cookies

“OHHH FUDGE!” – Ralphie

~ Laura ~ Leave a comment

A Christmas Story is one of my favorite movies. I watch it faithfully every year at Christmastime. It still cracks me up – every. single. time.

I still have a few boxes of Girl Scout cookies on my kitchen counter so I decided to get rid of a box last night. I was very proud of myself for not getting rid of them by stuffing them in my face! I decided I wanted to try something different than I have done before. I find sometimes that incorporating the cookies into a recipe that cooks them can sometimes loose the flavor of the cookies, hence why I crushed some Thin Mints and topped gooey brownies with them and made Thin Mint truffles, both kept the integrity of the cookies.

In my area, Samoas are now called Caramel deLites. I knew I wanted to do something that wasn’t chocolate, but still played off the flavor of the cookie to enhance it. I decided to make caramel fudge and top it with chopped up cookies. I will tell you that I am not a great fan of fudge made with Fluff or Marshmallow Creme as I don’t like the texture it gives the fudge, but that is just my personal preference.

Ingredients:
9 tbsp. unsalted buter
1 14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk
2 tbsp. light corn syrup
1 cup brown sugar
10 soft caramel candies
3/5 cup white chocolate chips
1 box Caramel deLite Girl Scout Cookies.

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Directions:
Melt butter in a sauce pan over low heat. While butter is melting, line a 8 x 8 pan with parchment paper, lightly spraying the pan and the paper with nonstick spray. Chop up 1 box of Caramel deLite Girl Scout cookies. Add in the sweetened condensed milk, corn syrup, brown sugar and 10 soft caramel candies. Stir over low heat until boiling, then simmer for 10 minutes, stirring constantly. It is very important to time this for 10 minutes – if you under cook this your fudge won’t set and if you over cook your fudge will crumble to pieces. Remove from heat and stir in the white chocolate quickly. Pour into the prepared pan and smooth over the service as best you can. Sprinkle over top the cookies and gently and carefully press slightly into the fudge so that they adhere when cutting. Try not to eat this entire pan in one sitting. Enjoy!

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THREE INGREDIENTS!

~ Laura ~ Leave a comment

Whomever thought to crush cookies to make them in to fake truffles is a genius! I mean come on! Three ingredients and the short time of creating such deliciousness can’t be beat!

I may have gone a little over board on buying Girl Scout cookies this year. Who am I fooling .. I do it EVERY year! I tell myself that I am just being helpful and kind by buying so many, but really I just love me some Thin Mints and Carmel de lites (formerly known as Samoas). So of course I receive 3/4 of the boxes I have ordered and decide it is time to go on a diet because I obviously love to punish myself and make dieting even more hard than it already is!

I used one box of Thin Mints to top some delicious brownies that I slathered in chocolate ganache for a get-together at a friends house a few weeks ago. Then it was an co-workers birthday, so I decided to finish of my supply of Thin Mints to make Thin Mint Truffles – you can also make these with Oreos, which I believe this idea started (don’t quote me on it though). I added some peppermint extract to my melted chocolate just to give it a little kick – so my truffles actually had four ingredients, but who’s counting!

Ingredients:
2 sleeves Thin Mints
4 oz. softened cream cheese
8 oz. melted chocolate chips or candy melts

Directions:
In food processor add Thin Mints and pulse until fine crumbed. Add in softened cream cheese and pulse until crumbs and cream cheese form a “dough” consistency. Line small sheet tray or plate with parchment paper. Scoop dough out with a teaspoon and roll between your palms into a small ball. Once all dough is formed into balls place in fridge to chill. While balls are firming in the fridge, pour chocolate chips or candy melts into a microwave safe bowl and heat in 2 or 3 – 30 second intervals stirring well between sessions so that you don’t burn the chocolate or candy melts. Also, by stirring throughly you are spreading the heat around which will help melt more chocolate. You don’t want to melt the chocolate completely using the microwave or the chocolate will become too hot and not set correctly. You want the chocolate to be about room temp. – this is “faking” tempering chocolate so that it will set at room temp. Once the chocolate is ready (this is where I added the peppermint extract and stirred it through), remove your truffles from the fridge and start rolling one-by-one to coat. Set back on parchment paper and let set up at room temp – or at least try to – before eating.

ENJOY!

Friendship

~ Laura ~ Leave a comment
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http://www.thefreedomexperiment.com/

I hear her laugh and I immediately smile. I can hear the smile in her voice and even if I am not in sight of her, I know her smile is from ear to ear. I love that for every serious photo she takes there are 20 that have some goofy expression or her tongue sticking out. She is one of the most sincere people I have ever met and her hard work and dedication are to be admired. SHE IS THE BEST HUGGER EVER and her freckles … adorable!

When I found out Michele was engaged I couldn’t have been happier for her. She was absolutely glowing. I knew before she started planning that her wedding would be gorgeously planned and stunningly beautiful – she is a graphic designer after all – and I knew she would put that flourish into every part of her wedding planning.

