LISA'S PEPPERMINT CRUNCH MIX

It's holiday hostess gift making time--the parties are piling up, and I've been busy as a little Bee, cooking and crafting and such. My best gal pal Lisa in California kindly gave me this wonderful recipe for her Peppermint Crunch Mix (recipe at bottom of post), which is a absolutely delicious concoction of popcorn, marshmallow cream, crushed peppermints and honey nut Chex mix, of all things! Fun to make, and fun to put in pretty Ball canning jars, all dressed up for the holidays.

So girls, take off those wedding bands, because it's gonna get messy around here:

Get out that old glue gun and some glue sticks, and maybe some pretty fabric and ribbon, too. Don't you just love this older than dirt tin I've been storing my glue gun in for years?:

After you've gotten your hands really sticky, the mixture, before baking, will come out lookings something like this:

After washing out a dozen canning jars, I filled each one with the mixture, and topped each jar with squares of burlap and the prettiest red calico with little cream colored stars:

And they came out looking just like this:

Pretty cute, doncha think? If I'm coming to your party, this is what I'm bringing!

LISA'S PEPPERMINT CRUNCH MIX

Makes 20, 1/2 cup servings

6 cups popped popcorn (Lisa suggests using bagged; fewer kernels)

4 cups Honey Nut Chex cereal

1 7oz. jar marshallow fluff

20 red peppermint candies, crushed

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray baking sheets with Pam. Mix popcorn and cereal in a large bowl. Put marshallow cream in a bowl and microwave on HIGH for 2 minutes, stirring after 1 minute.Pour marshallow cream over popcorn/cereal mixture and stir with hands. Sprinkle in crushed candies. Spread mixture on a cookie sheet and bake for 5 minutes. Stir and bake another 5 minutes or until light golden brown. Spread on waxed paper to cool. Stores in sealed containers for up to 2 weeks.

CRANBERRY, PECAN AND APRICOT OATMEAL COOKIES

I love to bake during the holidays. The whole house just smells heavenly! I've made this recipe for years and years and years, but this year, there's a twist--I've added dried apricots to the mix, and I think the cookies end up looking like fruitcake. Except soooooooo much better than fruitcake! I think these are our family favorites because they're so buttery, and you can really taste the fruit and nuts. Here we go, folks; get out your mixing bowls!

Standard cookie directions apply here, and you can find the recipe with measurements at the bottom of this post. First, mix the dry ingredients together:

Then, cream your butter, sugars, vanilla and honey:

(I'm using my handheld mixer today, because I'm doubling the recipe, and my stand mixer just won't hold that much batter)

Next, add the flour mixture back into the butter mixture, and stir in the cranberries, chopped dried apricts and pecans:

Your batter will end up looking like this (of course, steal a bite or two or threeeeeeeee!)

Put batter, by rounded tablespoonfuls, onto parchment or silicone lined baking sheets. I just 

ADORE my Silpat sheets, from France, doncha know! Nothing burns, and nothing sticks--so worth the investment)

Bake for about 11-15 minutes, and let cool. Now just watch these little sinful delights disappear! (oh yea, they freeze beautifully, too. I made a big double batch, and froze half for a little party I'm having this weekend)

HAPPY EATING!

CRANBERRY, APRICOT AND PECAN OATMEAL COOKIES

Makes aproximately 4 dozen cookies

1 1/2 cup flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

2 1/2 cups old fashioned oats

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 tblsp. honey

2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1 cup dried cranberries

1 cup dried apricots, chopped

1 cup pecans, roughly chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners. Mix first four ingredients together, then stir in oats. Set aside. Beat the butter and both sugars together until light and fluffy. Add eggs, then scrape down bowl. Add vanilla and honey and beat until well blended. Add flour mixture in two additions, beating each until well combined. Stir in cranberries, apricots and pecans. Drop by tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto baking sheets. Bake until centers of cookies are soft and no longer look wet; about 11-15 minutes. Let cool on sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool.

The Fabulous Beekman Boys!

Hey, check out my friend Cindy's blog, here:http://cindypetters.blogspot.com/

She took a little field trip with her husband recently to a town called Sharon Springs, NY, and took the most amazing photos of The Fabulous Beekman Boy's shop and incredible mansion. Plus lots of great pics of the old mineral baths (thus, the name, Sharon Springs) and the Farmer's Museum in nearby Cooperstown.

So inspirational! Enjoy.

Persnickety!

