Be peppy for Peppermint Patties

Alrighty, so Thanksgiving break was a wee bit busier than expected. I slept some days and didn't sleep much other days. Weird how it works. Thanksgiving was good! I made cornbread and peppermint patties to contribute to the feast. The whole pan of cornbread was eaten and at least 3 different family members asked me what was in the peppermint patties/what the recipe was. That shows that they are awesome, right? Muahahaha, success! That shows my mom for thinking that there would be too much leftover. Psh. My aunt and uncle took the rest of the peppermint patties for an OSU vs. MI party that was happening on Saturday.

Since my grandparents leave for warmer weather in the winter, they always hand out our gifts and we open their presents at thanksgiving. My grandma got me a casserole pan, a dip chiller, a christmas glass mug, and a chefs hat, among other things. She made me put on the chefs hat (which she put my name on) and took pictures. She also told me that I shouldn't go for my masters in English and that I should have gone to culinary school. Oh well. Hehe. At least I know someone who supports my dreams. My parents on the other hand, are pushing me to find a job. Yea, graduation... and job... bleh. Probably going to be something like 2 jobs rather than 1 unfortunately.

But yes, break went by way too fast. I slept in a bit too much and then had trouble sleeping some nights, which was weird. But alas, I am back on campus for 3 weeks before going home to bake a million Christmas cookies. That's getting a bit ahead, though. Hmmm... I cooked a few things while I was at home, but some of them are repeats of what I have already blogged... just because we had the ingredients on hand. Not to worry, though! I have plenty of recipes up my sleeve and time to blog away about them... well... I at least will make time to blog. Not blogging every day has really thrown me off. It's crazy. Anyway... in this blog (that I am quickly writing before The Next Iron Chef comes on) I will divulge the peppermint patty recipe so that you all may spread the loveliness. I think I am going to whip up a batch or two for Christmas. Maybe take them around to the neighbors, along with some other baked goodies. Ya know... neighborly things.

Peppermint Patties (adapted from: Savory Sweet Life)

Ingredients:

• 1 can of sweetened condensed milk
• 5 and 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• approx 3 tsp. peppermint extract (the recipe says 1 tsp, but that was not enough! Just adapt to your taste.)
• 3 and 1/2 cups chocolate chips 
• 3 Tbsp. shortening (I used 1 Tbsp. butter flavor and 2 of plain)

Equipment:

• mixer with paddle attachment (or you could hand mix if you really want to)
• spatula
• cutting board/ baking tray
• wax paper
• microwaveable bowl



Before dipping

• fork

Instructions:

Layering

Dipped

1. Combine the whole can of sweetened condensed milk, 2 cups of powdered sugar, and 3 tsp. of peppermint extract in your mixer bowl. Using the paddle attachment (should look like this), mix the ingredients until combined. 
2. Add 1/2 cup of powdered sugar at a time until you have added all the powdered sugar (you will be adding 3.5 cups or 7 of the 1/2 cups). Make sure you keep track of your powdered sugar counting! The dough should be stiff but pliable. 
3. Roll into 3/4 inch balls. Place the balls onto a sheet of wax paper over the cutting board (wax paper on cutting board). 
4. Smash the balls into disks. Layer the wax paper sheets if you need to in order to fit all of the disks.
5. Pop the tray/cutting board into the freezer for no more than 30 minutes. 
6. Temper the chocolate. Take the 3 cups of chocolate chips and put them into the microwaveable bowl. Heat in 30 second increments, stirring after each time of heating. Make sure not to overheat the chocolate! It will be melted and smooth. The stirring after each 30 seconds prevents burning.
7. After the chocolate is melted, add the 3 Tbsp. of shortening. If you need to, put the bowl back into the microwave for 15 seconds to melt the shortening. Stir well.
8. Grab the disks out of the freezer and grab your fork. Place a long sheet of wax paper near your bowl of melted chocolate. 
9. Take a disk, lower it into the chocolate on top of the fork and then use the fork to shovel the chocolate over the disk and cover it. Quickly lift the patty out with the fork again. Place the patty onto the prepped wax paper sheet. 
10. Let cool. When they are dry to the touch, they are ready to chill out in the fridge and await eating.

