Pop til you drop

It was a friends birthday over the weekend, and I wanted to send something in with Chris, so they could celebrate a little at work. Distributing cake around an office is kind of a pain, and I did cupcakes rather recently, so I settled on popcorn balls. I recently wrote a post about care packages, but I didn't get a chance to have any of the apple cider caramels, and since I had gotten some delicious apple cider from the farmers market I made a batch of caramels using the Smitten Kitchen recipe.  While the cider was boiling down, I made a pot of homemade popcorn (take a medium/large pot, coat the bottom in olive oil, cover bottom in corn kernels, cover and heat on medium high heat, shake occasionally) and put it into a bowl.  When the caramels were done I poured it over the popcorn and used a wooden spoon to stir it in.  Definitely let these cool for about 10 mins before touching them.  They are very hot, believe me.  When they are a bit cool (but not too cool or else they will be hard to shape) shape them into balls and put them on wax paper.  Melt chocolate chips and milk in microwave and stir until completely melted.  Sprinkle chocolate over popcorn balls and put in the refrigerator.  Deee-lish.

In a freezer far, far away

Two words. Smoothie. Popsicles. Just in time for summer, this genius idea tastes delicious and is definitely healthier than ice cream. What you'll need: blender, Popsicle molds (in my case awesome lightsaber ones), frozen fruit, OJ, and honey. Just blend up a smoothie of whatever fruit you want and put into the molds. And put in the freezer overnight. You can also use yogurt. 

To market, to market

This weekend has been packed full of fun and delicious food. Lily came down from Rosendale for the night, and we went to Brooklyn flea market. We started off out shopping trip with absolutely amazing sandwiches. Which we at outside people watching everyone at the market. Inspired, Chris and I woke up this morning and embarked on a mission to create our own sandos. First stop was the farmers market where we picked up many things for both our sandwiches and our delicious Italian dish that we are going to have for dinner. Next, the coop for fresh herbs, cheese, mustard, and avocado oil kettle cooked potato chips. And finally, Mimi's market (a small market in our neighborhood that makes the best tomato sauce) for herbed butter, tomato sauce, and dark chocolate espresso malted milk balls. We lucked out today and there was also a beer tasting going on where we tried a thirst quenching shandy like grapefruit heffeweizen which we quickly added to our purchases. After returning home Chris and I made the most amazing sandwiches. I started out mine with a baguette. I pan toasted (using the herbed butter) the inside of the baguette. I then cut the baguette in half because I wanted to make two different kinds of sandwich. On the first half I put Brie cheese, avocado, and tomato. On the second half I put pesto, turkey, mozzarella, and tomato. Add a side of avocado oil chips and your set! They were SO good. I highly recommend trying one of these sandwiches. 

A True New Yorker...and a Mothers Day gift

Alright, so I know this is kind of a cop out because I did a post about mod-podge before, however, I thought this was too fun to not share. Also, they make great gifts on a budget, and, there IS a holiday coming up. So these are all made from the New Yorker and tissue paper. Two of the pieces are things I found around the house and the other, the vase, I got at the dollar store. All you need is: magazines, newspaper, tissue paper, or any other kind of thin paper, Modge podge (you can get it online or at michaels... Or really any craft store should have it, a paint brush, and any glass or plastic jar, bottle, anything like that. Cut up the papers into small, interesting shapes, brush on some Modge podge, paste down the shapes, and paint over them with the Modge podge. Let it dry and your good. Very simple but its a good turn out and a fun weekend craft. Have fun!!

Signed, sealed, delivered

I've always loved getting mail. There is nothing quite like getting an actual piece of mail. I decided to send a few select people care packages! The first part I think is the hardest: what to put IN the care packages. Chris helped me out a lot, and we finally decided on: apple cider caramels (I posted about these back in November... Find the recipe here), homemade snickers (recipe posted below), fruity pebble rice Krispy treats (definitely the easiest and maybe the most delicious in my opinion), and magic bars (no, these bars are not actually "magic").



