COOKIE-PALOOZA 2011, AND MY FAVORITE CHRISTMAS PRESENT!

First things first........

There's been a lot of changing up of hair-doos going on around here recently....first up, Mr. B.A. is growing a beard, and I think it's damned sexy.....(I think he's just cold, due to his receeding hairline).....

 Little Miss Thing stole my car the other day (we sold hers this Fall), and she and her Besties Jenny and Allison went down to the "big city" to do some shopping (Not NYC, but Utica!). Then my little darling went to our hair salon and did something really brave, because she's feeling pretty brave these days, going off to Europe all on her own and everything....check out this sweet haircut!............

She loves it, and we love it....I think it really shows off her pretty eyes....here's a "before", when her hair was moderately long.....

And another "after" (by the way, she donated her super-thick, chopped off hair to Locks Of Love).......

Tres chic! Doncha think?

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So, yesterday I received the best Christmas present of all....a house FULL of happy, laughing college students! I think I was supposed to have about 12 children....this empty nest stuff is for the BIRDS, I tell you..................

If you've followed this blog for awhile, you know I've been baking for weeks and weeks for our annual Cookie Party--these kids seriously look forward to it every single year!

Why? Because there's nothing that college students love more than SUGAR (well, besides beer)....too bad they didn't have enough to eat!......

Mugs lined up for homemade Hot Chocolate, with candy canes for swizzling.....

Remember Laura Bush's Texas Cowboy Cookies, Sweet and Salty Caramel Rolls and Chocolate Chunk Cookies with Mocha Cream from earlier December posts? Oh, and of course Leslie B's Best Ever Gingersnaps.........

The kids had so much fun watching a funny movie and catching up with one another......

Seeing all of these boots and shoes in our entryway just makes my heart happy.....

Don't you think I should ask them all to just drop out of college, so I can have them around our little town for my daily amusement?

I really don't think that's an unreasonable request.........

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I'll be taking a short break from blogging, probably until sometime in early January, when I get my house all cleaned up and organized (ha ha--dream on!) for 2012....and SPEAKING of 2012, I think it's going to be a fantastic year....I have some wonderful trips planned, so of course you'll be coming along for the ride!

I must confess I'm happy to see 2011 go....it hasn't been my best year ever, probably due mostly to my stupid, on-going health issues. BUT hey, ever the optimist, I have high hopes for my future!

I would like wish all of my bloggie friends a very Merry Christmas and a Very Happy Hannukah, and I will see you all, back here, next year!!!

All my love,

Leslie XXX000

PECAN PRALINES AND SOME RANDOM SILLINESS....

Please be forwarned.....this post is not for the faint of heart. It is also, quite possibly, THE most un-professional, unsuccessful post about food EVER published in blog-land.

You think I'm kidding? Well, this first photo is for my MOM, Carol, after she insisted that Little Miss Thing is going to go all hippie-dippie on us, during her semester abroad in France. Like grow her armpit-leg hair hippie dippie. To this, we reply......

Look, MOM--check out that armpit hair, and she hasn't even left the country yet!

(That photo is really a joke--Abbie had an unfortunate hole in her sleeping T-shirt, and decided to freak her Grandma out a little bit......Abbie is really just about the most well-groomed young lady you'd ever want to meet!)

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Cookie-Palooza 2011 is coming up, this Friday, so Abbie and I have been baking up a storm--today, it's sugar cookies, which could be pretty terrifying, knowing Abbie's "artistic" decorating "style". Yesterday, we decided to make Pecan Pralines from a recipe I have used for years and years, with 100% success. UNTIL yesterday, that is, because we got a little too silly in the kitchen.....here's Little Miss Thing, pretending to cook....

And here she is, shaking her booty for the camera--talk about an action shot!.....

See, I TOLD you not to go any further!

Anyways, Pecan Pralines are SO easy to make, and a little candy always breaks up the monotony of a cookie platter, don't you think? So, the first thing you'll want to do is toast your pecans....I usually keep them in the oven for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees, until they are slightly browned and fragrant.....The rest of the photos in this post are taken by Little Miss Thing, so that's why I'm in them...I really really LOATHE photos of myself!......

