Have a Merry Bon Bon!

 Need a festive looking candy to add to your
holiday cookie tray?
 
 I first saw this recipe for Grandmama's Bon Bons in the cookbook
Southern Plate by Christy Jordan.
  

 

This was a recipe her "Grandmama" made and these
bon bons were kept in an empty coffee tin in the frig.

I made these that same year I bought her cookbook
and they were a hit with my family.  I even gave out 
the recipe a time or two and made them a few more times.


The original recipe calls for the bon bons to be dipped in
 the chocolate candy coating called Almond Bark.

This year I gave them a different twist.

These bon bons begin with traditional candy ingredients:
Powdered Sugar, Pecans, Coconut, Butter, and Sweetened Condensed Milk.

It is mixed together with your hands, then rolled into balls.
I made both large balls and small balls.

They are then placed in the fridge to firm up and
then dipped into the melted candy coating. 
they candy coating can be melted in the microwave
but I prefer to melt them on a double boiler over the stove.

  

 Here are the larger balls on their tray, cooled, and ready to be 
dipped into the melted chocolate candy coating.  
They only need to be dipped once.

HOWEVER, I dipped the smaller balls into the
white candy coating and noticed, as they were drying,
that they were "see-through" and needed a second dipping.
Before dipping a second time, I let them chill for a bit
so that when I dipped a second time, it didn't melt off the 
first dipping.  Does this make sense?

   

 As a result, the white dipped bon bons have more candy
coating to bite through before you get to the
coconut deliciousness inside.

I finished both chocolate and white bon bons by melting 
some red candy coating and, using a piping bag with a 
Wilton Size 3 tip, piping a drizzle over top for a more 
festive look.

If you are asking yourself, "Why don't I just color
the white candy coating red?" Experience
tells me its just going to be a glob and a mess.
Actually, the gel and liquid coloring will cause the
candy coating to seize much like melting chocolate
chips in the microwave too long.

The result is a rich, sweet, and delicious bite.

These are great kept in the fridge year-round for a treat
 or great during this time of the year for gift giving - in a tin!

Coconut Pecan Bon Bons

Adapted from Southern Plate

2 pounds powdered sugar

1 2/3 cup sweetened flaked coconut

2 cups chopped pecans

14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 package chocolate almond bark, for coating

1 package white almond bark, for coating

Large handful of red candy coating, for drizzling.

In a large bowl, with your hands or with a large spoon, mix all ingredients except almond barks. (A mixer works too.)  Form dough into balls any size you want.  Place on a sheet pan and cover. Refrigerate for at least one hour to get really cold and firm.

Melt chocolate almond bark over a double boiler. Taking half of the dough balls, dip each dough ball into the melted chocolate and place onto parchment paper to harden.  Place back into the fridge.

Take the remaining dough balls and dip each dough ball into the melted white almond bark and place onto parchment paper. Place back into the frig to get nice and chilled - at least 30 minutes. Take them out and dip them a second time into the melted white almond bark, placing them back onto parchment paper to harden.  Place back into the fridge while you prepare the red almond bark.

Place a large handful of red almond bark into a two-cup glass liquid measuring cup and heat in the microwave at 15 second intervals, stirring in between, until smooth and creamy.  Pour into a small clear piping bag fitted with a Wilton size 3 tip. (You can also pour into a small ziploc bag and snip a very small hole at one of the corners.)

Take the dipped dough balls out of the fridge and, using the prepared piping bag with melted red candy coating, drizzle over tops of the dipped dough balls.

Store in refrigerator.

Wishing all of you a Very Merry Christmas!

Fondly,

~Karen

Whats for Dinner? One Pot Pasta

 What is One Pot Pasta?

Pasta and veggies all in a pot and cooking at the same time.

 A great dish to use leftover veggies with. 

You will want to begin by prepping all your ingredients:

chopping asparagus, slicing mushrooms, slivering garlic cloves,

and pinching off a sprig or two of fresh thyme.  
Shredded Parmesan will be added at the end along with some cream.

Tonight I have decided to serve along side hot and buttery french bread.

This buttery and baked hot bread by The Pioneer Woman which
she calls The Bread is French bread slathered on both sides 
with lots of butter then baked and finished under the broiler 
until dark brown and begins to burn.  That's right, 
she actually says, "... begins to burn." 

Once prepped and ready to go,

 

add all the veggies along with the dried pasta and water

to a stockpot along with salt and pepper.

