Melted Peppermint Candy Bowl

I decided to try to make a melted peppermint candy bowl and learned a few things in my first attempt.  First and most importantly - hot candy is far hotter than say glue from a hot glue gun.  Just saying...
I recommend using parchment paper for this project.  It is sturdier than waxed paper and I found the trays slipped right off when cooled.
After my candies melted and I took the tray out of the oven, I immediately plopped it over a metal bowl.  Here is where you find out just how hot that melted candy is.  It will drip as you try to move it, and if you are not careful, you will get burned.  The gravity pulls the candy down (obviously) so your design will morph and distort.  As you can see, I started off with a green tree and ended up with a cool design.  For a first try, I am pleased.

My design is here - I find that leaving spaces between the pieces of candy works well and I should have done it here.  I will leave more space between each piece in my next attempts.  The big space at the bottom by the trunk filled in nicely when the candy melted.

Here is the bowl I had ready to use as a mold:

And here is how it looks while cooling.  This is where I learned another valuable lesson.  Be sure to have a few extra inches of parchment paper on the top and bottom of your design and let it hang over the edge of the cookie sheet you are using.  This helps when you want to lift the entire thing off the cookie sheet to drape over the bowl.  You can see how it gravity pulls parts of it out of shape.

And here is the finished bowl.  The shiny side is on the outside, the dull side is inside.  Works for me.

Peppermint Tree Tray

Have you seen the great idea of melting peppermints into usable, edible trays (Pinterest, of course)?  A friend was over today and we played around with the idea.  We made these trays for her Christmas gathering.  Since she plans on serving strawberry Santa hats on them, I suggested she wrap each tray in Saran Wrap first to keep the moisture of the strawberries from damaging the trays.  She is going to allow the kids at her celebration to break the trays (after all the strawberries are gone) and then eat them.  Sounds like fun.

Santa Hats & Mini Cinnamon Buns

Today I was busy baking for a friend's daughter's party - I love to bake but really don't need to eat all those calories.  I made several batches of the chocolate chip/Oreo/brownie recipe and had a few Oreos left over, so I made these Santa Hats.  Just stuck a stick in the Oreo and then dipped each one in melted red chocolate.  When the chocolate was dry, I used a piping tube to add icing for fur on the cap and added clear sprinkles. They were a big hit:

 

And since I was already making a mess in the kitchen, I made some mini cinnamon buns for my neighbors.

I used the idea I got off Pinterest of using crescent rolls to make the buns.  They turned out great.  One neighbor is allergic to cinnamon, so I used chocolate peanut butter instead of the cinnamon and sugar.  I added a bag of icing for them to use after they heated up the buns, hot cocoa mix and a bag of freshly made marshmallows.  The tray turned out really cute:

Thinning thick, unusable nail polish

Has your bottle of nail polish thickened to the point it is not usable?  Don't throw it away.  And don't use polish remover or acetone to try to thin it.  These products might be a quick fix but they end up ruining the polish in the long run.  Instead, invest in a bottle of Nail Polish Thinner.  I bought this one at Sally's Beauty Supply for $3.98.  As you only use a few drops at a time, this bottle will last forever.  You probably can buy this or a similar brand at your local Target or such, but I'm not sure.  Wherever you find it, it is well worth the price.

And that is my helpful hint for the day. 'Night.

What to do with a perfectly good pumpkin after Thansgiving Day

Fall is over and Christmas decorations are being put out.  What are you going to do with those perfectly good pumpkins that lasted this long?  For heaven's sake, don't throw them out.  Use your imagination and make Christmas decorations out of them!  Here are a few examples - in one case, my pumpkin lasted until spring so I made an Easter bunny - no kidding!

A little imagination, spray paint, accessories cut out of wood and painted and there you go...

Here is the bunny I mentioned - sorry, don't know why he is sideways.

 You can also spray paint the pumpkin gold or silver or whatever color you like, tie a huge ribbon/bow around it and pass it off as a present.  When it is finally time to toss the pumpkin, cut off the top, add a layer or two of soil and place in a back garden.  Chances are the seeds will root and offer a pumpkin plant or two for your growing pleasure.

Celery Saver

Did you know that wrapping your stalk of celery in aluminium foil extends its life?  Really - this works great!  The stalk seen below is several weeks old and as good as new.  I used the heavy duty foil to wrap the stalk  only because I had it on hand and it withstands the constant opening and closing of the packet as I take out a stalk or two.  Try it - it works! No more soggy celery, no more having to prop up soft stalks in a glass of water to revive them.  I did cut off the bottom of the stalk before I wrapped it, but I don't know if this was necessary.

More S'mores on a Stick

What is better than chocolate, marshmallows and salt?  Excellent combination, but add in toffee and you have a slice of heaven.  Try these - you will fall in love:

You will need these four ingredients (five if you use graham crackers as well as toffee bits):

Did you know you can now find marshmallows in different sizes, shapes and flavors?  These are chocolate and medium sized.  They are not the large and not the tiny.  I thought I would try them to see if the ratio of marshmallow to chocolate works.  I think the large ones are too much marshmallow for too small of an amount of chocolate.  And I use the Heath toffee bits as a coating instead of graham crackers - different taste all together.

As you are melting your chocolate wafers in your magical melting pot (see earlier blog),

start poking the pretzel sticks into the marshmallows.  It is easier if you do all this before beginning to dip and coat...

When your chocolate is melted, dip each marshmallow on a stick into the chocolate, gently swirling the coated piece on the inside of the pot to remove excess chocolate and then dip into a bowl of toffee bits.

 I find it is better not to twirl the coated marshmallow around in the bits as this causes the chocolate to fall off.  Instead, I make a small well in the center of the bits, put the marshmallow in the hole and with my other hand, press the bits onto the still warm chocolate. They adhere nicely and don't drop odd bits of chocolate into the mixture.  Place onto a piece of waxed paper to dry and then enjoy.

Yes, you can certainly use graham crackers instead of the toffee bits for a more "traditional" s'more taste.  I crush my crumbs quite small so they stick better.

                                                                             
                                                                             ENJOY!

For some reason, we call these "Turkey Legs" at my house...