Andes Mint Chocolate Chip Fudge

​Every time I go to visit my dad, I like to take him a special treat. He does love his sweets, and I know he misses my mom making them. As of this past Saturday, she has been gone now for four years, and it's a tough time for us both, not to mention our extended family.

From the time I was very small, dinner was not dinner without dessert. Ask my hips, and they'll tell you that I am wearing desserts I should have said "no" to. Dad tends to eat nothing but frozen meals because he isn't much of a cook, and has no interest in becoming one, and while I take him what I can, I think he most appreciates the goodies. Over the years I have delivered cookies, coffee cakes, cupcakes, and pie, but I think his favorite must be fudge; I seem to get the biggest reaction from that. One time he told me that he tasted the fudge early in the day, and then kept going back for another nibble. By day's end he realized he had consumed a pound of fudge. I figure anybody who is in as good health as he is, and is as old mature as he is, deserves to eat fudge.

I was looking for new fudge recipes and wanted to do something different to take in the last time I visited. I happened across this one, and it sounded like a winner. It also sounded easy to put together, plus I had everything on hand, so, why not? It was as easy as I’d suspected, and tasted like Andes mints. I am a huge mint and chocolate fan, and figured that the apple hadn't fallen far from the tree. It really hadn't, dad loved this fudge.

Andes Mint Chocolate Chip Fudge*

2-1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided

1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk, divided

1-1/2 cups white chocolate baking chips

1 teaspoon peppermint extract

2 drops green food coloring

1 teaspoon shortening

1/2 cup Andes Crème De Menthe Baking Chips

Line an 8" x 8" baking pan with foil, leaving a two-inch overhang on each side for easy lifting from the pan. Spray foil with non-stick spray and set aside.

In a small saucepan over low heat, melt 1-1/2 cups chocolate chips with 3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk, stirring occasionally. Spread melted chocolate mixture into pan and chill for 5-10 minutes.

In another saucepan, melt white baking chips and remaining condensed milk, stirring until completely smooth. Remove from the heat and add peppermint extract and food coloring. Spread mint layer over chilled chocolate layer. Chill for 5-10 minutes as you make the final layer.

Melt remaining 1 cup of chocolate chips with 1 tsp shortening in the microwave in 30-second increments. Stir until completely smooth. Spread over chilled mint layer. Top with Andes baking chips. Refrigerate at least 2 hours or until fudge is completely set (could take up to 4 hours).

Using foil edges, carefully lift from pan onto cutting board. Peel away foil and cut into squares. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to two weeks. According to the recipe, this fudge will freeze and thaw well, but, honestly, is fudge ever around long enough to necessitate freezing?

*As seen on Sally's Baking Addiction

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Slow Cooker Christmas Day Taco Soup

It just occurred to me that I have not yet shared with you an easy soup recipe that simmers all day in the slow cooker while you are busy getting a bunch of things done. So, for today's "Sip Some Soup Sunday" I'm going to give you the recipe for the soup that I made on Christmas Day.

There's a bit of a back-story here. On Christmas Day I did nothing other than cook and clean. This is because my big party is on Boxing Day, the day after Christmas. Honestly, I don't mind spending Christmas Day on my own. It's very calming; I can pretty much relax and enjoy myself between frantic bits of cooking and cleaning. I'll binge watch Christmas movies on television, always have a nice fire going in the fireplace, and it's become a bit of a ritual for me over the past number of years. Around about noon I came to the realization that while I was making all kinds of food for my party the next day, I hadn’t done anything about feeding myself that day. So, I opened up the pantry grabbed a wide variety of ingredients, all with a bit of a Mexican theme, and tossed them into the crockpot while I browned some ground chuck. As it cooked, the house was filled with the most wonderful spicy aroma, and by day’s end I dug into a most welcome and fabulous soup. This is an easy one, and it's really good.

 Slow Cooker Christmas Day Taco Soup

1 pound ground chuck, crumbled, browned, and drained

2 Tablespoons taco seasoning

1 medium sweet onion, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

½  cup Melissa's Fire Roasted Sweet Red Bell Peppers, chopped

1 15-oz. can black beans, drained

1 15-oz. can corn, drained

1 15-oz. can tomato sauce

1 10-oz. can Rotel tomatoes

1 15-oz. can diced tomatoes

¼ cup Melissa's Hatch Chile Salsa

Dump everything into the slow cooker in the order listed and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Top with whatever tickles your fancy. I used scallions, grated cheese, and crumbled Fritos.

