Tasty Tuesday - Cookies & Cream Fudge

Today's recipe comes from one of my favorite sites:  VeryBestBaking.  I get so many delicious recipes from there!  This one is a goody!  I have made it a few times at Christmas and everyone love it.  Best part is it is fast and easy!  Kids will love making it too!


Ingredients

3 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter or margarine
2/3 cup (5 fl.-oz. can) NESTLÉ® CARNATION® Evaporated Milk
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Premier White Morsels
1 jar (7 oz.) marshmallow crème
1/2 cup finely crushed cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookies
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
1 cup crumbled cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookies


Directions

LINE 9-inch-square baking pan with foil.

COMBINE sugar, butter and evaporated milk in medium, heavy-duty saucepan. Bring to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Boil, stirring constantly, for 3 minutes. Remove from heat.

STIR in morsels, marshmallow crème, finely crushed cookies and vanilla extract. Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle crumbled cookies on top. Gently swirl cookies into fudge using a knife without touching bottom of pan. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm. Lift from pan; remove foil. Cut into 48 pieces. Store in airtight container in refrigerator. ;

All In All:  This is so delicious!  You can even make some and give as a gift!  Once you make it, it will become a regular recipe that you use!  For this and many more recipes, check out Very Best Baking!

Make It Monday - How to Jazz Up a Christmas Present

There are so many easy ways to make a present look more "jazzy".  The best and easiest way is to add on an ornament.  Just attaching an ornament such as a snowflake or disco ball ornament is all you need to make them look perfect.  Plus you can usually always find them in sets for cheap!

Here is a bag of candy for my UPS driver.  I found these adorable ornaments that say Merry Christmas in glitter at the dollar store.  They came in a pack of 4.  Attached that and a bow to make it look more festive!

 

All In All:  Be creative!  Your gifts will look amazing!

Thrifty Thursday - BOGO Free Starbucks Holiday Drinks

Attention:  Starbucks Fans 

December 13-16, from 2-5pm, buy one holiday beverage and you'll get a second one of equal or lesser value to share. 

At participating US stores only.

View all Starbucks holiday offers and more at Starbucks.com/Rekindle 

What Do You Think Wednesday - December Stork Stack

Everyone knows what a HUGE fan I am of Stork Stack.  For those of you who do not know about Stork Stack, here is the scoop...they are a monthly subscription service filled with 5 high quality products for baby & mommy.  They have products from great brands like J.J. Cole, BabyLegs, WubbaNub, and many more!

Stork Stack is $28.00/month for a box valued at over $50.00 worth of products.  Each month has a theme. This month's theme:  Rock, Roll 'n Roar!

So what was in the box you ask.  Here are the goodies:

- Rockabye Baby "Good Day, Good Night" 2cd set ($24.98)

 - BearHands & Buddies Fleece Mittens ($12.99)

- EDUSHAPE Maracito ($3.25)

- Rubbabu Educational Ball ($6.95)

- Rockin' Green Detergent for 4 loads ($1.25)

Box Value Total:   $ 49.42

This box featured great products that I haven't seen before.  The cd set is instrumental lullabies but based on songs from the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Metallica and more.  The gloves are adorable and my daughter looks like a little bear wearing them.  She loves the maraca and ball.  I haven't tried the detergent yet, but I am sure it will be a winner.

All In All:  I absolutely love this monthly subscription company.  They have me looking forward every single month to this little package!  Not only do they have products I have never seen before, their customer service is one of the best I have ever experienced.  To me that says a lot about a company.  Once again, they did not disappoint with the product selection.  My daughter loved everything.  She looks like a little bear with the gloves & shakes the maraca non-stop.  To sign-up click here.  Check them out!

Tasty Tuesday - Eggnog Cookies

I love these cookies!  If you love eggnog, then this will defientely be a new favorite cookie for you!  This recipe comes from Very Best Baking.

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups (about 1/3 tub) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Refrigerated Sugar Cookie Tub Dough, slightly softened

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

Directions

PREHEAT oven to 325º F. 

STIR cinnamon and nutmeg into cookie dough. Refrigerate for 15 minutes for easier handling. Roll dough into 18, 1 1/4-inch balls; dip in sugar. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. 

BAKE for 14 to 16 minutes or until edges are set but centers are still soft. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. 

TIPS: 

• Dip eggnog cookies halfway into melted NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Premier White Morsels. 

• Shake off excess; refrigerate. Recipe can easily be doubled or tripled for a larger batch. 

• Recipe can easily be doubled or tripled for a larger batch. 

All In All:  So yummy and so fast to make!  This is a must have for the holidays!!!

Make It Monday - Cupcake Ornaments

Did you ever see those adorable ornaments that you absolutely love?  Then you look at the price tag...and you are horrified?  I love all those cupcake ornaments that are so cute but range anywhere from $10-$15 each.  So I decided to go to Michael's and get myself some supplies to re-create it for way cheaper.  Here is what you need:

-Any color ornaments you want your "cupcake" to be

- Paint in the color frosting you want.  

(I did some with chocolate, strawberry and some vanilla.)

- Glitter for sprinkles

- Cupcake foil liners

- Something for a cherry on top

- Paint Brush

- Hot glue

- Ribbon (optional)

Step 1:  Paint the "frosting" onto the ornament.  You don't want this to be perfect.  You want it to look like frosting dripping.

Step 2:  Sprinkle glitter on top of paint while it is still wet.  Let dry.

Step 3:  Add some hot glue to the bottom of a cupcake liner.  Position ornament on a tilt in the liner.  Be careful as the foil liner will be very hot.

Step 4:  Glue "cherry" on top.  Add some ribbon to hang from the tree.

All In All:  This is such an easy and fun ornament to make.  My son had a blast making them.  Best part is that I re-created them for less than $2.00 each!  If you wanted to, you can even purchase ornaments at the dollar store and save even more money.  Happy cupcake ornament making!

Tasty Tuesday - Frosted Gingerbread Martini

With the holidays approaching, I am always trying to come up with a tasty drink to serve at Christmas.  So when I received Sugar Free Gingerbread Syrup from Torani  to test out compliments of She Speaks and Torani, I figured this was a perfect chance to test out some drink ideas.

Torani syrups are great because you can change the flavor of any drink to make it more flavorful.  You can add to things like coffee, cakes, iced tea, specialty drinks....the possibilities are endless.  Be creative!

Here is a recipe I came up with for a frosted gingerbread martini.


Frosted Gingerbread Martini
1 oz. Smirnoff Iced Cake Vodka
1 oz.  Bailey's Irish Cream Liqueur
0.5 oz. Kahlua Liqueur
0.5 oz Torani Sugar Free Gingerbread Syrup

Shake over ice.  Serve in chilled martini glass.  You can rim the glass with crushed gingerbread cookie.  Garnish with whipped cream and a gingerbread man cookie.