Happy Valentine's Day!

This is what I made for Kenn for Valentine's Day! :)

You know that English toffee I posted earlier this year? Well, Kenn really likes it. So I decided to use the new silicone mold I got for Christmas to make it extra-special for him; I put almonds on top of some, and just left the almond bark coating on top plain on the other half.

I used these little mini loaf liners to stack them in, four to a cup. Then, I stacked THOSE into a gusseted cello bag and used a piece of retired Stampin' Up! ribbon to tie it together. :)

I made him a card, too; you can go to Lori's Stamping Spot to see it!

I hope you've had a good day. I really don't like Valentine's Day - I never have - but we celebrate any chance we get. :D Kenn had to work tonight, so I worked on food for tomorrow's jewelry party! If you are in the area, it's at 2 at my house - and if you want to place an order, LMK before then so I don't close out my party. I'd love to get two more outside orders!!! :) Anyway. I have lots of things now to photo for you tomorrow; hopefully I'll be able to post a little more on-time. We're still having equipment problems. :/

Have a wonderful weekend!!!!! Be BLESSED!

Microwave Caramel Corn

Welcome to Wednesday! :) We're SLOWLY thawing out here in middle Tennessee; we're RIGHT at 32 degrees for the first time since Sunday. There's still a little bit of snow on the ground, but I suspect it will be gone by tonight. :)

Today's recipe is for a yummy, easy caramel corn - but the website I originally got it from isn't there any longer! SO, I guess I'll just site my source, and give you the recipe. Because you're going to want it! :)

Kenn LOVES caramel corn. I love THIS caramel corn - it's not overly sweet, although I try not to eat more than a few pieces when I do indulge. :) It's super easy, and I do EVERYTHING in the microwave - pop the corn, melt the stuff, and coat the corn! I purchase a brand-new paper sack at Aldi when I do this, so my bag is clean. :D

Here's the recipe. Be sure and come back and tell me when you've tried it. :D You can thank me later... :D

(Original recipe found at rubyglen.com)

Microwave Caramel Corn
By: Joyce Moseley Pierce

Part of the heistation in making caramel corn is the sticky, gooey mess that remains once you've finished making it. You almost need a blow torch to remove the hardened sugary stuff from your pans.

Help is on the way! This recipe can be made in your microwave, and when you're finished, you can just throw the paper sack away.

This doesn't mean that it doesn't take a little preparation time, but at least you can relax and enjoy the finished product without having to worry about a lot of cleanup.

Next time you go to the grocery store, ask for your groceries in paper bags. You'll need one per batch.

Here's what you'll need:

3-4 quarts popped corn
1 stick of butter (no substitutes!)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup Karo Syrup
1 teaspoon baking soda - add last

Pop the corn and discard the unpopped kernels. Put the popped corn in the paper sack. While the corn is popping, put the butter, sugar, salt and syrup in a glass bowl and bring it to a boil in your microwave. Stir after one minute, and let it boil for an additional minute. Add one tsp. of baking soda and stir well, until thickened. It will turn light in color and look like taffy. Pour this mixture over the popped corn in the paper bag and shake well. Put the paper bag back in the microwave and cook an additional 1-1/2 minutes (90 seconds). Remove and shake well again. Return to the microwave and cook another 1-1/2 minutes. Shake again. Open the bag and let it cool. You can even tear the bag down the side and speed up the process.

Plan to make more than one batch because you'll want to eat the first one! Great for Christmas or birthday gifts. I gave this as a Christmas gift to my co-workers one year and the next year they started hinting for it again in September.

Once completely cooled, break up the chunks, put it in a plastic holiday bag and tie with a festive ribbon. If you eat a lot of ice cream the containers with lids make a great receptacle for packing the caramel corn. Save your ice cream containers throughout the year, wash them out, line with plastic wrap and stic a bow on the top. Include the recipe and directions unless you want to tell them it's an old family secret, but let me warn you that if you don't share the recipe, they will come back next year begging for more.

Oreo Truffles

 Happy Wednesday! I hope you're having a great week, and have something a little fun planned for tomorrow.

