Peppermint Bark, Robyn style

I posted this recipe last year, but am reposting due to it's popularity on pinterest.  I had no idea my blog had gotten pinned over 90 times from this little bit.  So this time, I've put it back up with my new watermark and very clear step-by-step directions.


PEPPERMINT BARK - ROBYN STYLE

So, I love peppermint flavors.  Peppermint mocha?  Yes, please.  Peppermint lifesaver?  Always.  Peppermint Bark?  So divine.

I learned this recipe from the internet a while back.  It basically is a quick candy, which makes it super easy for a gift.  But I'm not a big fan of using candy canes or peppermint starlight mints like most people suggest.  So I use my happy little cheaty method.

This happens to be a favorite of my out-of-town uncle and so I make it every time he comes into town to visit my Grandparents.  So, every few months or so.

I start with one package of Almond Bark Coating.  You can find this in most grocery stores around Christmas time.  When it's not Christmas, it's a little more difficult to find it.  However, if you're willing to say, drive to 8 different stores in the off season, you will eventually find it.  Or, you could use Candy Melts, though they usually cost twice as much per ounce.  Me, I'm a driver.

You also need decorative sugars and peppermint candy oil.

You'll need a microwave safe bowl, a pot holder, a spatula, a spoon, a cookie sheet and parchment paper.

So, rundown:

• One 24 oz. package Almond Bark (or equivalent amount of candy melts)
• Peppermint candy oil (NOT EXTRACT)
• Colorful Sugars (I use seasonal ones... pastels in spring, fall colors in Autumn, etc)

• Microwaves safe bowl
• Pot Holder
• Spatula
• Spoon
• Cookie Sheet
• Parchment Paper 

Spread the parchment paper on the cookie sheet and sprinkle some of the decorative sugars on top.  Set aside.
 
Break the Bark into 3 chunks of four squares.  I break it once along the length and then in the middle.

Melt one 4 square in the microwave safe bowl for a minute on half power.  This is VITAL.  If you do it on full power, you scorch it.

Remove and stir.  Add two drops of peppermint oil.  If fully melted, pour in place.  Use the spatulas to ensure you get it all out of the bowl.

 Repeat until all your chunks are melted and poured in.  Two or three drops of the candy oil per 4square.  Once it's poured onto the cookie sheet, you can shake it a little to even it out or spread it with the spatula.

Sprinkle with the sugars.  The oil provides a perfect amount of peppermint without the pain and drama of crushing candy canes or, God Forbid, starlight mints.  Starlight mints need diamond tips to shatter, swear.

I used to do the whole package at once, but the edges sometimes scorched.  DO NOT SET IN FRIDGE OR FREEZER.  I've learned an ugly lesson from this.  You have to let it set at room temperature.  If you set it in the freezer, it will be difficult to break and it will sweat later.

Once it's set, you can break it up into chunks and then place it in your container, in this case, a little cardboard treat box:

The One where I go to the Quilt Show

So, yesterday began my vacation orgy.  That sounds kind of dirty, when I fact I simply mean I have a gluttonous 10 days free from work and responsibility.

Yesterday has been planned since January.  See, my mom, the great, is a Quilter (Capital Q).  She's also a Quilt Instructor with a special interest in the History of Quilting.  Every time these words come from her mouth, I swear they are capitalized.  So the International Quilt Festival in Houston is a particularly enjoyable event for my mother.  I liken it to Star Wars Celebration for me.  Except, Mom doesn't dress up like a quilt, and much to my disappointment, the security guards are not storm troopers. 

TJay and Silent Rob at Celebration III.  (Or C3P0 as we call it)  See how complete enjoyable I find be arrested by storm troopers?

So, I went along with her, because I actually enjoy conventions in general. And I appreciate the fact that quilting is an art form. And there are thousands of shops that want to take my money. Lucky for them, I can be quite foolish.

This quilt show was particularly exciting for me because I got to ride public transportation.

