Holiday Greetings!

Merry Christmas to all!

Decorating our tree.

Adam-the-heavy-handed-sugarer and I made sand tarts

Our decorated buffet

Front door wreath

Peanut Butter Fudge

Adam brought fudge home from work a few days ago and it was so good that it inspired me to make my own. For some reason, I like peanut butter fudge better than chocolate (but of course I'll glady enjoy both!). I am usually nervous about making candy because it needs to be so precise but this turned out well. It's rather firm but that might be because it cooked too long so really don't let it boil over 3 minutes as it says in the directions - if you like your fudge a little soft, boil just under 3 minutes.

cut up and boxed for gift giving!

This recipe was inspired by Less Than Perfect Life of Bliss.

3 cups sugar
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 Tablespoon butter
7 oz. jar of marshmallow cream
12 oz. creamy peanut butter

Butter a 9 inch x 13 inch dish, line it with parchment paper and butter the parchment. You can really use any size pan - just depends on how thick you want your fudge.

Mix sugar, cream, vanilla and butter in a medium saucepen. Bring to a boil and boil for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and add marshmallow and peanut butter. Stir well and immediately pour into prepared pan. Let cool completely, cut into small pieces and store in the refrigerator.
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Christmas in NYC

The weekend my mom, dad, brother sister, husband and I ventured to New York City. Here is the story in pictures (sorry mom, I didn't get a picture of you):

The Rockettes, Top of the Rock, Rockefeller Christmas tree, dinner at Beacon, Papaya hot dogs, Shorty's Philly bar, Rudy's bar

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Boilo

Boilo! The coal region's hot toddy! Our friend Nick came over one evening and taught us how to make this delicious beverage. We enjoyed it while decorating our Christmas tree.
The great thing about this recipe is that you can add whatever quantity and variety of ingredients that you want. There are many variations but this is what we did:

1 2-liter bottle ginger ale
2 oranges, quartered
1 lemon, quartered
2 cinnamon sticks
1 Tablespoon caraway seeds
1 Tablespoon whole cloves
2 Tablespoons candied ginger, chopped
2 Tablespoons mulling spices (optional)
10 oz honey
2 1/2 cups Four Queens whiskey (or any cheap whiskey)
1/4 cup moonshine (optional, if you know someone who makes it)

In a large pot over medium/high heat, add the ginger ale, oranges, lemon, spices and honey. Bring to a boil and let simmer for about 20 minutes. Reduce heat to warm/low. Add the whiskey and moonshine. Enjoy warm!

Bacon in the Oven

My mom made this bacon for BLTs recently and it was so delicious! I gave it a try this weekend. It's super simple.

You need bacon and brown sugar.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and place a rack on the sheet. I used a cooling rack or you can use a rack from your roasting pan.

Place the slices of bacon on the rack. Sprinkle just a little bit of brown sugar on each piece of bacon.

Bake for 15 minutes and then flip the slices of bacon. Bake for another 10-15 minutes or until it reaches your desired crispiness.


I put sugar on both sides of my bacon and it can out caramelized and super sweet - it was more like a candy than a breakfast side dish but I loved it! Remember, a little sugar goes a long way. Although, as I was eating this I was thinking, this would be so good on a Christmas cookie platter. ha!