No Fail Chocolate Pecan Fudge

Today I'm sharing my favorite sweet Christmastime goodie. Chocolate Pecan Fudge.  Doesn't fudge just scream IT'S CHRISTMAS?  My Grandma Patterson used to always have fudge and peanut clusters sitting around the house during the holidays.  I asked her for the fudge recipe one time.  She giggled and said sweetie I just use the recipe on the back of the chocolate chip bag.  The one that uses evaporated milk.  It never fails!  

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Here's what you'll need:

3 cups sugar

10 oz evaporated milk

4 tablespoons of butter

1/2 tsp salt

4 cups mini marshmallows

3 cups chocolate chips

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup chopped pecans

Line a 9x13 pan with foil.  Chop the pecans.  Combine the chocolate chips and marshmallows in a bowl.  Have the vanilla ready to go.

Combine sugar, evaporated milk, butter, and salt in a medium size thick saucepan.  Bring the mixture to a full rolling boil over medium heat, stiring constantly.  Boil for 5 minutes again stirring constantly.

The mixture will come to a boil on medium heat!  Don't go higher than this.

It is VERY important to start the 5 minute countdown when the mixture is at a full rolling boil.  It should look like this.


After 5 minutes turn off the heat, pour in the marshmallows, chocolate chips, and then the vanilla.  Stir until combined and melted.  Add the pecans.  Stir until combined.  Pour the fudge into the prepared pan.  Let cool for 15 minutes or so then cover and place in the refrigerator for 2 hours or until firm.  Lift fudge from the pan and cut into 1 inch pieces as needed.  

The fudge is best eaten at room temperature. So creamy and chocolatey!

Enjoy,

Shannon

Grandmother Bennett's Famous Chex Mix

Hi ya'll!  This is my all time favorite salty Christmastime goodie.  Usually I don't get overly excited about savory foods, but even the thought of this Chex Mix makes my mouth water.  Grandmother Bennett bumped up the original spices and came up with a mix that is out of this world.  Absolute perfection!  


I always double the recipe when I make it so I can add in lots of Cheez-It's and Bugles.  


PRINTABLE RECIPE
Here's what you'll need:
12 tablespoons of butter
6 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
5 teaspoons of Lawry's seasoned salt
2 teaspoons of garlic powder
1 1/2 teaspoons of onion powder
3 cups Corn Chex
3 cups Rice Chex
3 cups Multigrain Cheerios
4 1/2 cups Cheez-It's
4 1/2 cups Bugles
2 cups mixed nuts
2 cups pretzels
2 cups garlic bagel chips or rye chips

Preheat the oven to 250.  Put butter in a roasting pan and melt in the oven.  While the butter is melting combine the cereals, chips, nuts, etc.  Remove roasting pan from the oven when butter is completely melted and stir in the seasonings.  Dump in the cereal mixture and stir to coat.  Cook for 1 hour stirring every 15 minutes.  When done spread the mixture out on paper towels to cool.  Once cool store in an airtight container or baggie.

Beware - this stuff is addictive!  Share with your friends and families.  They will love you!


Cheers,
Shannon


This recipe is linked with the following parties.  Stop by and see what other bloggers are cooking up.


Simply Sweet Home - Holly Bloggy Christmas Recipe Party

The Biggest Most Amazing Gingerbread House I've Ever Seen!

Hey Ya'll!  Happy Monday!  


This past Friday "G" and I went to uptown Charlotte for "G's" company holiday party.  FYI - In Charlotte uptown is what most of us refer to as downtown.  We have lived here 3 1/2 years and I'm still not used to that.  Anyways, about a week before the party "G" called me one day and said "Let's stay the night in uptown after the party".  Woo Hooo!  I love hotels!  To our surprise several of the hotels uptown were sold out.  Really?  Well we eventually found an available room at the Ritz Carlton.  Fancy Smanshy!  I've never stayed at a Ritz Carlton before.  I couldn't wait!


Do you believe things happen for a reason?  Whether it be something small or something life changing.  I do.  If we had stayed at any other hotel we would have never seen this!

The World's First Green Gingerbread House.  It was huge!  10 feet high by 14 feet wide.  It was AMAZING!

Here is what the sign said:

Welcome to the World's First GREEN GINGERBREAD HOUSE.

The Ritz Carlton, Charlotte is proud to present the first-ever environmentally-friendly, all- organic Gingerbread House.

Designed and created by the hotel's engineering and culinary teams, our holiday house measures 10 feet high by 14 feet wide and is made of recycled building materials and all organic culinary components.  Its green "vegetated" moss roof is inspired by the eco-minded roof of The Ritz-Carlton, Charlotte itself.