You're confused, right?  It's okay, I do that to people.   I live in a giant sprawling metropolis with one of the most pathetic excuses for public transport ever.  Buses don't really run outside of the downtownish zones.  Nothing goes to suburbia unless it's at a "park and ride" and so, as a Suburban child, I never got to ride buses.

And then, I started to get Jury Summons.  And they let you ride for free, so I'd go to a park and ride in the morning or Catch a ride into work with a family member who worked downtown.

Wait, there's another important part I may have mentioned before.  I have no sense of direction.  This is part of a visual-spatial learning disability which also effects my ability to do math.  And, frankly, downtown Houston scares the crap out of me.  The minute I pull my car into that tightly compacted grid surrounded by tall buildings, I begin to hyperventilate.  I white knuckle the steering wheel, and I'm almost always muttering a prayer the entire time.  Once I break free and whoosh away from Louisiana Street to I-10 and freedom, I relax.  It's exhausting.

SO!!!!  If it involves downtown, the buses are my best option.  I don't have to drive; I can walk and navigate better.

That's probably why I love Public Transport.  Also, I spent a day in DC riding the Metro rail around the different areas for fun.  It was great.  And LA was dirtier and weirder, but also, great system.

And thus, when we decided to park and ride to the convention center, I almost cried with happiness.

And I forgot to take any photos of us busing it.  Which makes me a little sad.

When we got to the con (That's Convention for you non-conners) we glanced around and headed to the shops.  Then after a few moments, I had guilt for not enjoying the art part, so we headed back to the Expo to view the quilts.  You can't photograph a vast majority of them.  Also, they're quilts and while I appreciate the time and effort they took, I'm not often wowed by them.

And before I go all gallery here, I'd also like to say I pretty much hate all painted quilts.

No, seriously, hear me out, I might channel my mother...

Quilting is an old tradition, several thousand years old.  Piecing together something to make something new is part of an ancient and beautiful tradition.  Taking a giant piece of fabric and painting a picture on it is part of a different tradition.  Sure once you quilt it together it's technically a "quilt" but it's also a big stupid shortcut you took.

So when all these people are ooing and awwwing over some lady's watercolor painting of flowers that she machine quilted I'm like "Next."

So, I didn't take a ton of pictures, because there was just SO MUCH painted and printed fabric crap.

And now, without further ado... a pictorial of my quilt show experience.

Here is the only product I photographed.  So I could go order it online when I win the lottery.

Anyone with 60 bucks to blow on me is welcome to go to http://www.summerskycreations.com/index.html and buy me the complete pattern and kit to make this is welcome to do so.  I mean... OTTERS!  Seriously.  And it's all pieced.  Raw edge applique around the face and so CUTE.

This is made from twist ties.  The story attached said the woman made it while suffering from an illness that caused her to lose her vision.  It was interesting.

Those hexes and yoyos are smaller than my thumbnail.  Are you freaking kidding me?  I ran out of patience looking at it, I'd kill someone if I tried something like this.

There was an exhibit about women and suffering.  I know I said I didn't enjoy painted quilts, but there is some mixed media in the following set that I was still moved by on an art level.  And as a chick.  I tried to photograph the labels and stuff, too, to give the artists credit where it's due (i missed a few.)

Click placard photos to see full description

This piece captured what I feel is the underlying truth of my college years

The next exhibit was the Hoffman Challenge.They give you a fabric and have you design a quilt around it.  The fabric was lavender.  So it was a giant mess of purple crap and I about died happy.  Here are some of my favorites.

The whole thing was overlaid with a shimmer tulle.  It looked underwater.  So pretty.

Oh the color love.

SO PRETTY

This next piece was part of a black and white challenge.  There were a significant number of political pieces here, but this one drew me.  Dragons!  I LOVE DRAGONS!!!!

Hardcore Bitch nails.  Love them.

