Grandma Ryno's Peanut Clusters

Have y'all noticed that I have posted more in the first 2 months of 2009 than I did in all of 2008? I think this occurred because of 2 reasons: 1. I enjoy this hobby, and I put a lot of my free time into cooking/baking and photographing, and 2. I found out how to automatically post a few weeks ago, which means I write up a whole bunch of things on Sunday (my day off), and they can be automatically posted during the week. How cool is that!?!

On to the recipe...

Grandma Ryno sent us delicious peanut cluster candy during Christmas time, and let's face it---Tony didn't eat more than one bite. I took care of the rest, to say the least. When I asked her for the recipe, I was expecting to have to use a candy thermometer, and slave diligently over the stove, paying for my sin of gluttony.

I was surprised to find that this recipe is one of the easiest I've encountered, all thanks to the crockpot! This is a "dump-and-go" recipe, which can sit in the crockpot for a few hours while you clean up the house (= take a 2 hour nap to sleep off a migraine).

I hope you all enjoy this recipe, which could easily be modified with different nuts and perhaps also different kinds of chocolate to suite a variety of tastes!

Ingredients:

1 160z jar of dry roasted peanuts
1/2 12oz bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 oz (half a brick) of Baker's German sweet chocolate
1 1b white almond bark

*Note, I'm not exactly sure how big my crockpot is, but it is a standard size Rival (I think 3 quarts). I'm far too lazy to test it out and measure how many quarts it can hold. Just make sure you have a large enough one (i.e. not a Little Dipper), and not one that is too large to make the layers described below.*

Procedure:

1. Layer the nuts, chocolate chips, German chocolate and almond bark (all bars broken into squares) in the crockpot. DO NOT MIX! Set the crockpot on "low", and cover.

2. Don't touch anything (seriously---you have to resist!) for 3 hours. Turn off the crockpot, and allow the mixture to sit, covered for 20 minutes.

3. Stir the mixture thoroughly, and carefully drop spoonfuls on waxed paper to cool for at least 30 minutes. Tony found out the hard way (and didn't care) that they're still a little gooey before the half hour is up :).

4. This made roughly 3.5 dozen clusters, though the number will vary with the size of cluster you make. Be sure to share, and feel free to make people think you slaved over these babies--they are that good!

Homemade Jell-O

Jell-O (or more appropriately, the use of gelatin for eating gelled food) has been around for quite a while--about 150 years!

Whenever I think of Jell-O I normally think 1) being sick and staying home from school 2) the elderly and 3) 1950's housewives making aspic (yuuuck). I do enjoy Jell-O, though, even though it's made out of all kinds of nasty stuff (allegedly...I'm not going to look this up and ruin it for myself), and I would probably eat it on a regular basis if it were not for all of the sugar contained in most of the more delicious flavors.

In an effort to be health conscious and reduce my refined sugar intake, along with being budget friendly, I found a recipe for homemade sugar-free Jell-O. I am using this recipe exactly, and so far it's worked out great! I'll post it again here for good measure, but I definitely can't take the credit.

Ingredients:

1 packet Knox gelatin
1 packet (or 1.5 Tbs) No sugar added Kool-Aid (i.e. not pre-prepared)
2 cups water, divided
3/4 cup Splenda or 10 packets artificial sweetener (whatever is equal to 3/4 cup sugar)

Procedure:

1. Bring 1 cup water to a boil.

2. In the other cup of cold water, sprinkle in the gelatin and stir. Add the sugar and Kool-Aid and stir until dissolved.

3. Add the cold mixture to the boiling water, stirring for about 1 minute.

4. Transfer to a heat-safe dish and cool a bit on the counter, then transfer to the fridge to chill until set.

5. After cooled, served with whipped cream or just plain Jane :)

Rice Crispy Treats

One of my favorite desserts/snacks growing up was homemade rice crispy treats. My mom always made them around valentines day, and whenever I needed to bring a treat to school at the last minute, i.e. the night before said treat was needed "Oh yeah, mom...I need to bring a snack tomorrow..."

Heh. Yeah, I was that kid.

These treats are incredibly simple to make, and enjoyed by most anyone (who doesn't love the crackling, marshmallow-y goodness of a rice crispy treat?).

Ingredients:

2 Tbs Margarine or Butter

40 giant marshmallows (or 4 cups miniature marshmallows)

6 cups crispy rice cereal

Procedure:

1. Melt the margarine in a large saucepan (I actually used a soup pot) over low heat. Add the marshmallows, heat and stir until melted.

2. Removing the gooey mixture from the heat, quickly stir in the crispy rice cereal, fully incorporating.

3. Spread into a 9"x13" baking pan coated with cooking spray. Press the mixture down until even by spraying a rubber spatula with cooking spray.

4. Be creative! My mom always put cinnamon red hots on our rice crispy treats, but I imagine a quick google search will give you many other interesting ideas individualize your treats. :)

Spaghetti with Pine Nuts and Brussels Sprouts

Okay, I'm going to have to ask you to hear me out on this one. I know that the title doesn't sound all that appealing, but trust me---this recipe is really tasty!

Earlier in February Tony and I received a package from Tony's parents, which was full of all kinds of new items for me to try and cook with. One of the items in the box was a bag of pine nuts. Truthfully, I don't know much about pine nuts and how they are commonly used in cooking. One of the top hits I found during a http://tastespotting.com search was pesto, which I will eventually make when I can remember to buy some fresh basil at the grocery store. I'm slightly resistant to buying fresh herbs, because for the most part they end up spoiling before I can use them up.

At any rate, I stumbled across this recipe on a blog, which was originally published in Gourmet magazine as "Fettuccine with Brussels Sprouts and Pine Nuts." Although I'm sure fettuccine is a commonly sold pasta at the grocery store (duh), I definitely didn't have any on hand. I did substitute one pasta for another, and swapped in spaghetti instead. I think it made the recipe a little less fancy, but I'm definitely not going for a "fancy" vibe around here.

This recipe is fast, fills you up, and gets your momma off of your back about eating your Brussels sprouts...

Spaghetti with Pine Nuts and Brussels Sprouts

Makes 2 servings

Ingredients:

1/2 lb Brussels sprouts, washed and trimmed
4 0z (or enough for about 2 servings) of whole wheat pasta (spaghetti or fettuccine are best)
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Tbs olive oil
2 Tbs unsalted butter
3 Tbs pine nuts
seasoned pepper and salt to taste
1 tsp Italian herbs
grated parmesan cheese for serving

Procedure:

1. Cook pasta as directed until al dente, drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the liquid for later use.

2. While pasta is cooking quarter the Brussels sprouts, or slice them in a food processor if you're in a rush.

3. In a medium sized skillet, heat olive oil, butter and garlic over medium-high heat until the garlic is sizzling and fragrant.

4. Cook the pine nuts in the skillet, constantly stirring until they are golden (about 1-2 minutes). Add the Brussels sprouts, salt, seasoned pepper, and Italian herb blend and saute until the sprouts are a lightly browned, vibrant color, and are tender (about 4 minutes).

5. Add the 1/2 cup of reserved pasta liquid to the skillet to moisten. Spoon over the pasta on your serving dish, and grate or sprinkle parmesan cheese on top.

Be proud of yourself for eating your Brussels sprouts!