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What’s for Dinner Sunday

Happiness is Homemade Sunday

 Dishing It & Digging It

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  Amaze Me Monday

 Busy Mondays

Happiness is Homemade Monday

 Inspiration Monday

Art of Homemaking Monday
Make it Pretty Monday

Celebrate Your Story
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Slow Cooker Coconut Chicken Curry

These days I am all about finding meals that are quick and easy. I have so many irons in the fire at the moment that I just don't have a lot of time to cook. So, while I was looking through recipes on epicurious.com, I found one called Coconut Chicken Curry in a Hurry, and I knew that was for me. Then I read the recipe. I would have to stand at the stove for 22 minutes! What's quick and easy about that? I don't want to stand at the stove at all. In taking a good look at the recipe, deciding that I wanted no stove time whatsoever, and really did not want to cut chicken breasts into chunks, I adapted it for the crockpot.

You really have to love those crockpots. They make life so darned easy. The recipe turned out wonderfully, and is a great candidate for the freezer. If you're like me, and you don't want to spend your time slaving over a stove, grab your crockpot, set it on your counter, and make it as welcome as any member of your family. That's the way I feel about mine.

Slow Cooker Coconut Chicken Curry

Adapted from epicurious.com

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 1/2 teaspoons mild curry powder

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 medium onion, chopped

1 (14-ounce) can coconut milk (preferably full-fat)

1 (2 1/2") piece ginger, peeled

4 garlic cloves, peeled

5 ounces baby spinach

1 cup frozen peas

Toss chicken with curry powder, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl until well coated. Place breasts into the bottom of a slow cooker. Top with chopped onion.

Purée coconut milk, ginger, and garlic in a blender until very smooth. Pour on top of onions and seasoned breasts.

Cook on low for 5-6 hours. Shred chicken in the crockpot and then stir in spinach and peas; cook an additional 30 minutes. Top with cilantro. Serve with rice or naan alongside.

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 Homestead Wednesday

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Accidental Asparagus Tart

This recipe is the result of my having thawed puff pastry sheets, thinking they were actually piecrusts. In order to save room, I'll often take the puff pastry sheets, shells, and piecrusts out of their respective boxes, and pop them into the freezer as it allows me more packing room. Never in the past have I mistaken one for the other, until now. My intention was to make a ham, Gruyere, and asparagus quiche. Instead I ended up making a ham, Gruyere, and asparagus tart.

What a wonderful mistake this turned out to be! This is one of the easiest things you can possibly make, and quite delicious. I sliced diagonally and served it along with a leafy green salad. You could slice it into bigger squares to serve as a main dish, slice into small squares to serve as an appetizer, or do what I did, and serve it with a side of soup or salad. Whatever you decide to do, you need to give this a try. It is easy, and delicious, and looks a whole lot fancier than it is. What more can one ask?

Accidental Asparagus Tart

1 sheet puff pastry, thawed

½ pound fresh asparagus, cleaned, trimmed, and cut into 1-1/2” pieces

1 cup cubed ham

6 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated

1-2 tablespoons olive oil

Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat.

Place puff pastry onto a cutting board and slice into two equal portions. Using a sharp knife, cut slices into edges of dough about 1" towards the center, all of the way around.

Top each puff pastry rectangle with shredded cheese, asparagus spears, and ham. Drizzle top of tarts with olive oil and cracked pepper.

 

Using a spatula, carefully place onto Silpat-lined baking sheet (or, you can just build them directly onto the Silpat). Bake for 20-25 minutes until asparagus are tender, and pastry is puffed and golden.

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Better than Bread Co.’s* Cream Cheese Potato Soup (*Panera, if you must)

If you were paying attention while reading yesterday's post, then you doubled the amount of jalapeno cream cheese. The reason that I asked you to do that was because of this recipe right here, based upon a copycat for Panera's Cream Cheese Potato Soup. I like their potato soup, but I was looking for more zip and zing. So, when I made that grilled cheese sandwich, I just knew that I was going to use jalapeno cream cheese in making the potato soup. What a huge difference this made in taste! This really kicks potato soup up a big notch, and will make any that you serve memorable. Anybody can make potato soup, but only someone special can make it with a tasty kick like this.

Better than Bread Co.’s* Cream Cheese Potato Soup

 (*Panera, if you must)

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, cut into chunks

1 fresh jalapeno, minced and seeded

1 teaspoon garlic powder

4 cups homemade chicken stock

4 cups peeled and cubed potatoes

¹⁄₄ cup minced onion

¹⁄₂ teaspoon seasoning salt

¹⁄₄ teaspoon white pepper

¹⁄₄ teaspoon ground red pepper

In a large bowl, stir together cream cheese, jalapeño, and garlic powder; set aside.