And now a few random pieces from the expo...

CANADA!!!!!!

Number 6 is a hardcore little girl.  <3s

The titles on the books are from labels, selvedge and patches.  I ADORE that idea!

Convention Food is always Awesome.  Best. Taco. Salad. Ever.

THE END!!!  Leave comments below so I can earn a penny or two for all my hard work yesterday :o)

A Sunday of Productivity

I'd love to say that my life has been so full, I've been completely incapable of sitting in front of a computer to blog.  But that is a little bit of a lie.  the truth is, I've been idle.  I like to think of it as idyll, because it's been peaceful and enjoyable to be under the comfy covers by 8:30, curled up with a good ebook.

Oh, right, the ebook.  I never thought I would be that technological with my reading, because I do so enjoy reading actual books, but my phone has a nook app, and it's backlit.  So... I've been married to it.  I've spent my "free time" the last 2 weeks in the world of Percy Jackson.

Hellooooooooooooo, Perce!

And would I love to tell you that my obsession with Percy Jackson is due to this guy ------->

Because... Seriously.  Damn.  (and he's over 18, so it's okay for me to be a smidge cougarish over here.)

But it's not.  The fact that Percy got the most adorably impish and perfect face for the movie is not the reason I love the stories.  And the casting of Percy and the big three gods is about ALL the movie got right, but I'm not going into that.

No, I'm into these stories because I am a Greek Myth Nerd.  When I was very young, my mom had a copy of Edith Hamilton's Mythology.  I read it all the time.  I was fascinated by the awesomeness of the stories.  They had everything, adventure, death, power, good versus evil... It was great stuff.  (she also had a fantastic book of Celtic Myths and legends that I adored as much.)

When I was in elementary school, I fell in love with Perseus, the hero of Clash of the Titans.

"Be in awe of my awesome Farrah Hair."

 The original, because Harryhausen monsters are the best, and I still have nightmare visits from Calibos.

Harryhausen is the Bomb with Phantoms, yo.

I took Latin in high school because they didn't offer Greek.

I LOVE ancient literature.  Ask any of the women I made crossdress to put on an all female version of Trojan Women for my senior Theatre project.

So, when I found out Rick Riordan, writer of the Tres Nevarre books (another one of my guilty pleasures), wrote kids books, I was sold.  I read these books the way I'd read Harry Potter books.  As a genuine Kidult.  An adult with the wide-eyed awe of a child.

Then, see, they stopped for a bit.  And the stories came back, but I didn't pick up the Lost Heroes books.  Until about 2 weeks ago.  And now, I've read all three of those, too.  And, since I couldn't bear the thought of waiting a full year for the next lost heroes book to come out, I've been devouring the original series again in ebook form, thanks to gift cards from students.

So, for the last two weeks, when I haven't been at my soul-sucking job, I've been fully immersed in a fictional world of gods and monsters and magic.  (and also, I read on my lunch breaks at my soul-sucking job.)

And THAT is why I didn't blog about my Sunday of Productivity when it happened.


It started simply enough with a pin.  Apple Fritter Cake.  About a month ago, I repinned this with every intention of making it.  And it sat in the back of my head.

"Hey, Robyn," it whispered, "I'm full of cinnamony goodness.  I'm crispy and gooey and sweet and hearty.  I'm what you've always wanted in a dessert."

And I'd remind it that there wasn't a churro involved, so it wasn't the perfect dessert.

"Put vanilla ice cream on me, serve me with a warm cinnamon churro..."

The Apple Fritter Cake is pretty persuasive.

So last Sunday, I was determined to make the cake.  I bought the apples and I prepared to make history with the best dessert to ever emerge from my oven.

Also, bout 2 weeks ago, I saw another pin, for homemade laundry soap.  And then, on Friday, my mother suggested we make Beef Stew.

So I said "Why not do all three?"

There is more to this Sunday than you even know...  So I shall segue awkwardly into the next part...

