Christmas Goodies

I've always wanted to make baskets of homemade goodies as gifts for Christmas, so I finally decided to bite the bullet and do it this year. I may have gone a little overboard, though, as I made 5 baskets each with 6 different items over the course of 3 long, tiring days in the kitchen. But after a few burnt fingers and a couple of sink-fulls of dirty pots, the results were worth it. The food looked and tasted pretty good, the process was fun, and I even had help from John along the way.

The baskets included almond crunch (my favorite), chocolate-covered pretzels, peppermint bark, fudge, Chex muddy buddies, and sugar cookies. Below is the recipe for the first 5...the sugar cookies were not my favorite, so I won't pass on that recipe.

If you decide to make some of these for your own holiday enjoyment, have fun...but pace yourself!!

Hazelnut (or Almond) Crunch

(When I went to the store, I couldn't get hazelnuts, so I made mine with almonds instead)

recipe from Giada De Laurentiis on foodnetwork.com


1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup water
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/3 cup dark corn syrup
2 1/2 cups coarsely chopped toasted hazelnuts (or almonds)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda


Line a heavy large baking sheet with parchment paper. Stir the sugar, water, light corn syrup, and dark corn syrup in a heavy large saucepan over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat to high and boil without stirring until a candy thermometer registers 260 degrees F, about 20 minutes.

Reduce the heat to medium-low. Mix in the hazelnuts, butter, and salt (the mixture will be thick and nutty), and cook until the thermometer registers 295 degrees F, stirring constantly, about 15 minutes. Quickly stir in the baking soda.

Immediately pour the caramel onto the prepared baking sheet, spreading it as thinly as possible. Let stand until hard.

Break the brittle into pieces and store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Chocolate-Covered Pretzels

Really no recipe here...melt some chocolate chips (or use melting chocolate to save yourself some hassle), dip pretzels until coated, and let cool on wax paper.

Peppermint Bark

recipe from bettycrocker.com

1 package (16 ounces) vanilla-flavored candy coating (almond bark), broken into pieces
24 hard peppermint candies or about 10-12 candy canes

Cover cookie sheet with waxed paper, aluminum foil or cooking parchment paper. Place candy coating in 8-cup microwavable measure or 2-quart microwavable casserole. Microwave uncovered on High 2 to 3 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds, until almost melted. Stir until smooth.

Place peppermint candies in heavy plastic bag; crush with rolling pin or bottom of small heavy saucepan. Pour crushed candies into wire strainer. Shake strainer over melted coating until all of the tiniest candy pieces fall into the coating; reserve the larger candy pieces. Stir coating to mix evenly.

Spread coating evenly on cookie sheet. Sprinkle evenly with remaining candy pieces. Let stand about 1 hour or until cool and hardened. Break into pieces.

Fantasy Fudge

(found on back of Kraft Marshmallow Creme jar or on kraftfoods.com)

3 cups sugar
3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter or margarine
1 small can (5 oz.) evaporated milk (about 2/3 cup)
1-1/2 pkg. (12 squares) Baker's Semi-Sweet Chocolate, chopped
1 jar (7 oz.) Jet-Puffed Marshmallow Creme
1 cup chopped walnuts (...I omitted these)
1 tsp. vanilla

Line a 9-inch square pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides of pan; set aside. Place sugar, butter and evaporated milk in large heavy saucepan. Bring to full rolling boil on medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil 4 min. or until candy thermometer reaches 234°F, stirring constantly to prevent scorching. Remove from heat.

Add chocolate and marshmallow creme; stir until completely melted. Add walnuts (if desired) and vanilla; mix well.

Pour immediately into prepared pan; spread to form even layer in pan. Let stand at room temperature 4 hours or until completely cooled; cut into 1-inch squares. Store in tightly covered container at room temperature.

Chex Muddy Buddies

found on the back of Chex cereal boxes

9 cups Corn Chex, Rice Chex, or Wheat Chex (or combination)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Measure cereal into large bowl; set aside.

In 1-quart microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter uncovered on high 1 minute; stir. Microwave about 30 seconds longer or until mixture can be stirred smooth. Stir in vanilla. Pour mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated. Pour into 2-gallon resealable food-storage plastic bag.

Add powdered sugar. Seal bag; shake until well coated. Spread on waxed paper to cool. Store in airtight container .

A Real Southern Meal

Though I was born and raised in the South, my cooking style doesn't tend to follow traditional Southern meals. But that doesn't mean I don't enjoy them! So, last Thursday, John and I had some family over to watch the Saints Thursday night game, and we decided to cook gumbo and bread pudding. Unfortunately, the game didn't turn out as great as the meal (...it seems to be a trend...maybe I need to stop serving food during football games!). We're not very good as measuring, so the recipe may not be very exact - but half the fun of cooking is using your own creativity!

Crawfish & Sausage Gumbo

(adapted from recipes from gumbocity.com)

1 cup flour
1 cup vegetable oil
1 bunch celery, chopped
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 white onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 can stewed tomatoes, roughly chopped & liquid reserved
1 1/2 cups okra, sliced
5 cups chicken stock
1 lb crawfish
1 1/2 pounds sausage (we used andouille)
Cayenne pepper
1 bay leaf
fresh parsley
fresh thyme
fresh basil
salt, pepper, & Tony's seasoning


First, you need to make the roux. Add the oil to a large stock pot over medium-low heat. Slowly and gradually whisk in the flour, stirring constantly.


Keep stirring - constantly - as the roux darkens to a light brown. This may take about 20 minutes or so. As the color darkens, the flavor will develop...just be careful not to burn it or it will not be usable. (If it smells burnt or you see black specks in the roux, it's burnt.)


Right before you get it to the color you want, turn off the heat and add the celery, bell pepper, onion, and garlic. This will help keep the roux from cooking further.


Turn the heat back on low and let the veggies cook a bit; then add the stewed tomatoes (with the liquid) and the chicken stock. Add the okra, sausage, and the herbs & seasonings and let cook for about 20-30 minutes on low.

Add the crawfish and more seasoning, if needed. Let cook for another 15 minutes.

Serve immediately, or allow to cool and put in refrigerator overnight. Serve with white rice.




Bread Pudding

Use this recipe as a base and make it your own by adding to the bread pudding (chunks of chocolate, blueberries, raisins, raspberries, etc.) or by mixing up the sauces. We actually made this twice during this week...once with white chocolate sauce and then again with blueberries added to the bread pudding and topped with a praline sauce...so I'm including both sauce recipes. Mix and match - almost anything goes!

1 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs
6 cups bread cubes
1/2 cup pecans , roughly chopped

Heat oven to 350ºF. Grease bottom and side 8x8 pan.

Mix all ingredients except bread cubes and pecans in large bowl until well blended. Stir in bread cubes. Let mixture stand 30 minutes to 1 hour, gently mixing occasionally to ensure all the bread is moistened.

Spoon into pan. Arrange pecans on top of pudding.

Bake 50 to 60 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Let stand 5 minutes. Serve warm, drizzled with one of the sauce recipes below. Refrigerate any remaining pudding.

White Chocolate Sauce

8 oz. white chocolate
3 oz. heavy cream

Stir white chocolate in a sauce pan over low heat until chocolate is melted. Remove from heat and mix in heavy cream. Serve immediately.

Praline Sauce

1 tablespoon butter
3/4 cup evaporated milk
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Combine butter and evaporated milk in small sauce pan over low heat. When the butter is melted, gradually stir in brown sugar.

Continue stirring until sugar is dissolved and sauce is thickened. Stir in vanilla extract. Serve immediately.

Bread Pudding with White Chocolate Sauce

Bread Pudding with Praline Sauce