Cocoanuts Chocolate tasting

In the midst of everything else happening in my life, I was ever so grateful to spend a random Tuesday with Blog & Tweet Boston at Cocoanuts Boston  for a chocolate tasting. Just. What. the Dr. Ordered.

It was fun for a sweet treat and encouragement to go out in bitter winter. It was great to see Liz from Eating Places and Jessica from Little Miss Runshine there!

I joined some fellow bloggers from Blog and Tweet Boston for a fun night of chocolate samples, info, and champagne!
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The owners were truly an inspiration. These best friends decided it is never to late to do what you love. They left careers in advertising and real estate (did I get that right?) to open up a shop in the North End in Boston. I loved hearing how passionate they are about quality products and their focus on local and artisan treats.
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I liked seeing other goodies, like ice cream toppings, in addition to the many candies. I thought I could easily grab a gift for anyone, for any reason. Their items range in price big time. I felt like there was lots of options to a little something and they will also build huuuuge gift baskets.
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I swooned over the toffee from Little Bits Toffee. Toffee miiiight be my favorite sweet treat. That’s a bold statement, but I’m going there…
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We also got to meet Yes Chocolates. Sadly I devoured my sticky bun chocolate before snapping a photo. It was amazing, but I couldn’t believe this Walpole, MA candy maker hadn’t been to the town institution, Watson’s Candies, which has been in business continually since the 1930s. Tisk. Tisk. It is my alma mater/high school job. My loyalties will always reside with Watson’s.

That being said, Cocoanuts was super cute, classy and creative. I loved the inside and was thrilled they thought of the blogger community to introduce themselves.
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Are you drooling yet? They’re hosting a wine & chocolate tasting on Thursday Feb 7th 6-8pm. 

Full 3 Bite Rule Disclosure: I attended this complimentary event as part of the Blog and Tweet Boston group. The product samples were completely complimentary but my experience, thoughts, opinions, and words are entirely my own.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

I got some ice cream makers for Christmas. By some, I mean 2…how well does everyone know me?! (wait till I debut what the duplicate became!) I’ve been wanting to make ice cream for awhile. I knew exactly where to go. The gals at We Are Not Martha make it all the time. A) it looks amazing. B) the extent of unique flavors is endless.

I wasn’t sure how it’d go. I actually had a super frustrating experience when I attached an extra piece that wasn’t necessary for my mixer…it resulted in a crazy 20-minute detachment battle.
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when the bowl defrosted, I was able to slip it off. I refroze the bowl and I dropped the extra piece into my miscellaneous drawer so I can discover it later and have no idea what it goes to.

The next night, when we both (the bowl & me) had calmed down, was take 2. It was easy peasy!
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PB Cup ice cream
(adapted from We Are Not Martha)

Ingredients:
2 large eggs
3/4 C sugar
2 C whipping cream
1 C milk
1/3 C smooth peanut butter
¾ cup mini chocolate chips

Directions:
Whisk two eggs in until light and frothy
Mix in the sugar a little at a time, while continuing to whisk until it’s all blended.
Pour the cream and the milk into the mixture and whisk until blended.
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Pour one cup of the mixture into a separate bowl and whisk peanut butter into that mixture until smooth.
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Then pour the peanut butter mixture back into the cream mixture. Whisk everything together.
Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for your ice cream machine, but I recommend chilling cream mixture for 2-3 hours before processing.
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Pour into separate container and mix in chocolate chips by hand or for the last minute or two of the ice cream churning.
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freeze 5-6 hours, until hard.
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Makes a little more than a quart

I was pretty unsure about the cream mixture (with eggs) not being cooked at all. I figured it was safe since it would be frozen, but I don’t like to mess with egg safety. I live to tell you about it.

I loooved how much peanut butter flavor there was in this ice cream. And I loved that it was vanilla based. Chocolate based ice cream isn’t my favorite.

I’m psyched to make other kinds. The sky is the limit! Mr. J has requested grapenut…he loves that old-man flavor. I like lots of stuff in my ice cream. Like ripples, nuts, chunks or whatever.
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One time way back when, on vacation with the fam in Vermont, we discovered a convenience store that sold Ben & Jerry “rejects” for a discounted price. They were labeled like “not mixed enough” or “too many chunks” as if there is such a thing! It was like a gold mine! We ate some at our rental condo in wine glasses which seemed so magically fancy when I was 6 and may have been out of rental-outfitting-necessity looking back.

No Fail Fudge

I gave a few edible gifts again this year for the holidays. Sometimes there’s just so much stuff. I like a few gifts in there that can be consumed, used, and then gone. I haven’t gotten crazy with my packaging but maybe I’ll have my act together enough sometime.

This year I made my Dad some mocha fudge. He was telling me about some mocha fudge he had on a vacation he and my mom took so I nabbed that subtle hint and ran with it. Now let’s also set the stage: I don’t bake a lot. Making candy? Umm nope, never. My grandma used to make it and she wasn’t really a cook, so I figured if she could do it, I’d definitely give it a whirl.