 Bring to a boil and simmer, uncovered, until pasta is cooked

and vegies are tender.  Give the pasta a stir frequently so it does not

stick to itself. The liquid will actually reduce on its own.

 

  Parmesan is stirred in at the end, along with cream,

and Voila! it is done. Serve immediately with

some extra shredded Parmesan on the top

and that delicious hot bread!

Here is the recipe:

One Pot Pasta

1 lb. dried spaghetti

1 lb. mushrooms, sliced

1/2 lb. asparagus, cut diagonally in apx. 1" pieces

2 cloves garlic, cut into thin slivers

1 or 2 sprigs of thyme

4 1/2 cups water

Kosher salt and ground pepper, to taste

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup heavy cream

In a large stockpot, add the dried spaghetti, mushrooms, asparagus, garlic, thyme sprigs, and water.  Season with salt and pepper.

Bring to boil, reduce heat to a simmer and let cook, uncovered, until pasta is cooked through and liquid has reduced, apx. 20  minutes.  Stir in Parmesan cheese and heavy cream. Serve immediately.

Adapted from recipe by Damn Delicious.

Enjoy!

I will be linking up with

Thanks for visiting!

Fondly,

~Karen

Lemon and Pistachio Cake with White Chocolate Sour Cream Icing

This cake is simple to make and delicious.

 

I recently made it as the dessert for an outdoor dinner.

You can see more of that dinner HERE.

 The cake is made with cake flour and ground pistachios along
with yogurt, lemon juice, and lemon zest. The icing
 is to die for! As simple as melting a bar of white chocolate 
and combining it (once it has cooled a little bit!) with sour cream.

 I want to give due credit to the source of this recipe 
(at least where I found it) which can be found HERE but
 beware, there are some measurements listed in metric

that can be easily converted by searching on your iPhone.

This is a keeper recipe!

Thank you for stopping by!

I will be joining the following blog party:

Rattlebridge Farm's Foodie Friday

 Fondly,
~Karen

End of Summer Grilled Beef Skewers and Pineapple Salsa

 Here is a recipe that would be great for this Labor Day weekend.
It is made with Five-Spice powder. If you aren't familiar with
Five-Spice, it is used often in Chinese cuisine and consists of,
you guessed it, five spices: Star Anise, Cloves, Chinese Cinnamon,
Black pepper, and Fennel seeds. It can be purchased in the
spice aisle along with all the other spices.

I wanted to marinate beef in a Five-Spice marinade,
then skewer and grill the beef for dinner.  I was at Costco 
looking for flank steak or skirt steak that I could thinly slice 
for the skewers. I didn't have luck finding one of those two 
and had to settle on Flap Steak. 

Flap Steak is a thin cut of meat that comes from a bottom sirloin

butt cut of beef. It differs from Flank Steak because it comes from a more 

rear portion of the beef.  Likewise, Skirt Steak is even more forward then

then Flank Steak.  Flap Steak is sometimes confused with Hanger Steak

but it is not.  Both Hanger Steak and Skirt Steak are cut from the

diaphragm of the beef.  I think Flap Steak gets a bad wrap but I

have to admit it usually isn't my first choice either.

 

BUT as a thin piece of meat, it works beautifully

for skewers. It marinates nicely, and grills quickly.
The finished dish shows how thin the meat is.
I only cut it width-wise for the skewers.

The original five-spice marinade recipe came from 
 Better Homes and Gardens and the recipe I used as
modified can be found on BHG Delish Dish.
On this site, it is served with a yogurt sauce,
but I wanted to go even lighter and chose a pineapple salsa.
 
I, unfortunately, don't recall where this recipe for the pineapple 
salsa originated.  You can use these amounts listed in the recipe
below and at the end, give it a taste and make adjustments to
to your liking. The flavor improves as it sits in the refrigerator. 

This pineapple salsa is delicious and is also great as a side dish
for chicken or just served with tortilla chips (and a margarita!).

It's also great with these Five-Spice beef skewers.

Enjoy!

Pineapple Salsa

Source: Unknown

 

Serves 6

1 fresh pineapple, cored and diced

3 green onions, chopped

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantry

2 teaspoons fresh squeezed lime juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cumin

Combine. Cover and chill. 

Please join me as I link up with

Rattlebridge Farm's Foodie Fridays

 

 

Thank you for visiting my blog!

Fondly,
~Karen

A Bird's Nest Napkin Fold and Dinner!

 Lucky me! 

Continued outdoor dining at my daughter's!

Previously, I enjoyed a lovely dinner on her balcony.

If you missed that post, you can check it out HERE

 

Tonight, dinner was originally for four but dwindled down to two.

