This and that

Monday, December 17, 2012

Day of Remembrance .

"I am one of the many craft, cooking, lifestyle and DIY bloggers who had posts to share with you today, but the events of Friday's shooting in Connecticut have left us heartbroken. Like you, we cried as news reports poured in and wondered out loud about how something so cruel could hurt the most innocent and tender. We not only grieved for the lives lost and wounded, but for that part of the magic and wonder of this holiday season that was taken from us all.  We know that no words, no gifts, no acts of service will ever take away the pain, but we, as bloggers and parents collectively, want those affected by this to know how close to our hearts they are:   We love you. We pray for you. We're so heartbroken for your loss.  To honor the memory of lives cut short, we choose to step away from our blogs and computers today to celebrate the gift of life and those we love most: our children, families, good friends and community. We're holding our kids a little closer, reaching out to neighbors and giving thanks for the moments we have together.  Thank you for stopping by today. We hope you'll join us in remembering, praying, and gathering close. We wish you and your families a safe and blessed holiday."

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Gingerbread Truffles

Like my Candy Cane Fudge Truffles,
my Gingerbread Truffles came from the same way...
I made some Gingerbread Spice cookies and they didn't really turn out...
They tasted wonderfully, but as they wouldn't come off the pan and also were hard..
I couldn't serve them...
So I decided to make the cookies into crumbs,
Add some Cream Cheese and roll them into balls and dip them into white chocolate.




Gingerbread Truffles

3 cups gingerbread cookie crumbs
8 oz cream cheese
white chocolate
ginger candy or sprinkles for garnish

Mix cookie crumbs and cream cheese, I used my kitchen aide to do this.  Roll into balls.  Put in refrigerator to chill.  Once chilled dip into melted white chocolate and garnish if you like with small pieces of ginger candy or sprinkles.

I haven't got the art of dipping into white chocolate ~ The balls wouldn't dip, so I used a knife and spread the white chocolate onto the balls.





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Saturday, December 15, 2012

Christmas Subway Art.

Subway art is becoming very popular
and I have tried to do my own.
These are all done with some help of the web and searches I have done
Also from pictures I have seen both online and in stores.
You are welcome to use any of these, but they are not available to be used for profit.
They are only available for personal use.








I am also going to repeat the links so that you can find them to copy as I sometimes have problems with the links at the beginning of my post.  Please let me know if you are having problems finding the links as this is the first time I am doing this and using google doc.


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Candy Cane Fudge Truffles

A while back I made some candy cane fudge, with Hershey's Candy Cane Kisses
Although the fudge tasted great it was very soft.
I am not sure what I did to it that it didn't set properly.
I first thought of rolling it into balls and dipping it into chocolate -
but that didn't pan out as well as I wanted it too, as the fudge melted in the warm melted chocolate.
I didn't want to waste the fudge so decided to mix the fudge with some animal crackers and then roll them
and dip them into chocolate.
Success!
I will give you the recipe that I used to make the fudge.. Maybe it will work out for you.



Candy Cane Fudge

This recipes was adapted from Dawn's Divine Delight - Dove Fudge

3 cups white sugar
3/4 cup butter
1 can evaporated milk (large)
1/2 bag Hershey's Candy Cane Kisses
2- 4 oz Ghirardelli White Chocolate Bars
7 oz Marshmallow Creme - or 1 cup homemade - I use this recipe

Cut chocolate into small pieces and set aside.  Bring sugar, butter and evaporated milk to a full rolling boil on medium heat.  Boil for 4 minutes or until candy thermometer reaches 234 degrees. Remove from heat and add chocolate and marshmallow creme until mixed. The fudge was very pink, so I added some red food colour and swirled it into the fudge.  Place in foil covered 9 x 13.  Place in refrigerator until set.  