In late September, one of my dearest friends suffered a spinal injury.  She is currently residing in a rehabilitation center in Chicago.  She's lonely there.  And I have to go visit her.  It's not a "want" it's a compulsion, a need, a calling from God that must be answered.  This happened to me once before, when another dear friend lost her mother.  Two weeks later I was on a road trip to Macon, Georgia, to spend Christmas with her, so she didn't have to do it alone.  It's a pulling feeling in my gut telling me it's the right thing to do.

So, I must get to Michele. 

So, my Sunday began at the grocery store picking up the items for beef stew, apple fritter cake and laundry soap.

The Apple Fritter Cake recipe can be found here:
http://nerdybaker.wordpress.com/2011/11/18/apple-fritter-cake-and-ufos/

The soap recipe can be found here:
http://whynotsew.blogspot.com/2010/08/how-to-make-homemade-laundry-detergent.html

I started by grating the soap.  And starting the meat.

THIS IS DANGEROUS, so don't forget which pot is which...

 Once the stuff in the laundry pot started boiling, I whipped it up in about 10 minutes.  I used old Purex bottles from my recycling bin, so I didn't have to worry about cleaning out milk jugs.  The soap works.  The clothes smell clean, not fragranced, but cleaned.  After a few days, though, it's a bit chunky, so i shake the crap out of it before using it. 

Then it was time to drain the beef and rinse it.  I always do this with meat.  I always drain it and rinse it, to get off the grease and fatty stuff.  Here is the meat browning:

 After that was done, I tossed it in the crock pot with one can of corn, liquid in, one bag of frozen stew veggies (Kroger brand), one can of family sized Campbell's tomato soup and one can of water (from soup can.)  Then I put in red pepper flakes, chili powder and a ton of shallot pepper.  then I left it for 6 hours.

Have I mentioned Penzey's Spices?  www.penzeys.com/   Bookmark it.

 Then I began the Apple Cake.

I was SO EXCITED!!!!

Here are pictures:

Here is what I have to say:

I doubled the amount of apples.  Because I love them.  But I kept the other measurements the same.  Except the cinnamon.  I don't measure cinnamon, I just pour until an inner voice says "It is done."  I don't think there is ever enough.

The cake itself is bland.  It needs nutmeg.  Put nutmeg in there.  Up the cinnamon to at least double.  But also, the cake is AWESOME.  It is moist and perfectly textured.  I'm going to try it with a million different fruit fillings.

My glaze was very runny, but I have trouble with glazes, so that might have been me.

It was also a pretty big hit with my most difficult critic... The little brother.  He is the Anti-Mikey.  He is very picky.  He doesn't like anything.  But he liked this cake.

In the midst of ALL of this, I google mapped my trip and checked out hotels on hotels.com

I am terrified about this trip.  I am not an affluent person, so this is a scrimped trip.  I plan to drive straight through because I do not have the budget for a hotel stay on the ride up or down.  It's Houston to Chicago.  I've done Houston to Macon so many times, and that's a few more mile, I'm confident there.

But Penny, my precious car, is giving me fits right now.  her tie rods are doing something i have to fix, and her check engine light is on for the upteenth time, and I have no idea if she's feeling well, although she has a new transmission, and accelerator pedal thingy (I'm not car-literate)

So, next weekend will be all about me fixing up Penny post payday to prepare.

And I'm excited.  I love road trips.  I love solo driving because no one can roll their eyes if I feel the need to sing a mix of show tunes, country and alternative rock loudly.  I'm stoked to go to Chicago, because I have never been (and a little worried I'll get lost for the same reasons)

But on top of all of this, I am determined.  Because I NEED to do this.  And I will do this.  Everything is going to work out, and it's going to end with an awesome, tearful, much-needed reunion with one of my besties followed by long periods of gossip truly worthy of Wesleyannes.

