Slow Cooker Monday, Breakfast Style

Hello! Happy Monday! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

I am happy to report that we did take down Christmas over the weekend. Yeah!

Please join Allie and me for Slow Cooker Monday. You can add your slow cooker recipe to the link up.

Today, I have a great winter breakfast for you.

Slow Cooker, Overnight Oatmeal.

• 2 cups of Steel Cut or Irish oats
• 7-8 cups of water (I use 8 cups for creamier oatmeal)
• 1/2 cup of brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 3/4 cup of dried cranberries, raisins, blue berries or other dried fruit

I spray my slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray. Then add all the ingredients, stir, place the lid on and cook for 6-8 hours on low. The longer you cook it the more creamy the oatmeal.

Before the water was added.

Fully cooked and totally yummy!

Once the oatmeal is cooker, I place 3/4 cup portions into small plastic containers. I get about 8-10 serving portions per batch. I place the containers into the fridge and in the morning (or anytime someone wants some oatmeal) all they need to do is warm it up.

Have a super Monday.

Boozy fruit bread

Batter, the way to a southern girl's heart

Hello my dears!  Happy New Year’s eve, or Happy New Year (depending on your location)

I’ve been M.I.A. for a few days.

I hope you have all had a wonderful holiday season, I wish for you a harmonious, love filled new year!

We’re planning to attend a party this evening

I thought I would share with you the recipe I’ve used the Boozy Fruit in.

When I was younger, my mother made a dried fruit filled bread.  It was always a hit at Christmas celebrations.  She would soak the dried fruit in warm honey filled water before baking the bread.

She also used a store-bought bread mix.

This was her alternative to fruit cake, I believe that fruit cake aversion is an inherited characteristic.

My Mother uses a date bread mix as the base for her dried fruit bread,  I have tried many other “base” breads and they don’t turn out right.

I have tried a few recipes over the years, my preferred date bread recipe is an Ina Garten recipe.

I added dates to my boozy fruit a few days ago.

Because I had about 4 cups of boozy fruit, I doubled the bread recipe.

I  omitted the 1/3 cup Cointreau or Triple Sec since I had used brandy to soak my fruit, and I omitted the nuts.

The double recipe made 1 large bunt style bread and 4 mini loaves.

The baking time for the bunt was longer than the recipe called for because it was larger.  The bunt took about 68-70 minutes.

The bread is moist, flavorful and a bit boozy.

Cream cheese would be an awesome topping.

Yes, I used a plastic plate. I know, classy.

I won’t use figs next time, the figs soaked up so much of the brandy that they were similar to cherry bombs, except not as sweet.

When I was a single gal, going to nightclubs with my friends we loved the boozy cherries you could buy at the bar.

This bread is absolutely ADULT ONLY.

Happy New Year peeps!

I’ll see you on Monday for our Slow Cooker recipe link-up with Miss Allie!

Mission Impossible– Ghost Protocol, a #iPPP adventure

Tweens/teens don't like posing for pictures in the mall.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season!

 

We went to see Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol a few days before Christmas.

MyBlogSpark provided us with tickets to see the movie.

We were supposed to see the movie in the IMAX theater, only I looked up the wrong movie times and we were 4 hours too early to see the IMAX version.

I’ve seen all the Mission Impossible movies,  I was a fan of the TV show the movies were based on.

Since I have forever been a night owl, I’ve watched tons of shows from the 60′s and early 70′s in late night  re-runs.

My son was also excited to see Simon Pegg….AKA “that guy from Shawn of the Dead“

Anyhoo…..

The movie was great!  We all enjoyed the action and adventure of the movie.

Our 12-year-old daughter and our (about to be) 14-year-old son both enjoyed the movie.

I will NOT be providing any sort of *spoiler* review of the movie.

The twists and turns of the movie were exciting, and the “action” scenes were amazing, and sometimes totally unbelievable (but totally fun to watch).

We all enjoyed this movie.

If you enjoy action movies you should see this movie.

Here’s a great reason to see the movie in IMAX….

there are “30-minutes of scenes shot with IMAX cameras, fans will be able to enjoy certain sequences of the movie in larger than life, full-screen proportions”

Visit the IMAX Facebook page!

Baking, outside of my comfort zone

This morning we’re off to A Tuba Christmas in downtown Dallas.
Our son is participating this year.

