No-Bake, No Problem

Is dipping various food items in chocolate part of anyone else's holiday traditions? Well, it is mine! For years my mom has dipped pretzels, strawberries, and peanut butter and ritz cracker sandwiches in white and milk chocolate in order to take them to parties or set them out for family gatherings. And when you think of all of the elaborate food dishes to cook, these no-hassle, no-bake treats are truly a perfect solution to the problem of providing christmas candy/dessert for holiday celebrations.

I settled on a new variation on the no-bake, chocolatey treat... 'Pretzel Turtles'! After making them a couple weeks ago for co-workers and friends, I really wanted to make more because they are soooo tasty.

Just after pulling the rolo-topped pretzels from the oven. Shiny quality of chocolate means just warm enough to squish with pecan, but not too warm that caramel will ooze out and stick to fingers.

How to add an extra holiday touch? Sprinkles of course!

Pretzel Turtles

Ingredients:

• 20 small mini pretzels
• 20 chocolate covered caramel candies (ex. Rolos)
• 20 pecan halves

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
2. Arrange the pretzels in a single layer on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Place one chocolate covered caramel candy on each pretzel.
3. Bake for 4 minutes. While the candy is warm, press a pecan half onto each candy covered pretzel. Cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

Of course, there is a lot of variations on this special little treat. In addition to rolos, also tried hershey kisses and peanut butter cups. And as you saw above, I added red- and green-colored sprinkles to help them look more christmasy. Other ideas include drizzling white chocolate on top or topping with crispy m&m's instead of pecans.

These are peanut butter cups with red sprinkles only to help me keep track of which is which.

When using other types of candy you may want to adjust the amount of time you leave them in the oven. With peanut butter cups, I only needed about 1 1/2 minutes because otherwise the chocolate spills over the side of the pretzel. Hershey kisses were 1 to 1 1/2 minutes because they are smaller pure chocolate (nothing on the inside).

Christmas Classics

Ask 10 different people how they celebrate Christmas and you will hear 10 different answers. So many people have their go-to movies, music, and treats, without which the season just wouldn't be complete. And I have those same things too, but only recently have I admitted to myself that some songs and movies just aren't deserving of repeat performances. Say what you want but I am of the opinion that a person can only hear Mariah singing 'All I Want for Christmas' so many times before it gets irritating. But as an avid celebrator of Christmas, I owed it to myself to search for some new, time-tested favorites.

For this revised list of go-tos, I did not look around me but backward... to 'yesteryear', if you will. Not enough can be said for the classics! I'm only just now beginning to appreciate them, but thanks to Christmas my knowledge and understanding has considerably expanded.

So without further ado, here is an annotated list of some my favorite Christmas media, old and new:

1. The Christmas Song by Nat King Cole - Of course this song is nothing new, but it deserves to stay put. It is his smooth baritone voice and this song that cemented his status and icon.



2. White Christmas by Bing Crosby - This was written by good old Irving Berlin and performed by Bing in Holiday Inn. It became so popular that it inspired another movie with Bing, White Christmas. It's a keeper!



3. Santa Baby by Eartha Kitt - Who doesn't love a good tonge-in-cheek song?! If not for Eartha Kitt, this wouldn't be as enjoyable, but I'm just enamored by her voice.




4. Jingle Bells by Ella Fitzgerald - Okay, Ella's voice is b-e-a-utiful and silky smooth, so I could pretty much listen to anything she sings and enjoy it time and again. Since I am limiting myself to just 1, I decided to pick this one because no one makes Jing Bells swing like Ella.



5. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas by Judy Garland - Judy truly epitomizes old Hollywood and I really enjoy her recording in Carnegie Hall. I choose this because you can actually see her sing this in Meet Me in St. Louis. The only other person who is as amazing to see on screen is Audrey Hepburn; absolutely lovely.



6. 'Zat You Santa Clause by Louis Armstrong - His is a voice as instantly recognizable as Eartha Kitt, if not more. I don't know a lot about this song other than I know I like it's jazzy, scat quality! You'll have a swingin' Christmas for sure!



7. Linus and Lucy by Vince Guaraldi - I like a great singer as much as anybody, but you can't deny all the great instrumental Christmas songs out their. And who could deny A Charlie Brown Christmas from a little space on the list?



8. Holiday Inn - This is a movie that made the song 'White Christmas' famous, and who else is in it but Mr. Christmas himself, Bing Crosby. And who doesn't like Fred Astaire?! It's got that good old fashioned charm that I can't get enough of. Only one caviat: Bing's performance at the Holiday Inn for Lincoln's Birthday let me a little speechless. If you've seen it you know what I mean; if you haven't you'll know when you do.



9. White Christmas - Let me just say, "OMG!" I only just fell in love with this film a few years ago, but I fell hard. More great dancing and more great songs than Holiday Inn. I don't have the words to explain it any further... just watch! :)




10. A Christmas Story - It was made in the 80s but portrays Christmas in the 40s. My dad raised me on this movie and I think he likes it so much because it bares similarities to his own experiences as a child. I still laugh everytime I see it!



11. A Christmas Carol - I was joking before about Bing being Mr. Christmas becuase we all know that the original Mr. Christmas is Charles Dickens. There are so many different versions of this that is truly one of the most iconic and classic of all christmas stories. (I feel it important to note this; my favorite version of A Christmas Carol is the one with the Muppet's. You bet!)

So it's certainly not an exhaustive list, but it's enough to keep anybody warm while they're celebrating. Enjoy!

Pumpkin, spice, and everything nice

Wow. Bloggey come lately much? Better now than never I guess.

I think you'll find that this recipe is worth the wait. Or just trust me when I say that it is. You are perhaps well aware after all of my Haloween festivities posts that I love a good holiday. Thanksgiving is no different. Unfortunately, I don't have a kitchen of my own in which to prepare a feast of epic proportions (as is the tradition) but I am of course more than happy to offer a dish or two. This year I spent Thanksgiving with mom who would never ask for help with preparations. However, she was about to buy dessert for lack of prep time so I enthusiastically volunteered my services. Since Grandma and Grandpa were coming to join us, I felt I must consider their deference to a traditional favorite; pumpin pie. I'm way into cinnamon and pumpkin spice this time of year, so I had no arguments. But what I couldn't forget was the slice of pumpkin cheesecake that I had recently sampled at Cheesecake Factory. So that was it. I was inspired! Upon visiting allrecipes.com I found...

Easy Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake!

Ingredients:

• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 pinch ground cloves
• 1 pinch ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
• In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Blend in eggs one at a time. Remove 1 cup of batter and spread into bottom of crust; set aside.
• Add pumpkin, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg to the remaining batter and stir gently until well blended. Carefully spread over the batter in the crust.
• Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until center is almost set. Allow to cool, then refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. Cover with whipped topping before serving.

**Certainly you are welcome to make your own crust instead of buying one, but then it wouldn't be called 'easy' would it? :)