I'm very Thankful for...

1) My whole family.

  

   This picture was taken a year ago, but it is the only one that has all of us.

...and then later on came Yoanna!!

She has changed a lot.

2) Shyann. The BEST dog in the whole world!!

We've had her for at least 3 years.

3) My awesome flute teacher!!  No, I don't have a picture of her. I been taking from this new teacher for over a year now and have felt very, very blessed with all I'm learning from her.  

4) Starbucks or you could say coffee in general. :)

5) All my great friends. I don't what I'd do without them. You guys are great. There are a lot more I just can't fit them all in here.

Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!!!

~Susanna

Awesome-Tasting Food!! // cupcakes

Last year when we were waiting in line at Target on Black Friday, we started looking at this cupcake book called "What's New, Cupcake?"  My Aunt ended up getting the cook book for us and I have loved it ever since. Some of the cupcakes are harder than others.

Indian Corn Cupcakes is one of the recipes I haven't tried, but it looks like a ton of fun.  I think they would make good table decorations on Thanksgiving. I'd guess you'd have to start working right now though.

Indian Corn Cupcakes

  Ingredients:

• 24 vanilla cupcakes baked in white paper liners
• 3 sheets Phyllo dough, thawed
• Vegetable cooking spray
• 1 can (16 ounces) vanilla frosting
• 3 1/4 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• About 4 cups assorted Jelly Belly jelly beans in russet, orange, gold, cream, and brown colors. See here.

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a cookie sheet with crumpled foil. Cut the Phyllo sheets crosswise into 3-inch-wide strips, tapering both ends. Drape the stacked husks on the prepared pan, shaping them over the crumpled foil to make curves. Spray lightly with vegetable cooking spray. Bake until the Phyllo is golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely. (The husks can be made up to 1 day in advance and kept in an airtight container.)
2. Tint the vanilla frosting pale beige with the cocoa powder.
3. Working with 3 cupcakes at a time, spread some of the pale beige frosting on top. Arrange about 5 straight rows of jelly beans, side by side and close together, on each cupcake. (Try to select flavors that go well together, such as toasted marshmallow, banana, cappuccino, and chocolate pudding.) Repeat with the remaining cupcakes, frosting, and jelly beans.
4. For each ear of corn, place 3 cupcakes end to end on a serving platter, aligning the rows of jelly beans. Arrange the Phyllo husks on either side of the corn.

MAKES 8 EARS OF CORN, 24 CUPCAKES 

You all have a great Thanksgiving!!

~Susanna 

barn wood?

After spending too much time on Pinterest this week, I've decided that you could make anything in you house out of barn wood. I've actually gotten some neat ideas on using barn wood.  Here's a couple...

This shoe stand with a counter could go in your mud room.

In case you can't tell, the island is made out of barn wood. :)  I think the colors are pretty too.

Here you could just use the doors. They look like they're on rollers.

I really like the head board. 

This is my all time favorite. Stairs.  Aren't those pretty?  The only problem in getting splinters. I wonder how you could keep it smooth.

Or just forget the house and turn a barn into a house. Interesting idea. 

What do you think? Do you like the wood? I'd love to know.

~Susanna