In a heavy-bottomed pot, add granulated sugar, butter, brown sugar, milk and corn syrup.....

Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, until candy thermometer reads 234 degrees (soft ball stage).

Please note : There are no photos the actual "soft ball stage", because this is where Little Miss Thing DROPPED the candy thermometer into the hot, bubbling caramel, which resulting in a lot of shrieking and throwing of said broken candy thermometer into the sink.  Which resulted in candy that never made it to the soft-ball stage...more on this in a moment.

Lay out some waxed paper on a flat surface. Place about 5-6 pecans in a little cluster, then ladle hot candy syrup over pecans, like so.......

When the candies cool, they should easily lift off of the waxed paper. Unless you are the Willard girls, that is.....our candy just turned to caramel, which was STILL delicious, but NOT how proper pralines should be. Sigh. Oh yes, here's what a praline photo would look like, if taken from the camera belonging to, say, an ANT (more Abbie Macro-photography)....

In the end, Little Miss Thing ran to her room in tears (not really), and I just broke the caramelized, wanna be Pecan Pralines into small chunks. The kids coming over for Cookie-Palooza won't give a hoot.

So here's the actual recipe, in case you want to make these fabulous candies, the CORRECT way--I promise you these will become a favorite in your family! Just don't drop your candy thermometer.....

PECAN PRALINES

Makes about 24, 2" candies

1 and 1 / 2 cups granulated sugar

3 / 4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 / 2 cup butter

1 / 2 cup milk

2 tblsp. corn syrup

5 cups toasted pecan halves

Stir together first 5 ingredients in a heavy 3 quart saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil 7-8 minutes, stirring constantly, until candy thermometer reads 234 degrees. Remove from heat. Place about 6 pecans, in clusters, onto waxed paper. Ladle hot candy mixture over pecans. Let stand 20 minutes or until firm. Store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week, or freeze in an airtight container for up to 1 month.

TODAY I'M SO GRATEFUL FOR.....

***My daughter, who makes me laugh every single day.

***My daughter's darling friend Chelsea, who just graduated from college this week, and will be heading off to Alaska to teach school! We are so proud of her.

***The fun we had, as a family, at my husband's staff Holiday party last night.

CHRISTMAS MORNING FROSTED NUT BANANA BREAD!

You know your college student is home for the holidays WHEN......

***Her formerly clean floor looks like this......... 

***This is what you find, still underneath the covers, AT NOON......

***The back-of-the-door shoe contraption is full, once again (sister LOVES her some shoes!)..........

***All of the cheese in your refrigerator MYSTERIOUSLY disappears........

Welcome home, Little Miss Thing! Only a few precious days to spend together until you are off to your dreamy semester in Paris.............

Laissez les bons temps rouler!...............

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So I have an AMAZING recipe to share with you today, but I am going to tell you the longish tale of how I actually found this recipe in a very rambling, round-about way, so please bear with me.

One day I was at one of my favorite places on the planet, Barnes and Noble, drinking a skinny Venti Latte and checking out the magazines. One magazine caught my eye...this one:

It's a little bit expensive (I think this quarterly mag. usually runs around $14.99), but SOOO worth the ducket, because if you are into crafting and art, or maybe just setting up a personal space for yourself to do whatever your heart desires, this magazine is super inspiring. Anywhoooo, I happened to come across across an article about a woman named Cindy who had a lovely old home and shop in Skaneateles, New York. Which is only a couple of hours from where I live. Cindy has a blog named Hidden Pond Farm (I've written about her a lot, verging on a scary obsession, I know that....), and I started following it. Then I started commenting on her posts, and before you know it, well, we became friends. Now, whenever I visit Skan-town, as Cindy calls it, I always like to pay her a visit. Check out her 150 year old farmhouse (this was taken on kind of a cold and gray day, but that's just how so many winter days ARE here in upstate NY).......Cindy is notoriously camera-shy, so this is all I've got for you......

Recently, Cindy was featured in ANOTHER magazine, this time focusing on her kitchen and her cooking. This magazine is a sister of Where Women Create, called Where Women Cook, and it can be found on newstands, nationwide.....