Anyhoo, back to my baking issue.
I’ve got family members with food allergies.

I’m sure I am not alone.

On Christmas Eve, we will be having brunch with my Sister-in-Love and her family. Michelle and her family have recently removed gluten, dairy and soy from their diets, also known as (GFDFSF)

Meaning choices about what to bring to Christmas Eve Brunch

just

got

tricky

Thank goodness my bacon jam is (GFDFSF). I’ll be bringing it, but I also wanted to bring something sweet. Something I could leave with them, something for Christmas morning.

I remembered an e-mail I got from MyBlogSpark with Betty Crocker recipes attached. I checked out the list of Betty 10: Red Hot Holiday Trends and found a recipe for Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bread.

Score!

I had to alter the recipe a smidge, because I do not have any dairy free chocolate chips. I used dried cranberries instead.

I also found a large list of Gluten-Free recipes from Betty Crocker. A handy resource for those who are gluten-free

Gluten-free products (pre-packaged) are more expensive than their regular flour cousins. Like 3 times the price. Regular Betty Crocker cake mix was $1.49, Gluten-free cake mix was $4.49. Betty Crocker does have a coupon available on their website for .85 cents off the purchase of any Gluten-free dessert mix.

Other than changing the chocolate chips to dried cranberries, I followed the directions listed on the recipe.

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bread

The mix

I made 4 small breads. 1 for tasting (and blog purposes) the other 3 for Christmas Eve.

Ready to go into the oven.

The rice flour does not rise much, so it is important to shape the loaves before you bake them. If you don’t you’ll have ugly loaves…like I do.

they do not rise much.

The bread is moist, very moist….it is not exactly the texture we are use to from bread, but it does taste pretty good.

Sampled with cinnamon butter, because I’ve got no food allergies.

I love that there are recipes and options like this for those who are (GFDFSF).

I would like to wish you all a Happy Holiday.

Merry Christmas!

Boozy Fruity Goodness

You probably should not fruit and drive.

My bloggy friend Tanya over at Chica Andaluza posted about a wine based Boozy Christmas Fruit about a week ago.

I’ve mulled the idea over and decided to give something similar a go.

I’m not a fan of fruit cake.

Is it wrong to admit that? I’ve tried many versions and none of them entice me.

Something about the candied fruits puts me off. However, plump brandy filled fruit baked into a bread or cake is another thing indeed.

I am soaking my fruit in brandy, in anticipation of making a boozy New Years Eve party treat.

Here’s what I used…..

into the canning jar place….

• 1/4 cup of golden raisins
• 1/4 cup of (regular) raisins
• 1/2 cup of dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup of dried apricots
• 1/2 cup of dried figs
• enough brandy (or rum) to cover the fruit
• place the lid on the jar and set it in a cool, dark place for at least 3 days (or more)

I’ll post about what I am using this boozy fruit in next week.

Related articles

• Easy Christmas Cake (cheetahsinmyshoes.wordpress.com)
• Boozy Baking and a Squeeze of Lemon in My Tea: Rich Fruit Cake (DIY Wedding Cake) (chaoticallyme.wordpress.com)

Christmas Traditions

Count down to Christmas!

 

 

We have many Christmas Traditions.

 

 

Some are new…..

like Christmas Mani-Pedis

Some are crafty…

Christmas ornaments, made for my nieces and nephews

and my kids, of course

And, the tree…must go up on Thanksgiving or the day after….

What are your Holiday Traditions?

Related articles

• Holiday Family Traditions. (dfconsultants.wordpress.com)
• The History of Christmas and it’s Traditions (christopheryan11.wordpress.com)
• Traditions – Countdown to Christmas (msmousecleanshouse.wordpress.com)
• Happy Holidays and Interesting Traditions (sandmanhotelgroup.wordpress.com)

I *heart* other bloggers

I’ve blogged before about the awesomesauce people I’ve “met” via blogging. People like Allie.

I got a package in the mail on Monday.  From the wonderfully talented Mr. &  Mrs. of Rufus’ Food and Spirits guide.

Here’s what I got…..

Two cookbooks, a lovely card, peppers from their garden, blueberry jam and a reindeer made of wine corks!

The blueberry jam is amazing!  It’s sweet, but not overly so.  It’s great on English muffins.

His name is George and I love him!

He’s quite pleased in his new home on our tree!

A big, heartfelt Thank you to Greg and Katherine!

