Candied Orange Peel

My favorite thing in a chocolate shoppe is chocolate covered orange peel; however, orange peel without the chocolate is amazing itself!  I'm going to need some of this for some upcoming recipes, so it's drying on the rack for now.

Here's how it's done:

5-6 large navel oranges
4 1/2 c granulated sugar
1 1/2 c water

Score each orange thru the pith about 6 times around.  Remove from the orange and with a sharp paring knife remove the excess pith.  It's okay to leave some on but you don't want it to be too thick.  This is the bitter part.  After you have done this with all your oranges, cut the peel into 1/4" slices and place into a large sauce pan.  Add enough cold water to cover and bring to a boil.  Once it has come to a full boil, pour off the water and start again with fresh cold water.  You want to repeat this process 3-4 times in order to soften up the peel and lessen their bitterness.

Add 1 1/2 c water and 4 1/2 c sugar to a heavy sauce pan.  Bring to a simmer and continue cooking until the temperature on a candy thermometer reads 300* - 340* (thin thread stage).  At this time, add the orange peel and adjust the heat to keep the peel simmering for about 45 minutes or until translucent.  Do not stir during this time.

Have a bowl with about 1 1/2 c sugar ready.  Once the peel has finished simmering, drain off the syrup (you can reserve this and use for other recipes or beverages if you desire).  Dump the peel into the bowl of sugar and toss to coat.  Remove to a wire rack and dry for several hours or overnight.

Orange you glad I shared this with you?

Santa's Winter Wonderland

This was inspired from the BH&G Holiday Craft Ideas 2013 magazine.  They offered so many wonderful craft projects this year, I find myself making one after another.  I put my own twist on this one, but it's based on the one in the magazine.  The directions are lengthy, so I will only offer the basics.  It's fairly easy to make. If you do crafts on a regular basis, I would rate this as Intermediate level.  The most difficult is making Santa.  He is created from styrofoam covered with Creative Air Dry Clay.

Supply List:

6" styrofoam cone for Santa's body
2"  styrofoam ball for Santa's head
Creative Paperclay or other brand of air dry clay (Note: Creative is non-toxic)
Wool roving for Santa's hair, mustache & beard
Silver chenille stem
2-3 bottle brush trees in different sizes
Small reindeer
Sparkle Mod Podge
Sno-Tex or Glistening Snow-Tex
Acrylic Paints in Sea Foam Green, Dark Blue, Black, Red, Fleshtone, & White)
Small ornaments
Piece of silver garland
Ephemera for tree toppers
Hot glue gun & glue sticks
Cake stand or other suitable base to glue your wonderland to

You want to start with Santa.  Cover the cone and the ball with a thin layer of clay.  Roll out 2 small pieces and shape into arms with mittens and attach to the body.  Pinch off 3 tiny pieces to be attached to the head as cheeks and nose.  Sculpt them best you can.  Form a cone for the hat.  With a needle make a hole in the tip of the hat about 1/2" deep. Let all dry for at least 24 hours or until entirely dry.

Paint the body with Sea Foam Green, paint the mittens dark blue.  Dapple white down the front and above the mittens for fur.  Dip end of brush in white and apply dots to the cap.  Paint the entire head in a fleshtone. Loosen some red paint and lightly apply to the cheeks.  Dip end of brush in black and make 2 dots for the eyes.  When dry, dip a stylus in white and apply a smaller dot to the right side of each eye. You can add eyebrows and highlight each cheek and down the nose with white paint.

Attached head to body with half a toothpick or a piece of wooden skewer and some hot glue.  Tear off some wool roving and make beard & mustache and hair.  Glue all in place.  Now add the hat.  Cut a piece of the chenille stem and curl one end.  Glue the other end into the hole in the tip of the hat.

Paint the entire Santa and the reindeer with Sparkle Mod Podge to give the pieces some sparkle.

With SnowTex, add a little snow to the top and the ends of the branches on the trees.  Add ephemera to the top of each tree as a topper.

Glue Santa, trees and reindeer to the stand. Tuck in some garland and glue in spots to keep in place.  Glue ornaments on top of garland wherever it suits you.

I applied SnowTex around the trees to give the effect of drifting snow.  I thought this was a nice touch.  I also added a little glass owl to the tallest tree.  You can decorate your wonderland any way you please.

A beautiful site; we're happy tonight ...