Combine broth, potatoes, onion, and spices in a medium stockpot. Set over medium heat and bring to a boil. Cook until potatoes are tender, 10-12 minutes depending upon the size of your dice of the potatoes.

Smash a few of the potatoes to release their starch for thickening. Reduce to low heat. Stir in cream cheese/jalapeno mixture, and continue stirring until cheese melts.

Serve, garnished as you see fit. I used chopped scallions, grated smoked cheddar, and homemade croutons.

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This post is linked to: Homemaking Party Tuesday, Wow Us Wednesday, Wine’d Down Wednesday, Wake up Wednesday, Full Plate Thursday,  Thursday Favorite Things, Share Your Style, Coffee and Conversation, and Foodie Friday & Everything Else

Jalapeño Popper Grilled Cheese

Do you ever find yourself unloading bags of groceries upon returning home from the store, asking yourself, "What was I thinking?". I found myself doing this just the other day, when I unloaded a package containing eight fresh jalapeño peppers. Don't get me wrong, I like jalapeños, I just have absolutely no use for eight of them. Not to worry, I do plan on dicing some and freezing them like I do with green peppers as you saw here, but I also planned on trying some new recipes. While rummaging around on the Internet, I happened to find an enticing recipe on delish.com for a Jalapeño Popper Grilled Cheese. As someone who loves both jalapeño poppers and grilled cheese sandwiches, this seemed custom-made for me.

 

This easy-to-make sandwich is a delicious combination of the two. Make the cream cheese mixture ahead of time -- the day before if you like (and you might want to double it, just sayin') -- and the sandwich goes together in a flash. I grilled mine using very little butter in my Copper Chef pan and was enormously pleased with the results. As you can see from the picture, even the melted cheese came out of the pan without a problem, and gave the sandwich lots of extra crunch.

Jalapeño Popper Grilled Cheese

4 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 jalapeño, finely chopped (seeded if desired)

1 tsp. garlic powder

kosher salt

Finely ground black pepper

4 slices french bread (I used sour dough)

2 c. shredded Cheddar

4 slices cooked bacon, halved

In a large bowl, stir together cream cheese, jalapeño, and garlic powder, and season with salt and pepper.

Butter one side of each slice of bread. On the other side of two slices, spread a thin layer of the cream cheese mixture.

In a large skillet over medium heat, add bread with cream cheese mixture, buttered side down. Top with 1/2 cup cheddar and half the bacon, then top with another 1/2 cup cheddar. Top with remaining slice of bread, buttered side up.

Cook until melty and golden, 4 to 5 minutes, then flip and cook 5 minutes more.

Repeat with second sandwich.

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Busy Mondays

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Fruit & Spice Cookies

As I've mentioned on this blog ad nauseam, I am not a baker. But, I am an eater who loves her cookies, and if I'm not going to bake them, who will? The other day I had a hankering for a fruity, spicy, nutty cookie. Something that was really tasty, and a cross between a Joe Frogger and a raisin cookie. So, I grabbed a couple of familiar recipes, substituted here and there, based upon what I had in the pantry, and came up with these. I’m quite pleased! Normally, I don't like a softer cookie, but when it comes to a spicy cookie with a light molasses base, soft and chewy is good. Because this is a recipe I just pulled out of my head, feel free to substitute the walnuts for pecans, and the mixture of currants and golden raisins that I used (that is all that I had at the time) for a full cup of any type of fruit that you have on hand. If you like cookies with lots of taste, you'll enjoy these.

Fruit & Spice Cookies

½ cup salted butter, softened

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon molasses

1 large egg

2 tablespoons water

1½ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

⅛ teaspoon ground cloves

¾ cup currants

¼ cup golden raisins

½ cup walnut halves

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Spray baking sheets with Pam, or line with parchment or a Silpat.

In a large mixing bowl, combine butter, brown sugar, and molasses. Beat on high until light and fluffy. Add egg and water, and beat to combine.

In a medium bowl whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, and cloves. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, beating well. Stir in fruits and nuts.

Using a cookie scoop, drop dough 2 inches apart onto prepared baking sheets.

Bake until edges are golden brown, approximately 12 minutes. Transfer to racks and let cool completely.

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Full Plate Thursday

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Wildly Original
Share Your Style

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Simple Saturday Blog Hop
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