Christmas Chocolate Spoons

Every Christmas, I like to make homemade treats for my neighbors and friends. It takes a little bit of planning and work, but is so appreciated and really put me in the holiday spirit! This year, I am going to make something a little bit different. I found the recipe for these Christmas Chocolate Spoons on the blog Cherished Bliss. Don't they look divine?

Audra, the foodie over at Cherished Bliss, always finds the most yummy treats!

These would turn any regular cup of hot milk or chocolate into something festive. For ingredients and directions how to make, click here. And, just for fun, I've posted my personal favorite homemade recipe for hot chocolate below :)

Pebbles Homemade Hot Chocolate

1 cup whipping cream

12 oz milk or semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/4 tsp salt

Combine ingredients and heat in microwave until melted. Store covered in fridge.

To eat, put one scoop in a cup of milk. Heat in microwave.

Note: sometimes a sprinkle of hazelnut coffee creamer is heavenly

Enjoy!

New Holiday Receipe : Chocolate Date Truffels

Let's face it, we all want to be good during the holidays, but it's so hard with all the yummy treats around. To not taste them is ridiculous! That's why these Chocolate Date Truffles seem to be the perfect holiday treat alternative. They take little to no time to prepare (we are all very busy), are naturally sweetened by dates and contain dark chocolate! Yum!

You will find literally hundreds of recipes for these on Pinterest. Most contain the same main ingredients of Medjool dates, dark chocolate and some type of chopped nut. The picture I posted here is from the food blog Alternative Medicine. But, the best one I found is from The Urban Baker. You can see it here. If you have made these already, or do sometime in the future, let me know what you think. I can't wait to give them a try!

What's your favorite delicious and healthy holiday recipe?

Starbucks On My Mind : Cranberry Bliss Bars

Ever since our late night hot chocolate blind taste test (see facebook post), I haven't been able to get Starbucks off my mind. What do I love about Starbucks this time of year? Their Cranberry Bliss Bars! These bars are so amazing that I am actually quite happy they don't sell them all yearlong...I would spend way too much money eating them! Warning: as with everything at Starbucks, these bars are expensive. But, they are so delicious! There must be a way to make these at home, right?

Viola! I found this knock-off of my favorite holiday bars on the black peppercorn. It looks promising, so I am adding it to my collection of holiday recipes. Plus, it makes a huge amount. So worth the effort. Don't believe me? Take a minute this week and stop by Starbucks and by just one...if you can. :)

Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bars  |  Knock-off Recipe

I would love to know: what is one of your favorite holiday treats?

Thanksgiving Tarts : I Am In Love

Lately, I have been gathering recipes on Pinterest, in anticipation of my holiday baking. This one caught my eye, and I just had to share! Flower Shaped Mini Lemon Curd Tarts from The 350 Degree Oven (a fun blog and well worth the time browsing...when you have an hour or two :)).

So easy! Simply cut pie or tart dough into flower shapes, bake in mini cupcake pan, and fill with your favorite filling. You can use pre-packaged pie crust or homemade. I am wondering if a sugar cookie dough might work just as well? Any pie filling could be used. Mika suggests alternatives, like a chocolate ganache or cheesecake cream. I am in love with how she dusted the flower petals. Perfection!

Mini Lemon Curd Tarts  |  Recipe & Instructions  

What are some of your favorite holiday treats?

THANK YOU Pinterest!

Sometimes with Pinterest, I get so busy gathering that I don't actually try to make anything. But I have had this in my head all season long. Chicken pot pie weather is here!
Sunday night I made individual Chicken Pot Pies for everyone... using the Pioneer Woman's recipe (perfection), although I did add some potatoes. I also added pie crust legs and some sliced black olive for eyes. Yum!

Nothing says fall like Chicken Pot Pie!

Find this idea on our Pinterest pin board here
Find the recipe here

What's your family's favorite fall recipe? 

The Baked Brownie : Recipes

As most of my readers well know....I LOVE chocolate. Especially dark chocolate. So when I found these brownies on Brown Eyed Baker (or BEB...as she refers to herself), I just had to share! Apparently, both Oprah and American's Test Kitchen rated these as their favorite brownie. Don't they look divine?