During this time my relationship with Michele grew so much, we became more than just work friends. I went with her to see the wedding gown she had picked out and I watched her transform as she walked out with that gown on. I got to meet her wedding planner and shop for wedding decorations and ideas. My good friend and co-worker, Mariza, and I were asked to put our baking skills to the test; we were asked to bake for the wedding. Michele’s wedding colors were orange and navy blue, so we made blueberry cobbler and peach cobbler. Mariza and I spent several hours one evening testing recipes and coming up with a plan to feed 150+ people cobbler. The night before the wedding we went to Michele’s house and took over her kitchen! There are a handful of times I have made something and really poured my heart and soul into it, and this one of those times.

Mariza and I drove down the coast of Maine with my girls first thing the morning of the wedding so that the cobbler could be delivered to the venue before the celebrations began. We put our heads together and managed to fit many, many dishes of cobbler into the back of Mariza’s Jeep. Since we were early to the wedding and after sneaking peeks of the tent where the reception was being held- it was breathtakingly beautiful and elegant – we decided to wander the roads for a bit. We ended up in Blue Hill and we were pulled into the charming shop of Black Dinah Chocolatiers Tasting Room.

My girls were captivated by the amazing smells as we walked through the shop. There items for sale, along with goodies for sale. Mariza and I each decided on a molasses cookie half dipped in dark chocolate. I never would have thought of this combination on my own. It was amazing. That warm spicy flavor of the cookie, with it’s soft and chewy texture, mixed with the smooth and rich flavor of the dark chocolate. AMAZING! I was hooked.

My relationship with Michele continues to grow, like any great friendship does. Her outlook on life, her zest for enjoying what life has to offer, and her beautiful, encouraging soul has made me a better person. I love laughing with her, swapping random funny photos found on the internet, and watching her grow as a mommy to a beautiful baby boy, with the most adorable curly red hair. Thank you Michele for alway encouraging me and being there to listen. My courage to start this blog and let it take me where it may, is in part from you and your love! XOXO

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Betty Crocker Molasses Cookies
INGREDIENTS:
1 c. packed brown sugar
3/4 c. shortening
1/4 c. molasses
1 egg
2 1/4 c. AP flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. salt
3 tbsp. granulated sugar

DIRECTIONS:
Heat oven to 325°F. In large bowl, beat brown sugar, shortening, molasses and egg with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon. Stir in remaining ingredients except granulated sugar. Shape dough by rounded tablespoonfuls into 1 1/2-inch balls. Dip tops into granulated sugar. On ungreased cookie sheet, place balls, sugared sides up, about 2 inches apart. Bake 13 to 16 minutes or just until set and cookies appear dry. Immediately remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack. After the cookies have cooled slightly I take a bag of dark chocolate chips and slowly melt them down. You can do this in 30 second bursts in the microwave or using a double-boiler on the stove. Just make sure to keep stirring so that you don’t burn your chocolate. Gently dip cookies half way  and place on parchment paper for setting. Try not to eat them all at once!

Memories

~ Laura ~ Leave a comment
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Me and my daddy

I love having deja vu! It is a sometimes frustrating event – trying to figure out when this moment in time happened the first time. Usually, however, I love the thought that this moment was so great the first time that I get to relive it a SECOND TIME, or that possibly I missed something important the first time so I get a chance to catch it the second time around.  Anything can trigger these moments – a song, a word, a smell, a feel … something so small can bring back such HUGE emotions and feelings of a time before.

Reliving moments in my life can sometimes be bitter-sweet, like losing my dad when he was only 34 and I was only 6. I think of him daily without fail, though sometimes it is because I will hear a song or smell something and I am taken back in time – back to the few years that I had with him. I often wonder what life would be like if he were still alive – how different things would be. I know that even though he is not physically here with me he is watching over me and my girls, and that he hasn’t missed a moment.

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Brown Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies

Food has always had a way of transporting me to another time and place, invoking memories of delicious dishes I have eaten or the people who have made them. My mom always made what I now know are called Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies (us kids just called them peanut butter kiss cookies). For the longest time I thought Hershey Kisses only came out around Christmastime, because that is when she made them. My Grama Berta always made celery stuffed with cheese for the holidays and family dinners, and my brothers and I still look for it on the table at holidays. My Grama (my mom’s mom) always makes broccoli casserole, which I love and still request. My girls always ask their Grammy to make sweet potato souffle for holiday dinners, and with me it’s my Brown Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies.

When people speak of traditions in their families, I think many times we don’t include the food that is made. Whatever the reason for coming together – a holiday, a wedding, a death, a birthday – we include food. Some of these dishes are passed down from generation to generation – a near and dear family recipe, or something we stumbled across or made on a whim and fell in love with. The food we make will help create memories for the ones we love and bring them back in time, reliving memories, keeping traditions alive and sometimes even creating some new ones.