I’ve been VERY busy in the kitchen lately, and doing a lot of posting over at my food+crafts blog, Four-Eyed Girlie. In case you haven’t seen it, here’s what I’ve been making this Christmas!
“Elements of the Holidays” Gingerbread and Pumpkin Bread Mini-Loaves
My little side project, Four-Eyed Girlie, was started in hopes that one day I could market and sell the treats I like to make. My 1st experiment with this was offering the Gingerbread and Pumpkin Bread mini-loaves I made a few years back to my Four-Eyed Girlie Facebook Followers. I received my very 1st order and sold 20 to a friend so she could gift her co-workers in the office! I like calling them “elements of the holidays” because gingerbread and other spice breads are such a warm association with this time of year. Even better, a friend insisted I borrow her fancy-schmancy Kitchen Aid Mixer, so I felt like a real pro. Bonus points for the mixer being my favorite color – RED!
Triple Decker Maple Peanut Butter Pretzel Fudge
After finding this recipe on one of my favorite blogs, Sprinkle Bakes — I knew I wanted to make this fudge for my mommy friends as a special treat. It turned out beautifully and I decided I needed packaging that was just as beautiful as the product. I came up with gifting individually-sized bricks of fudge (so you could still see the pretzel stick detail) in a clear treat bag with a custom label I designed.
You can read more about it in this post on the Four-Eyed Girlie blog.
Old-Fashioned Milk Chocolate/White Chocolate Peppermint/Chocolate Walnut Holiday Fudge
I got together with my mom as usual to do our annual holiday treat-making day. We decided on fudge this year and I wanted to make three different varieties. It was really fun to do and I especially liked the way my Milk Chocolate Fudge w/Holly Sprinkles turned out. I used a fondant cutter to make the fudge pieces round, and I used tweezers to get the holly sprinkles just perfect!
Chocolate Covered Oreos in Poinsettia Flower Molds
Also on the day mom + I got together, we dipped double stuff oreos in red chocolate using a poinsettia mold she’d purchased last year. The oreos really came out stunning — and they were so easy to do! First, we melted yellow chocolate and painted it into the center of each mold with a paintbrush. Once the yellow chocolate had cooled, we poured in red chocolate and submerged the oreo. I think they look great, and would definitely love to try more of these molds in the future!
Buckeye Candy
My mom really wanted to make Buckeye Candy, and how could I argue? Buckeyes pay homage to our home state of Ohio, and they’re basically like Peanut Butter Cups in ball form. They are DELICIOUS. Good thing she left those at her house. Yum!
Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
I hosted a little cookie party for our little mom group, since we hardly ever get to just hang out and chat without having to stop mid sentence and chase the kiddos or break up some sort of incidient where toddlers aren’t sharing! I make these cookies of Martha’s almost every year — they’re just the perfect Christmas cookie! They’re chewy and chocolate-y, but have a crunch thanks to crushed peppermint candies inside. I love-love-love them!