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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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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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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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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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Saving Money During the Holiday Season
Thank you to the folks at www.cloudfreebies.co.uk for letting me print and share this article with you. It features tips from Natalie Cooper and Kez Richards. They offer tips for those based in the UK, but I think the advice is universal. Two money-saving super mums have joined forces to share their money-saving knowledge and find ways to cut the cost of Christmas Groceries. Frugal money saver Natalie Cooper and coupon and deals expert Kez Richards save on just about every aspect of their lives. They believe it is possible to save on everything from groceries to holidays and would never dream of spending a penny without first price…
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Perfect Marinades
The folks at Holland House sent me some samples of their products and some recipes to try. Here’s the first one along with some tips about marinades. During August Meatless Monday will feature guest recipes, beginning this Monday with Tofu and Vegetable Stir Fry. On August 11th, it will be Vegetable Pastry Purses, on the 18th, Tex-Mex Burgers, and on the 25th, Tofu Nuggets. I can’t wait to test drive all four of these and if you want to make the following recipe veggie just leave out the bacon and add something like cubed zucchini to the skewers. Happy saving and have a fun weekend. For more information and recipes check out-http://hollandhouseflavors.com/ …
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Peach and Ginger Jam
When fruit is plentiful I love to make batches of homemade jam. In fact, I haven’t purchased any store bought brands for four years. Like all things cooking, I often look for ways I can cut down on time. Although you still need to use canning skills to preserve this jam, it’s prepared in the microwave which speeds up the process and also lessens the heat in the kitchen. Most of the time I’ve used peaches in this recipe, but I think nectarines would work just as well. My next tweak for this one is using mangoes so feel free to give them a try too. 4 large peaches, peeled, and cut into1/2…
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The Best of Fall Produce
One way to save money is to buy what’s in season, and right now that’s goodies like apples, pears, cabbage, beet and squashes. The trick is to find ways to make them a meal. One thing I love to accompany sandwiches is coleslaw. However, after eating the same old, same old during the summer I was in the mood for something a little different. Just so happened that in this week’s CSA box there sat a red cabbage, and at the grocery store I saw bags of apples on sale for 97 cents a pound. Anytime something goes under a dollar a pound, I buy it and then decide what…
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Saving With Coupons
September is all about coupons. With the price of just about everything increasing, including food, using coupons can stretch your budget even more. On some of my trips to the supermarket I won’t buy anything unless I have a coupon or it’s on sale and it’s amazing how much you can save. Here are some of my coupon tips I’ve stumbled upon over the years- Meal Planning If you’re in the mood for some real penny pinching, plan meals around the coupons you have on hand. I’ve used coupons for tacos, refried beans, pizza, frozen potatoes, soup etc. Some of these meals have become favorite standbys even when I don’t…
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Preserving Food Saves Money and it’s not all about canning
One thing I love about summer is going to the store and picking up bargains that I can preserve for later use when prices go up (as we all know they will). While I do lots of canning there are other ways I put these items to good use- One way is my drying it and yes, I’ll give a little shameless promotion here. I co-authored a book called The Essential Dehydrator and while some of its focus is on how to dry foods, it contains lots of gourmet recipes using dried foods. Just this week I dried six pounds of onions and the thing I like best is I…
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