Buckeyes

This was one of my Dad's favorite recipes.  I remember making batches of this when I was five and Dad was stationed in Vietnam.  We made a batch that filled an entire five pound coffee can with Buckeyes, and another with fudge.  The man loved chocolate, but he loved chocolate and peanut butter even more!

I have tweaked the family recipe to include non-dairy items.  The original recipe called for parafin was to be added to the melted chocolate.  I don't use parafin in my recipe - so for that reason the Buckeyes must be kept in the fridge.  Otherwise, the chocolate will melt.

Buckeyes

1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
3 TBSP Earth Balance Margarine
1 pound gluten free, dairy free chocolate chips.  (I use Good Life)

1) Stir together the powdered sugar, peanut butter, and butter.
2) Shape the mixture into 1 inch balls.  Place them on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper, and let them sit for an hour to dry out.
3) Melt the chocolate.
4) Dip the balls one at at time into the chocolate, and then removed to the wax paper.
5) Put the cookie sheet in the fridge or freezer until the chocolate hardens.
6) Store the Buckeyes in the fridge.

Super easy to make!  These little confections really are the personification of the phrase: "A minute on the lips, a lifetime on the hips."

Tailor's Buttons

I originally published this post on Dec. 14, 2014.

 

Many years ago, when middle child was in second grade, he was in a "literature enhancement group" at school.  They read a series of books together, and then at the end of the series, the children had a large celebration party.  We were to send in something for the kids to eat that was related to the stories that they had read.  One of the books they read was a story about a tailor. As son and I tried to figure out what to make, I began to fixate on these things.  I'd had them before, but I couldn't remember what they were called.  Desperate for something quick and easy, we decided to call these things "Tailors Buttons".  The premise is very simple.  A pretzel, topped with a Hershey Kiss, topped with an M & M.  When I made them years ago, I used the circular pretzels, so that they would look more like buttons than this iteration does.  I still vividly recall the frustration involved with figuring out how high to set the oven, and how long to put these things into the oven.  I destroyed a full bag of Kisses before I finally struck upon the magic combination of time and temperature required to make these wonderful little concoctions.  They have become a family favorite!

Tailor's Buttons

Ingredients:

1 Bag of Pretzels

1 Bag of Hershey Kisses

1 Small Bag of M&M's

*Note - I have yet to find a way to make this recipe gluten and dairy free.  I'm still searching.  Let me know if you know of any gluten and dairy free version of M&M's and Hershey Kisses.  I really would love to know

Step 1: Pre-Heat oven to 350*.  Place pretzels in an even layer across the bottom of a cookie sheet sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.

Step 2: Unwrap all the Kisses and place each one on a pretzel.

 

Step 3:  Put the cookie sheet into the pre-heated oven for 5 minutes.  Check after 3 minutes, and every minute there after.   If the Kisses are soft and beginning to melt, pull them out.  It's really, really, really easy to burn the Kisses - a minute or two can make a big difference.

Step 4: Working Quickly, push an M & M into the center of each Kiss.  Cool completely before storing.  Make sure the chocolate hardens up again before you remove these guys to a separate storage container.  Note - I put mine in the refrigerator for a while.

The hardest part of this project is cleaning up the wrappers!

Cracker Toffee

The Large Sheet of Molten Goodness

Note: I originally published this last year, on Dec. 3, 2015.  

Do you have a favorite Christmas candy that you come back to year after year?  I have my favorite
candies that are rooted in long memories of time spent with my Dad's family getting ready for the holidays.  We would gather at my Aunt Rosie's house, and spend the days before Christmas making up these favorite confections for Christmas Day.   When my Dad was stationed in Vietnam, we got together and made a large batch of candy for him at Thanksgiving, and shipped it on the day after Thanksgiving.  It arrived to him just before Christmas - a melted mass of candy that he stuck in the fridge and nibbled on for days.
Until the day he died, Dad would make a mass batch of buckeyes, peanut brittle, fudge, and pralines, and then take a handful of each finished candy, toss them all together on a cookie sheet, and melt them together.

All broken up and ready to eat!

Fudge, Pralines, and Buckeyes are the time honored Christmas Candies in our family.  (I am not a fan of peanut brittle.)   The recipes are burned into my head, and I in turn have had my kids memorize them.  20 years ago, I found these delightful things and added them to our must make every year list.  If I have to take desert to a function this time of year, this is what I bring.    They're kind of like a bark, with a saltine base to them.  I experimented at home with the ingredients until I hit it right, and this is the recipe that I've used ever since.  I've posted this before, on my defunct "Mom's View" blog.  I might have also posted it on here before, but I don't think so.

This is my favorite Christmas candies to make.  It is quick and easy, and it is easy to make a vegetarian version.


