Salted Nut & Cranberry Bark for the Twelve Sweets of Christmas!

I love to make folks smile at parties, at holiday gatherings, at picnics... whatever the occasion. And if I can make them smile with something EASY.... Well, better yet!

This one is easy peasy, and there's really no reason why you shouldn't have "bark" on your cookie or candy trays this Christmas season because it's popular, wonderful, delicious and simple.

That's a recipe worth keeping!

Here's what I used but you can use other melting wafers ( I like these best because the flavor is superior to all the others in my humble chocolate-loving opinion.)

I used mixed nuts, but salted peanuts or almonds or pecans would be fine!

I used dried sweetened cranberries but dried cherries or blueberries would work fine, too! Or don't use fruit if you want a straight "nutty-crunch" bark.

So here's what you do:

3 cups melting wafers
1 1/2 cups salted nuts
3/4 cup dried fruit (if desired. Cranberries, blueberries, cherries....)

Melt chocolate wafers (white or regular chocolate) in a bowl over a warm pot of water...

The Ghirardelli wafers have a microwave choice too, but I like the old-school  bowl-over-hot-water method. And they promise the wafers don't need to be "tempered" (slowly keeping temps moving up by adding cold chocolate to melty chocolate....) and so far, so good! Nothing has turned grayish!!!

Cover a cookie sheet with one or two layers of aluminum foil. If it's the thinner stuff, I'd use two layers....

Add nuts and fruit (or nuts alone) to chocolate. Stir. Spread in pan. Let cool until hard.

Break into pieces.

Serve.

Delicious.

Popular.

Easy.

All you're doing is MELTING CHOCOLATE and then stirring stuff into it.

Everyone can do this! That's why it's a favorite!!!

And to celebrate our joy in the season... and our joy as authors.... we're doing daily prizes right now, and today I'm giving away two e-copies of "Silent Night, Star-lit Night", part of the Second Chance at the Star Inn series from St. Martin's Press...

Set in the hills of northern Oregon, in a little town called Heywood... two travelers get caught at a beautiful, old-fashioned inn. Nearly nine months pregnant, with all the drama that entails, a young widow faces choices she never dreamed she'd have to make... and she was pretty sure she didn't need the help of her old friend, cowboy Jed Taylor... but when the two of them get caught in a slow-moving blizzard, sweet lessons of life, love, faith and time are given the chance to evolve in their own way... with the help of an inn manager conveniently named "Angel"... and is it a coincidence that the inn boasts a bright, shining star on the roof? A star that guides travelers on their way.

Leave a comment below and we'll happily tuck your name into the drawings! And to all of you, a very Merry Christmas from me... and the entire Herne/Blodgett family in upstate New York and the whole crew of the cafe!

And here's a glimpse of what's been happening at Ruthy's Place this week:

We live in an OLD farmhouse. We love it. Every time we fix one thing, we break two others... sigh...

But this floor renovation went well and today we get to move furniture back... and put up a Christmas tree! Oh, happy day!  This is what the floor looked like under the carpet (you've all seen old carpet, I figured you didn't need that pic!) Notice the cut-out for the heat grate?

Oh, this was well-weathered and looks mighty thirsty!

We had a professional refinisher come in to do the floor because he's great... and reasonable... and he's so careful with how he handles things! This is the sanded floor, letting dust settle.

Here we are with the first coat of finish... Isn't it beautiful?

And I've got a fun group of kids who come here after school for homework help... and this is what it looks like when there's only one table available because the other rooms are pulled apart...  I'm betting that not a whole lot of quality studying got done on Tuesday!

And the reason for the season, outside, during Advent, our season of waiting:

Baby Jesus and the herald angel... Coming soon!

From all of us, to all of you: Merry Christmas!