If you love cooking and kitchens and food, then this will surely be your new favorite magazine--promise! The spread on Cindy's kitchen will be coming up shortly ; I'll be sure to let you know, as soon as I stop salivating all over the article.

In the most recent issue of Where Women Cook, I was intrigued by a recipe for Frosted Nut Banana Bread that promised to become a family tradition. So of course I had to make it, and let me tell you that if you would love something special for the holidays (or anytime, really), this recipe is IT! The bread is soooo moist and delicious, and then, well now, HELLO cream cheese frosting! So decadent!  I also love that this is pretty much a one-bowl recipe...very little to clean up.

To begin, mash three ripe bananas you just have lying around going to waste........

Beat together butter, eggs and sugar in a large bowl......

Add vanilla, CREAM CHEESE, chopped pecans, mashed bananas and WHITE CHOCOLATE CHIPS--oh yum!........

Fold in, by hand, flour, baking soda and salt, just until blended......

Pour into a greased bread pan............

And bake at 350 degrees for about an hour, or until done in center..........

Let cool. Mix frosting ingredients together...want a lick?............

And frost cooled bread on a serving plate............

How fabulous would this be on Christmas morning, served with perhaps some scrambled eggs, fresh berries and coffee.............?

I have been storing ours in the refrigerator, and look who I caught sneaking a bite.............

Here's the recipe...I hope you enjoy it as much as we have...thank you, Where Women Cook!

FROSTED NUT BANANA BREAD

Makes 1 loaf

Bread:

1 stick butter at room temperature

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

8 oz. cream cheese, softened in microwave

1 / 2 cups chopped pecans

3 medium ripe bananas, mashed

1 / 2 cup white chocolate chips

1 and 1 / 2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 / 2 tsp. salt

Frosting:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened in microwave

1 tsp. vanilla

2 and 1 / 2 cups powdered sugar

For bread, combine butter, eggs and sugar in a large bowl. Beat until creamy. Add next 5 ingredients, ending with chocolate chips; mix thoroughly. Add flour, baking soda and salt; mix again. Spray large bread pan with spray oil; pour batter into pan and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour, or until center is done when tested. Let cool for 20 minutes; remove from pan and let cool on serving plate. For frosting, mix ingredients together by hand until smooth. Frost cooled bread. Store in refrigerator.

TODAY I'M SO GRATEFUL FOR....

***The fun girl's night out with friends Lisa and Barb, this past Friday night. Too fun, despite the fun they had, at my expense, laughing at my crooked ears!

***That our daughter's flights home were on time and uneventful, and that her luggage arrived with her. A rarity these days....

***That all of my Christmas shopping is DONE--now all I have to do is bake, rest, and enjoy my family......

SWEET AND SALTY CARAMEL NUT ROLLS........

"Christmastime is sure to find me

on a high snow-covered hill,

Where an old farmhouse is standing weather-tight and sturdy still

There the plumes of smoke ascending from the Chimneys low and wide

they’re a silent invitation to the glowing fires inside.

Where the warm sweet air is laden with fragrance that combines

The pleasant smells of cookery and the spicy scent of pines."

~ Ida M. Brookshire

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Well HELLO, from our old farmhouse, high on our snow-covered hill! Well, an 8 year old farmhouse, to be truthful, but we ARE up on a snow-covered hill, and boy is it feeling like winter here in the Adirondack mountains of upstate New York! Pretty snow on the ground and in the trees, and only 14 degrees for our walk the other morning. Brrrrr.....I do believe it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.....

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The other day, I was flipping through this month's Ladies Home Journal magazine, and I spied, with my own little eyes (on page 126, to be exact) a recipe for their Easy Pecan Rolls........

(I always scribble all over recipes, don't you?....see my note for "pralines"? That's because I'm planning to make those, next week....I'm so out of control with this whole Cookie Party thing!)

 Surprise, Surprise, I just happen to LOVE pecan rolls, so I decided to give their recipe a try. Except...... sometimes I have a little beef with LHJ magazine--their recipes are "iffy" in my book ; I always have to tweek them quite a bit, to get them to come out just right. (Which NEVER happens with my all time favorite cooking magazine, Southern Living, by the way!)  At any rate, I went to the store to buy my provisions, and was shocked, SHOCKED,  I tell you, by the pecan prices at our local market, so decided to use half pecans, half walnuts, to save a few bucks.

