Gingerbread People

I received an early Christmas present from my mother in law this year and it was this precious Gingerbread People Cakelets pan from Williams-Sonoma. These little guys are so precious.

*I'm calling them People to be gender inclusive. Girls wear pants too and because they aren't decorated you can't even tell. That's about as "political" as I will get on this blog. :)

Even if you don't have this pan, use this recipe and make cupcakes. It's very good!
When I made them I simply sprinkled them with powdered sugar because I didn't want to take the time to decorate. I was making many things that day and wanted something quick. But I can't wait until next year when I can make them again and create little people. Oh it will be cute! And the recipe I used was the recipe that came with the pan. It was SO GOOD. I don't think I will be trying another.

Gingerbread

adapted from Williams-Sonoma

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

2/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1 egg, lightly beaten

3/4 cup molasses

3/4 cup whole milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease the wells of the cakelet pan very well.

Over a bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cloves, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Add the brown sugar and beat until the mixture is pale and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg and beat until incorporated, about 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl, then beat in the molasses.

Reduce the speed to medium-low and add the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the milk and beginning and ending with the flour. Beat just until combined.

Spoon about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the batter into each of the wells. Use a toothpick to spread the batter into the arms, legs and head. Bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean, about 10-12 minutes.

Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for 5 minutes. Invert the cakelets onto the rack and let cool completely. Continue baking the rest of the batter and decorate as desired.

*I had trouble with my cakelets just "falling" out of the pan on their own. I sort of had to pull them out carefully. The original recipe called to grease and flour the pan, but I found that just greasing very well worked best.

Haiti

Devastation. I can't even imagine. Watching the news this morning was heartbreaking.


A daughter who was there for a school trip. Her parents got a message, "I'm okay" and they are rejoicing.


A family in Seattle waiting on final paperwork so they can bring their 2 adopted children home. They are relieved to find out their children are okay.


Photo credit here.

Hundreds of thousands dead. So many hopeless. Homeless. Hungry.

An orphanage owner this morning said that the people of Haiti are in the streets PRAISING GOD.

Praising God that they are alive.

There are so many ways to help.

Update: Pioneer Woman is doing something pretty amazing over at her blog...go help her out!

Text "disaster" to 90999 to donate to Compassion's disaster relief program.

Text "Haiti" to 90999 to donate to Red Cross.

Texting is such an easy way to help. It will take you less than 30 seconds to help. It will be billed to your phone bill.

Buy a t-shirt from here. (Thanks Sean and Ashley.)

Every little bit counts.

And join so many in praying for the people of Haiti and those who are there already helping and those who are on their way.

Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix

This is another one of those fabulous things that you just have to have around the holidays. It's creamy, chocolatey and just warms your soul.

And it's so chocolatey! So rich and yummy! I made one batch for gifts to friends and then had to make a second batch because my husband really hates it when I make things for other people and don't save any for him.


2 vanilla beans
4 cups granulated sugar
1½ lbs. good quality semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 cups Dutch process cocoa powder

Directions:
Split and scrape the vanilla beans. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade, combine the vanilla beans, sugar, semisweet and Dutch process cocoa powder. Process in 4-second pulses until the chocolate is very finely ground and the mixture is well combined. Store the mix in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

Serving Instructions:
Combine 2 tablespoons cocoa mix with 8 oz. of very warm milk and stir to combine until well blended.


This is so wonderful and rich all by itself. Perfect for a cold wintery night. Or..


Topped off with a little whipped cream. This is the stuff from the red can but feel free to make your own. This was just easier. Or...


Top with Homemade Peppermint Marshmallows! They melt a little and are just divine.


Either way, it's going to be one of the best cups of hot chocolate you've ever had. Promise.

full-o-words Wednesday

I've got a lot going on in my head today and a lot to say so instead of Wordless Wednesday we're going to have full-o-words Wednesday.

A goal of ours this year is to buy a home. And we'd really love to take advantage of the first time homebuyers tax credit that goes until April 30, 2010. Or June 30, 2010 if you have a contract by blah blah blah....


I spent quite a bit of time researching last night about all this home buying stuff and it's pretty overwhelming, confusing and way over my head. But the more I read the more I understand so I guess I'm..what do you call it? Oh learning. Yes, I guess I'm learning.