Here's the recipe:

Cracker Cookies:
Saltine Crackers (1-2 sleeves)  I use Shaar Gluten Free Saltines
2 sticks of butter  (Use Earth Balance Vegan Butter or Coconut Butter to make it vegetarian.)
1 cup of brown sugar
1bag (12-18 ounces) of chocolate chips  (We use Good Life soy, gluten, dairy free chips)
1 cup of nuts, chopped (use your favorite kind of nut, and this part is optional)

Preheat oven to 350*
Line a jelly roll pan with foil, spray with non-stick cooking spray.
Place crackers on the jelly roll pan. Snuggle them up next to each other until the entire pan is covered.
In a small saucepan, melt butter with brown sugar over medium heat. Cook until the mixture comes to a rolling boil.
Pour the butter mixture over the crackers.
Bake the crackers at 350* for five minutes.
Remove from oven, pour chocolate chips evenly over crackers, return to oven for 2 minutes.
Using the back of a spoon, spread the chocolate evenly over the crackers.
Put nuts on top of the chocolate. (optional)
Allow to cool. Put the pan in the fridge... it'll set in about 30 minutes.
Break apart and enjoy!


*Note - I store these in the fridge to keep the chocolate and butters from melting.  

Peanut Clusters

Double Boiler

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This is one of the easiest recipes you will make all week.  It's quick and easy, but it looks as if you've spent hours and hours on it.  This is also very easy to make into a dairy free version, if need be.  I love making this recipe.  The hardest part is laying out the wax paper ahead of time and finding a double boiler to melt the chocolate.  Not many people have double boilers anymore.  You could probably melt the chocolate in the microwave, but I prefer the consistency of melting it on the stove top.  Somehow, it just seems more Christmassy to me.  :)

(Note: these whip up fast.  I started and finished within an hour this afternoon and then realized I had forgotten to take pictures while I was going.  Don't worry - I'll make up another batch later this week and have one of the kids take pictures as we go.)

Peanut Clusters

Spread wax paper on counter and table tops.  I line cookie sheets with wax paper and then drop the peanut clusters onto the wax paper to cool.  Some people will tell you to spray the wax paper with non-stick cooking spray - but that decision is up to you.

Ingredients:
2 (10 ounce) bags of non-dairy chocolate chips (such as Enjoy Life)
1 pound of roasted peanuts not in the shell.

Place water in the bottom pan, and then put the top pan over the water.  Add chips to the top pot, and set the heat at medium.  Stir the chips occasionally until the chocolate is melted.  Add peanuts, a handful at a time,  to the pot, and stir until the peanuts are covered with chocolate.

Remove pot from the heat.  (Turn the heat off) Drop spoonfuls of the chocolate/peanut mixture onto waxed paper.  Let sit until the chocolate hardens. (about an hour)  Remove from wax paper and store in an airtight container.

Tailor's Buttons

Many years ago, when middle child was in second grade, he was in a "literature enhancement group" at school.  They read a series of books together, and then at the end of the series, the children had a large celebration party.  We were to send in something for the kids to eat that was related to the stories that they had read.  One of the books they read was a story about a tailor. As son and I tried to figure out what to make, I began to fixate on these things.  I'd had them before, but I couldn't remember what they were called.  Desperate for something quick and easy, we decided to call these things "Tailors Buttons".  The premise is very simple.  A pretzel, topped with a Hershey Kiss, topped with an M & M.  When I made them years ago, I used the circular pretzels, so that they would look more like buttons than this iteration does.  I still vividly recall the frustration involved with figuring out how high to set the oven, and how long to put these things into the oven.  I destroyed a full bag of Kisses before I finally struck upon the magic combination of time and temperature required to make these wonderful little concoctions.  They have become a family favorite!

Tailor's Buttons

Ingredients:

1 Bag of Pretzels

1 Bag of Hershey Kisses

1 Small Bag of M&M's

Step 1: Pre-Heat oven to 350*.  Place pretzels in an even layer across the bottom of a cookie sheet sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.

Step 2: Unwrap all the Kisses and place each one on a pretzel.

 

Step 3:  Put the cookie sheet into the pre-heated oven for 5 minutes.  Check after 3 minutes, and every minute there after.   If the Kisses are soft and beginning to melt, pull them out.  It's really, really, really easy to burn the Kisses - a minute or two can make a big difference.

Step 4: Working Quickly, push an M & M into the center of each Kiss.  Cool completely before storing.  Make sure the chocolate hardens up again before you remove these guys to a separate storage container.  Note - I put mine in the refrigerator for a while.

The hardest part of this project is cleaning up the wrappers!

Cracker Toffee

The large sheet of molten goodness.

 Do you have a favorite Christmas candy that you come back to year after year?  I have my favorite candies that are rooted in long memories of time spent with my Dad's family getting ready for the holidays.  We would gather at my Aunt Rosie's house, and spend the days before Christmas making up these favorite confections for Christmas Day.   When my Dad was stationed in Vietnam, we got together and made a large batch of candy for him at Thanksgiving, and shipped it on the day after Thanksgiving.  It arrived to him just before Christmas - a melted mass of candy that he stuck in the fridge and nibbled on for days.
Until the day he died, Dad would make a mass batch of buckeyes, peanut brittle, fudge, and pralines, and then take a handful of each finished candy, toss them all together on a cookie sheet, and melt them together.

