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By Aimee, December 18, 2009 12:43 am

For Christmas of 2007 I thought it would be fun to make peppermint bark. And it was! Not only was it very easy, but it was also so very tasty. Last Christmas I was going to make it again, but thought it would also be fun to make gingerbread cookies. Well, things happened and I ran out of time for the peppermint bark. People wondered… where was the peppermint bark? Apparently we weren’t the only ones who loved it. So this year, I made sure to make peppermint bark in time to send to our “Seattle Santas”, and of course to enjoy for ourselves!

I do it the simple way. I just melt milk chocolate chips first (about 1 min in the microwave), then spread it out on a wax paper covered cookie sheet. I then let it cool down a bit, then I melt white chocolate chips (they seem to take a bit longer, about 1:30 min). Then I carefully spread the white chocolate on the top of the milk chocolate. Add a few crushed candy cane pieces to the top, then pop the whole thing into the refrigerator for a few hours to let it get nice and hard.

The hard part is making sure that you don’t eat it all!! Luckily I made sure to set aside the peppermint bark that was going to Seattle first, before ever tasting a piece. Trust me, once you taste it, it’s much harder to resist. Yes, I do believe that peppermint bark is now a Christmas tradition!

Do you have a special thing that you always make for the holidays?

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By Aimee, November 20, 2009 3:26 pm

I recently got an email with some yummy recipes for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday! Not only did I get sent recipes, but also a music player for you to enjoy while you cook (or dine)! Click on this: Pop Up Audio to stream the music or from the side bar under “At Home with Friends”.

Food Network star Sandra Lee and Grammy Award Winning violinist Joshua Bell have come together to help you celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. The combination of great food, and lovely music, is sure to make your dinner a hit. We start our festivities on Sunday, with three different family meals to be enjoyed during the holiday, we love to find new dishes to share!

I haven’t had a chance to make this yet, but this Brownie Bottom Cheesecake sounds amazing! It would be a fun addition to the usual pumpkin pie! It sounds great for any other occasion too.

Brownie Bottom Cheesecake – Dessert

Prep 30 minutes Cook 2 1/2 to 3 hours (High) + 1 to 1 1/2 hours (Low) Chill 4 hours Makes 8 servings
Canola oil cooking spray
1 box (18.3-ounce) fudge brownie mix
4 eggs
2/3 cup canola oil
1/4 cup espresso-and-cream coffee drink
2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cake flour
Pinch salt
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1. Coat an 8 1/2-inch springform pan with cooking spray. Wrap foil around the bottom of cake pan. Crumple additional aluminum foil to create a “ring base” about 5 inches in diameter and 1 inch thick. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, stir together brownie mix, two of the eggs, the oil, and coffee drink until combined. Pour into prepared pan.
3. Place foil ring in bottom of slow cooker; pour 1/2 inch of hot water into bottom of slow cooker. Using 2 long strips of foil, make an “X” over foil ring and bring it up along the sides of slow cooker to assist removing pan from slow cooker. Place springform pan on top of ring and the “X” in slow cooker. Stack 6 paper towels; place over top of slow cooker bowl. Secure with lid.
4. Cook on High heat setting for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. (Do not lift lid for the first 1 hour of cooking.)
5. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, beat cream cheese with an electric mixer on low speed until smooth. Add sugar, flour, and salt; beat until smooth. Add the remaining two eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down sides of bowl. Add cream and vanilla; beat until combined. Pour over brownie mixture in slow cooker.
6. Cover and cook for 1 1/2 hours more. Turn slow cooker to Low heat setting. Cook for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until cheesecake is set with a wet-looking center. Turn off heat and let sit, covered, for 30 minutes.
7. Use foil strips to lift springform pan from slow cooker. Place pan on wire rack; let cool to room temperature. Chill in pan for at least 4 hours. Just before serving, remove cake from pan.
Excerpted from the book, Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade Money Saving Slow Cooking, by Sandra Lee
Copyright © 2009 SLSH Enterprises, Inc. www.sandralee.com

Joshua Bell is a new to me artist that I had the chance to review over on our site, Wish List Worthy. I found his music to be so unique. He is a great violinist, and you will find that we were able to add his music to our site for the season (find the stream on the sidebar under “At Home with Friends”).

His new album, At Home With Friends, features duets with Josh Groban, Sting, Regina Spektor, Kristin Chenoweth and many others. It would make a great background for your Thanksgiving. Take a listen and let me know what you think!

“Thanksgiving is the perfect time to bring everyone together to celebrate a year of blessings. Simple, time-saving shortcuts to create a meaningful feast can be found in my new book Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade Cocktail Time. Give your gracious gathering a heartwarming start with my personal favorite, Joshua Bell’s new album, At Home With Friends and greet guests at your door with a vibrant cocktail, such as a Cinema Paradisio. The main attraction is food, so try turning your main dish into a colorful centerpiece. For a quick and easy dessert try Semi-Homemade Brownie Bottom Cheesecake, so you can spend less time in the kitchen and more time celebrating with your family and friends.” – Sandra Lee

What Thanksgiving recipe do you love most? My favorite things are fresh rolls, and of course, mashed potatoes! What about you?

Comments (1)

By Aimee, November 17, 2009 6:45 am

What is fall without baking with pumpkin? So, when I came across a recipe for pumpkin and apple muffins (found at Chocolate and Whine), and having both pumpkin and apples on hand, you can imagine what I did! I baked of course!

First of all, yum. Second of all, I wish I had one of these, it would have made the process a lot quicker. Chopping and peeling apples by hand is not my strong suit at all. Next time I will plan ahead a bit and borrow the one my mom has.

Anyway, they are very tasty. The batter was really thick, more than I thought it would be. Also, it made 2 dozen! I am not sure if the recipe was supposed to be that big, or if my muffin cups are just a bit shallow, but it was dangerous to have so many of the tasty morsels in the house. I wanted to eat all of them.

I especially loved the cinnamon streusel topping. What is your favorite pumpkin recipe?

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By Aimee, October 29, 2009 4:16 pm

I needed a break from the grind of cooking all three meals a day, so I indulged in my favorite easy meal and got a frozen pizza. Of course, I got the good kind, with lots of toppings and a rising crust. So, as I am putting the pizza onto the rack in the preheated oven, some of the toppings fall down to the bottom of the oven.

What are you supposed to do when that happens?! It’s hot in there. There’s a rack in the way. And all the while heat is escaping into the rest of the house. Heat that is meant to cook the pizza and make sure that hubby and I don’t starve.

So, I did what any sane person would do. I left them there to burn (because honestly I couldn’t figure out a good way to get them out). And now the house smells like burnt onions.

Comments (3)

By Aimee, October 20, 2009 12:10 pm

The hubby and I embraced our “Swiss-ness” over the weekend and made a batch of bratselis! What is a bratseli? It’s a Swiss cookie that you make with a special iron that is similar to a waffle iron. An actual bratseli iron is quiet pricey (about $300), but luckily you can make a little thicker version in a pizzelle iron.

Of course, growing up in an area that celebrates it’s Swiss heritage, the brasteli cookies weren’t new to my husband, so technically the title of this post isn’t entirely correct. But they were new to me, and they are yummy! So yummy that although they can be stored for up to 2 weeks, I have a feeling they will be gone by the end of the day.

We used a bratseli recipe that I found on the Martha Stewart site. My hubby said that they tasted like he remembered them, but that he would like to do a side by side comparison sometime of the recipe his mom has (and she also has a bratseli iron). I think it would be fun to do this, because I am curious if the pizzelle press really does make them thicker or not. I really love the thickness of the cookies that we made.

Do you have any favorite treats that come from your heritage?