That's okay. It happens... and it means more leftovers!

I like to include one or more wow-factors when entertaining

and often a napkin fold does just that.  I found this fun napkin 

fold in the shape of a bird's nest on You Tube HERE demonstrated

 by Denise Vivaldo. She has authored a book named 

"Top 100 step-by-step Napkin Folds." 

I decided to go with a bird theme and thought it coordinated

 well with this Morning Glories tablecloth and matching 

cloth napkins from Target.

My dinner for two began with an easy appetizer.

On a skewer, I added a cube of cantaloupe melon, a small fresh mozzarella

ball, and thinly sliced prosciutto.  I placed two each in margarita glasses,

drizzled each glass with a balsamic reduction sauce and chopped parsley.

The sweet melon goes beautifully with the Italian dry-cured ham

and the mozzarella ball has great texture and adds to the overall flavor.

They are pretty and were very nice to nosh on with a glass of wine.

For the entree, I made an Artichoke Chicken and Spinach Lasagna and served it

with a Caprese Summer Salad with Cannellini Beans. The salad had a

Basil Pesto Dressing that was really good.

Instead of a garlic bread traditionally served with lasagna, 

I tested a bread made with pizza dough stuffed with a soft herb

cheese, sprinkled with parmesan and topped with sliced zucchini 

and red onion.  You can find that recipe HERE.

Dessert was a wonderfully simple Lemon and Pistachio 

one-layer cake. Check back and I'll share the recipe with you.

I will be linking up with these following blog parties:

The Tablescaper's Seasonal Sundays

Between Naps on the Porch's Tablescape Thursdays 

Rattlebridge Farm's Foodie Fridays

 

 As always, thanks for visiting me!

 

Fondly,

~Karen

Flower Lemon Rosemary Tea Cookies

Some of you might be thinking lemon and rosemary in a cookie?

Lemons and Rosemary actually make a great flavor combination. 

It is most often used together in chicken dishes but in this case

it is used together in a tea cookie.

This tea cookie is basically made from a shortbread dough

with a wonderful butter flavor along with the lemon and rosemary.

Using my spritz gun, I made flower spritzes of the dough then

baked them. 

 

Using a small metal spatula, I very carefully lifted the warm

tea cookies onto a cooling rack.  After letting them completely

cool, I drizzled them with some lemon and sugar icing

from a small parchment piping bag.

 

As you can see, they came out as cute little flower cookies.

Crisp and delicious cookies perfect for a tea party!

I would like to give credit for this recipe where credit is do,
so you can click on The Gray Boxwood for this recipe.

Enjoy!

Fondly,
~Karen

 





Equally Famous Banana Bread

Inspired by my recent visit to the World Famous International Banana Museum 
I wanted to make something with bananas.  I remembered I have this really
terrific Banana Bread recipe in my repetroire that I hadn't made in awhile.

My recipe is actually adapted from an also famous recipe for Julia's
Best Banana Bread originated by a gal named Julia and sold in her
bright green treehouse located in a small village called Kahakuloa
on the island of Maui.  You'll want to check out this cute bright
green treehouse which is on her website here.

When a recipe is "adapted" it usually means the current cook/baker has
changed something in the original recipe.  In this case, Julia makes her
famous Banana Bread using whole wheat flour and I use All Purpose white flour.

This banana bakes leaving a crackly and wonderful crust on the top.
I think that is what makes this Banana Bread so special.

It can be eaten just as is or as I like it - with a spread of butter.  Delicious!
I am so happy that I reminded myself of this recipe.

Thank you for visiting,

Fondly,
~ Karen




Whats for Dinner? Crock-Pot Chili with Chocolate

 

This chili with fool you!

Going into the crock-pot, it may seem like any ordinary chili.
 

 

It begins with black beans, kidney beans, and pinto beans,

along with cooked ground beef, tomatoes, onions, and spices.

It cooks for 6-8 hours... then for the last 15 minutes it

gets finished with chopped Chocolate - and just a tad of honey!
 

 

It's sure to please the most skeptical palate and would be fun to

serve guests, asking them what they think is the secret ingredient.

Its actually pretty tasty and delicious and, other than seeing the

sprinkling of shaved chocolate on the top for garnish, you would

never suspect there was chocolate in it.  The chocolate really is that subtle.
 

 

I made some seasoned saltine crackers to serve
along side. I often make these with chili flakes but for
tonight I left the spicy-ness off so we could get enjoy
the full spicy flavors of the chili.

