Adventures in Edible Gifts

Our bake fest is now complete and I am not setting foot in my kitchen the entire weekend. Everybody is going to be living on Progresso soup and peanut butter and jelly until probably Monday.

We decided to give my grandparents edible New Year's gifts this year. Oh yeah, by the way, did I mention that we don't exchange Christmas gifts, we give New Years gifts. Anyway, we have a little get together at our house on New Years and Kaydn Rye opens his presents. We eat, we exchange some presents, and then the day is pretty much over. But I don't know if my grandparents will be able to make it to our house on New Years so we just gave our presents to them when we saw them yesterday at my aunt's house. And for some reason over the last few years I have become one of "those people," the ones who end up finishing a project only at the last possible minute before it absolutely needs to be completed. I don't know how it happened.

My first few years of college I used to be that person who had their papers done like a week before they were due. I'd be in the library glued to a table with my laptop and a book and everybody would be like, "Dude, what are you working on?"

I'd say, "I'm working on that paper for American Lit," or something like that. And they'd say, "Dude, that isn't due for like three more days, what in the heck are you working on that today for?"

So anyway, after that walk down memory lane, the moral of that story was that somewhere along the way I went to the dark side. I don't know. You can ask any editor I've ever written for, I have serious issues getting things done on time.

Which is why I was wrapping our edible gifts about the same time we were already supposed to have been at my aunt's house. Since my grandpa loves to nibble on Thin Mints I found a recipe that is pretty much a thin mint cookie and Kaydn Rye and I started on them on Wednesday.

Here's the recipe:

PEPPERMINT PATTIES

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 tablespoon peppermint extract
6 cuts powdered sugar, plus additional for kneading filling
1 1/2 pounds chocolate-flavored candy coating, melted (I don't know what the point is for the fancy adjectives, but this is just melted chocolate almond bark)
food coloring is optional

Directions
1. In a large bowl combine the condensed milk, peppermint extract and optional food coloring. Add 6 cups sugar and beat on low speed until smooth and well blended. Turn the mixture onto a surface sprinkled with powdered sugar and knead lightly to form a smooth ball. Shape into 1-inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on wax paper-lined baking sheets. Flatten each ball into a 1 1/2-inch patty.

2. Let dry 1 hour or longer; turn over and let dry at least 1 hour. With fork, dip each patty into warm candy coating. Put them back on the baking sheets and let them sit and firm. Store covered at room temperature or in refrigerator.

Of course, Kaydn Rye had to dip them and pull them out of the almond bark, so most of them ended up looking pretty crazy. If he missed a spot I'd just go around and plop a dollop of chocolate on the spot, but almond bark does not blend well, I can testify to that, so ours definitely have character. But my grandpa can't really see very well anyway, so he won't even notice that they look a little funny.

We also dipped pretzels in the almond bark for chocolate-covered pretzels, which Kaydn Rye could eat all in one sitting. I would have snapped some pictures of our wonderful holiday baking/bonding time, but seriously, I didn't even fix my hair and put makeup on until 4 o'clock. And I was still in my pajamas until about 4:30. Nobody needs to see that. And the crazy thing is that even though our house right now is filled with every kind of cookie imaginable, instead of grabbing a cookie for dessert, after lunch Kaydn Rye usually just grabs a Starburst out of the candy jar. What the heck is up with that?



For my grandma, we made popcorn balls. My grandma and I both LOVE popcorn balls. When we arrived at my aunt's house last night, I also brought a tray filled with some extra popcorn balls, extra mint cookies and a whole bunch of chocolate-covered pretzels, and before my grandma saw that I had a whole bag full of popcorn balls just for her, she went straight for the popcorn balls on the tray. She does not waist any time.

Here's the recipe I used for popcorn balls, and I pretty much did this one on my own. Kaydn Rye had to take a nap before we left or we'd be in melt-down city, so while he was sleeping I did the popcorn balls. And besides, he would have never helped to shape them because it gets seriously messy. Your hands have to be smothered in shortening pretty much the entire time your shaping them and Kaydn Rye does not deal well with messy hands, so he would not have been all about the popcorn balls.

Here's the recipe:

POPCORN BALLS (The Best Ever)

To do this right, you have to make the popcorn on the stovetop, which I had never done before. It was definitely an adventure.

For every cup of popcorn you put 6 tablespoons of oil in the bottom of a 4-quart pan on the stove. To match the right amount of sticky sauce I used about 2 cups of popcorn.

1. Put the oil in a heavy pot and let it heat over medium heat for at least 30 seconds.

2. Stir in the kernels, turning with a spoon so that they are evenly covered with oil, then spread them in one layer on the bottom of the pot.

3. Cover the pot leaving a small space at the edge for escaping steam. As soon as the first kernel pops, move the pot gently and continuously back and forth over medium-high heat until the popping stops. (This is important)

4. Turn in a bowl and begin the sticky sauce.

Sticky Sauce
Ingredients
3/4 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup margarine ( I use Blue Bonnet, for everything I make)
2 teaspoons cold water
2 5/8 cups confectioners' sugar (powdered sugar - what's with the fancy names all the time)
1 cup marshmallows

Directions
1. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the corn syrup, margarine, cold water, confectioners' sugar and marshmallows. Heat and stir until the mixture comes to a boil. Carefully combine the hot mixture with the popcorn, coating each kernel.

2. Grease hands with vegetable shortening and quickly shape the coated popcorn into balls before it cools. Wrap with cellophane or plastic wrap and store at room temperature.

That's it. It only took me about an hour to complete the whole popcorn ball-making experience. I sneaked one off the goody tray and it ROCKED. I am a popcorn ball making rockstar.

So what did you all make this year??




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