Apple cider caramels.  They. Are. Like. Crack.  They are SO good.  The only problem with these is that you really do need a cooking thermomitor.  The recipe says that you can do it without, but I imagine it would be pretty hard.  Another tip is that the better the cider the better the caramels are going to be.  So they are particularly great after a trip to an apple orchard or a farmers market in the fall because the ciders are going to be fresh and more tasty than just using the cider you find in a grocery store.  You can find the recipe here.





Homemade snickers.  I can't find the place where I found this original recipe, so I typed out the instructions.  These take a while, but the reward is delicious.  The other good thing is that the timing can be flexible.  You can do a layer and leave it in the refrigerator for a few hours and come back to them.
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• 24 ounces chocolate candy coating (chocolate chips-can be dark or milk)
• 1/2 stick (2 oz) butter
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup evaporated milk
• 1 jar (7 oz) marshmallow fluff
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup peanut butter, creamy or chunky
• 14 oz soft caramels, unwrapped
• 1.5 cups roasted, salted peanuts

Line a 9x13 pan with aluminum foil

Melt the candy coating and spread a very thin layer on the foil (only use about 1/2 cup total.)

Refrigerate the pan to set the coating while you prepare the rest of the filling. The rest of melted coating can stay at room temperature until you're ready to use it again.

In a medium saucepan, combine the butter, granulated sugar, and evaporated milk.

Place the pan over medium-high heat and stir frequently until the butter and sugar dissolves. Make sure the peanut butter, marshmallow creme, and vanilla extract are measured out and are nearby, so you can grab them as soon as you need them.

Bring the pot to a boil, and boil it for four minutes, stirring constantly to keep it from scorching. It should go from light and liquidy to darker and more syrupy.

After four minutes, immediately remove the pan from the heat and stir in the peanut butter, marshmallow creme, and vanilla extract.

Stir it in quickly, before the sugar syrup starts to harden and crystallize. Once it's mixed in it should be a light beige and fluffy.

Spread the peanut nougat on top of the chocolate layer in the pan, and spread it into a smooth, even layer.

Refrigerate the pan to cool the nougat down while you prepare the caramel layer.

Place the unwrapped soft caramels in a pot, turn on high heat, when caramels start to melt, turn heat down.  Stir constantly in order not to burn the caramel.  Add milk or cream or water to help loosen up the caramel.

(You can also microwave the caramel- add some milk or cream or water…microwave on 30 second increments stirring each time until the caramel is melted)

Add the peanuts and stir in so that they are completely covered in caramel.

Spread caramel layer on top of the nougat layer (wet your hands cause its super sticky and hard to deal with).

Place the whole pan into the refrigerator for around 45 mins…or until caramel layer is hardened (but not too hard or else it gets too hard to cut)

Take the pan out, and remove the aluminum foil (using it as handles) so the bars are layed out on the table, cut the bars into desired sizes, shapes, ect.

If the candy coating has hardened, microwave or heat it back up, using a fork, stick it in the side of the candy bar and dip the bar in the chocolate coating covering it completely.  Repeat with all of the bars. 

Put them in the refrigerator and let them set.

Fruity pebble rice Krispies.  Essentially they are rice Krispy treats only with fruity pebbles.  You can use any cereal really, but with the bigger ones you have to make balls (heh).  They are really quick and easy and require very few ingredients.

Ingredients:
Fruity pebbles
1 bag marshmallows
3 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions:
Grease glass or nonstick (even if its non stick you should still grease it because it will make it easier for you in the long run) pan with butter
Melt 3 tablespoons butter in medium large pot
Add marshmallows and stir frequently on medium heat until marshmallows are melted
Remove from heat and keep stirring
Add vanilla and stir
Add cereal and mix completely
Pour into greased pan and wait several minutes
Push down into the pan
Let cool and cut into squares


Magic bars.  I did a post about these a while back.  They are pretty great, and you can get creative with them depending on what you like.  You can do coconut shavings, any kinds of nuts or different kinds of chocolate.  You can find the recipe here.

Anyway, I love care packages.  It gives you an opportunity to make a bunch of different things, and who doesn't like getting mail!