Fried Wontons Filled with Cannoli Cream (Sweet Raviolis)

If you love cannolis and fried dough, you will love these little pockets of deliciousness.  I married the two (2) together and what I got was a sugary, crunchy shell with a sweet, chocolate center, as well as a hint of cinnamon and citrus.  I normally give my desserts away, but my husband begged me to keep this one.

Here's the recipe:

Wonton wrappers
Large heavy pot or deep fryer
Canola oil, enough for 2" in the pot you choose
Instant read thermometer if not using a deep fryer
1 8 oz. container of whole milk ricotta cheese, strained overnight in the refrigerator
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 egg yolk, reserve the white
Zest of 1/2 lemon
Zest of 1/2 orange
1 tsp. vanilla bean paste (or 1 1/2 tsp extract)
1/2 c mini chocolate chips
Confectioners' sugar

Pour the oil into the pot but do not heat until you have prepared the wontons, as this process take a bit of time and you do not want your oil to be too hot.
Mix together all cannoli cream ingredients (not the egg white).  Using a mini scoop or a teaspoon, add filling to the center of each wonton wrapper.  With a fork beat the egg white until foamy.  With your finger, dip it into the egg white and run it around the edges of each wonton.  Fold a corner over to meet the opposite corner and press all the edges together to seal the filling inside.
Heat oil to 350*F.  Drop no more than 4 filled wontons into the oil in order to maintain the temprature.  Fry until golden brown on both sides.  Note: This goes very quickly!  The wontons are done in less than a minute.  I removed mine after only about 40 seconds; 20 second each side.
Remove from the oil and drain on parchment paper or paper towels.  After you have fried 2-3 batches, sprinkle with confectioners' sugar while still warm.  Continue frying the remainder of the wontons in small batches, and dusting with sugar until you have used all the filling.

These are best served warm, but still wonderfully entertaining in your mouth after they are cooled.

It's my party and I'll fry if I want to!

Amaretto Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

I found this recipe on Pinterest.  The person that originally posted the recipe asked that anyone wanting to re-post it, link back to her site, so here it is: Original Recipe

However, I would like to note that I believe the the measurement of butter in the list of ingredients for the streusel is in error.  It calls for 1 CUP of melted butter, which is an awful lot for the total amount of ingredients.  I wonder if it should have said 1 STICK.  I found the streusel to be very wet and the butter even puddled on top of the cake as it was baking.  As a result I had to increase the baking time to make up for it.  Baking is my passion, as you can tell from this blog and my baking page of Facebook.  This isn't my first streusel, so I know what it should look and feel like. The streusel topping hardened and made it difficult to cut through.  It was very good nonetheless, but next time I would decrease the butter to 1/2 cup, as I prefer a softer crumb.

Bake like no one is watching!

Snowman Repurposed from Old Book

Materials:

Old hardcover book
Crafts knife
Cutting mat
Hot glue gun and glue sticks
White crafts glue
Glitter
4" square of black felt
Narrow strip of felt for scarf

Refer to BH&G Holiday Crafts 2013 Magazine for templates and more detailed instructions.

Alternative instructions:

Sketch a snowman that fits nicely between the top and the bottom of the old book you have chosen.  Note:  The more pages in the book, the fuller your snowman will be.
Cut out the snowman and fold in half.
With your crafts knife remove the cover from the book and any blank pages at the front and back.
Grab approx. 8-10 pages, slip your cutting mat underneath and place your folded template with the folded edge at the binding.  Following the line of the template, carefully cut through the pages with the craft knife.  Remove the excess and go on to the next 8-10 pages, laying your template against the binding each time.
Once you have cut through all the pages, fold the front to the back.  Snowman should fan nicely.  If not, open at every 5-6 pages and run you finger down the spine to fully open.  Now open the front to meet the back and glue at the top, holding together until glue dries.  Glue at the bottom, holding until glue dries.
Add thin lines of white glue down the outside edges of the snowman every few pages.  Sprinkle on glitter and shake gently to remove excess.
Cut a 2" x 3 1/4" rectangle from the black felt.  Cut a 1 5/8" circle and a 1" circle.  Join short ends of rectangle, overlapping enough to glue together  Attach the larger circle on one end and the shorter circle at the top.  Cut a very thin piece or coordinating felt 3 1/4" long and attached above the rim of the hat.
Cut another strip of felt 1/2" wide by 12" long and secure around neck of snowman for a scarf.

