• budget talk

    Cranberry-Orange Trifle

    I’m not sure if I’m the only person who still eats cranberry sauce with their Christmas meal but year after year I was left with lots of it. I refused to stop making it because for me it wouldn’t be a holiday meal without it. My dilemma was what to do with all the leftover sauce. One idea was to pair it with cheese for a sandwich which is pretty good but last year I came up with this dessert recipe. Best thing is people who won’t touch cranberry sauce like this one…or maybe they don’t recognize it in its new form. I paired the sauce with canned mandarin oranges that…

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  • budget talk

    Chocolate Wontons with Chai Drizzle

      Here’s another recipe I developed this week. When you think of wontons you think savory but these are sweet and I think make a perfect snack for this time of the year. To give them some extra pizzazz I used chai tea mix. The pairing of slightly sweetened chocolate with the spicy bite of the chai is a winning combination. Ingredients 4 ounces of cream cheese 2 tablespoon confectioner’s sugar 1 tablespoon cocoa powder ¼ teaspoon cinnamon Pinch of ginger powder 1 cup chai tea…the liquid kind you buy in packages in the coffee and tea aisle 10 wonton wrappers Oil for cooking the wontons Method In a small…

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  • budget talk

    Ginger, Apricot and Cardamom Chocolate Sticks

      Here’s the second of this morning’s experiments, treats. Ideas for recipes come from all sources and this one combined my love of cardamom during the holiday season, and secondly, memories of my maternal grandmother.  Our birthdays were just three days apart and I think it gave us a lot in common, one being our love for all things ginger and dark chocolate. Each Christmas we’d give one another a box of chocolate ginger chocolates. To this day whenever I make anything with these two ingredients I think of her and remember what a great lady she was. With that in mind I’m dedicating this recipe to my nan Kate. I decided to add some apricots…

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  • budget talk

    Cranberry Chocolate Bites

    I’ve spent the morning in my lab (AKA the kitchen) putting together some holiday treats. While my second experiment…I mean treat, is setting in the freezer, I thought I’d post this one to share with you. Just three ingredients and as you’ll see they make the idea gift for the stocking, part of a place setting during a holiday get together, or even as a take home gift for guests. All you need is- 11 1/2 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate I used Nestle chunks but you can use chips or even milk chocolate if you want. 1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries About 1 1/2 – 2 cups cornflakes The best…

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  • budget talk

    More Gift Ideas and Peanut Butter Cups

      Hope everyone enjoyed Black Friday and Cyber Monday and netted yourself some wonderful bargains. I’m almost done with my holiday shopping so now I can concentrate on making treats and goodies. I’ll be sharing some of the recipes with you. One uses just three ingredients and makes a perfect stocking stuffer too. To kick things off, here’s a recipe I saw online for homemade peanut butter cups. They’re my weakness and I’m ashamed to say a bag of these goodies I bought for holiday snacking has already disappeared- http://www.popsugar.com/food/Homemade-Chocolate-Peanut-Butter-Cup-Recipe-6577927 This time of the year there’s so much going on that putting together dinner can be a chore. I know…

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