Sweet Treats

Christmas is the season of goodies and sweet treats.  (Just ask my oldest two who attended their 4-H Christmas party where each of them one the guess-how-many-candies-are-in-the-jar game and walked away with 129 pieces of candy each, plus the regular candy prizes for Bingo.)   We usually make a variety of goodies to share at the holidays.  I always try to have a recipe or two the kids can help with so that they have some investment in the gifts they give their teachers.  This year, the kids help make M and M Party Popcorn and Peppermint Patties.  I've never made the popcorn mix before but peanut butter and white chocolate mixed with the salty hint of crushed corn chips plus M and M's, popcorn and peanut butter sandwich cookies sounded hard to beat.   The peppermint patties I have made before.  I press mine into a pan and top with the chocolate rather than forming them into patties; that just saves on time.  The best part?  They feature a mystery ingredient:  mashed potatoes.

I also made Saltine Toffee, which I have made and love.  It is seriously the easiest, yummiest stuff!  I've seen recipes floating around calling it Christmas Crack because of it's addicting nature.  The last recipe I made was a new one to me for Chewy Chocolate Meringues.  This recipe used egg whites like a traditional meringues but they are chewy rather than crispy.  They feature dark chocolate, dried cranberries, and walnuts.  I subbed out pecans for the walnuts.  I can't say I was overly impressed.  They were good but I wouldn't say they would make my top ten list of cookies.  Maybe if they had had more cranberries or pecans.  It seemed like you couldn't really taste either.

So what's in your goodie bags this season?

Conleigh assembling our treat boxes for our teachers.

Completed boxes

M and M popcorn mix 

Satline Toffee

Chewy Chocolate Meringues

What's Cooking for Thanksgiving

Just in case you need some last minute inspiration, I thought I'd share what I'm making for Thanksgiving.  We actually had an early Thanksgiving last weekend with my hubby's family.  Then we'll be on to my side's for the actual day.  (My cousin and his family are back from a yearish long stint in India.)

Last weekend, I made Pumpkin Dump Cake and Sugar Cookie Bars.  The Pumpkin Dump Cake is a wonderfully easy version of upside down pumpkin pie, a pumpkin pie layer topped with a crunchy streusel type crust.  The Sugar Cookie Bars I have already posted on.  D requested those and by adding some fall sprinkles, they were perfect for Thanksgiving.  For this week's celebration, I'm making Three Fruit Relish.  It combines tart apples, raspberries, and cranberries with a hint of orange for a sweet and sour, cold salad.  I'm also going to make a dessert snack tray with caramels and fudge.  I decided to try a new Microwave Caramel recipe.  Um, yummy!  And easy!  No worrying about scorching the caramels or overcooking and ending up with hard as a rock candy.  I honestly think I will be using this recipe a lot.  The recipe, as listed, is a bit bland but I personally thought it was much better when I added in vanilla and some sea salt.  I also topped it off with sea salt so it was kind of a take on salted caramels.  I'm also trying a new recipe for the fudge.  Pumpkin Fudge sounded like a grand way to use up my leftover pumpkin puree from the dump cake I made earlier.  It is kind of eggnog meets pumpkin pie meets white chocolate fudge.  And because two new recipes weren't enough, I also opted for another candy with fall flair:  Maple Peanut Fudge.  In all fairness, I'm not really sure I'd classify it as a fudge, more of a candy mixed with a fudge.  I added maple flavoring and then drizzled chocolate over mine.  It has the consistency and texture of a Reece's Peanut Butter Cup but with subtle maple flavor.

Best part of all my efforts?  I have extra so I can use the three candies during the Christmas season either as gifts or as goodies to share.