Care Package #6: Christmas, Part 3

This is the last Christmas box...really. Three is enough, right? I thought I would be able to get away with sending the sugar cookies in one of the flat boxes, until I remembered Brian's only request for a Christmas gift: a file holder for his desk. I managed to squeeze it all in together and hopefully the cookies weren't totally broken by the time they arrived. I also tossed in a box of Propel drink mix, just for fun.

As yummy as they are, I just don't think sugar cookies are worth all the trouble of rolling, cutting, rolling again, cutting some more, then decorating. A friend pointed out that it's more fun with little kids helping to decorate, but I'll have to take her word on that. I'm definitely a drop-cookie kind of girl. But I'm glad that I gave these a shot because they looked really great when I sealed them (the diamond shape and colored decorations gave the sealed packages the look of Argyle!).
Sugar Cookies

Ingredients
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup vegetable shortening (such as Crisco)
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
colored or coarse sugar, for decorating

Directions

Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl; set aside.

Combine the butter and shortening in the bowl of an electric mixer and cream until smooth. Slowly add the sugar, beating on medium. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla. With a wooden spoon, stir the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture 1 cup at a time.

Turn the dough onto a floured surface and divide in half. Place each half on a large sheet of plastic wrap. Flatten into disks about 1 inch thick. Wrap separately then refrigerate at least 2 hours or up to 1 week.

To bake, preheat oven to 350° F. Roll to 1/8 inch thick on a well-floured surface. Cut into shapes. Sprinkle with the colored sugar, if desired. Using a spatula, transfer to a large greased baking sheet, sugared-side up. Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until light golden brown around the edges. Transfer to a cooling rack.

Harley decided that she wanted to get in on some of this cookie business. I left some butter and cream cheese out on the counter to soften and popped out to the store for an hour. I didn't think anything about leaving them out since Harley has never shown any inclination to get food off the counter. Well, to my great surprise I came home to find that two sticks of butter and an entire package of cream cheese were missing. I mean completely gone: there were no scraps of wrapping or greasy paw prints or anything. I checked the house over top to bottom and found no sign of the baking supplies. Harley was looking a little uncomfortable, so I decided a trip to the vet was in order (cream cheese is wrapped in the foil-type paper, and I didn't think that could be a good thing to eat). Long story short, after $200 worth of X-rays, Harley refunded the stolen goods all over the exam room floor. I didn't see the $200 as wasted because I found out that her hips are in good shape, she has a bit of arthritis in her back and at some point in time she had been shot twice with a BB gun! Harley seems to be doing fine today and hopefully will pass any remaining junk in the next day or two.

Care Package #5: Christmas, Part 2

I hadn't originally intended to send multiple Christmas packages to Brian. But once I got thinking about all the holiday stuff I wanted to make, I realized it would not all fit in one box! So I decided to break it out into three shipments. This second package ended up being a monster, weighing in at 14.5 pounds!

Brian told me that he has become a favorite when packages arrive, so I knew I wanted to make enough for him to share. There are 11 guys in his platoon, so I whipped up 12 stockings. They were really quick and simple, since odds are they won't make it back home after this deployment. As much as I wanted to stuff the stockings myself, due to the logistics of shipping Brian had to be in charge of assemble.

I wanted to make a few different snacks to fill the stockings, and had picked up a bunch of whole nuts on sale at Kroger. My first attempt at candied nuts was not really a stunning success, but they still taste good and I guess that's what really matters.

Real Simple Candied Nuts
2 cups unsalted mixed raw nuts (such as almonds, cashews, pecans, and walnuts)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions
Heat oven to 400° F. Spread the nuts on a rimmed baking sheet and toast, tossing once, until fragrant, 6 to 8 minutes; transfer to a bowl. Once the baking sheet is cool, line with parchment.

In a large skillet, combine the sugar, salt, and 2 tablespoons water. Simmer, swirling the pan occasionally (do not stir as it will crystallize the caramel), until the liquid is amber colored, 12 to 15 minutes.

Stir in the nuts, then spread the mixture on the prepared baking sheet, separating the nuts as much as possible. Let cool. Break up any large clusters before serving. The nuts can be prepared and stored at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

I had a tough time getting the sugar to caramelize (maybe because I tried to triple the recipe and make three batches all at once?) so I just stirred the melted sugar over the nuts and said done! I'll try it again with a recipe from Alana and see if I have more success.


Peppermint Bark is a very simple but really beautiful holiday snack. I made some two years ago and people went crazy over it!

Peppermint Bark
12 Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate Bars
2 bags white chocolate chips
2 dozen candy canes

Using a food processor, chop the candy canes up until they are broken into small pieces but not powdered.

Unwrap the Hershey's bars and line them up side by side on parchment paper. Melt the white chocolate (either in a double boiler or in the microwave, stirring frequently). Let the white chocolate cool slightly, then spread quickly across the Hershey bars, spreading evenly. Quickly sprinkle the chopped candy canes over the white chocolate, pressing gently with the back of a spatula to stick them into the chocolate. Let cool completely then wrap or seal in baggies.


Kimberly's mom turned me on to chocolate dipped Oreos. When you use semi-sweet chocolate (instead of milk chocolate) it makes a snack that is nearly irresistible. Really. I couldn't resist eating the ones that didn't dip just right. There isn't really a recipe, just melt chocolate and dip the cookies! YUM!