Even though the list of steps seems long, the process takes no more than 40 minutes. You get a lot of patties out of this. I was so done with rolling balls of minty dough that I eventually made godzilla patties. As I said before, these got rave reviews and I hope that you all get a chance to try them out! 

Enjoy! As always...

Bon appétit! 

P.S. Happy Thanksgiving! (belated of course)

Like my drawing? :P

Salad on Sunday

This weekend hasn't been as productive as it should have been. Oh well. It will come back to bite me later, but I really needed some time off of crazy life. We had the band banquet today and I got a pretty plaque. Something else to dust, haha. I am so looking forward to Tuesday at 4:25 pm, when I can go home! I have already thought about what I want to bring. Mainly bread and desserts to be honest. Most other stuff tends to be brought by everyone else anyway. Hmm, but yea. This weekend has been a weekend of sleep, late nights, and laziness. The next iron chef is on at 9! Woo! Gotta turn on the tv right now so that I don't miss anything lol.

Today's recipe is another salad. I love salad and the dressing served with this salad has a bit of a kick. It slightly burns my tongue, but then again I am a wimp when it comes to spicy food. I hope you all try this variation on a simple salad!

Santa Fe Salad


Ingredients:

• lettuce of your choice
• corn
• black beans/kidney beans
• tomatoes (grape or regular work just fine)
• grated cheese
• grilled chicken strips (you can use this marinade recipe), optional
• Santa Fe salad dressing (this recipe or this recipe) or store bought works

Instructions:

1. Combine the lettuce with the tomatoes, corn, and beans. You can use as much lettuce, tomato, corn, and beans as you would like.
2. Garnish the salad with the grilled chicken strips and some grated cheese. 
3. Lastly, drizzle on the dressing of your choice.
4. Grab a fork and enjoy!

You don't have to use that specific marinade for the chicken, and the dressing could always be something pre-made. It's simple and delicious, yet filling as well. Hope you like it!

As always...

Bon appétit! 

I have returned!: Yogurt Parfait

Hello readers! (if you still are there, haha) I am sorry for my lack of posting. School has entered the hectic days. We have Thanksgiving break on Wednesday, although I think it would have been better to just have the whole week off because a lot of people miss Monday and Tuesday. Anyway, I'll go over the highlights of my week.

Band is over for the season and that marks the end of my 8 years in band. It's weird. Which means that we didn't have practice on Monday or Thursday, woo! We have the banquet on Sunday to celebrate our achievements though. My business professor decided to tell us that the Monday before Thanksgiving break (this monday) that he was going to give us a test. Really? That's evil. Tuesday was crazy because I had part of my speech due along with a few other things, and I was stressed out planning this event for Students for fair trade. Blah. Wednesday was the event, and I was disappointed at the low attendance and how uninformed and unprepared the president was. She was cooking the rice and tofurky last minute and had no idea when we'd be allowed to start setting up. She was supposed to know these details, so I had to find out. I basically set up the entire room by myself and was peeved. However, she surprised me with beautiful yellow flowers, so I was unable to stay mad. See?

But yea, that gift helped me feel appreciated and I felt less mad. Another problem was that she just kept cutting things without letting me know. I guess we had some communication issues. I am just glad that she liked the event, the decor, and the food. Thursday was crazy because of me meeting with two of my friends for lunch and having to turn in a 7 page paper on leadership. Crazy. The only nice thing was that 2 of my 3 classes were cancelled. So, I got to watch Miss Congeniality and Miss Congeniality 2! So much fun! Friday I decided to just relax and bathe in the idea of doing nothing. I watched 2 Weeks Notice and The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood and a little bit of Food Network. And today, well, I woke up late and have been trying to come up with inventive ideas for food and decide what I will bring to Thanksgiving dinner.

