Cheesy Beer Fondue

I thought that this year our family would start a new tradition and use Christmas Eve day to celebrate being our own individual family... We spend so much time running around to all of the extended family that usually our own Christmas seems very rushed. So, we sat down together and opened presents in the morning and while the kids enjoyed the new toys that they got, I set to work on lunch. We had fondue! :) I personally love a good fondue and what kid doesn't like to be able pick and choose their own food to dip into some yummy cheese?? We all enjoyed it immensely and after cleaning up and a little more playing took a little snooze to get ready for all the running that we have coming up!


Cheesy Beer Fondue
(recipe found at www.foodnetwork.com)

4 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 (12 ounce) bottle lager beer
1/2 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 cups shredded cheddar

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour and cook for 1-2 minutes while stirring constantly to make a roux. Add beer and bring to slow boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally until mixture thickens to the consistency of heavy cream. Add worcestershire, mustard and cayenne, stirring thoroughly. Add cheese 1 cup at a time, melting cheese after each addition. Stir fondue until it is smooth. Turn into fondue pot and serve.

I served my fondue with beer bread, carrots, cauliflower, pretzel rods and apples.

Chocolate Peppermint Pinwheel Cookies

These were a little tricky for me! As I have said before, sugar cookies never work for me... I really don't know what the jinx is, but I guess it is a curse that I will have to live with! :) In the long run, I got them to work and they turned out pretty yummy, but they were a bear to put together - they tried my patience a little bit, especially when I was trying to roll out the dough and my 2 year old was laying across the table trying to lick up all the powdered sugar! :)


Chocolate Peppermint Pinwheel Cookies
(recipe found at www.foodnetwork.com)

1 batch sugar cookies, recipe follows
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
1/2 cup crushed candy canes or peppermint candies

Divide the dough in half and add chocolate and vanilla to 1 half and incorporate with hands. Add egg yolk, peppermint extract and crushed candy to other half of dough and incorporate with hands. Cover both with plastic and chill for approximately 5 minutes. Roll out doughs separately to approximately 1/4 inch thickness. Place peppermint dough on top of chocolate and press together around the edges. Using waxed paper or flexible cutting board underneath, roll dough into log. Wrap in waxed paper and refrigerate for 2 hours. (This is where I had issues, my dough kept sticking to the table, so I had to piece the chocolate dough together on top of the peppermint dough. It looked rough, but when I cut it up they turned out fine!)

Preheat oven to 375. Remove dough from the refrigerator and cut into 1/2 inch slices. Place cookies 1 inch apart on greased baking sheet, parchment, or silicone baking mat and bake for 12-13 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through cooking time. Remove from oven and let sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes, then move to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Sugar Cookie
3 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon milk
powdered sugar, for rolling out dough

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. Place butter and sugar in large bowl of electric stand mixer and beat until light in color. Add egg and milk and beat to combine. Put mixer on low speed, gradually add flour, and beat until mixture pulls away from the side of the bowl. Divide the dough iin half, wrap in waxed paper and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Crispy Italian Baked Chicken

I made this chicken tonight and it was so delicious!! It was pretty easy to throw together and definitely came out moist on the inside and crispy on the outside! LOVE IT!!


Crispy Italian Baked Chicken
(recipe found at www.hungryjack.com)

2/3 cup mashed potato flakes
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons parsley flakes
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 (2 1/2-3 pounds) broiler fryer chicken, cut up
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup italian dressing

Heat oven to 400. Coat baking pan with no stick cooking spray. Combine potato flakes, parmesan cheese, parsley flakes and garlic salt in a shallow bowl. Stir until well mixed. Coat chicken pieces with flour, dip in italian dressing. Coat with potato flake mixture, patting until chicken is thoroughly coated; shake off excess breading. Place in prepared pan. Bake 45-50 minutes or until instant read thermometer reaches 165 degrees.

Chocolate Peppermint Creams

I know that Christmas is over, but I have so many good treats and cookie recipes that I tried this year that I just have to keep going... Here was another recipe that I found and it was SO yummy! My topping didn't turn out as pretty as the picture that they showed, but it was still good to eat...