I followed the instructions EXACTLY. Fluff’s no-fail fudge seemed simple enough and I did it! Woohoo! Spoiler alert: success!

I made a half batch and it was quite a lot of fudge. Plan on giving it away. It won’t help your New Year’s resolutions one bit. I swear. I’ll stop tempting you soon.

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Ingredients:

2 1/2 c. sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 stick butter or margarine
1 5 oz. can evaporated milk (2/3 c.)
1 Jar (7 1/2oz) Marshmallow Fluff
3/4 tsp. vanilla
1 12-oz. package semi-sweet chocolate pieces
espresso

Directions:

Grease a 9-inch square baking pan. (I lined a pan with parchment paper instead.)
In large saucepan combine the first sugar, salt, butter/margarine, and evaporated milk.
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Increase heat to Medium and bring to a full-rolling boil being careful not to mistake escaping air bubbles for boiling. Boil slowly, stirring constantly for 5 minutes (use Soft-Ball test).
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Remove from heat, stir in vanilla, chocolate pieces, and espresso until chocolate is melted.
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Turn into greased pan and cool.
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The original recipe makes 2 1/2 pounds. That is a heck of a lot for one person. I used a 9×9 pan and really liked the thickness. I can’t imagine my fudge doubled in that same size pan. The half batch is borderline-too-much-for-one-person.

While it was hot, it didn’t seem very mocha flavored. I let it sit for a few hours then I thought the flavor came out big time. I gifted it in a holiday tin with wax paper. I didn’t cut it into bite sized pieces since it will get stale and hard faster.
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I was psyched it worked so well. I want to try my hand at chocolate peanut butter fudge next! I just need a willing recipient…

Apple Cider Cookies

I wanted to try out the pudding cookies that Flying on Jess Fuel made, butttt the necessary gingerbread pudding ingredient wasn’t for sale anywhere near me. The office cookie swap warranted something out of the ordinary for a holiday cookie swap. I’m not always 100% into mint so that narrows holiday cookie options.

I know, this goes against resolutions about 97% of of you out there have made, but they’re really good, and I made them during the holiday craziness and just didn’t get to share it with you till now. Just wait. There’s more to tempt you still to come…
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I took a personal day that would have expired by the end of the year and baked cookies at mom’s house. We made a few different kinds going and all were successful!

I pinned these sugar cookies made with hot apple cider mix and thought they sounded great. They seemed a bit fall-ish but I tweaked them and they were a hit for the holidays.

Apple Cider Cookies

adapted from Dreaming All Day

Ingredients:

1 cup butter
6 tbs sugar
1 individual serving size packet hot cider
2 tsp vanilla
¼ tsp salt
2 cups flour
1 tbs milk
1 ½ cups butterscotch or cinnamon chips
¼ cup sugar
3 tbs cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Beat butter, sugar, cider mix, vanilla, and salt.
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Add flour in and mix until well combined.
Mix in chips by hand.
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Roll cookie dough in 1 inch balls into mixed cinnamon and sugar.
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Bake 9 minutes and let cool on cooling racks.
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I loved these. I thought they were way more exciting than sugar cookies. I amped up the cider mix more than the original recipe called for and I added chips. It might be a weird ingredient to buy just for cookies, but I had some for a hot drink anyway.

Apple Cheesecake Dip

It is almost Thanksgiving and I have an easy 3 ingredient dip/dessert for you to have on hand if you’re worried about what you’ve planned to make. Or maybe you need one more thing to keep the masses fed.
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I saw this apple cheesecake dip on pinterest and thought it sounded awesome. It is one of those foods that just can’t LOOK as good as it tastes. I added it to a dinner of appetizers and it was awesome.

Apple Cheesecake Dip

Adapted from Cooking Classy

Ingredients:

8oz cream cheese
¼ cup caramel ice cream topping
¼ cup toffee pieces
apples for dipping

Directions:

Allow the cream cheese to soften slightly.
Beat cream cheese, caramel sauce, and toffee bits.
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Serve with sliced apples.

This has such great flavor for just a few ingredients. I liked the apple dippers but graham crackers would be good, or animal crackers.

The original recipe has the apples dipped into the cream cheese dip and then into crushed graham crackers. I added the toffee in the dip instead for a pop of crunch.
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This is a crowd pleaser and a super easy one to whip up. Something about it says fall to me, but apples are available all the time so I’m not sure where my season-ness is coming from. I definitely recommend this dip for an easy appetizer or light dessert. I love to be sure there are a few simple items when I’m hosting for an easy check mark on your list.

Tip: a few drips of lemon juice will help the apples not to brown. Prep the dip and refrigerate until you serve it. Slice the apples when you’re ready to eat!

(Plus, this one got Mr. J eating some fruit. Shhh! Don’t tell him!)