Food Archives - Yearning to Create

Chocolate Pretzel Treats

End of school rolls around and suddenly I have three kids who need treats for the parties they’re having in their band classes. Why couldn’t they play the instruments that are assigned to bring a bag of chips?

Then, suddenly, I remembered something wonderful!!! I remembered that I had pinned something on Pinterest that would be perfect for class parties. You can check that post out here at How Does She. And you really should check it out because she uses Rolos instead of Macaroons and has other yummy ideas too.

The first step is to find a slave willing helper to place all the pretzels on the cookie sheet.

Next you’ll want to give your baby a pretzel so she doesn’t grab some from the perfectly placed pretzel platter. (Skip this step if you don’t have a baby.)

Then you place a chocolate of your choice on each pretzel. Notice I have two different kinds of Macaroons. The light coloured ones I bought but then ran out. So I had to raid my food storage stash where I happen to have a case or two of Macaroons (must have comfort food in storage, and nothing is more comforting than chocolate and coconut!!!).

Okay, this should be the first step – set your oven clock to 8:29 and your oven temperature to 350 degrees. You’re gonna pop these trays in the oven for about three minutes – just enough time to get the chocolate soft, but not completely melted. To save energy, I suggest you might want to do this when you’re baking something else, or you could put them out in the sun if it’s hot out – hey, a new camping recipe!!!

Gather your slaves troops to press the peanut M&M’s into the chocolate while it’s all soft and pliable.

Work fast as they cool down pretty quickly.

You could press anything on top – peanuts, almonds, skittles, smarties, gummy bears, radishes, jujubes, peas, marshmallows, etc. Do specific colours to match special occasions (like Valentine colours Smarties for Valentines Day). Oh the possibilities!!!

Aren’t they cute? And they’re delicious eaten warm or cold. I love the little bit of saltiness from the pretzels mixed with all the sweets.

Now I know what you’re wondering: how did the kids like them at the band parties? Well, Lee reported that they were the biggest hit at the grade 7 party. Min said the kids in the high school band would skeptically ask what they were. After she explained and they tried one, they kept wanting more!

Now here is the rule: You’re welcome to make these for your kids’ parties too unless I have a kid in your kids class. If that’s the case, sorry, but you’ll have to come up with your own treat!!!

Now, once again, I know what you’re wondering: that’s only two band parties, I thought you had three parties that needed treats? Well you’re right, but Jo needed a gluten free treat. But not to worry – I had another pin on Pinterest!!! This one was called Peanut Butter Corn Chip No Bake Cookies. I forgot to take pictures but you can check that out here at Skip To My Lou. Mmmm – so good!

Western Surprise (Rice and Wiener Dish)

I invented a recipe!!! Well, sort of. It’s a combination of something my mom used to make called Western Surprise, and something I found online. And it actually turned out pretty good. Probably still need to tweak the recipe a bit so don’t blame me if you make it and it doesn’t work!

My family loves to eat rice. After spending two years in Korea and eating rice every day, you’d think my guy would be tired of it, but no. And with a gluten free daughter, rice dishes work well for us.

Hope you can read my writing – I just didn’t feel like retyping it!

I guess the first line should say “1 package wieners – thinly sliced” – I don’t think you can find a package of thinly sliced wieners!

The part I like best about this is the “throw it in a pot and let it do it’s thing”. I’m so lazy in the kitchen!

And they all liked it!!! (That orange thing looks like a piece of carrot – don’t think I put any carrots in, but you could throw in anything else you wish. Just remember, if it’s dried, you may need to add a little more water to allow for reconstitution.)

There’s my Mac in pony tails for the first time – kicking back enjoying her lunch, dog waiting for crumbs to fall and sick sister on the couch in the background. A typical day!

Best Johnny Cake Ever (and Gluten Free)

I love Corn Bread and this is one of my very favourite recipes because it’s so moist. Corn bread can be rather dry at times!

Here it is before going in the oven.

Wow! Corn bread with corn in it!

(Just wondering, why is corn bread often called Johnny Cake?)

Johnny Cake

Mix together:

2 cups corn meal

2 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Baking Soda

1 tsp Salt

Stir in 4 eggs.

Then dump in:

2 cups Sour Cream

1 can Cream Style Corn

1/2 cup oil

Mix it all up well and pour it into a 9×13 pan. Bake at 400 for 25 minutes – or until it looks like this . . .

I usually make corn bread when we’re having soup for dinner, and hope there’s some leftover for lunch the next day. It’s especially great for my daughter who needs GF food.

If you’ve never had Johnny Cake before, I like to slice it horizontally through the middle so I have two thin slices. If I’m eating it with soup I just butter it, but if I want it as a treat I’ll put honey or jam or pancake syrup on it too (butter and honey being my first choice!). And of course you’ll want to eat it warm!

Update: I googled it and learned that they were also called journey cakes because they could be carried on long trips in saddlebags and baked along the way. Some historians think that they were originally called Shawnee cakes and that the colonists slurred the words, pronouncing it as johnny cakes.

Coconut Nests

I went to a stage production of “My Fair Lady” last night (fabulous by the way). Now if I could just get ‘I could have danced all night . . .’ out of my head!

Anyway, it was late when we got home, but of course I went to the fridge because I knew there was this dessert left over from Sunday dinner, and it was calling to me! When you get to the picture, you’ll see it there in the top left. I had pinned this dessert to one of my Pinterest boards, and actually made it. And yes, it was very delicious, although I found out that my guy doesn’t really like pistachio pudding (that would explain why there were leftovers!) Next time I’ll make it with lemon pudding instead. You can check it out here at Brown Paper Packages if you want to make it yourself.

Wow! My fridge looks pretty stocked right now – I must have gone grocery shopping recently! By the way, I love the layout of this fridge. It even has a drawer below those two crisper bins at the bottom – it’s a really shallow drawer but wide and fits a ton of things – like the cheese and cold cuts, butter waiting to be used, apples, pies (if I had them) etc. And it’s the perfect height for perusing things because the freezer is on the bottom. Oh, and it has double doors – I like to think that’s more energy efficient as I don’t have to open the whole fridge to grab the milk out of the door!

Anyway . . .

. . . when I opened the fridge (remember, I heard my name being called) I saw these little nests that definitely weren’t there earlier in the evening. I thought it was pretty cute (which is why I snapped a picture).

Lee had made them in Home Ec. that day and went about making some that evening. This morning I asked her for the recipe and she tapped her head and said, “It’s all in here.”

– Butter (she couldn’t remember how much, which would explain the plate of extra melted butter sitting on my counter when I got home!)

– 2 1/2 cups mini marshmallows

– 1 cup long coconut

– 1 cup Rice Krispies

So basically you’re just making Rice Krispy Squares and shaping them into nests. These seemed extra gooey though, which is why they’re so tasty – that and the coconut!!!

Then she spread a little chocolate sauce on top and the eggs. This recipe will make about 15 nests.

So then I had the dilemma of eating the leftover dessert, or eating a nest. What would you do? Have both? I decided to go with the leftover dessert that I had made. I thought Lee might want to be around to see us enjoy her nests (she was sound asleep).