Two in One Day

I had plenty of time today to work on the kitchen cabinet drawers that I am decluttering to keep my New Year's Resolution.  So I did two drawers, one for the 4th and one for the 5th.  I can have a day off on Monday. 

I'm working on the smaller drawers to the left of the oven. 

Drawer 4 ( the top small left) was a rather big mess, but it didn't take long to straighten it out.  This drawer is where we keep our napkin rings and butter pats.   There were things here that didn't belong. 

Drawer four cluttered. 

Napkins, pot holders, hot pads belong elsewhere.

Two napkins, two pot holders, and more hot pads were moved to where they belong.  I found that I had so many cork hot pads that I decided to put some in the box for the Thrift Shop.  

There was also some fabric that I plan to use to make dish towels.  This reminds me to get this done. 

Dish towel fabric.

Drawer four organized.

I organized the napkin rings in plastic bags.  The butter pats are in a small box, and the large oven mitts fit better here than in the drawer where I keep most of the pot holders.

What do candles and candy have in common at our house?  They share the same drawer  (Drawer five the middle left drawer) in our kitchen.

Candles, candy and chewing gum in the before photo. 

I determined we have too many candles, especially since we now use battery operated candles a lot.  I know real candles give a nicer ambiance, but battery ones are safer and last longer than real candles and you don't have to worry about wax getting on your surfaces. And the battery candles look so real now.  Consequently, I'm adding a bunch of  candles to the box that will be going to the Thrift Store.

Candles that will be donated to the Thrift Store.

With some of the candles out of the way, I have room to add our Bic lighters to this drawer.  It seems the logical place for them.

I've added the Bic lighters to the candles section of this drawer.

In the candy part of the drawer I noticed that we were out of Werther's and low on chewing gum.  So I've replenished them. From the time the grands were very small, they knew where the chewing gum drawer was.  Even now that they are almost grown (Zach is grown) they will occasionally ask "Grandpat, can I have a piece of chewing gum?"  They didn't often have chewing gum at their house, so it was a treat to get some at Grandpat's house. 

Dan and I like to have a bit of chocolate on hand as well as Ricola cough drops and Werther's hard candy. 

The candy, cough drops and chewing gum organized.

 I can take tomorrow off, because I am one day ahead with my New Year's Resolution. 

Pecan Pie Truffles (Vegan)

Pecan Pie Truffles

This recipe* from the NY Times is quite fun to make and is absolutely delicious.  The truffle features the best part of a pecan pie but with a chocolate coating.  I'm not vegan, but this recipe is.  I loved it anyway.  No eggs, no milk, no butter. No cooking except for melting the chocolate.

My friend Virginia from Greensboro was here for a visit and we made these.  It's always fun to cook with a friend.  These will freeze nicely, so I have some stashed away in the freezer ready for the holidays.

Ingredients

• 2½cups pecans, toasted and finely chopped
• 1cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1cup dark brown sugar, packed
• ½teaspoon salt
• 2tablespoons maple syrup
• ¼cup bourbon
• 1teaspoon vanilla
• 7ounces dark chocolate

Preparation

• 1 In a medium bowl, stir together pecans, graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar and salt until well combined. Add maple syrup, bourbon and vanilla, stirring thoroughly. Use your hands to make sure the mixture becomes fully incorporated.
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• 2 Form mixture into walnut-sized balls, then place on a cookie sheet and freeze for 2 hours.
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• 3 In the top of a double boiler or in a medium stainless steel bowl set over a pot of gently simmering water, melt chocolate. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Dip the frozen balls into the melted chocolate, then place onto prepared baking sheet. Let sit for 15 minutes or until firm.

All ingredients mixed together.

Walnut-sized balls ready for the freezer.

Melt dark chocolate in double boiler. 

Chocolate coated and ready to eat or ready to freeze for the holidays. 

A bite out reveals the pecan pie center. 

I will serve these in a candy dish that was a wedding gift to Mama,  I remember it holding candy every Christmas. 

Yes, I think I will add this recipe to my holiday recipes book.  

*Check out this website.