All broken up and ready to eat!

Fudge, Pralines, and Buckeyes are the time honored Christmas Candies in our family.  (I am not a fan of peanut brittle.)   The recipes are burned into my head, and I in turn have had my kids memorize them.  20 years ago, I found these delightful things and added them to our must make every year list.  If I have to take desert to a function this time of year, this is what I bring.    They're kind of like a bark, with a saltine base to them.  I experimented at home with the ingredients until I hit it right, and this is the recipe that I've used ever since.  I've posted this before, on my defunct "Mom's View" blog.  I might have also posted it on here before, but I don't think so.

This is my favorite Christmas candies to make.  It is quick and easy, and it is easy to make a vegetarian version.


Here's the recipe:

Cracker Cookies:
Saltine Crackers (1-2 sleeves)  I use Shaar Gluten Free Saltines
2 sticks of butter  (Use Earth Balance Vegan Butter or Coconut Butter to make it vegetarian.)
1 cup of brown sugar
1bag (12-18 ounces) of chocolate chips  (We use Good Life soy, gluten, dairy free chips)
1 cup of nuts, chopped (use your favorite kind of nut, and this part is optional)

Preheat oven to 350*
Line a jelly roll pan with foil, spray with non-stick cooking spray.
Place crackers on the jelly roll pan. Snuggle them up next to each other until the entire pan is covered.
In a small saucepan, melt butter with brown sugar over medium heat. Cook until the mixture comes to a rolling boil.
Pour the butter mixture over the crackers.
Bake the crackers at 350* for five minutes.
Remove from oven, pour chocolate chips evenly over crackers, return to oven for 2 minutes.
Using the back of a spoon, spread the chocolate evenly over the crackers.
Put nuts on top of the chocolate. (optional)
Allow to cool. Put the pan in the fridge... it'll set in about 30 minutes.
Break apart and enjoy!


*Note - I store these in the fridge to keep the chocolate and butters from melting.  

Are You Ready for Christmas?

This phrase has been repeated to me thousands of times over the last week.  I finally had enough last week and mouthed off to someone "Christmas is going to happen whether I'm ready for it or not".

Seriously, exactly what is it that we are preparing for?  The birth of the Christ child?  The celebration of the birth of the Christ child?  Or the annual gift grab that so many families engage in?

We have a birthday party at our house on Christmas day, and have ever since the birth of our first child.  Cake and ice cream.  I wanted the kids to equate Christmas with a birthday party.  Just like their annual birthday party, we have lots of family over.  Before the birthday party begins, we ice the cake, and I let the kids decorate the cake with sprinkles.  Lots of sprinkles.  When the kids were still under the age of 10, it was my contention that the sprinkles on that cake alone were enough to induce a diabetic coma.

After dinner, we always have cake and ice cream.  We put candles on the cake, and we light the candles and sing happy birthday to Jesus. 

My goal, since the beginning, has been to have the kids realize that first and foremost, Christmas is a celebration of Jesus' birth.  We do the same things at our Christmas celebration that we do at our family parties.  Lots of family, and lots of talking, lots of fun.

The presents have always been one of the last things we do.  And, we've always made a point of handing out the presents one at a time and everyone watching while each person opens a gift.  It's never been a grab.  We've never wanted the kids to race down first thing in the morning, rip the paper off, and then race off again.  Within an hour of getting up they'd ask "What do we do now?"  or worse, "I'm bored".

A few years ago, we decided to spin things a little bit more.  Just as the Wise Men hunted for the baby Jesus after his birth, we now hunt for our Christmas presents.  (Keep in mind... our children are 18, 16, and 14.  We didn't start this until the youngest was 12!)   We leave a clue out for the children to find, and we hide more clues all over town.  It's the ultimate treasure hunt.  If you've ever been geo-caching, you know what I'm talking about.  Our clues are fairly well hidden, written in rhyme, and do take a while to find.  Usually, the presents are hidden somewhere around the house or yard, but the kids do enjoy the search, and the time we spend together.

But, when I'm asked "Are you ready for Christmas?"  I am saddened.  I see people rushing, rushing, rushing, but never taking the time to stop, listen, and be thankful just for the ultimate gift that we were given so many years ago.  Christmas isn't something that's wrapped in a bag, or tied up with string. 
And it's definitely not something tangible.

Christmas is about that wonderful gift, so freely given to us all.

In these last few days before Christmas, I invite you to stop, sit down, and spend some time with your loved ones.  It doesn't matter if everything is done "just right".  What matters is that you are able to spend time together, play some games together, and make memories that will last for a lifetime.