Chocolate Peppermint Creams
(recipe found at www.pillsbury.com)

1 bag (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
1 bag (12 ounces) dark chocolate chips
1/3 cup whipping cream
1 cup butter
1/4 cup dry pudding mix from 1 box (4 serving size) vanilla pudding and pie filling mix (not instant)
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 bag (2 pounds) powdered sugar
1/2 cup coarsely chopped peppermint candy canes

Spray 15x10x1 inch pan with cooking spray. Reserve 1/2 cup of the semisweet chocolate chips. In 2 quart saucepan, heat remaining semisweet chocolate chips and 1/3 cup cream over medium low heat, stirring constantly, until melted. Pour into pan; spread evenly. Refrigerate. (I struggled with the melting during this phase - I added more cream to make it "pourable" and continued to stir until it was the right consistency.)

Meanwhile, in 3 quart sauscepan, heat butter, pudding mix and 1/2 cup cream to boiling over medium heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in peppermint extract, vanilla and powdered sugar, beating well, until mixture is smooth. Spread evenly over cooled chocolate layer; freeze until firm, 15-20 minutes.

Place reserved 1/2 cup chocolate chips in small resealable freezer plastic bag. Microwave on high 45-55 seconds, turning bag over after 30 seconds. Squeeze bag until chips are melted and smooth. Cut small tip off one corner of bag, and drizzle over top. Immediately sprinkle with chopped candy. Cut into 15 rows by 5 rows.

(I found that when I tried to drizzle the chocolate, it immediately hardened when it hit the top of the bars. Maybe this wouldn't happen if you let it sit out for a little bit? This also made it so that the candy canes didn't stick to the topping at all... They were still worth my while though! :)

Covered Pretzels

Who hasn't had these little bites of deliciousness before? I think that everyone has, but just in case you haven't gotten the chance to try them out, I wanted to get a post on here about them! They are so easy to make and just as easy to consume! I mean, chocolate and pretzels? What a great combo!!

Covered Pretzels

pretzels
chocolate candy covering
vanilla candy covering
shortening
sprinkles

Melt chocolate candy covering with 1 tablespoon shortening and vanilla candy covering with 1 tablespoon shortening, in separate pans. When melted add pretzels, a few at a time, turning with a fork. Place on wax covered cookie sheet. Drizzle with opposite candy covering. Sprinkle with sprinkles while still wet. Allow to dry and remove from pan.

Cinnamon Bear Popcorn

Every year I try to find a little something for the daycare kids for Christmas that is fun and different, yet won't break my pocketbook! This year I found this fun recipe to try out... It was so good I almost didn't want to give it up to them! :)

Cinnamon Bear Popcorn
(recipe found at www.jamiecooksitup.blogspot.com)

24 cups popped popcorn (1 cup unpopped)
1 16 ounce bag cinnamon bears
1 cup butter
1/2 cup corn syrup
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 cups mini marshmallows
red food coloring

Pop up popcorn. Sprinkle it with just a bit of salt and set aside. Snip cinnamon bears up with a pair of kitchen scissors. In a medium sized sauce pan combine the butter, corn syrup and sugar. Heat over medium heat until it comes to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook for 5 minutes. Remove it from the heat and add vanilla, marshmallows and red food coloring. Mix it all around to get everything melted and combined. Stir in the bears. Add the mixture to popped popcorn. Stir it all around until well combined.

Weekly Line Up - 1/1-1/7

Happy New Year! Here is to another year of new memories, experiences and lots of fun in the kitchen!

Saturday - *Almond & Peach Crusted Pork Chops
Sunday - *Eggnog Pancakes with Bacon Slices
Monday - *Turkey Brats with Potatoes
Tuesday - *Tex Mex Meatball Pie
Wednesday - Taco Night
Thursday - *Chicken Tortilla Soup
Friday - *Creamy Tuna and Broccoli Casserole

New Year's Eve Recipes
* Eggnog Cheesecake Bars
* Deviled Dip

* New Recipes