In fact, this trip, as daunting as it seems, is the only thing keeping me going at my soulsucking job right now, because I'm losing my mind there, every day I feel a little less equipped to be a teacher.  I force myself out of bed because I have to, I have to go make money so I can go on this trip.  It's a quest, even.  I have a quest, and I will not be deterred by monsters or ill-mannered children or helicopter parents or coworkers who say hateful, hurtful things about me in front of my students.  I will not fail.

Well, this is the longest update EVER, and I'm officially done typing.  I need to get back to "sea of Monsters" now.  They just found the donut shop.  And donuts sound kinda good...

Remember this:

Today is Make a Difference Day.  You can make a difference in someones life with something simple... a smile... a kind word... (A comment on this blog entry)...

Reach out today.  It doesn't take a doctor to save a life.


:o)
Robyn

Et tu, Brucake?

Well, it's October, and all my draft posts with ideas and random vignettes have pretty much expired, so you're just getting this regular old post.  I've lost 5 pounds this week.  It hasn't been easy avoiding stuff.  Tuesday was a staff meeting complete with vast amounts of sweet desserts including my most favorite candy of all time.  Bottle Caps.  I love them so much, I think they can even be called my "most favoritest."  I took the box, but, it's still over half full and I've been giving it away to people to eat some, too.

So, yeah, I've been dieting, which I hate to do, but, really, I was just in a funk and had nothing better to do with my life than see how much weight I can lose in six months.  I'm already down 5 pounds, so I'm thinking I'll be super model skinny before you even know it.

But don't worry.  I still managed to make some cutey cupcakes today.

Randomly, it's Clergy Appreciation Month, and I'm trying to come up with the perfect cupcake to give to my ministry team at church.  I go to a Lutheran Church, so they have this thing about wearing red on Reformation Sunday, and I think I might go with Red Velvet cupcakes.  Last year, I did little Halloween one.  They were tasty, but also, generic.  Sooooo... If anyone knows of the best red velvet recipe ever, I'm taking submissions in the comments below. 

So, on to today.

A few days ago, I was in Kroger.  And I came across these killer cupcake decorations... literally...

Wilton always tempts me to make cupcakes with their kitchy little decorations for the holidays, and I can usually resist, but , DAMN, these were too awesome...

Royal Icing Knife Decorations by Wilton.

Aren't they adorable in that sorta twisted way?

So I bought them.

But I couldn't eat cupcakes because I'm calorie counting or some bupkiss like that.

Then I remembered the one point cupcake.  You take a cake mix, usually the "low sugar variety" and mix it with a 12 ounce diet beverage.  Voila!  50 calorie cupcake!

So I whipped up these cupcakes. 

And I frosted them with 3/4 tablespoons of light, whipped, frosting (40 calories)

And I got Red decorating gel, and I used gel icing color in copper to make the candy apple red a little bloodier.  And...


TA DA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

The cake mix didn't make a full 2 dozen cupcakes, so there were extra daggers.  So I made an e, tu, Brucake.  Let that sink in for a moment.

Yeah, there we go. 

AND! 

Then Fall, Caesar... 

And in life news, I'm in the praise band at my church as a rotating vocalist.  There are 4ish of us who rotate in and out with the regulars.  Today I am just beginning the upswing on my recovery from laryngitis.  And I was pretty much sotto voce to put it nicely.  (In my technical terms, I sounded like peter brady when it was time to change).

I didn't want to tank the couple of female vocals heavy songs we did today, so I said a little prayer that my voice would recover long enough for church.

It didn't happen.  It was reedy.  And gravelly, and I had trouble sustaining notes for any decent amount of time.  

So I was disappointed that I didn't get my prayer answered :o(

And then, people came up to me and told me how great it sounded.  So...

obviously it was much easier for God to much with their ears than cause super vocal healing.  And now I know next time to just be like "Lord, let them hear Mariah Carey though I be William Hung.  Amen"  And He'll make it so.

The End.