Giant cookie!!!!!

Howdy Y'all!!!

This afternoon was one of those days were I wanted any excuse to not study for my test I have at nine tomorrow morning. I know that sounds awful, but its true. Thanks to Pintrest (the procrastinators  dream/nightmare) I found my distraction. What could be better than super chocolatey and gooey...nothing you say? False...add some caramel and sea salt and then it is truly heaven. I also made one for my roomie, needless to say she ate it without me having to twist her arm too much.

I got the recipe here and really didn't change the ingredients other than the addition of caramels and sea salt. The caramels made the dough larger and over all the cookie larger. YUM!

All in all the cookie ended up being larger than my hand. It was rich, moist, and wonderful. This is definitely a keeper recipe. Easy, no equipment other than bowls, a fork, and measuring utensils. Very wonderful. 

On the days when you are avoiding doing something, what do you do? 

Happy eatings,
Smashley

Chocolate covered candied tangerines

Bonjour!

This was another thing I made for the menfolk I mentioned in the last post. Unfortunatley I didn't make more, my mom has been stealing some of my dad's. She has even gone as far as saying that these might even rival Fanny Mae's or Albanese chocolate covered orange peels. They were my opa's favorite and are my mom's favorite chocolate treat. These might have to make a recurrence in March for my mom's birthday. They were a little time consuming at first, but totally worth it. If you think you might have too many tangerines, add a couple more Yes you will have tons of slices, but trust me you will want tons of these. 

 The ingredients and recipe couldn't be easy enough. Tangerines, and equal parts sugar and water.

 Slice the tangerines into thin segments.

 Bring the water and sugar to a boil and add the tangerines.

 Boil the tangerines for 30 minutes and then remove from heat for 10 minutes. Return to the stove and simmer until the slices are translucent.

 Remove the slices from the syrup and place on racks to dry. An oven can be used on low heat to speed the process.

 SAVE THE LIQUID!! It is super yummy.

 Then I placed all of the slices in a bad and tossed them in sugar and then dipped half of the slice in melted semi-sweet chocolate.

 I put the chocolate covered slices in the garage to help harden the chocolate.

These make great gifts or just a fab desert by themselves. I strongly recommend you make these.

Any special goodies you make for the holidays?

Happy eatings,

Smashley

Birthday Seafood Extravaganza

Happy November 10th!!

This is definitely my favorite day of the year, but I might be a little biased. Today is the 25th anniversary of my existence (aka my birthday). So in honor of my quarter of a century and Dave coming to visit, I thought we should have an EPIC seafood feast with cupcakes for dessert and Blue Moon mango margaritas. Food coma for sure. I am so stuffed.

 First course was lobster tails, garlic sauteed green beans, and bacon wrapped scallops. Also the margaritas were pretty awesome. The lobsters were broiled and butter poured over them. The scallops were also broiled for about 25 minutes. The margarita recipe I found here.The only difference was that I used Malibu Red. It is a combo of rum, tequila, and coconut liquor. So good and worth every penny.  It is surprisingly smooth and could easily sneak up on you.

 Second course was a sea food boil. Crab, mussels, and shrimp. I boiled it with old bay spice, celery, carrots,  white vinegar, and a few splashes of white wine. This was wonderful. I used the old bay garlic and herb. Both of us agreed it was better than Joe's Crab Shack.

We finished off our dinner with Gigi's cupcakes. His was midnight magic and mine was chocolate hazelnut (filled with Nutella!!) So rich we could only eat half. One of the best birthday dinners ever!!!! So good! Worth all of the money and time.

What is your dream birthday meal?

Happy Eatings,
Smashley

Cupcake mayhem

Happy Valentines day to all!!! In honor of El Dia De San Valentin, I made my sweetie some awesome cupcakes. Chocolate Vodka Raspberry Rock Star cupcakes, they were wonderful. the cake was fluffy and the filling was so good. Even better after they had time to get a little chilled because the frosting set a little. I followed one of the comments advice and used grenadine instead of the raspberry extract, however to make up for the missing raspberry flavor I used Smirnoff Raspberry Vodka instead of regular.  Here is where I got the recipe http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/chocolate-vodka-raspberry-rock-star-cupcake-recipe/index.html