Christmas Treats to Give and Eat - Part Two

In these weeks leading up to Christmas, I'm sharing some favorite holiday treats from the Obi house. Treats that are fun to share with your family, BUT will also bring joy to others. And this week we're continuing to keep things simple with Pretzel Turtles.

When I was growing up, Turtles were one of my favorite candies and every Christmas my Dad would buy a box for him, my mom and me to share. Now I can make my own to share with others.

Here's what you'll need:

• Pretzel Squares (if you can't find the squares, you can use the mini twists)
• Pecan halves
• Individually wrapped soft caramels, unwrapped (I use Werther's)
• Milk chocolate for melting (or dark, if you prefer)

Notice that I didn't give any amounts. That's because you can make as many or few as you like. Just be sure to have equal amounts of pretzels, pecan halves and caramels.

Lightly toast your pecan halves either in a skillet on the stove or it the oven. Roughly 4-6 minutes, just be sure to toss them a time or two and watch them so they don't burn. Once they're toasted, set them aside to cool.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

On a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat or parchment paper, lay out your pretzels and top each with a caramel.

Bake 3-5 minutes, until caramel is soft, but not oozing.

Immediately press a pecan half into each melted caramel.

While those are cooling, melt your chocolate. I put mine in a measuring cup then microwaved it in 30 second intervals, stirring between each, until smooth. You can also melt them on the stove top with a double boiler or nonstick pan over low heat.

Once the pecan-topped caramels are cool, remove them from the pan. Spoon a 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoon puddle of melted chocolate onto the silicone/parchment then carefully drop a pecan-topped pretzel into the middle like so.

Continue until all pretzels are nestled in chocolate.

Cool completely before serving.

These really are to-die-for. Dare I say, even better than the originals. They're sweet and salty chocolatey perfection.

For gift giving, simply place several in a festive tin or a cellophane bag tied with a pretty ribbon. Or simply serve them on a pretty plate. Trust me, your loved one(s) won't care once they bite into these delicious treats.

Will you be giving any gifts from your kitchen this year? If so, what's on your list?

Award-winning author Mindy Obenhaus is passionate about touching readers with Biblical truths in an entertaining, and sometimes adventurous, manner. She lives on a ranch in Texas with her husband, two sassy pups, countless cattle, deer and the occasional coyote, mountain lion or snake. When she's not writing, she enjoys spending time with her grandchildren, cooking and watching copious amounts of the Hallmark Channel. Learn more at mindyobenhaus.com

Homemade Valentine's Treats for Your Sweet

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hubby and I celebrated early with a little time at the ranch before I go under the knife later this week to correct a torn rotator cuff.

I relaxed on the dock with my favorite canine friend.

Hubby and I walked in the woods.

And God gave a beautiful moonrise over the campfire.

But now, the big day is here. The day we celebrate love. The day flower, chocolate and greeting card sales go through the roof.

I remember hubby's and my first Valentine's Day. It was a fiasco.

"Sure we'll go to dinner," he said.

"Have you made reservations?" His realistic wife lifted a brow.

"We don't need reservations," he responded. "It's only Valentine's Day. It's not the big a deal."

Well, after visiting three restaurants with nothing shorter than an hour wait (he does not like to wait), I told him to just run by the grocery store and we could pick up a couple of those surf and turf packages they had on sale and I'd fix dinner at home.

Yeah, you guessed it. They were sold out.

That was the year my husband learned that Valentine's really is a big deal to lots and lots of people. It was also the year I determined we would never attempt to go out again on that day. Instead, I would make something special at home.

I mean, why run to the store when you can show your loved one(s) how special they are by making them some delectable homemade treats, filled with love?

I make these Pretzel Turtles at Christmas, but they are perfect for any time you want a special chocolate treat. And yes, they are easy.

Here's what you'll need:

• Pretzel Squares (if you can't find the squares, you can use the mini twists)
• Pecan halves
• Individually wrapped soft caramels, unwrapped (the only soft caramels I could find were Werther's)
• Chocolate for melting (I've used the milk chocolate chips here, but I've also used the 60% cocoa chips in the past and they're just as yummy)

I'm sure you noticed that I didn't give amounts on anything. That's because you can make as many or as few as you like, just be sure you have equal amounts of pretzels, pecan halves and caramels.

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.

Lightly toast your pecan halves either in a skillet on the stove or in the oven. Roughly 4-6 minutes, but be sure to toss them a time or two and watch them so they don't burn.

Set aside to cool.

On a lined baking sheet (I used a silicone mat, but you can also use parchment paper), lay out your pretzels and top each with a caramel.

Bake 3-5 minutes, until caramel is soft, but not oozing.

Immediately press a pecan half into each melted caramel.

While those are cooling, melt your chocolate. I put mine in a measuring cup then microwave it in 30 second intervals, stirring between each, until smooth. You can also melt them on the stove top with a double boiler or nonstick pan over low heat.

Okay, now that the pecan-topped caramels are cool, remove them from the pan. Spoon a 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoon of melted chocolate onto the silicone/parchment then carefully drop a pecan-topped pretzel into the middle like so.

Continue until all pretzels are nestled in chocolate.

Cool completely before serving.

These really are to-die-for. They're sweet, they're salty, they're chocolately, crispy and gooey.

Perfection.

You could place a few in a cellophane bag and tie with a pretty ribbon or simply serve them on a pretty plate. Trust me, your loved one(s) won't care once they bite into these delicious treats.

Now it's your turn.