BEB has a great write up about these decadent little morsels and how to make them. They hail from the famed Baked Cookbook (which now has been added to my Amazon wish list). According to BEB, these aren't "thin, gooey and smooshed like some brownies." Rather, "they have substance and heft when you bite into them...and they have the ever-elusive and much sought after thin, crackly brownie crust that seems to be the calling card of amazing brownies." Sold! Pass the cold milk please!

Making a Family Recipe Book

How many times have you told yourself you are going to type up those delicious recipes your family loves? You're probably saying you don't have the time, right? Well, I'm here to show you how cute it can be and how much you will cherish this easy project. ALSO, it can be duplicated almost instantly!! So stop saying you're going to do it and do it! It is such a perfect gift idea for:

- Newlyweds (who don't know how to cook and NEED those recipes)
- Nieces/Nephews/Your children (maybe just leaving home for the first time and won't have Mommy to cook for them)
- Grandmother's (Christmas, Her Birthday, Mother's Day, no reason at all - come on! She'll love it!)
- Neighborhood/Girlfriend recipe swap (each neighbor creates 1 page with their favorite recipe and story about why it is so special to them)


What makes this project so easy is that you have the option to simply type the recipes out in Word, add picture of your family with the yummy dish or a family member making the dish, print and slide it in a sheet protector!

Our favorite thing is to add is a significant story about what makes this dish special. Why do you like it? Where did you learn how to make it? Who loves/hates it in your family? Was there a special holiday that this dish was reserved for?

So much about this project will be loved and cherished by everyone who uses it!

{below} personalized category dividers with your favorite paper

{below} 8x8 photo & 8x8 recipe page placed side by side

8x8 sheet protectors
here
here

{below} 8.5x11 sheet protector (easiest for multiple gifts)

8.5x11 sheet protectors
here

{below} 8x8 divided sheet protector

8x8 divided sheet protectors
here
here

Albums used: Doodlebug 8x8 Tangerine album & We R Memory Keepers 8.5x11 Kiwi album

Wing Night

We were invited to wing night with family friends (thanks Porter's) and came home, knowing full well we would be making a batch right away. The perfect blend of sweet & heat. Sure enough, we bought 10 lbs of wings and made them. They were quickly gone. This next time we made 20 lbs of wings. I know. It sounds like a piggish amount, but it gave us yummy leftovers for those of us that woke up craving them the next morning. Try them and let me know what you think... how long did yours last?

World's Best Chicken Wings

Dip 10 lbs raw chicken wings in a flour mixture of:
2 cups flour
1 tbs salt
1 tbs pepper
1 tbs paprika
1 tbs garlic powder
Bake on parchment lined baking sheets at 350 degrees for about an hour. Then turn the oven up to 425 degrees and watch the magic happen. When they are crispy to your liking, turn them over and get them crispy on the other side. For some reason, crispy chicken fat/skin is more tolerable to me than floppy, undercooked skin. The flour mixture makes the sauce stick to the wings... an absolute must! Remove from pan and place in bowl. Drizzle and toss with the sauce below.

Sauce:
1 cup Franks Original Hot Sauce
2 cups brown sugar
Simmer together for a few minutes until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat. You won't need to call the family for dinner... they will already be gathered around. Serve with Coyote Ranch dressing (or your favorite).

Pizza Muffins

Cooking night again with the Laurels. On this night we learned how to make Pizza Muffins, Caesar salad and homemade hot fudge sauce over ice cream. A yummy night all around! We talked about the importance of lighting a candle and making dinner special, no matter the simpleness of the meal. Our favorite activities are always the nights we gather and cook :)
-Brenda

YW Cooking 101 Night

It has been fun to focus some Y/W activity nights on basic cooking... but this activity would be equally as good for the YM and Achievement Day girls or even new moms in RS. Our Laurel's learned how to make a basic homemade meal of chicken fingers & oven fries, tossed salad and chocolate malts. As hard as it is to believe, many are leaving home in the next couple of years and these basic skills will come in handy... skills that I sure didn't have when I married (my own fault, my poor sweetheart as I practiced on him). I was so surprise how many girls have never touched raw chicken or cooked a meal... Ramen noodles and mac & cheese do not count! Their future family will thank us one day :) It was a fun night and something I think we will do again soon. Plan food... they will come!

Please email me (Brenda@pebblesinmypocket.com) with your name, activity idea w/info and photo if you have one from any LDS organization. Let's start sharing ideas with each other ... let's face it, WE ALL NEED HELP!

-Brenda