Christmas Caramel Popcorn. This is still my favorite treats.
If you remember, this past October I made caramel popcorn and I told you that is was my favorite treat. I am pretty sure it still is because I have yet to come across something more deliciously addictive. This holiday season I wanted to give it as gifts because it is that good. I was curious to see if I could use food coloring to dye some of the caramel sauce red and green and you know what...it worked! Now this popcorn is delicious and super festive.
When you make this, make as large a batch as possible because everybody will want some. Caramel Popcorn recipe adapted from Sue Harmon 3 bags butters and salted popcorn, popped (remove any kernels) unpopped 3/4 cup butter 1 1/2 cups brown sugar 1/4 + 1/8 cup light corn syrup 1/4 + 1/8 teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon vanilla extract red and green food coloring Preheat oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. In a medium saucepan, melt together the butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup. Cheese straws. Meet my new favorite party trick.
In dusting off a woefully-neglected group of recipes on my “Cook This” list, subcategory “Cheese” I came upon a curious confection known as a cheese straw. Despite making a note to try them, cheese straws were new to me, but seeing as they involve cheddar, butter, salt and red pepper flakes, I couldn’t imagine them being anything less than awesome. What I didn’t realize was that, in a ridiculously simple process that took no more than one hour from prep to snacking, what I’d really baked were a cheesy poofs/cheez doodle hybrid!
And that my life may now be complete. It’s funny, all of these “cheese”-based snacks have never held my interest; they seemed so artificial, but not in a tasty way, like Twizzlers or Insert-Your-Shameful-Junk-Food-Habit-Here are. Except so much better: buttery, crisp, flavorful and just a little spicy. One year ago: Pistachio Petit-Four CakeTwo years ago: Whole Lemon Tart + Strawberry Tart Cheese Straws Adapted from The Lee Bros. Salt and Pepper Zucchini Chips. Baked Zucchini Chips. Well I said last week that I'd probably be up to my old tricks by now.
But much to my own surprise, I decided to try another 'healthy' recipe I've been thinking about - zucchini chips! If you ever look at the sidebar of my blog that lists 'popular recipes' you will see that Apple Chips are number one. Homemade Cheez-Its. Hi, Everyone!
So, the other night my husband and I were sitting on the couch watching a movie, and craving snacks (like we usually do), so he got up to see what goodies we had in the pantry. He came back and said, “We don’t have any man snacks!” Which I guess was true since our pantry was still filled with tons of different kinds of chocolate left over from Valentine’s Day. So I thought… what’s his favorite “man snack”? And the answer is Cheez-Its, of course! *Makes about 100 crackers* 8oz shredded cheddar cheese (I used sharp aged white cheddar) 1 cup all-purpose flour 4 tbs unsalted butter, softened 1 tsp salt 3 – 4 tbs ice water 1. 2. 3. These homemade Cheez-Its are so quick and easy to make, and if you love the store bought version, these taste almost exactly the same!
Apple Chips. I hope everyone had a great Father's Day!
If you're not a dad, then I hope you did something special for the dad(s) in your life. Much like the speech I gave you about moms, hopefully you make them feel special on a regular basis... but nonetheless Father's Day is a good excuse to go above & beyond! I spent the day with both my dad & my father-in-law, which was great, and I will see my stepdad later this week.
Mr. V and I are not parents yet though, so there is no celebrating within our little family. No, our only 'child' at this point is our little Senegal parrot, CJ. She's technically Mr. Recently we decided that since CJ has had the same cage for about 13 years now, she deserves a new one. We went to Petco and picked out a really awesome one that's way bigger and cooler than her old one.