This should have set properly.  Mine set but was too soft to cut into bars, so I then had to rethink what I would do it.  I decided to make some chocolates.  I first thought of dipping as I said, but this didn't work.. My next thought was to use molds.  I didn't have any molds but I did have some ice cube trays and thought those could work... They did.  I placed a small amount of melted chocolate in the bottom of the ice cube tray and then placed a small amount of the soft fudge mixture onto top of the melted chocolate and then added more melted chocolate above the fudge.  Then tapping the ice cube tray to let all the chocolate settle.  Place in refrigerator until set.

place small amount of chocolate in bottom
of tray, then small amount of fudge and cover
with more chocolate









Candy Cane Fudge Truffles

3 cups of the above recipe for candy cane fudge
1 cup animal cracker crumbs
melted chocolate.
candy cane crumbs (optional)

Mix candy cane fudge and animal cracker crumbs together.  Roll into balls and place in refrigerator until set.  Once set, melt chocolate and dip balls into chocolate.  Sprinkle candy cane crumbs over chocolate (optional).  Let cool.









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Thursday, December 13, 2012

Foodie Friends Friday December 13/12

Have you got your Christmas baking done?
No, then this is the place you should be....
There is always great recipes here on Foodie Friends Friday

Great Recipes, Great Food and Great Giveaways!
This week's giveaway is 3 body scrubs from



Remember to fill out the rafflecopter for your chance to win
and you don't have to have a blog to fill it out.
Anyone can get in on the chance to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Now on to the Party!
Hosts
Foodie Friends Friday http://www.foodiefriendsfriday.com
Tracy at Busy Vegetarian Mom http://www.busyvegetarianmom.com
Marlys at This and That  http://marlys-thisandthat.blogspot.com/
Lois at  Walking on Sunshine http://walkingonsunshinerecipes.com
Michelle at  From Calculus to Cupcakes http://www.fromcalculustocupcakes.com
Cynthia at Feeding Big  http://www.feedingbig.com
Jodie at Binomial Baker http://www.binomialbaker.blogspot.com
R Dawn at Spatulas on Parade http://www.spatulasonparade.blogspot.com
Angie at A lil Country Sugar http://www.alilcountrysugar.blogspot.com
Jutta at HungryLittleGirl http://www.hungrylittlegirl.com/
Cindy at Cindy's Recipes and Writings: : http://www.cindysrecipesandwritings.com 
Joanne at Winelady Cooks: http://www.wineladycooks.blogspot.com
Marlene at Nosh My Way: http://www.noshmyway.com

Rules:


Please link up your recipes to Foodie Friends Friday or the host you linked with
and if you linked up on my blog, please leave a message so that I can go over and personally thank you.





Last Week's Winners


A'lil  Country Sugar- Snicker Apple Salad
Nosh my Way - Kahlua Brownies
Adorned Well - Green Chile Casserole
On The Home Front - English Muffin Bread
Life Tastes Good - Lemon Sunshine Cake
Crumbs in my Mustachio - Chile Verde




Do You Make Gingerbread Houses?
Remember to enter our Gingerbread Competition
or you can enter on my blog 
gingerbread house competition






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Christmas Oranges

Growing up we always had Christmas oranges to eat.
Mom would buy boxes upon boxes of oranges
And we were able to eat as many as we wanted, without even asking.
The box always sat up in our living room closet shelf
Probably because the opening to the attic was in that closet and it keep the closet cool.

Christmas oranges were one of the traditions we had.
In Canada we bought either Japanese or Chinese mandarin oranges.
Personally I liked the Japanese better, but they were more expensive so Mom would buy both kinds.

After moving to the United States, I have had a hard time finding them.
There are clementines and tangerines
but these are not the same... they don't taste the same.
When I moved up to the U.P. in Michigan
I was lucky enough to find Japanese oranges...
but they don't come every year.
This year they are here again..

I don't have a living room closet to put them in
but part of my childhood Christmas is here again..

Christmas Oranges..



Do you have any memories of your childhood Christmases?


Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Guest Blog at Feeding Big

Last week I did a guest blog  for a great friend of mine
Cynthia at Feeding Big.
She is doing this wonderful series called Around the World in 80 days.
I think this is a wonderful series as she will exploring different countries and their foods.
My post was about African Foods ~ Togo, West Africa
I gave a little history of how I got into cooking African Food 
and also a new recipe...

African Foods
Cooking in Africa


Corn porridge and okra sauce done three different ways
For my recipe on okra sauce done three different ways, you will have to go Cynthia's blog Feeding Big.
If you like okra, this is a great recipe.
Thank you Cynthia for letting me spend a little time on Feeding Big!