So, sadly, I haven't really cooked this week. I made mozzarella and tomato salad twice, ate some raw veggies, got sandwiches and salads from the union, and made some tortellini with olive oil sauce. Nothing exciting, believe me. However, I did have this fantastic chicken pesto sandwich and I will try to copy it because mmmmm so tasty. 

Anyway, today is another "wimpy recipe" that everyone should know how to do. Simple and something everyone can help out with. It has numerous variations, so let your imagination go wild! 

Yogurt Parfait

Ingredients:

• yogurt
• fruit
• granola or muesli or gluten free cereal
• honey, optional
• whipped cream, optional

Instructions:

1. The instructions are simple. You layer the yogurt, berries, and granola/muesli in a cup or bowl or dish. 
2. If you'd like, top with honey or whipped cream.
3. Yay, you can eat now! Grab a spoon and enjoy!

See? I told you it was simple. Something that might seem fancy, but it's so easy to do at home. Try it out and let me know how it goes! Cya tomorrow! 

As always...

Bon appétit! 

A quick post: Microwave brownie dessert

Alrighty, this is going to be a quick post. Our football team won, woo! This week has been crazy and I don't want to do homework haha, but it is necessary. My parents were here this weekend, so I had dinner with them yesterday and breakfast with them this morning. I went to bed at like, 9:30 pm on Saturday. I was absolutely exhausted. This week hasn't been a week of very much sleep, and getting up early on Saturday was not my ideal Saturday. I am still working on my list of homework, but it has diminished quite a bit. Once I finish the weekend list, I might start on the Monday list. We shall see though. I will soon be running to the grocery store to stock up on some fresh fruit and vegetables, along with some items for the event that I am planning. Planning this event in such a small span of time wasn't the best idea, but it is what it is. I have a mountain of dishes to do today that I am not looking forward to doing. I really need to start washing dishes as I use them... Hmm, that's pretty much everything in a nutshell.

So, today's recipe was a bit of an experiment. I had an immense chocolate craving and I had a box of brownies. I knew that people had made cake in the microwave before, so I figured brownies could work too. Well, they sorta did. After heating, it seemed more like a brownie dip rather than brownies. However, once they cooled for a bit, there was the consistency of fudgy brownies. Mmmm. Tasty. Anyway, here is the key to yummy microwave brownie-ness.

Microwave Brownie Yumminess

Do you see the smile?

Ingredients:

• 1 box of brownie mix
• whatever the box of brownies calls for (normally 2 eggs, 1/2 cup of veg oil, and 1/4 cup of water or so... it could vary, but those are the ingredients)
• whipped cream or cool whip for topping (optional)
• chocolate chips for topping (optional)
• any other toppings (optional)

Equipment:

• 1 microwaveable bowl, preferably a microwaveable mixing bowl or microwaveable baking dish
• spatula
• whisk

See it now? :)

Instructions:

1. Prepare the brownie mix according to the box directions. Make sure you whisk well so that lumps are to a minimum. 
2. If transferring the mix to another bowl or dish, make sure you lightly oil or butter the sides of the other dish. Use the spatula to get all the mix out of the first bowl. If you are keeping it in the same bowl, it will be fine as is.
3. Heat the brownie mix for about 2 minutes on High. Stir. Keep heating in 1 minute intervals, until the bottom is still a bit mixy and the top is slightly cakey. 
4. When it is done, the mix will absorb into the cooked portion when stirred well. If you want cake-like brownies, heat a bit longer. 
5. Spoon out, add any toppings you'd like, and enjoy!

This was so yummy! I am glad that it worked. I enjoyed my brownie goodness with some cool whip and chocolate chips, and a nice cup of milk. Mmmm. The leftovers from this didn't last long, haha. Well, if you have a craving and don't feel like using the oven, this is simple and quick! Enjoy!

As always...


Bon appétit!