Do you have a crazy Valentine's story?

Do you even celebrate Valentine's or simply think of it as another day?

Mindy Obenhaus lives in Texas with her husband and kids. She's passionate about touching readers with Biblical truths in an entertaining, and sometimes adventurous, manner. When she’s not writing, she enjoys cooking and spending time with her grandchildren. Learn more at www.MindyObenhaus.com.

Green Chili Cornbread in Cast Iron Plus Quick and Easy Caramel Sauce!

Hello, everybody! So, those two dishes don't exactly go together but I couldn't decide which to use for the post because they were both SO GOOD!
                                                 
So, I'm not going to give a corn bread recipe because I think everyone has their favorite and we don't want any ugliness, lol.
                                                       
Just use the one you love, and add 4 TBS of mild green chiles to it. You can even use medium chiles. Or the spicy ones. See how easy I am?

 Clearly, I have ulterior motive for posting this recipe and it's not really the recipe.

 (Obligatory dinner shot. This is roast beef, the last of our summer tomatoes, a little salad.)
                                          

Did you catch it yet? No? Well, the post is all about my cute little cast iron pan! Cast iron is hard to find here in the PNW. What we have, we keep. And anything corn bread related is extra hard to find because most people just don't eat cornbread. Not our thing. Never has been. Biscuits, maybe. Fresh baked bread, definitely. Cornbread? Not so often.

 I'd just dropped my boys off with my sister for a fun fishing trip and decided to stop in a little thrift shop. I never go in this shop because... well... four boys under twelve around antique dishware didn't sound so fun for anybody. But I found this little piece and was so excited! I've never seen one "in the wild" and it was only $10! Total score.

 Break for balloon picture. The stampede is still going on I'm telling you, that 4AM wake up is not my thing.
                                           
But I consoled myself with home made caramel sauce! I saw it on Pinterest and was a little skeptical, but it worked. I boiled a can of sweetened condensed milk on a pot of water for three hours. Delicious! Make sure the water covers the cans at all times. After three hours, remove the cans and place in cool water for about twenty minutes. Open and enjoy!

 And a final picture of someone MUCH sweeter than caramel. My little goddaughter, Franny. She's our babysitter's baby. (I introduced you all here during the artisan savory pumpkin rolls. ) Her daddy, a cellar master, is in the middle of "punch down" at the vineyard so we didn't get to see him, but we'll catch up with him next time.  Anyway, every time I see her I want to squeeeeeze her! Those little chubby arms, that soft baby hair, that tiny voice and those sparkly red mary janes... I didn't get a picture of the mary janes. She was too busy playing with our old Fisher Price toys. I played with them, my kids played with them, and now the "next generation" is loving these great toys. And soon, Franny's new baby sister or brother will play with them!

 Until next time! Feel free to drop by my facebook page at Pride, Prejudice and Cheese Grits or my blog at The Things That Last!

Doughnuts and Caramel Sauce

Missy, here. And I had a craving last week. For caramel (pronounced car'-muhl in my world). :) So I started digging through my saved recipes in my Food Network recipe box and found this one for Salted Caramel Sauce (click here). The recipe came from Kelsey Nixon of Kelsey's Essentials. I followed the recipe pretty closely, except for another of my kitchen FAILS, which, frankly, I'm getting tired of! :) But I'll be brave and share my embarrassment once again here on the blog.

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

3/4 cup heavy cream

3 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter (I only had salted)

1 teaspoon gray sea salt, crushed or kosher salt (I only used a pinch of pink Himalayan salt

 and it was plenty salty)

Combine sugar and water and stir over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves.

Increase the heat to medium-high and DO NOT stir. Allow it to boil.

Allow it to boil for 5-6 minutes until it turns amber colored. I could also smell when it was about done. Do not let it turn too dark or it'll be burned!

This looked and smelled perfect.

Remove from the heat. Have your other ingredients ready. On another blog I happened to read yesterday, I found out your cream and butter should be at room temp. So be sure to pull it out ahead of time.

Whisk in the cream. And here's where I messed up. I started pouring the cream and whisking, then stopped a moment to grab the camera to show you the foaming. Um… do not stop whisking! Not for any reason, not even the blog because...

…if you stop mid-whisk, it seizes up on you. Lovely. (big sigh)

Soooo… I finished adding the cream and figured I now needed to somehow rescue my car-muhl. I decided to put it back on the heat (turned down to medium) to re-dissolve the sugar.

It worked! Then I removed it from the heat, added the butter  and salt and whisked that as well.

Once everything is stirred in, put it in a bowl to cool.

And for pure happiness, serve over vanilla ice cream. :) This recipe definitely makes a sauce, not thick caramel. It's pourable and spoonable. But it's nice for serving on top of something.

Speaking of caramel… I took my middle son to the Atlanta Symphony this past Saturday night, and after dropping him off at the dorm, I decided I needed a snack before heading home. I was thrilled to see Sublime Doughnuts was open! He had tried to take me there on multiple occasions but it had always been closed. Check out their menu (click here). Oh my goodness. These doughnuts (which I'd seen featured on TV not long back) were amazing. My son's favorite is the Fresh Strawberry N Cream, which I tried (while driving home, so no photo!). It was truly outstanding. I also bought the Dulche le Leche and Yin Yang Twist.

Pictured below are the Reece's Peanut Butter Cup and the Butter Toffee. Oh my goodness. If you ever get near one of these stores, be sure to go in and try one or a dozen. :)

Visit me at my website! www.missytippens.com