I also need to add  sea salt to anything caramel these days--there we go again with that sweet and salty thing! So, in the end, here's my tweeked version of Ladies Home Journal's Easy Pecan Rolls......I'm now calling them Sweet And Salty Caramel Nut Rolls, because I can.....

To begin, you need to make a vanilla cream center. Beat Marshmallow Fluff (Official Food Of The Gods #2--please see my official list, below), powdered sugar, vanilla and butter until blended well......

Leslie's Tweek #1: The ingredients didn't blend as promised--waaay to dry to form into logs, so you will be adding more Marshmallow Fluff in my recipe. The goal is to be able to form logs that are stiff enough--, but IF your log batter ends up getting too soft, just keep adding powdered sugar until you have four logs that look like this...don't worry if they don't look perfect, for soon they shall be smothered in caramel and nuts! (I placed my logs on a baking sheet)......

Place a toothpick into the ends of each log, and place your baking sheet in freezer for about 20 minutes. Spread chopped nuts (you can really use any nut mixture you prefer--even peanuts are great!) on another baking sheet.......

Unwrap a bag of caramels (about 50), and heat in a skillet over medium heat with about 2 tablespoons of water, plus a tablespoon of sea salt (that's my tweek #2).......

Stir occasionally until melted, then let cool a bit. One at a time, dip logs into warm caramel, then roll in the chopped nuts, gently pressing around log......

Repeat with all remaining logs, then freeze. When firm, you can then slice and serve......can I just take a moment here and say  that these little candies are too absolutely delicious? In fact, I've got a guy (we call him Marky Mark) doing some construction at our house as we speak, and I just brought him a little plate of these, and I think he's now decided NOT to charge us a dime for his three days of hard work and materials...why, they're THAT good!.............

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Oh yes, here's my current Food Of The Gods list, before I forget (my mom started this list, just so you know):

#1--Anything, ANYTHING with smoked salmon

#2--Marshmallow Fluff, straight outa da jar, honey!

#3--Good Brie. Especially Baked Brie.

#4--Avocado anything. Especially Guacamole. Word to your mother.

#5--Cheeseburgers, right off of the grill. 'Nuff said.

#6--Buttered popcorn, with REAL butter.

(Can you tell I'm starving? I'll be adding to this fabulous list from time to time--only foods that are Gods worthy will be making my list...any suggestions?)

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Here's the recipe--enjoy!

SWEET AND SALTY CARAMEL NUT ROLLS

Makes 4 rolls, or aproximately 48 pieces of candy

1 and 1 / 2 cups Marshamallow Fluff

3 cups (or more) powdered sugar

1 and 1 / 2 tsp. vanilla extract

3 tblsp. unsalted butter

4 cups coarsely chopped nuts, any variety

1 tblsp. sea or kosher salt

1 14oz. bag caramels, unwrapped

For vanilla cream center, beat Marshmallow Fluff, sugar, vanilla and butter until blended well, adding more powdered sugar as needed to make a stiff dough. Quarter dough and roll into four logs. Place on baking sheet (parchment lined) and insert toothpicks into the ends of each. Freeze for 20 minutes. Spread chopped nuts on a rimmed baking sheet. Unwrap caramels; in a medium skillet over medium heat, combine caramels with 2 tblsp. water and sea salt. Stir occasionally until just melted. Let cool slightly. One at a time dip logs into warm caramel using toothpicks as a handle, then quickly roll in chopped nuts, gently pressing around log. Immediately freeze on lined baking sheet. Repeat with other cream logs. Store logs in refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Let sit at room temperature for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

TODAY I'M SO GRATEFUL FOR....

***That the day after tomorrow, Little Miss Thing will be IN THE HOUSE!! Let the festivities begin....

***That I got all of my California relatives' Christmas gifts wrapped and shipped, Priority Mail , baby, yesterday! Ahhh......

***That the sweet little dog coat that I ordered from Amazon for Willie Nelson Willard actually FITS his stout little body, and seems to keep him nice and warm for our chilly walks....he has a new spring in his step, because he knows how fashionable he is!