Holiday Baking and Cooking and Candy Making

I love to create things in the kitchen. It is so satisfying! A couple of days ago I spent most of the day in the kitchen and these are some of the things I made.

Caramel
This was a disaster. I guess we overcooked it because it was hard. Jordan took a hammer to it and broke my 9x13 Pyrex dish! Geez.

Carrot Zucchini Spice Bread (Pampered Chef Recipe)

I love this recipe and it is super easy to tweak. I add things like puree's and ground flax and part wheat to it.

Ritz Cookies
These are sooo easy and a big hit with everyone. The only problem is that they take more time to make than to eat. Spread peanut butter on the cracker and dip in melted chocolate bark. YUM!!! I can do 2 sleeves of crackers with one package of bark.

Microwave Fudge
Another easy recipe. We discovered this last year. One bag of semi sweet chocolate chips and a can of sweetened condensed milk. I got the canned milk for free and the chips for $1 making this a very thrifty treat to give or keep!



Chocolate Cookie Sandwiches
These aren't exactly hard to make, but they take an ingredient I never buy-Marshmellow Creme. I have made them twice-once when I was a newlywed for Eric's birthday and then this week. You can add food coloring to the filling!



Jellied Cranberry Sauce(Ball Canning Book)
I started making my own cranberry sauce last year. I will be honest, I have always loved that jellied stuff shaped like a can, but after tasting this we won't go back to that HFCS crap! I can control what kind of sugar is used in this recipe. I got the cranberries on sale for $1.50 a bag and just used the sugar in the house. I can get 4 half pints for around $2. This years turned out a beautiful bright red!