Peppermint Bark

I know. I know.  I'm a day late posting but I ended up working yesterday -- holiday pay, baby! -- and getting today off.  So this week, the Thursday Homemaker is coming to you on Friday.  Anyway, our cafeteria operates on limited hours on holidays so those of us that work usually coordinate a potluck of some kind.  We appropriately had a ton of food and today I share my contribution.
I discovered peppermint bark this year and am completely addicted.  I've been buying the Dove dark chocolate version of it and decided that it can't be that difficult to make.  I started by looking it up on my favorite cooking website  and then just chose the simplest version of it to try.  (And believe me...it was good but I will be experimenting with it!)  The recipes is as follows...

2 packages of semisweet chocolate chips
Candy canes (I bought "soft" peppermint sticks at Walmart.)

Put 4-5 candy canes (5-6 peppermint sticks) in a zip-top bag and crush the hell out of them.  I have cheap bags so I ended up with holes in them which works well in a little while.
Using a double boiler melt the chocolate chips over medium heat.  (Be careful not to get any moisture in your chocolate or it will seize up and be useless.)  While it's melting line a cookie sheet with wax paper.  Once your chocolate is melted, take your bag of crushed candy and shake out the tiny particles of "peppermint dust."  If you mix it into the chocolate it kind of infuses the minty goodness throughout the whole candy. 
Spread chocolate on the wax papers -- two bags takes up most of the sheet.  You don't want it too thin. 
Sprinkle the rest of your peppermint chunks across the the top.  I kind of lightly patted the peppermint chips down into the chocolate so that when it firmed up they stuck better.
Place the whole tray in the refrigerator or freezer until the chocolate is solid again -- about an hour in the fridge.
Break into pieces.
Enjoy.

Most of the bark was gone before I left work.  The rest was inhaled by my family rather quickly.

What's for Dinner?

TACO SOUP!!  All I've really been able to work on recently is Christmas presents.  Being that I don't want to post pictures of them yet -- lest some unsuspecting family member come across my blog and spoil their Christmas surprise! -- all I can really come up with for today's blog is my dinner recipe.
I discovered taco soup on allrecipes about 4 years ago and fell in love with it.  It's easy and so, so good.  Tony actually calls it one of my specialties.  I've altered the recipes and don't actually follow one anymore but here are the basics...

Taco Soup
1 lb ground turkey
1 can diced tomatos -- I use the ones with green chiles
1 can kidney beans
1 can black beans
1 can corn
1 "can" of water
onion -- I use 1/2 of one cuz my husband doesn't like much onion
1 package taco seasoning
cilantro
salt/pepper/garlic to taste

Brown the ground turkey (you can also use beef if you prefer)
Dump tomatos, rinsed beans, drained corn, and diced onion into a crock pot.  Fill one of your cans with water and add it.  Stir in the package of seasoning.  Once your meat is cooked at it too.  Allow to heat for a few hours for the flavors to mingle.

Add your chopped cilantro and salt/pepper/garlic to taste.

Serve with cheese, salsa, sour cream, chips...or just eat it as is.  Enjoy!

My hat!

Okay...So we spent the weekend at the beach and I did a lot of knitting -- on the road and at the coast.  I finished my first adult hat.  When I started I originally intended it to be for my son and since I was using smaller needles than the pattern called for and my son has a big head I added some extra stitches.  Well, I added too many and it's way, way, way too big for him!  It fits me great and I had fun making it.

Halloween!

I've decided that I absolutely LOVE Halloween.  Having a child has totally brought it out in me.  I snagged a little magazine at work yesterday that had a ton of recipes and decorating ideas.  I figured I'd stow it away for a few years from now and break it out for some fun with Simon.  Being that Simon isn't even six months old, we didn't really do anything this year.  Well, I made pumpkin pie -- a tradition I intend to keep -- and I handed out candy to the two kids that happened to come by.  I also dressed Simon up and took some adorable pics of him in his Bobcat outfit.  Here's a few of them that I edited with picnik.