Cra-mazing dipped pretzels

Cra-mazing: (adj.) something both crazy and amazing.

also known as Freak-tacular

I bought these super duper long pretzels. As soon as I saw them, I knew that I

1. had to buy them
2. intended to dip them in melting chocolate

A few days later, while picking up some yarn from Michael’s, I found candy cane flavored melting chocolates.

Score.

I warmed the chocolate. I dipped the pretzels in dark chocolate. Allowed them to dry.

Then I drizzled them with the candy cane chocolate. And then a few of them, I just dipped into the candy cane chocolate.

Hello lovely.

Salty, buttery, sweet and chocolate-y. What else would you call it but cra-mazing?

What cra-mazing things have you come across lately?

No peanut brittle recipe today, I’m short one ingredient. Raw peanuts.
Maybe Monday!

Gifts in a hurry

Sometimes you have time to make a special homemade gift for your friends or coworkers or teachers, sometimes you don’t.

Today, I want to talk about options for gifts that are microwavable.

Yes, I said microwavable.

Using your microwave to help you shave time off of making homemade gifts is a wonderful option for those who are really busy.

Today I’m going to talk about chocolate dipped Oreos and microwave fudge.

Yes, I got a new table-cloth.

Chocolate dipped Oreos are so easy and even though you didn’t make the Oreos they’re still a really nice

“homefake” gift

Heh!

Microwave the melting chocolate chips. For two minutes on half power, stir, and microwave for two more minutes at half power.

Stir the chocolate then dip the Oreos into the chocolate. I hold the Oreos by two fingers and dip. I try to cover the most of the Oreo by rolling them back and forth except for the part where my hand or my fingers are.

Then lay the dipped cookies on a baking pan covered with waxed paper and allow them to dry.

I used peppermint Oreos.

Speaking of peppermint, my peppermint vodka is done! It. Is. Awesome! I plan to use it in hot chocolate during the winter.

Peppermint-ey bliss, Don’t Peppermint and drive!

Now, on to the fudge. I got the fudge recipe from The Food Network website.

I used ALDI brand products, yes I’m being frugal.

Microwave fudge is easy. One bag of chocolate chips (I prefer milk chocolate even though the recipe calls for semi-sweet *and I used semi-sweet in this batch*), one can of sweetened condensed milk, microwave for five minutes. (I would recommend microwaving for two and a half minutes, stirring and then microwaving for the remaining two a half minutes.

Stir until glossy, add 1 teaspoon of vanilla and nuts if you want them.

Place the fudge in a greased pan. I placed parchment paper in the pan. I buttered the parchment paper and I poured the fudge on to of the parchment paper, like a buttery little bed for your fudge-y goodness. Then refrigerate the fudge until cool. I would say at least two hours and then cut it into squares.

it’s good hot, but better if you let it cool.

I also have a recipe for microwave peanut brittle. If you’d like to see it please leave me a comment and I will post it tomorrow.

Cake Balls…are awesomesauce

I used my extra dipping chocolate to cover my cake balls with chocolate. I used my new baby cakes cake pop maker to make the cake pops. It worked great. I highly, highly recommend this machine. I also made muffin balls with it yesterday morning. And I’m planning to make brownie balls later today. I can’t say enough about how awesome the cake ball maker is.

Odds and Ends

Peppermint vodka attacks small Christmas Village, more info at 5

Today’s post is an odds and ends sort of post. I’m making peppermint vodka. It’s still “cooking”. 6 ounces of vodka, 4 peppermint candies=a little bit of peppermint flavor. I’m adding more peppermints (5 more) and we’ll see if I get a more powerful peppermint kick.

I’ll keep you posted.

She loves hats......

My sweet girl loves her hats! CVS is selling this cute little beauty, my sweet tween would like it very much.

Crazy sale, crazy lady, brand new cake pop maker.

Heh. I need another kitchen gadget like I need hole in the head.

This adorably named cake pop maker was on sale at Kohl’s, Thanks to Rose for the heads up on the online deal!
plus it had a $10 rebate….making it less than $10. Unfortunately it’s a sale that has already ended.

I’ll let you know how the adorable gadget works!

What interesting things have you come across lately?

Related articles

• Peppermint Fudge (kaylascreativebaking.wordpress.com)
• hot cocoa & peppermint Treasury (stitchknit.wordpress.com)