Six Month Fudge?

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What treat should we leave for Santa? Sure, he's kind of overweight and should probably share a carrot with Rudolph. But, it's Christmas, right? We also want Santa to forget all about those times we made the naughty list and leave us a nice stash of presents under the tree, so we've got to leave out a plate of the good stuff.


How about fudge?  Mmmm. I think so!


This recipe is called Six Month Fudge?. Notice the period after the question mark. The question mark is part of the name. Why? Well, this recipe comes from my grandmother who called it six month fudge because it can last up to that long. However, growing up this fudge was always gobbled up so quickly, it never even  made it to six days. Sometimes it even vanished in under six hours. Therefore, I had to add the question mark.


Tonight, I'm passing on the recipe to the fourth generation. Liam, my little sous chef, is helping me make the fudge. My mother told me that the amounts of the various ingredients are according to the package sizes during my grandmother's day, and the recipe is very forgiving. So, if your package size is a couple ounces off from what the recipe calls for, don't stress.


I'm sure Santa will love this. Tonight, he can eat all the treats he wants; he'll be working hard for it. Then, his New Year's resolution can be to give up sweets and hit the treadmill.

Fourth generation, Liam, stirring the fudge.

Liam and Tomas with Santa's bribe. 

Hey, Santa! Doesn't this look good?

Argentine Alfajores

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So, I took care of the Christmas gifts for my office coworkers. Now, what to do for the neighbors?

Since the coworkers got salsa, Katie and I thought we'd stick with the Latin theme. Why not Alfajores?

Alfajores are a popular cookie in several South American countries, and the recipe we have comes to us by way of Katie's parents who got it from a woman in Argentina. Katie's dad served an LDS mission to Argentina, and Katie's parents also served a mission together in the same area.

Alfajores are filled with dulce de leche, a caramel spread made from sweetened condensed milk. Doesn't sweetened condensed milk make everything better? You can find dulce de leche in the grocery store, but we prefer to make our own.

We had over fifty deliveries to make. Since each alfajor is made up of two cookies, Katie figures she made sixty dozen cookies. Holy Cow! Good thing baking is like therapy for us. But, the cookies really are easy to make, so it goes fast.

And, the cookies are best eaten after a day or two. The dulce de leche softens up the cookies. Yum to the max!

To make things even more festive, we used

food coloring to color the dough red and green.

I'm not a huge coconut fan, so we left it off.

 

Pennington’s Chunky Salsa

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Around the office, my coworkers exchange little gifts at Christmastime. I like to give homemade gifts from the kitchen. With over 20 somethings to create, it can get a little expensive and time consuming. Since this year we are still trying to pay off our family's little Austrian summer jaunt and the fact that this semester was one of the busiest I've ever experienced, cheap and easy was the way to go.

I searched through recipes and brainstormed with Katie. And finally, it came to me. Salsa! It was different from anything I'd handed out in the past, and I knew just the recipe.

Over 30 years ago, my mother received this recipe from her friend, Mrs. Pennington. We loved Mrs. Pennington, and we loved her salsa! Katie and I have continued to make it with our family. It is so incredibly simple to make, and it easily beats out any store bought stuff.

In no time at all, I had the jars of salsa ready and was spreading Christmas cheer around the office.

Hand out gifts to coworkers? Check. Now, I wish everything else on my holiday to do list were that easy!

Feliz Navidad! Salsa with red and green tortilla chips.

Caramel Chocolate Chip Cheesecake

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When Katie and I were first married, we went to a party and were asked to bring a dessert. Back in those days, our kitchen skills were minimal, but I wanted to try something adventurous. I thought a cheesecake might wow the crowd, and I was up for the challenge.

The recipe must have come from Betty Crocker because I think that was the only cookbook we owned at the time. I probably also had to go out and purchase a springform pan. I don't recall much about the whole experience but I do remember the cheesecake was a hit. I was even asked to make the cheesecake for a get together with friends the following week.

It just sort of snowballed from there. And I might add, it turned into a big snowball. I was testing out all kinds of different cheesecake recipes, studying techniques for achieving the perfect cheesecake, and building my collection of cheesecake recipe books. At one point in time, we were having cheesecake a couple times a week. This was also back in the day when I could eat whatever and whenever I wanted and not gain weight.

We had another birthday at the office, so I decided to pull out this old favorite, which always received rave reviews. Everything about this cheesecake is yummy from the oatmeal pecan crust to the creamy caramel filling. And chocolate makes everything better.

If you have a special occasion coming up, give this a try. And don't worry, it's not really that hard. One thing I have learned, though, is that it gets better with age. So, you can make it a few days in advance and relax the day your guests come over. Your friends and family will be amazed at our skills.

Ooooh! It looks like the birthday 

girl, Nicki, is impressed.