IF you don't, I wanted to share this easy recipe with you! This one's from Just a Pinch, but it's floating around in a LOT of places. :)

Now, you'll notice that the recipe calls for coating these in melted chocolate chips. Personally, that's just too much deep chocolate for me to handle. So I coated some of them in leftover white coating from Christmas, and some I rolled completely in Valentine's sprinkles I picked up last year. My favorites, though, were the ones I simply rolled in confectioner's sugar!

I also used some Oreos that I'd never had before, called Ice Cream Berry Burst. They have pink centers, and I was hoping some of that pink might show up in the centers. Obviously, it didn't. :D But it gave them an interesting flavor. My mom said they had a "nice, mild" flavor; Kenn said they were "very sweet". :D I found them yummy! LOL! And since they were so easy, they're

 Stay tuned for a special post (hopefully tomorrow!) for a GIVEAWAY!

OK, I'm outta here. Have a WONDERFUL day! Be BLESSED!

English Toffee

Good Wednesday morning! I hope you're enjoying your week! Tomorrow ENDS January - can you believe it? Wasn't last week Christmas? :D

Today's recipe is one that I usually only make at Christmas, but I highly recommend it - it's inexpensive to make, relatively, and if your love likes toffee, this one is sure to please. And gain you points - I always split this into two batches. You can hide one in the freezer, if you want.... :D Kenn LOVES this toffee!

The base recipe is from Christmas-cookies.com. Here's how I change it!

The main toffee, I do NOTHING to - I will tell you to stir forever and watch that thermometer! It goes from good to burnt in no time at all!!!!

I use a Silpat (actually, a knock-off) to pour my candy onto; I also, as I mentioned, split the batch into two ROUNDS. It's easy, and I think it's easier to handle that way.

After it cools for about 5 minutes, I pour about 1/2 cup of semisweet (or MILK!) chocolate chips on top of each round, and let them sit for about 3 minutes until they're easy to spread. I spread them around, and just let the candy sit for a few hours until it's completely cooled. Then, if I'm going to be serving it soon, I break one of the rounds apart.

If I'm not, then they stack - with waxed paper in between! - in a gallon plastic bag in the fridge until I want them. :) If you want to freeze them and don't want the chocolate to whiten (like mine in the picture!), you can do the chocolate as in the recipe whenever you want, or melt the chips in the microwave.

Easy! Inexpensive! Loved by millions! :D What else could you ask for?!? :D

OK, I'm outta here. Have a WONDERFUL day! Be BLESSED!

Lemon Curd

Good Friday Morning!

How are you today? Can you believe we're already at the first Friday of October?

Fortunately, we can keep some of the sunshine going. :) This recipe for Lemon Curd comes from Crazy for Crust. (Great name, isn't it! :D)

Today's post is a cross-post; if you'd like to know how I did the fabric topper in less than 30 seconds, or the label with just three different punches, please go to Lori's Stamping Spot and check out today's post. :D

The reason I decided to make this lemon curd was that the marshmallow fluff left me with three egg yolks, and I'd been wanting to try my hand at curd-making for a while. I really love the stuff! (If you've never had Stonewall Kitchen products, I cannot recommend them enough! But that's another blog post! :D)

This is a definite YES, PLEASE! The recipe makes about 1/3 cup or so more than would fit into this jar. (Rats. :D) So you could easily get two jam jar-sized gifts from one batch. It took me TWO lemons. That's all. I have the rest of the bag left! I honestly don't see why you couldn't easily double or triple the recipe at once. I would recommend having SOMEONE to help you stir, though, especially if you have bad wrists. I kinda wish Kenn had been home when I decided to do this one, just for that reason! :D

Now, remember those English muffins I talked about Wednesday? Yup. That's what I wanted them for: to be the perfect excuse - er, um, vehicle! - to get this curd to my mouth in the morning. :D

It's a bright, tangy, wonderful burst of citrus. I might make the cookies sometime, but for now, I'm going to enjoy this lemon curd in a couple of different ways. ;) Keep an eye out!

Have a WONDERFUL weekend! Enjoy your time, and let me know if you try something new. :)