 

Come on! Eating can be an adventure. Give this a try!

You can click on this link for the recipe for the

Slow-Cooker Chocolate Chili with Three Beans

and here is the recipe for the crackers:

 

Seasoned Crackers

Source: Unknown
 

1 lb. unsalted saltine crackers
1 cup canola oil
1 (1 oz. pkg) ranch dressing mix
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons chili flakes (optional)

Line crackers on their ends in an air-tight container. In a small bowl, combine canola oil, ranch dressing mix, garlic powder and red pepper flakes. Stir until well combined. Spoon mixture evenly over crackers. Close the lid and gently flip over the crackers.  Flip over every 5 minutes for a total of 20 minutes.  There will be excess oil at first but as they get flipped they will absorb the oil.  The crackers can be stored in a ziploc bag and will last for about a week.

Enjoy and Thank you for visiting!

 

I will be sharing this recipe along with others at

Rattlebridge Farm's Foodie Friday

 

Fondly,

~Karen

 



 

 





Flourless Chocolate Cake on St. Paddy's Day

I was taught in culinary school different ways to use a flourless chocolate

cake.  A flourless chocolate cake is just that - flourless.
Instead of using flour, egg whites are whipped and added to the

chocolate batter instead of dry flour ingredients like we are
more familiar with. After taking out of the oven, the cake
will deflate leaving a moist spongy-like cake.

I like to "stamp" different-shaped pieces out of the flourless chocolate

cake, depending on what I am wanting to make and use them for.

I recently made this cake and "stamped" out hearts as a garnish for a

dessert I made for my sorority.  You can see that post here.

The top-right photo above shows those hearts which I also added a

drizzle of chocolate to, to dress them up and add to their flavor,

since the dessert they were garnishing was not chocolate.

 

I had some of the cake not used when making the hearts and placed

that remaining cake into the freezer. I pulled it out of the freezer

and decided to use it for this small tiered St. Paddy's Day cake. Well,

actually, I had the thought to pull the cake out of the freezer because...

the other day I had lunch with a friend at Opera Cafe and Patisserie

and had to bring home a few mini-macarons - in GREEN!

I thought to use a little macaron to top this little tiered cake.

Then eat the rest! Ha!

I pulled the cake out of the freezer, pulled out my circle cutters,

and while the cake was still quite cold, cut out the needed circles.  

I used the 2 1/2" - 58 mm cutter. 

I cut out more than I needed because the cake can get

quite moist and a little sticky as it thaws, making it sometimes

difficult to take out of the cutters in one piece.

I also had some buttercream in my freezer which I took

out one day before to bring back to room temperature,

then re-whipped it, and added the color green.

This was actually quite easy to put together. Nothing fancy here.

Piped a dab of buttercream on the plate to anchor the cake,

placed the first cake layer on top (using my offset spatula),

piped a swirl of buttercream,

 placed the second cake layer on top,

piped another swirl of buttercream, and

placed the final third layer of cake on top.

 

Althought I was planning on topping it with a final swirl of

buttercream and the green mini-macaron, I thought

it looked a bit plain and need more chocolate. (Right?)

I decided to drape it with some ganache.

For the ganache,

I placed semi-sweet baking chocolate into a bowl along with some cream.

I microwaved it for 45 seconds, then stirred until it became smooth,

shiny, and the pouring consistency I wanted.  Sorry, but I didn't measure.

I did end up adding a little more cream for a better pouring consistency.

But, no, I never put it back into the microwave.

I then lightly poured the ganache over the little tiered cake

and left it to drip down its sides. 

 Lastly, I added one last swirl of buttercream

then topped it off with the mini-macaron.

Yum!  I just love cake and I just love buttercream.

And, the macarons are just a very special treat.

 

Here is the recipe:

 

Flourless Chocolate Cake

Source - Southerner At Heart

 

10 oz. semi-sweet chocolate (not chips)

10 oz. butter

10 large egg yolks

3 oz. sugar

8 large egg whites

3 oz. sugar

 

Melt chocolate and butter together. Whisk egg yolks and 3 oz. sugar in a separate bowl. Fold in melted chocolate mixture into the egg yolk mixture. Whip egg whites and 3 oz. sugar to medium peaks. Fold chocolate mixture into egg white mixture. Spread into a half-sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Bake 350 degrees until center is set. Let cool completely in pan.

 

Enjoy!

 

Thank you for visiting my blog!

 

This week I will be joining

Rattlebridge Farm's Foodie Friday

 

 

Fondly,

~Karen