It's exciting and crazy scary all at the same time.


We started back up with Netflix again. We thought it would be a good way to save money on going to the movies. As long as we watch 2 movies a month (which is way easy to do). I love movies and it's so fun to set up your queue. There's even an app for that. (Apple should pay me to be on their commercial.) It's called iPhlix.

We purchased a sound machine last week and it came in the mail today. It is going to be so nice because what we have been using as "noise" is so tacky. A fan. Not the ceiling fan, but a dusty plug into the wall fan. When it's in the teens at night and we are so cold that thing is still running because we like the noise. I can't wait to use the sound machine tonight.

Triple Chocolate Clusters

Just about that time you finally start eating healthy again I decide to show you all the holiday baking I did. I know, I'm temptation. But I just have to share these. They're heavenly.


Triple Chocolate Clusters. White chocolate, milk chocolate and semi sweet chocolate. Yes. Yes please. Once again, so simple yet so delicious and amazing. The key here is to use quality chocolate. Not the most expensive out there, but don't skimp either. I use Ghirardelli and it's very good.

Triple Chocolate Clusters

2 (4 ounce) white chocolate bars
1 cup milk chocolate morsels
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate morsels
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
1 1/2 cups broken pretzels

Melt all of the chocolate in a saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly. (You do not want it to burn so low and stir constantly!) Stir in pecans and pretzels. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Refrigerate until hardened. Store in an airtight container in refrigerator up to 1 month.

NYE 2009

New Year's Eve was very different for us this year. I guess last year was different too. We rang in the new year as we were unloading our car after driving in from our ski trip to Santa Fe. We kissed at midnight as we were lugging suitcases up to our apartment.

This year we went with the youth group to Port Aransas for their mid-winter retreat. The beach on NYE. Almost 100 youth. So fun!


On our way down, we had these sweet sweet girls in our car. They were troopers as we got lost, turned around (even though we had a GPS) and even as John got pulled over in a crazy-should be-illegial speed trap! (he got a verbal warning because we were on a church trip.)


We spent all day Thursday doing all kinds of fun games. First was a scavenger hunt and each team had a Flip video camera that they used to capture all the shenanigans. Then we headed down to the beach for games only a youth pastor could come up with!


I really think the purpose of this game was see how long it takes to make a bunch of youth tired!


But they never figured that out. They loved it and had a blast.


Okay, so this game. I'm not sure if it was part of the regularly scheduled games or if it just happened. But the goal is to get people out by having them touch the trash can. The guys were so rough. You have to keep holding hands the whole time.


So they just pull each other so hard until someone touches the trash can. This guy was pretty good.


But he eventually crashed into it and he was out.


Oh my, then the girls tried it.


They weren't quite as rough and brutal as the guys, but pretty close. And it doesn't help when a surprise trash can gets thrown in.


For ringing in the New Year we had a 50s Sock Hop. It was pretty fun. Complete with bubble blowing contests.


This girl was awesome. She got gum in her hair and didn't even let it bother her. She kept going!


Oh yes, even I participated and posted this so not cute picture of myself as evidence.


And LIMBO! What is a Sock Hop without Limbo!?!


How low can you go?


Okay, I must explain. These were 2 of our college leaders and they dressed up as if they were from the year 2050 because "they never said what 50s!" And they're Aggies. It explains a lot.


My hubs on the drums. Yes, we were some of the few who did not dress up.


I hope you all had a Happy New Year!

The Best Pecan Bars Ever

Period. Seriously, these are out of this world amazing. The buttery crust with the caramely pecan top. Mmmm. Just wish these were still around.



I made these twice this season. Once as part of the gifts for John's co-workers and again right before Christmas when John's mom and sister came to visit. Why twice? Well they are delicious and EASY!



The Best Pecan Bars Ever

1 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups flour

4 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups pecan pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, beat butter, sugar and salt at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add flour, beating well to combine. Press into the bottom of a 13x9 inch baking dish. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until the crust is lightly golden.

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, brown sugar and vanilla. Stir in the pecans and pour over baked crust.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until set. Let the bars cool completely and the cut into bars to serve.