I scream...You Scream...We all scream for ICE CREAM

When I was in high school I had the best job EVER...I scooped ice cream at Manning Farm & Dairy, a small family owned business close to home. Still to this day, I say it was my favorite job. So you can imagine how excited I was when I opened up a KitchenAid ice cream maker attachment on Christmas day! I was overjoyed! I am so excited to have this and I know I'm going to get plenty of use out of it. I know that my days of working at the ice cream shop are going to help me come up with some creative flavors! I can't wait to share some of them with you! I know I won't be buying ice cream any more!!

To break the new attachment in, I decided to make a classic flavor...French vanilla! It was so easy and SO delicious! I'll be sharing the recipe with you later in the week. I'm having a hard time deciding what flavor I'll be making next! 

Thanks, grandma, for this awesome gift for the kitchen! I'll be sure to bring  you some of your favorite butter pecan next time I visit!

Holidays

Hope everyone had a fantastic holiday! I surely did! I really can't believe that 2010 is coming to an end. Usually I get a little sad that time has passed so quickly but I'm ready for 2011. I really feel like it's going to be a great year! Before I reflect on 2010 and let you know my cooking goals for 2011 I want to give you a Christmas summary. 

My family has an awesome tradition that dates back to my great great grandmother. Every year my family gets together and makes homemade ravioli for Christmas Eve. I'm usually too busy to travel up to my parents now a days but I remember growing up and making them with my grandmother and great aunts. I think it's awesome that this tradition has been around so long ( I guess that's why they call it a tradition??)! Thanks Aunt Theresa, Mom, Peggy, Aunt Melissa, & Aunt Terri for the delicious ravioli this year!

Here's a couple more pictures from Christmas Eve at Aunt T's! 

Pecan Snowballs

Another recipe to use up those pecans I have on hand (Thx, Melissa!)! 

I get well over 100 emails a days (and that's just to my personal account)...a lot of the emails I receive are daily recipe/food related emails. Trust me I love getting them because it really does give me last minute dinner ideas and a whole lot of inspiration! This recipe came to me from a  Real Simple "Christmas Cookie Count Down" email blast. I thought to myself, "How perfect, a recipe that got great reviews and uses pecans!" I have to admit, I read the recipe over and over because I found it really funny/strange that the recipe calls for no eggs! Perfect for people with an egg allergy, right? These pecan snowballs are really tasty and go great with a cup of coffee or tea! I have a feeling Santa would like them too! If you're not a fan of confectioners' sugar (but really who isn't?), the cookies taste really good without! 

1  cup  pecans 

1  cup  (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature 

1 3/4  cups  confectioners' sugar 

1/2  teaspoon  pure vanilla extract 

1/2  teaspoon  pure almond extract 

1/4  teaspoon  kosher salt 

2  cups  all-purpose flour

Heat oven to 350° F. Spread the pecans on a rimmed baking sheet and toast for 8 minutes. Let cool and roughly chop.

With an electric mixer, beat the butter and 1 cup of the sugar until fluffy. Mix in the vanilla and almond extracts and salt. Gradually add the flour, mixing until just incorporated. Mix in the pecans. Shape the dough into tablespoon-size balls and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Transfer half the balls to a second parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing them 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake until lightly golden, 18 to 22 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes.
Place 1/2 cup of the sugar in a large bowl. Toss the warm cookies in the sugar and return to the baking sheet. Sift the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar over the cookies before serving.

My thoughts on eggnog...

December is coming to an end. I really can't believe how fast this year has gone by. Remember my December to-do list? I'm still checking things off that list. All that's left are some more baked goods! 

(I was mid-sentence in this picture)

3. Try Eggnog
I'm thinking about making it...I don't know though I just get so scared with the idea of drinking raw eggs.  Call me crazy but I really want to like eggnog. In order to like it I have to try it.

This past weekend, Melissa had a nice holiday party at her house. A perfect setting for me to try eggnog. I'm not going to lie, I was nervous. I'm not a huge fan of milk. I'm not the type of girl to drink a glass of milk. I like it on my cereal and that's about it. Nonetheless, I was scared. 

So I toasted to my first eggnog experience. Well...I guess it could technically be my last eggnog experience! I like the spice flavor but the consistency is just too hard for me to swallow! I can't imagine drinking a whole glass of it. Aunt T, how do you do it?? Maybe my feelings will change next year? 

 

Thanks for a great party, Melissa! Here's a picture of us girls and our grandma (sitting)! 

Oreo Truffle Goodness

When I tell you this is one of the easiest desserts I really mean it. This is a Popil family favorite, actually it's a lot of people's favorite. However, when I think of this treat, there really is only one person I think of...LIZ, my cousin, friend, college roommate, etc. who LOVES Oreos! She sorta has a problem with Oreos but we love her for it!

This recipe yields about 40 truffles but you're better off doubling the recipe since it won't take long for those 40 truffles to disappear! The Oreo balls are good on their own but even better when dipped in chocolate (my opinion, of course). Try them both ways. I used milk chocolate but dark chocolate and white chocolate would work nicely too. 

I'm pretty sure Santa will leave an extra nice gift, if you're kind enough to leave him some!

1 pkg. (8 oz.) Cream Cheese, softened

1 pkg.  (1 lb. 2 oz.) OREO Cookies, finely crushed

2 pkg. (8 squares each) Semi-Sweet Chocolate, melted 

Crush Oreos in food processor (if you don't have a food processor a Ziploc back with a rolling pin works just as well). Mix in cream cheese. Roll into 1 inch balls. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Melt chocolate in a double boiler or microwave...roll balls in melted chocolate and let cool on wax paper. Keep refrigerated.