Since the chocolate peanut better fudge was such a hit, I made another batch of fudge as well. However, this time I made chocolate Oreo fudge! Instead of splitting the marshmallow mixture between chocolate and peanut butter chips, I just used two cups of chocolate chips and stirred in some chopped Oreo cookies before pouring the fudge into the pan. After the fudge cooled, the cookies got a little soft and almost had a brownie consistency. Truly decadent!

The best kind of news!

In the midst of trying to not be depressed about the one year anniversary of losing Mom and Jen, and reconciling myself to the fact that my boyfriend will be in a war zone for at least 10 more months, and attempting to keep some kind of focus on my very busy work life, I have just gotten a bit of the best possible kind of news: pure, unadulterated, no-strings-attached good news!

My dear friends Alana and Xander just got word from their adoption agency: they are having twins! Sure, they planned on adopting a boy and girl under the age of 12 months... But they are getting twins! Actual, honest to goodness, related to each other twins! Check out their blog for Alana's very entertaining recollection of the news.

I couldn't be happier for them to get this news just before the holidays. Of course, they probably won't be bringing the little sweeties home until March, but the worst of the waiting is over. For my part, I can now start making their baby gifts!

Care Package #4: Christmas, Part 1

As I mentioned earlier, this was the first year that I decorated for the holidays. While chatting with Brian, he mentioned that decorating wasn't a big priority for him either. But I figured that if I was going to go through the trouble to get festive, then I'd give him the opportunity, too! So in this first Christmas package I sent a mini tree, lights and ornaments along with festive plates. I don't know if he'll really set the tree up, but I felt better about him at least having the option to decorate. I also sent along some yummy Turkish Delight (thanks to Julie for turning me on to these!). I say "first Christmas package" because I think the next two weeks will also include holiday goodies... might as well make the most of having a ready theme!



Brian said that everyone loved the fudge last week, so the baked good for this package carried on the chocolate/peanut butter combination: Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies! This is the first time I used this recipe and it was SO good. I mean, seriously good. Like, hurt yourself by eating a whole batch good. I wrapped each brownie in cling wrap then vacuum sealed six per package. A few co-workers were lucky enough to get the remaining brownies and they were a huge hit.
Martha Stewart's Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies
Makes 9 large or 16 small squares
(This recipe easily doubles)

Batter:
8 TBS unsalted butter
2 ozs unsweetened chocolate, chopped
4 ozs semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
2/3 C flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 C sugar
3 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla

Peanut Butter Swirl:
4 TBS unsalted butter
1/2 C confectioner's sugar
3/4 C smooth peanut butter
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 325. Line a buttered 8-inch square baking pan with foil or parchment paper, allowing 2 inches to hang over the sides. Butter the lining and set the pan aside.

Make batter: Put butter and chocolate in a heatproof medium bowl and set over a pan of simmering water. Stir until melted, then let cool slightly.

Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl, then set aside.

Whisk granulated sugar into chocolate mixture. Add eggs and whisk until mixture is smooth. Stir in vanilla. Add flour mixture and stir until well incorporated.

Make filling: Stir together melted butter, confectioner's sugar, peanut butter, salt and vanilla in a bowl until smooth.

Pour one third of the batter into prepared baking pan and spread evenly with a spatula. Place dollops of filling (about 1 TBS each) about 1 inch apart on top of batter. Drizzle remaining patter on top and gently spread to fill pan. Place dollops of remaining filling on top.

With a butter knife, gently swirl filling into batter, running knife lengthwise and crosswise through the layers. Bake until toothpick inserted comes out with a few crumbs but not wet, about 45 minutes. Let cool slightly in pan (about 15 minutes) then lift brownies out by parchment paper and let cool completely before cutting into squares.

Holiday Shenanigans

Not only did Dad host Thanksgiving at his house this year, but he also did almost all of the cooking! In true Southern style, he used the grill for most of the dishes and even tapped into the Paula Dean cookbook to make coconut crusted sweet potato balls. The only thing that gave him any trouble was the stuffing (which was probably a blessing in disguise for my waistline as I tend to eat stuffing for breakfast, lunch and dinner until it's gone!).


I did have to step in and voice my opinion on one topic: Dad was content to just pick up a store-bought apple pie. I can bend on a lot of things, but store bought apple pie is not one of them! Unfortunately, the only apples we had were Gala and Rome, so the pies didn't come out as well as I would have liked. Dad and Joy said they were still good, so who am I to complain?

Thanksgiving morning I was feeling very keyed up after my Pilates workout and Joy teased me about my energy level. Her teasing quickly turned to pleas for mercy when I proved my strength by giving her a piggy-back ride around the house (note the look of terror on her face: priceless).
I took Monday off to recover from the weekend and get my house decorated. Since I'm planning on having Dad and Joy at the apartment for Christmas, it seemed like the right thing to do. This is the first year that I have ever decorated for the holidays (as opposed to decorating just for a holiday party), so I had to recruit some help. Jessie stopped by and assisted with tree ornament logistics and encouraged my attempts at holiday cheer. Harley couldn't care less and once Jessie stopped petting her she laid down and slept through the whole effort.
Being of the mind that less is more, I took it fairly easy and went for a minimal approach. A tree with only red and green ornaments (and just white lights) and a few strands of garland, bells and stockings for the mantels was the extent of the decorations. But the smell of fresh pine and the perky colors are a welcome addition for the coming month.