Finished up most of my holiday shopping yesterday, and the crowds were horrific! But before I hit the jam-packed big box stores in Utica, I stopped by a nearby town, called Boonville. The name of Boonville just cracks me up, for some reason, but Boonville really has a sweet little old downtown, complete with a classic town square and gazebo. My favorite reason to visit the town is a shop I've been frequenting since we moved here, back in 2004.

Persnickety--a gem of a shop, located in what I believe is an old bank building, right on Main Street in downtown Boonville. Most of their merchandise is country primitive, which I adore, but they also carry a nice selection of Adirondack style giftware. And here's something really fantastic: the owner, Sue, tells me that their Rome, NY location is going to be featured in the March edition of Country Sampler magazine! I look forward to this issue every year, as it is their tour of homes across America. The Rome store is actually set up like a real country home, and is just adorable. Anyways, here's a little tour of Sue's Boonville store, all decked out for the holidays:

Of course, I couldn't leave Persnickety without buying something, now could I? Doing my very best to stimulate the economy, I am. We needed another one of their faux Christmas trees for our living room--this one is the tallest in my collection, standing over 5" tall:

And I also picked up these DARLIIINNNGGG primitive candy cane ornaments, and a grubby little string of lights for the tree. I believe I picked up the gingerbread man ornaments at Persnickety last year:

I know this little tree looks a tad bare still; I have big plans to handmake some cute little felt/burlap/button ornatments in the next few days--stay posted!

I spent my day today (rainy and icy and just YUCKY outside) making the most delicious oatmeal, cranberry, dried apricot and pecan cookies......come and see me in a few days for the recipe!

Is There Anything Sexier.........

than a man who cooks? Me thinks NOT!

My husband Egan LOVES to cook--he just doesn't get to very often, because I'm a kitchen hog. Egan also doesn't like to use recipes, which frustrates me to no end. How can I put the fabulous things he cooks into my cooking column, Sugar and Spice, if I don't have proper measurements? Anywayzzz, last Sunday night I was up to my eyeballs in very important stuff to do (packing for my trip to Baltimore, writing columns 3 weeks in advance for my mean editor, cleaning out the catbox, stuff like that), so Big Daddy volunteered to cook dinner AND go to the store and buy everything he needed. I knew I married that man for a reason!

Here he is, toiling away in our freshly "remodeled" kitchen:

Which is really pretty funny, because he can't find anything. Here's what I love: this is ALL I had to do, while he cooked (well, this and take some pictures for you):

That's right, sistahs! I got to drink some wine and watch a little tellie.....aaaaaaah.

So, do you want to know what was on the menu? Of course you do. We were dining on roasted little red potatoes, steamed Brussels sprouts and a succulent roast pork tenderloin with a fancy mustard sauce. Hungry yet?

Here's Big Daddy, slicing the pretty little potatoes in half:

 Then, he drizzles them with olive oil and sprinkles on the seasonings. Which usually consist of a little sea salt, a little pepper and maybe some garlic powder.

 Gotta use your hands to get them evenly coated:

Roast the potatoes in a 450 degree oven until they are fork tender, usually about 40-45 minutes. Here's the bonus: you'll be roasting your pork tenderloin at the same temperature, so you can do both in the same oven.

 Next up, the Brussels sprouts. I just love how these come, in the cutest little container, with the name, "Mr. Sprout"! So darling!

Egan takes off any loose outer leaves, then cuts them in half. He then steams them in our double boiler until they are tender, and tosses them with a little salt and pepper and butter. Mmmmmmm.....

Next up, the pork tenderloins. We buy them in 2 lb. packages. First up, you gotta season them well. Salt and pepper are really all you need, unless you have a favorite herb mix you like to use:

Then, you want to sear both sides of the tenderloin in a hot pan, until lightly golden brown. This helps lock in the juices--don't skip this step, unless you like your pork nice and dry--cough, cough:

Wee Willy smells something delicious!

We use our Dutch oven for everything! You can sear the pork in one on your stovetop, then roast in the oven in the same wonderful pot. Egan roasted the tenderloin, uncovered,  for about 40 to 45 minutes, JUST until no pink remained. Then, he removed the pot from the oven and covered it with the lid, then let it sit until the mustard sauce was complete:

 

SPEAKING of mustard sauce:

 Here's the quick recipe:

1 tblsp. butter or margarine
1 tblsp. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 cup milk
3 tblsps. Dijon mustard
1 tblsp. horseradish

Melt butter in small saucepan over low heat. Blend in flour, salt and pepper. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth and bubbly. Remover from heat. Stir in milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir one minute. Stir in mustard and horseradish; heat through. Serve warm.

And VOILA!! The end result was an absolutely delicious dinner. And the real bonus? Big Daddy even did the dishes!