Peppermint Bark Snowflakes

Yesterday I posted about a fun and delicious gift for your coworkers. Included in that gift was a snowflake of peppermint bark. I made mine with a little twist this year. Check out the recipe....

I picked up this silicone tray in the Dollar Spot at Target.  You can also substitute cookie cutters as molds for the bark.  Place cookie cutters on a wax paper covered cookie sheet.

Ingredients:

Peppermint Crunch Junior Mints (I found these at Target too!)

4 oz. Chocolate Chips

4 oz. White Chocolate Chips

Handful of peppermints or candy canes

1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract, divided

Sprinkles (Mine are snowflakes!)

Vegetable Oil (not required, but good to have on hand)

Directions:

In a candy melting pot or double boiler, melt your brown chocolate chips.

Meanwhile, in a plastic bag, put your candy canes or peppermints. Crush with a rolling pin or kitchen mallet.

Once your chocolate is melted, stir in 1/4 teaspoon of peppermint extract.  If your chocolate is thick or dry looking add a small pour of vegetable oil.  This will smooth it out.  Continue to add a little at a time until you reach a nice smooth consistency.

Pour chocolate into molds. Drop in 2-3 junior mints. 

Sprinkle some peppermint chunks on top.  

Place mold into freezer for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt your white chocolate.  Once melted, stir in remaining extract.

Remove mold from freezer. Pour white chocolate into molds.

Top with more peppermint pieces and sprinkles.

Place mold back into freezer for 10-15 minutes.  When chocolate has hardened just pop out of the molds!

This recipe yields 6 snowflake bark pieces. 

Hot Cocoa Coworker Gifts

Today I gave a fun little gift to my coworkers. If you're looking for a gift idea for your coworkers, this might be inspiration for you!

This gift includes hot cocoa on a stick, (you can get the recipe and tutorial HERE), chocolate dipped candy canes, peppermint bark, and homemade marshmallows.

I also used these awesome free printables from Hostess with the Mostess 

On the back of the tag I typed up my own little greeting:

Minnesnowta Hot Chocolate
Here in MN, we like everything "On A Stick"...so why not our hot cocoa!
Mix with 1 cup of hot milk and enjoy your cocoa Minnesnowta style! There is even a peppermint stir stick! A tasty peppermint bark treat goes perfect with your hot cocoa.
Enjoy!

I packaged these up in some holiday treat bags and handed them out. Everyone loved the cocoa on a stick idea!

I hope you've found some inspiration for your coworker gifts!

Cupcake Craziness

I haven't been able to post much lately for two reasons.  First, my laptop just quit working right. It kept crashing, I lost a bunch of photos, it was a whole lot of sucky.  I've finally replaced it but now I'm playing catch up.  Also, the holiday season has been really busy! Recently I took an order for 16 dozen cupcakes! Plus I had an additional 3 dozen toppers to ship. It was an insanely busy weekend! I couldn't help but take a few pics. So here is what I've been up to lately!

 Here are a couple of pics of all of the toppers I made.

This is what the entire collection was......

All sixteen dozen of them!

Thanks Vanessa for the awesome opportunity!

I hope to get a few more posts in this week before the holiday. I lost a lot of my work with my computer, but I'm hoping to share a few ideas with you! Thanks for being so patient!

Reindeer and Figs

This weekend, I accomplished a big personal goal and I want to share it with you. I ran in my very first 5k race! For the last 9 weeks, my friend Heather and I trained doing the Cool Running Couch to 5k Program. It all started back in 2008. I set a goal to lose weight and run a 5k.  If you've ever tried to lose weight before, you know what a struggle that can be. I didn't have a running partner, or the will power to keep up with either goal. But each year, I kept saying I'd do it. Finally, this year, 2011, a full 3 years later, my friend was willing to commit to the program with me.  Turns out a dedicated partner is what I needed! We met consistently 3 times a week to run. At first, it was a challenge. Our runs were slow. The first minute or two of running, I thought I was going to die. I watched the clock constantly, just waiting for it to be over. But as the days and weeks went on, I slowly became stronger, found running easier and easier. I was looking less at the clock, and more focused on my breathing. 