Ingredients of our edible estate includes

500 pounds of organic white, brown, and confectioner's sugar

80 pounds of organic egg whites

300 pounds of organic bread flour

160 organic eggs

48 pounds of molasses

5 pounds of salt

6 pounds of baking soda

160 pounds of shortening

4 pounds of cinnamon

20 gallons of organic milk

3 pounds each of nutmeg, allspice, and cloves

1 pound of ginger powder

The Gingerbread House caused the entire lobby to smell heavenly and like the holidays.  It was perfect!


Here are some more photos.

I turned the flash off on my camera so you could see how the inside of the house was lit up and glowing through the candy windows.


Then the flash came back on to try and show the crazy detail on the house.

I wonder how long it took the teams to complete the project?


The hotel even had a complimentary hot chocolate bar to enjoy.  It was delicious!

Let me say - I think even scrooge would be in the holiday mood after coming into the Ritz!


So we checked in and went up to the room.  It was beautiful. 

Here is the hot happening place in uptown. Epicenter. 

Check this out!  A TV in the bathroom mirror!  OMG we want one of these!

In all the excitement we didn't get pictures of us until after the holiday party.  Not to bad for midnight!  

Thanks "G" for a wonderful night out!  Love you!

Sausage and White Bean Soup

It's frigging freezing people! Look my toes are turning black from a lack of warmth {hee, hee}.   I think I have frostbite!

Seriously though, I think the current conditions are making me delirious!  I'll prove my point below.  I went to get my nails done today for an upcoming holiday party.  Let me share with you that my nails have not been painted in a looooooooong time.  At least 5 years.  This is because the silly polish never lasts for more than one day which is so annoying.  So the last time I had a pedicure the girls were telling me about a gel nail polish that will last for 2 or 3 weeks and it is not damaging to the nails like acrylic.  Really, now that I'm going to have to try?  I dream about having long sexy painted nails, but that's just not my reality.  I am way to hard on my hands for my own nails to grow long and acrylic is just so damaging I can't stand it.  Maybe this gel nail polish will do the trick!

Anyways, I went in today to get done up and hit a snag.  The gel nails come in limited colors.  So I had to pick a color for my nails AND a color for my toes.  Just picking one color would have been so much simpler!  Since my dress is a deep eggplant color I picked the only dark non red color that was available for the nails.  And then I picked a dark purple color for my toes.  Yes I said purple.  Do those toes look purple?  Have I gone color blind due to the freezing cold?  Usually I'm pretty good with colors.  What happened, LOL?   I swear that polish only looked one shade darker than the gel nail polish in the bottle.  

Oh well.  I figure only my big toe will be peeping through my shoes and I'll have black hose on anyways.  No one's going to know the difference.  And seriously only someone with a foot fetish would notice anyways {giggles, giggles, giggles}

So to warm up my brain and stop the delirium I want to share a recipe I saw and slightly adapted from Mommy's Kitchen for Sausage and Bean Soup.  

{ I promise to start sharing some Christmas goodies next week.  If I have a bunch of goodies around the house I'll never fit into my dress! Which would be horrible! }

Ahhh, my brain is thawing out just looking at the photo!

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Here's what you'll need:

2 links of spicy Italian sausage, casings removed 

1 tablespoon of olive oil

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 clove garlic minced

1 teaspoon fresh rosemary or 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

15 ounce can northern beans, drained and rinsed

4 to 5 cups of chicken broth

14.5 ounce can of Italian diced tomatoes

1/2 cup ditalini pasta

1/4 cup parmesan or romano cheese

Heat olive oil in a pan.  Remove casings from the sausage and brown until almost done.

Add in the onion and garlic and continue to cook until the sausage is browned.

Add in the chicken broth, tomatoes, beans, and spices.  Simmer for 15 minutes.

Note - don't use dried rosemary leaves!  I threw this in before I noticed I had picked up the wrong jar.  Use dried crushed rosemary.  This way you won't feel like you're eating grass in your soup.  I tell you it's a wonder I can cook somedays.

Add in the pasta and simmer 7 more minutes.

Sprinkle each bowl with a little cheese and serve with crackers or crusty Italian bread.

       

Hopefully if you're freezing, like me,  this will thaw you out and allow you to think straight :-)!

Enjoy!

Shannon

20 Minute Tacos

I'm alive! I've missed you!

Gosh it seems like forever since a new recipe has gone up on the blog!  The hustle and bustle of the holidays is officially here my friends.  Are your lives getting crazier by the day?  Is your shopping/wrapping done? Decorations up? Treats made? Travel plans in place?  House ready for guests?  I have to say I'm falling behind this year.  

AND to top it off the cold weather has arrived.   It's 28 friggin degrees right now.  And going down to 16 tonight!  Holy Smokes I just can't warm up lately. Unless of course it's 2:00 am and I'm on fire!  Hormones are a b...c! I'm sure you can fill in the blanks on that one {giggles and winks}.  

