a bright spot in days of grey

I actually saw two rainbows through the winter snow while driving in Upstate New York. I have seen rainbows many times as I drove along I-90 but never in the winter. (Inclement weather waits for me to hit the road or it is an ever present thing in Upstate. I believe it is the latter.) It was like one of those black and white photos that have been colorized to emphasize a certain subject or aspect minus the cheese factor (we're all entitled to our opinions, maybe you love Comic Sans, too? There, there, your new prescription lenses are on their way.). Regardless, the affect was something I cannot describe. Kind of a little prezzie reminding me that even winter in its harsh, grey glory had gifts to give.

I am done waxing poetic. These are my little rainbow winter prezzies. They are easy and tasty and I have found that dudes and kids (synonymous, no?) enjoy them especially.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Rounds

Yield: about 6 dozen

INGREDIENTS
2 C all-purpose flour
1/4 C + 2 T Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 3/4 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
3/4 C unsalted butter, room temp.
1/2 C reduced fat creamy peanut butter
1 1/2 C + 1/3 C firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 t vanilla extract
1 medium (11.4 oz) package Peanut Butter M&M's®, 6 dozen counted and set aside, crush the remaining M&M's® into small pieces
6 dozen chocolate covered pretzels I used an entire box of these

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
1. Cream brown sugar, peanut butter and butter with an electric mixer. Add eggs and vanilla until combined.
2. Combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture at low speed. Mix just until blended. Stir in crushed M&M's®.
3. Roll a half tablespoon amount of dough per each cookie, place 2 inches apart on baking sheet.
4. Bake one baking sheet at a time for 8-9 minutes or until set. Do not over-bake.

ASSEMBLY
1. Immediately after removing cookies from the oven, press a chocolate covered pretzel on the top of each cookie.
2. As the chocolate is melting slightly, quickly press an M&M® on top of each pretzel.
3. Move cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Nutrition: 85 cal, 4g fat, 56mg sod, 11g carb, 5g sugar, .5g fiber, 1g protein

dark treats for dark winter days

In the dead of winter after all of the festivities have passed, a little cloud of sadness sometimes appears as you hope for spring to arrive. This cloud may be a little larger and darker with lake effect snow and blizzard-like winds if you live in the Northeast. Curses on you if you are basking in the glow of Texas sunshine. Or maybe I should say "you are so lucky and beautiful, would you please send me a plane ticket?"

During these long months as the days ever so slowly gain light, we need something to warm our hearts, brains and stomachs. Caramel and chocolate are perfect dead-of-winter flavors and these will most certainly tide you over until the last signs of snow melt away by the end of Mar...{cough}May. I did say that we live in the Northeast.

Caramel-Filled Chocolate Cookies

from Southern Living Incredible Cookies
Yield: 4 dozen

INGREDIENTS
1 C butter or margarine, softened
1 C sugar
1 C firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 t vanilla extract
2 1/4 C all-purpose flour
3/4 C unsweetened cocoa I love Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa®
1 t baking soda
1 C chopped pecans, optional
9 oz package of chocolate covered caramels Rolo®s and Caramel Kisses® work well

DIRECTIONS
1. Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add sugars, beating well. Add eggs and vanilla, beating until blended after each addition.
2. Combine flour, cocoa and baking soda; add to butter mixture, beating at low speed until blended. Cover dough and refrigerate for at least 30 min.
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and line baking sheets with parchment paper. Shape one tablespoon dough around each chocolate piece, covering completely, to form balls.
4. If desired, gently press the top of each ball into the chopped pecans. In my world, kids won't touch anything with nuts on it and my lovely grandmother cannot have them so I skipped this step.
5. Place balls, pecan sides up, 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes. Cool on baking sheets 2 minutes. Remove from baking sheets; cool completely on wire racks.

Nutrition: 114 cal, 5g fat, 37mg sod, 17g carb, 11g sugar, .5g fiber, 2g protein

in with the new

People are bidding adieu to 2010 and sending a "hollllaaaa!" to 2011 all over the place.    Looking back to a year ago I was waffling over life decisions and trying to figure out what I wanted to do with myself by pinning no less than twelve career possibilities up on our living room wall. Fortunately, many (literally) did not stick and I think I am truly enjoying what I am doing right now. I just need to curb the procrastinating and finally wrap up some loose ends.

I figured I should post something that is a fresh start to the year and has been a recipe that I have long wanted to do but has made me a little wary. These Venetians or Neopolitans or Seven Layer Cookies as sometimes called elsewhere, are an easy segue into a petit four and I think I'll be able to tackle the real thing soon enough. These take a little while due to the baking of the layers and a lack of multiple 9x13-inch dishes but the prep and assembly was surprisingly easy and I will definitely make these again.

Happy 2011 and here's to tackling something new and perhaps a little daunting!

Venetians

adapted from Good Housekeeping
Yield: 56

INGREDIENTS
7 oz. macaroon or almond paste
1-1/4 C butter or margarine, softened
1 C granulated sugar
4 large eggs (separated)
2 C sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 T almond extract
1/4 t salt
20 drops red food coloring
20 drops green food coloring
1 (12 ounce) jar apricot or peach jam
4 oz. semi or bittersweet chocolate

DIRECTIONS
Grease three 9x13-inch baking pans. If you are not blessed an abundance of space and bake ware (like me) to own three, you will just have to take a little extra time and prep the dish three times. Line with wax paper. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
1. Combine almond paste, sugar, butter, egg yolks and almond extract. Beat until light and fluffy. Beat in flour and salt.
2. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. With a wooden spoon, fold into the almond mixture.
3. Divide dough into three 1-1/2-cup portions. Fully stir red coloring to one of the portions, green to another and leave the last colorless. Spread the batter in the three separate prepared pans (keeping the colors separate). If you are using less than three pans, cover the extra dough with plastic wrap so it won't dry out. Bake for 15 minutes, or until edges are golden brown. (Each layer will be 1/4 inch thick). Remove cakes from pan immediately. Cool thoroughly.

assembly
1. Stack layers in a 9x13 inch pan, spreading the fruit jam between layers (no jam on top layer).
2. For the record, I skipped this step due to time constraints and lived to tell the tale. If you have the time though, it would be ideal. Place second 9x13-inch pan or baking sheet on top layer and weigh down with two 5 pound bags of sugar or flour. Refrigerate overnight.
3. Melt chocolate in a double boiler and spread over cake. Allow to set. Trim edges and cut into 1-inch squares. Again, I actually cut the squares shortly after spreading the chocolate while it was still soft. This prevented any cracking of the chocolate, something I suspected might happen if it were cold.

Nutrition: 122 cal, 6g fat, 18mg sod, 16g carb, 7g sugar, 0g fiber, 1.5g protein