My New Gadget is Terrific

I usually do not endorse products on my blog, but I am so happy with my new Super-Fast Thermapen that I will make an exception.  Over the years I've tried several different food thermometers with little satisfaction,  but this new "toy" is the best ever.  I heartily recommend it.  (And no I'm not profiting in any way from this endorsement)!  It is so fast, reads temperature in 3 seconds.  When you open the probe it comes on and is off when you close it. 

It does everything that is claimed.  Very quick response and very accurate.  You can check its accuracy by checking the temperature of ice water or of boiling water.

It's measuring the ambient temp in the kitchen.

I'm particularly looking forward to using it in making candy.  I find that most candy thermometers are difficult to use.  Oh now I have an excuse to make toffee, and it isn't even Christmastime. 

Candy making (Photo by heavenlycakeplace blog)

Yes, this is without a doubt my favorite kitchen tool. 

No Coffee Crisp on This Trip: Too Much Sugar

Delicious Coffee Crisp Candy Bars.

I don't eat a lot of candy,  but when we hit the Canadian border on the way to Nova Scotia, I can't resist getting a Coffee Crisp candy bar.  Dan likes them too. These candy bars by Nestle are not available in the USA or at least we've not been able to find them.  Good thing too, because they are borderline addictive. 

Coffee Crisp for sale at Smith's Store in Orangedale.

Coffee Crisp split in half. (Photo from Wikipedia.)

According to Wikipedia the origin of the bar is in the UK in the 1930s with a chocolate bar named Rowntree's Wafer Crisp. This was later renamed to Chocolate Crisp. The bar was later introduced to Canadians as Biscrisp. In 1938, a coffee variation (Coffee Crisp) was added to the line of flavored Biscrisps. It is presently marketed by Nestlé Canada. The bar is a combination of coffee cream, cookie wafers and chocolate coating. It does contain a small amount of coffee, although much of its coffee taste comes from flavoring.

I just found a recipe for a Coffee Crisp ice cream pie.  If I make one I'll post about it on my blog.

Cappuccino-Walnut Toffee

Photo: Beth Dreiling Hontzas; Styling: Buffy Hargett (Southern Living magazine).

I always make toffee at Christmas time using my recipe for traditional English toffee, but when I ran across this recipe in Southern Living, I thought I would give it a try.  I liked the idea of combining cappucino and walnuts.  I use pecans in my traditional recipe.  I also thought the swirled dark and white chocolate gave a nice effect.  Here's the recipe:

 YIELD: Makes about 2 lb.

Ingredients

• 2 cups chopped walnuts
• 1 1/4 cups butter
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon dark unsulphured molasses
• 2 teaspoons instant espresso
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk chocolate morsels
• 1 cup white chocolate morsels

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Butter a 15- x 10-inch jelly-roll pan.
2. Bake walnuts at 350° in a single layer in a shallow pan 8 to 10 minutes or until toasted and fragrant, stirring halfway through. Let cool 30 minutes.
3. Melt 1 1/4 cups butter in a 3 1/2-qt. heavy saucepan over medium heat; stir in granulated sugar, next 5 ingredients, and 1/3 cup water. Cook, stirring constantly, until a candy thermometer registers 290° (soft crack stage), about 20 minutes. Remove pan from heat, and stir in walnuts. Quickly pour mixture into prepared pan, and spread into an even layer. Immediately sprinkle milk chocolate and white chocolate morsels over top; let stand 5 minutes. Swirl chocolate using an off-set spatula. Cover and chill until firm (about 1 hour). Break toffee into pieces. Store in an airtight container in refrigerator up to 7 days. Serve cold or at room temperature.

Southern Living FEBRUARY 2011

Cappuccino-Walnut Toffee.

When I tried to swirl the white and chocolate morsels, the white just became incorporated into the dark chocolate or remained under the dark chocolate, and I didn't get the swirled effect.  I think perhaps I didn't wait the full 5 minutes to swirl the two.  While I do like the cappucino flavor for a change,  I think I'm going to stick with my traditional recipe which is virtually fail-proof.