Well anyways with crazy days we all need a quick meal to put on the table.  These tacos are surprisingly simple and full of flavor without using a mix.  Now I'm not above using a taco mix, but this is a nice change from tacos with a ton of chili powder in them.  

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Here's what you'll need:

1/4 cup finely diced bell pepper

1/4 cup finely diced onion

1/4 cup finely diced celery

1 pound of lean ground beef

1 1/2 Tablespoons of Tex Mex spice (you will find the Tex Mex Spice about 1/2 way down the page)

Mix together the veggies and tex mex spice in a COLD skillet.

Place the meat on top of the veggie spice mixture in the COLD skillet.  Turn the burner on to a medium heat.  When the meat starts to simmer, stir and break up.  Simmer on low for 20 minutes stirring and breaking up the meat as needed.  I forgot to take the picture of the taco meat when it was done - opps {giggles}.  But, I'm sure you know what browned hamburger looks like.

While the meat is cooking make some mexican rice.  This is our all time favorite boxed mexican rice.  No others compare!  They don't even come close.  This is our opinion and not a paid advertisement.  Nueva Cocina has no idea we even exist!

This rice is as close to restaurant style that you're gonna get out of a box.  Trust me!

Put your favorite toppings on your tacos.  Plate it up and enjoy!

Cheers,

Shannon

Homemade Chicken and Noodles - The Ultimate Comfort Food!

Homemade Chicken and Noodles are the ULTIMATE fall/winter comfort food! I have fond memories of my grade school friend's grandmother making them almost every time she visited.  The whole house smelled heavenly while it was cooking.  Every now and again I have tried to duplicate her chicken and noodles with no luck.  My chicken broth always turned out good but I just couldn't get the noodles or finished consistency correct.  So disappointing!  


The other day Rhondi, one of my blogger friends, posted her grandmothers recipe for chicken and noodles.  Just reading her post I could smell the deliciousness and was inspired to try again.  Her grandmothers noodles were perfect, and I used a flour slurry to thicken the broth that was spot on.  


Woo Hoo!! {dancing around the kitchen} Got it!  


Try it, I bet you'll like it!  Maybe even love it!


PRINTABLE RECIPE
What you'll need:
1 chicken
1 large onion
3 or 4 whole carrots, cut into large pieces
2 or 3 celery stalks, cut into large pieces
3 garlic cloves, peeled
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon peppercorns
2 tablespoon salt (1 for the broth, 1 for the noodles)
2 cups all purpose flour
2 large eggs
water




Place the chicken in a large pot.  I would recommend at least an 8 quart pot.  Place the chopped veggies, garlic cloves, bay leaves, peppercorns, and 1 tablespoon of salt on and around the chicken.  Fill the pot with water until it is about 1 inch over the top of the chicken and veggies.  Bring to a simmer, cover, and let it go for 2 hours.

Now get ready to make the noodles.

Place the flour, eggs, and salt in a large bowl.

Stir and slowly add water until you get a stiff dough.

Turn dough out onto a large flour sack towel covered lightly with flour.  Divide dough into two sections and roll out to about 1/4 inch thick.  Use plenty of flour to keep the dough from sticking.

Using a pizza cutter cut thin vertical strips and then come back and make horizontal cuts however long you like your noodles.  The noodles will puff up while cooking so keep that in mind when cutting.  Let rest and dry until the chicken is done.

After 2 hours.  Pull the chicken out of the broth.  The chicken will literally fall apart.  I use tongs and a slotted spoon to get it out.  

When cool enough to handle separate the meat, skin, and bones.  Discard the bones and skin.  Set chicken meat aside.

So now we need to strain the broth.

Place a large bowl in the sink.

Place cheesecloth, or coffee filters torn open, in a colander.

Pour the broth into the colander and let drain into the bowl.  Using the back of a spoon push all the juice out of the veggies.

So here it is.

Pour the broth into a gravy separator in batches. Then pour only the broth back into the original pot.  It's hard to see in the photo but there is about a 1/4 to 1/2 layer of fat on the top.  Discard the fat.  Reserve 1 cup of broth for the flour slurry we'll be mixing in at the end.  

Bring the broth to a boil.  In small batches drop in the noodles stirring to make sure they don't stick together.  Once they are all in let them boil 20 to 25 minutes. 

Add chicken back in and bring back to a simmer.  In a small bowl add 1/2 cup of flour to the 1 cup of reserved chicken broth.  Whisk.  Make sure there are no lumps or your chicken and noodles will be lumpy!  Slowly pour the mixture into the broth mixture stirring constantly.  Let simmer for a few minutes to thicken.  

Voila your done!  A little time consuming but so worth it!  Serve alone or for the over the top ultimate comfort food serve over mashed potatoes.


Cheers,
Shannon