Spike up your Holidays…

December 23, 2012 by · 9 Comments
peppermintslowcookerhotchocolate1

So we are down to the wire. For me Christmas is tomorrow night. So tonight is our Christmas Eve. One thing I have started to go to is hot chocolate in a crock pot. No hot chocolate is not hard to make but it’s nice to have it being kept warm in the crock pot all day and just being available when the cocoa mood strikes…and this time of year it strikes often. Just set out a few types of hot chocolate and keep some frozen whipped cream circles in the freezer and you are good to go. I was sent Holiday Slow Cooker: A Year of Hassle-Free Celebrations and while it’s not a Christmas book (it’s holidays throughout the year) I did go searching for Christmas type recipes. Found a Bailey’s cocoa recipe and decided to make it with Peppermint Schnapps since I am a peppermint cocoa kind of gal. Of course the booze is added later and so the cocoa is for everyone. And you can add just about any booze you want…and depending on what relatives show you might be drinking a lot and I mean A … [Read more...]

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Love is…

October 8, 2012 by · 20 Comments
cookiesandcreamcocoa3

Growing up my parents had these drinking glasses with two naked cartoon characters on it. I would always giggle when I would get that cup. It came from a comic strip called Love is…. Each cup had the naked couple doing something quite innocent and would say something along the lines of Love is…accepting that no one is perfect. They were cute and as I got older I learned to love them…and steal them when I went off to college. :) I learned over the years that the cups were a good reminder that the little things really do add up and while life can be complicated love should not be. Oh sure it can be hard at times as many people aren’t big on compromise but at the end of the day if it’s THAT hard to be together maybe you aren’t supposed to be. I am very fortunate that MDP and I while we have had hard times being together isn’t hard at all. Probably because we really appreciate the small things and try not to expect grandiose things from each other. And with that I am … [Read more...]

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So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, good night…

December 27, 2011 by · 33 Comments

This is where I say a goodbye to many of you. Oh it’s not a permanent goodbye for most of you, as you tend to all come back around Valentine’s Day, but many of you flee this time of year. Many people write or comment that you won’t be coming to my site for a while, that it’s too much temptation while you make your “lifestyle change”. Let me be the first to assure you that if you can’t look at photos of food without setting off some sort of trigger, than you are not on a lifestyle change, you are on a diet. If you can’t figure out how to fit in a brownie once in a while then you aren’t going to last. If you have always had a sweet tooth, which if you come to this site you probably do; it is quite unrealistic I hate to tell you to give up sugar for the rest of your life. I should know, on a dare I once did Sugar Busters for a year. Did I lose weight? No, in fact I gained 12 pounds. Why, because I never lost my sugar craving. I lost my craving for bread, but never … [Read more...]

Filed Under: baked goods, chocolate, ice cream · Tagged With: , , ,

Portable cocoa…

December 18, 2011 by · 13 Comments
hot chocolate truffle

What I am about to say will be upsetting to some…I’m not really a chocolate gal. I mean I like it but it’s not my top pick. I would much rather have something vanilla or caramel flavored. If I’m eating Neapolitan ice cream I am eating the chocolate flavor last. But I do enjoy a good cup of hot chocolate; in fact it may be my favorite beverage of all time. A few years ago my friend gave me a little gift bag and in it was a single size serving of Stephens Candy Cane Cocoa. I fell in love with it right away before even drinking if for the cute happy bear smiling while drinking his cocoa on the package (see below). And when I made the cocoa, it was nothing but pure love. I love the fact that it is a milk chocolate cocoa and that it has real bits of candy cane throughout it. See the best cocoa for me is at Christmas time when I can have my cocoa with marshmallows and a candy cane to stir, so for a cocoa to combine that for me was awesome. The first year all I could find were the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: candy, chocolate, Fun Food · Tagged With: , , ,
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