Peppermint Bark Makes Good Use of all Those Leftover Candy Canes

I had some yummy peppermint bark at Kelly's house during the pre-holiday snow day. I'm neither a peppermint fan nor a white chocolate fan so it was surprising to me how addicting that bark was for me. I've since then discovered that you can subsitute dark chocolate (or a swirl of the white and the dark). I may eat the entire batch myself if I had that combination in front of me.

We have at least 20 extra candy canes floating around here post-holiday so my family and friends will be enjoying lots of peppermint bark a la Coles.

You know my preference is toward homemade simple foods but this one has to top the charts for simplicity. And think how much you're saving instead of buying it at a specialty store!

Simple Peppermint Bark Recipe
1 package white chocolate chips or dark chocolate chips (or half a bag of each if you want to swirl)
4 crushed candy canes
1 T. peppermint extract (not mint -PEPPERMINT - otherwise it'll taste like toothpaste)

Instructions: melt chocolate chips per package instructions. I did mine in the microwave and it took less than 2 minutes. Keep a close eye on it though as microwave temps vary. Once melted, stir in the peppermint extract. Spread it out on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Place (or smush would be a more descriptive term) the crushed peppermint into the peppermint chocolate mixture. Place in a freezer - or outside if it's cold enough - for about 10 minutes to harden. Then just break it apart and start eating.

Also makes a great food gift. Buy some of those tins 80% off after the holiday and plan to make this next year.

Special Sugar Cookies Recipe

Another great recipe idea from the gals at Curves. This one is for a sugar cookie with candy bar filling. Delicious and easy to make any time of year, this recipe can also be an extra special homemade holiday gift from the kids. Wouldn't grandma just love something the kids made themselves? And to top it off, it actually tastes as good as it looks (or better!)

You can make this with your favorite sugar cookie recipe but we made it extra simple for the kids by buying a tube of the premade sugar cookies. I cut the cookie dough into 12 circles and then the kids did the rest.

NOTE: Since we made these just for ourselves, we used the dough as-is which means it will spread out into a flat cookie. With the chocolate inside, it looks a bit like a sombrero. If you want to make it into a pretty ball, you need to add about 1/2 cup flour to the dough first.

Special Sugar Cookie Ingredients:
One 16 oz. tube sugar cookie dough
12 miniature (the really small square ones) chocolate candies (we used milky way)
Colored sugar (optional)

Special Sugar Cookie Instructions:
Cut the tube of cookie dough into twelve rounds. Place the candy in the middle of the cookie dough and then wrap the dough around the chocolate to hide it. Optional - roll in colored sugar for a festive holiday look. Bake according to the instructions on your sugar cookie dough. (approx. 350 for 12 minutes). COOL BEFORE EATING as the center will be hot and gooey.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread Great for Thanksgiving

We needed to make a dish with pumpkin in it for a fourth grade Thanksgiving celebration so we whipped up my favorite pumpkin chocolate chip bread recipe. I, personally, don't even like pumpkin but really like this bread. If you have kids over for Thanksgiving and don't think they'll enjoy a pumpkin pie, try this out. It can be your new tradition!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread Ingredients:
Dry ingredients:
1 3/4 cup flour
1 1/2 t. cinnamon
1 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda

Other ingredients:
1 stick butter room temp
1 1/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 cup pumpkin (from a can)
1 t. vanilla
1/3 cup milk (I used skim)
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350. Use flour based Pam (or grease and flour) two metal loaf pans. Combine dry ingredients and set aside. Combine other ingredients and use an electric mixer to mix them up in this order; butter first, then sugar, eggs, pumpkin, vanilla, milk and dry ingredients. Then stir in (by hand) the chocolate chips.

Cook about 55 minutes or until loaf feels firm and a knife comes out of the center clean (or with just melted chocolate!)

Enjoy and Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Simple Seasonal Brownie Recipe

OK- it's not really a " brownie recipe" as much a tip to make a great batch of brownies with a seasonal twist. We needed to bring a dish to Chellie's annual Halloween bash and were short on time and inspiration. Since we had a couple boxes of brownie mix in the cupboard, that was the dish. But here's the fun part...

In order to spruce them up a bit, we drizzled caramel on the top of each brownie and put a candy corn for decoration. And it was so easy, the kids had a great time doing it too.

The real trick for this easy recipe was not only using the boxed brownies but using the caramel apple wraps for the caramel. You know the ones that are already flattened and stretched to the size of an apple? (love them for the apples too!) We cut those into about 16 pieces per box of brownie. Once the brownies were cooked, cooled and cut, we placed the caramel pieces on top and put under the broiler for about one minute. Then while the caramel was still sticky, we placed the candy corn in the middle. So cute, so easy and so immediately gobbled up by party gremlins big and small. Try it!

Simple Apple Crisp Recipe

This is a great recipe for brunch or dinner and a super way to use up some apples. Volunteer to bring it to Easter, Mother’s Day or your next potluck. And like anything with cinnamon, the mouth-watering smell while you’re cooking it while tempt all in the house. Enjoy!

Simple Apple Crisp Recipe
Prep time: 20 minutes Cook time: 40 minutes Serves: about 8

6 cups sliced apples (if you’re really in a rush, buy the chopped ones)
2/3 cup flour
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup rolled oats
1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
¼ cup apple juice
2 T. lemon juice
½ t. cinnamon

Arrange apples in a 9 x 13 pan or 2 Qt. casserole dish. Sprinkle with the lemon juice (for freshness) and cinnamon, and add in apple juice. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, and oats. Mix well. Mix in the margarine (easiest with a large fork) until the mixture is crumbly. Spread that mixture on top of the apples. Bake at 375 for about 40 minutes.


And of course, for other homemade easy recipes, entertaining tips, and one really great ham, visit pams-hams.com.