We chose to do the Reindeer Run because the timing was perfect, we both love the holiday season, and costumes were encouraged! Not to mention the proceeds benefited Toys for Tots Heather, my boyfriend David, and myself ran the 5k. We set a goal of finishing in 40 minutes. We finished in 38 exactly. It was amazing.  I've wanted this goal for so long. The fact that it was real, that we did it, that we crossed that finish line still amazes me. Its an incredible feeling to set your mind to a difficult goal and actually make it happen. Its not just about losing weight or getting in shape.  Its about feeling empowered. If I can make this happen, who knows what else I might be able to accomplish!  Here are a few pictures from Saturday's event....

 Costumes were encouraged, so here I am with Rick. Rick is Heather's boyfriend who offered to photograph everything for us.

Here we are with the Reindeer mascot!

Rick was easily able to spot us due to my hat!

We are almost to the finish line!

FINISHED!! We ROCKED this race! 

Now you're probably wondering, whats with the figs in the title? In addition to sharing my awesome accomplishment, I'm going to share my new favorite recipe. You may recall my recent post about the Wonderfall Wine Tasting one of the courses was a Fig and Gorgonzola Pizza.  It is absolutely to die for! You must make this now! The pairing of flavors is incredible. Sweet, savory, all mixed into one. Its unique and flavorful. Its also, very easy!

Fig, Gorgonzola Prosciutto Pizza

(very slightly adapted from Centsational Girl)

Ingredients:

1 Boboli Thin Crust Pizza (I used a 12 inch)

Olive Oil

4 ripe Figs

1 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

4 oz. container crumbled Gorgonzola cheese

2 slices prosciutto

Diced green onion (I didn't really measure this, just chopped a handful)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Drizzle olive oil over crust. Bake for 9 minutes.

Meanwhile, slice figs, dice onion, tear prosciutto into pieces.

When crust is ready, layer about half the mozzarella cheese, then half the Gorgonzola, then the figs, prosciutto, and onion. Top with remaining cheeses.  Bake until golden brown, and cheese is bubbly, approximately 10 minutes.

Prepare to be amazed.

We paired this with a pinot noir and it was excellent.

Thanks for reading my story and I hope you enjoy the pizza!

Organized Measurement

Its true. Pinterest has some incredible ideas. I have put a few to use, my latest, is organizing my kitchen. I have a teenie tiny kitchen. I try to organize it as best as I can, but sometimes a girl needs a little "Pinspiration". I was inspired by this PIN and this PIN and now my measuring spoons and cups are organized! Thanks to a few command hooks Im no longer rummaging through drawers trying to find the right size measuring spoon!

Oh Pinterest, how I adore you!

Blue Rose Cake

Recently I got to do a birthday cake for a friend's wife.  He really liked the Red Rose Cake I did for Valentine's Day, but his wife was more of a blue rose kind of girl. I was thrilled! Its my favorite cake to do, and also my favorite color, not to mention a color not often asked for when it comes to flowers.  We decided to also add a little "tattoo" detail to it. I hand painted the birthday banners in a classic tattoo style text and made black royal icing butterflies to accent the roses.  

Don't you love the vibrant color?! I'm still obsessed with this cake...what color to try next?!

Cranberry Mango Pineapple Chutney

Last week I made "Thanksgiving with a Twist" dinner.  I made turkey and sides with traditional ingredients done up in a non-traditional way.  One of the things I tried my hand at was homemade cranberry sauce.  I made it with cranberries, mango and pineapple. It was delicious.  I'll never go back to canned cranberry sauce! This recipe is easy and quick, and a great idea for a last minute Thanksgiving contribution!

Cranberry Mango Pineapple Chutney

Adapted from Love Veggies and Yoga

Ingredients:

1, 12 oz bag fresh cranberries

1 cup mango chunks (I used frozen mango)

1/2 cup pineapple chunks (I used canned pineapple)

1 1/4 cup water

1 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp. ground ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

Dash cayenne pepper (optional)

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and allow to simmer until thickened. Approximately 20 minutes. Transfer to jars.  Allow to cool, cover and refrigerate. Yields 3, 8 ounce jars or 24 ounces.
*Note: If its a little too chunky for your liking, pulse in the blender until you reach desired texture.

Its so good, even the flamingo liked it....

Happy Thanksgiving!