The instructions in the BH&G magazine include twigs for arms.  I elected to omit them.  Feel free to add them if desired.  Cut two (2) proportioned twigs for arms and attach them on either side of the snowman with the hot glue gun in between pages at the appropriate height.

I hope this craft makes you a jolly, happy soul!

Punched Paper Christmas Tree

Supplies:

1 10" Styrofoam cone
Friskars Petal by Petal Punch or similar (I purchased mine at JoAnn's)
2 12" squares of coordinating scrapbook paper
Low temp glue gun and glue sticks
Spray adhesive
Glitter
Spray Snow

With your punch, cut approx. 65 large petals and 65 small petals.  Roll the pointed tip of each around a small dowel or paint brush to make it curl up.  Beginning with the large petals, attached them to the cone around the bottom first; overlapping slightly as you go around.  Continue with a 2nd row placing the first petal in between 2 below it and overlap as you did the first row.  Do the same for the remaining rows.  Switch to the small petal and continue the same way until you reach the top.  To finish you take 4 small petals and turn them upside down so the point is facing up this time.  Glue them so they come to a point above the top of the cone.  If desired, spray the entire tree with adhesive and sprinkle with glitter.  Alternatively, you can spray lightly with snow.

O Tannenbaum, how lovely are your branches & sparkly too!

Dried Cherry, Almond & Poppy Seed Muffins

I knew I wanted to bake some muffins this morning, but I couldn't decide between Cherry Almond or Almond Poppy Seed.  So, what would any ingenious baker do?  Combine them both of course! These muffins are so moist and yummy, you can't eat just one.

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons orange juice
3/4 cup dried tart cherries (about 4 ounces)
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 7-ounce package almond paste, crumbled
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted, hot
3 large eggs
2 tablespoons poppy seeds

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375°F. Line 12 muffin cups. 

Bring juice to simmer in small saucepan. Remove from heat. Add cherries; let stand until softened, about 10 minutes.

Mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat almond paste and melted butter in large bowl until well blended (mixture will still have some small pieces of almond paste). Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in cherry mixture and orange peel. Add flour mixture and mix just until blended.

Divide batter among prepared muffin cups. Bake until tester inserted into center of muffins comes out clean but slightly moist to touch, about 20 minutes. Serve warm.

Recipe adapted from epicurious.

Wintry Scene (In and Out of Frame)

I took a frame I had, removed the glass, added some Christmas scrapbook paper, bottle brush trees and ephemera.  This once empty frame is now bursting with a beautiful wintry scene using supplies I had on hand.

Supplies I used:

Frame w/glass removed.  Any size will do.  I used a 5' X 5".
Christmas scrapbooking paper cut to size of glass
Assorted ephemera (stickers, metal embellishments)
Small bottle brush trees
Aleene's Glittering Snow
Paper glue
Glistening Mod Podge
Crystal Micro Beads
Ribbon for hanging, optional

Assemble according to photos or your own taste.  I glued one of the trees below the inside of the frame and carried the drifting snow beyond the frame as well.  If you have any questions about this project, please feel free to email me.

Believe!

Stuffed Ranger Round-Ups Cookies

Quick, easy, simple, delicious stuffed cookie.  Prep takes no time at all.  Most ingredients are right in your cupboard.  So if you're craving something sweet, and don't want the hassle of making a complicated dessert, these cookies will do the job.  Very satisfying with little effort.

Ingredients:

1/4 c creamy peanut butter
1/4 c butter, softened
6 T brown sugar
1/4 c granulated sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c plus 1 T flour
1 c quick-cooking oats
1/2 c butterscotch chips
1/2 c puffed rice cereal
14 mini Snickers candy bars, unwrapped

Preheat oven to 350*F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat together peanut butter, butter, brown sugar and sugar until well blended. Add egg and vanilla; beat until light and fluffy.

In a small bowl, stir together baking soda, salt, flour and oats. Add to peanut butter mixture, blending until just combined. Stir in butterscotch chips and cereal. For each cookie, drop by level measuring tablespoonful on prepared baking sheet.  Set a candy bar horizontally on top and press gently. Place another level tablespoon dough on top of candy and press edges together to seal. Bake for 12 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool on pan for 5 minutes before transferring cookies to wire racks.

Makes 14 cookies.