Chocolate Bread Pudding with White Chocolate Sauce

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This past summer in Vienna, I was introduced to the dessert, Mohr im Hemd, which translates as "A Moor in his Nightshirt." It's a chocolate steamed pudding served with whipped cream. It's one of those amazing desserts that you try your hardest to eat slowly to make the supreme yumminess last longer but end up devouring in seconds because you can't help yourself and lose control.

Just as Katie went on a quest to find the perfect Sachertorte recipe, Mary Ann has sought to master the art of creating a Mohr im Hemd worthy of the finest Viennese café. And luckily, we have been most fortunate to have been invited over now twice to sample her work. All I can say is that Mary Ann's Mohr im Hemd deserves a place of honor in the dessert case at my favorite Viennese café, Café Central. Yes, it's that good. And luckily for all of us, she has shared her recipe here.

This chocolate bread pudding recipe reminds me a little of Mohr im Hemd, sort of an American version.  I love all kinds of bread pudding, but making it chocolate does take it to a higher level. And, the white chocolate sauce is a classy final touch. Best of all, this recipe is so incredibly easy to make.

So, if you're not heading to Vienna anytime soon and you don't quite have enough time to whip up a Mohr im Hemd, try this out. There will be ooohs and aaaahs a plenty!

I borrowed a camera. It's amazing what a nice camera can do.
You can tell that each bread cube is packed with chocolate.

I'm salivating just looking at this picture.

Peanut Butter and Bacon Cookies

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One of the simple pleasures in life for me is peanut butter. I, personally, am a Jif guy, but if I'm trying to be healthy, I'll choose Adam's. And, I usually go with crunchy. I practically grew up on peanut butter sandwiches. A good peanut butter sandwich was the one and only thing about the States I missed during our month in Vienna this past summer. Here's my list, and in no particular order, of favorite peanut butter sandwiches.

• Peanut butter with spun honey (Spun is better.)
  
• Peanut butter with red or purple jelly (Grape is first, and raspberry is a close second.)
  
• Peanut butter with dill pickle (I read about it in a book as a kid, tried it, and loved it.)
  
• Peanut butter with marshmallow cream (I've heard that back east it's called a fluffernutter.)
  
• Peanut butter with chocolate chips (milk chocolate, semi-sweet, dark, white chocolate, whatever)
  
• Peanut butter with potato chips (salty and crunchy)
  
• Peanut butter with banana (Elvis knew what he was doing.)
  

I think peanut butter just makes everything better. What's one of my favorite ingredients on pizza? Yep, you guessed it. And I'm not talking about peanut butter on one of those dessert pizza things. This is real pizza. All you do is spread a thin layer of peanut butter on your crust, add the sauce, sprinkle on cheese, put on toppings of your choice, and bake. Now, wipe that disgusted look off your face and go try it. It really is good!

Why am I writing about peanut butter? Well, recently I heard about someone making peanut butter and bacon cookies. Really? Peanut butter and bacon together? Two flavors that I love? In my opinion, pure genius! I had to give it a try. I took my favorite and extremely easy peanut butter cookie recipe and added diced cooked bacon. And, it worked! First, you taste the peanut butter. Then, you hit a chewy little piece of bacon. As you chew the bacon, both flavors combine into absolute yumminess.

Seriously, give this recipe a try. If you still can't get past the idea of meat in cookies, just leave the bacon out. This is still a great peanut butter cookie!


*Sidenote* I'm sure that some of you who know me are thinking, "Isn't Curtis a flexitarian and doesn't he avoid sugar?" Well yes, that's true. Sugar is only for special occasions, and I try to eat meat only sparingly. But once in a while, you come across a recipe like this, and you've got to give it a try.

The ones with chocolate–no bacon.

The ones without chocolate–with bacon.

Chocolate Truffle Torte

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And once again, it's birthday time at the office. I wanted to make something that would wow the crowd. Katie's Sachertorte would have done the trick, but late on a Sunday night, I didn't have the energy. I then remembered this recipe , a guaranteed surefire showstopper. And the bonus is that it's incredibly easy to make with very little clean up afterward. In no time at all, I had a thick fudgy cake with a beautiful glossy chocolate glaze ready to take to work.

As it turned out, however, most of the students, including the birthday girl, had other commitments on Monday. Hmmm... A dilemma. What should I do with this cake. I brought the cake home, and we contemplated for a split second giving the cake away. But then, we quickly remembered it was Family Home Evening night, and we didn't have a treat. There. Problem solved. And oooh, it was yummy!

With a cake this simple to make, I had no problem whipping up another to bring to the office on Wednesday when all the students would be there. And the cake did not disappoint.

Here is my recommendation. If you want to impress and have the time, make the Sachertorte. If you need something faster, go for this Chocolate Truffle Torte.

Heather with her birthday torte. I can't figure out how to put it into words how much I love this cake. But then, I remembered a cartoon from my youth, Quick Draw McGraw. Do you remember how Quick Draw's dog, Snuffles, reacted to dog biscuits? Well, I'm pretty much the same with each bite of this torte. If you have no clue what I'm talking about, click here.