Christmas Craftiness

Well, Christmas is over and the stores are filled with Valentines Day stuff... seriously! It is ridiculous. I am not ready to take my tree down. I love the Christmas lights and decor so much, one month doesn't seem long enough to enjoy it. Boo. Oh well, Christmas was great this year. It was my family's "off" year. It is usually kind of sad for me to spend Christmas in California without the snow and mountains and without my family. This year was actually great though, I think I am getting used to holidays on my own and although it is always better with my family, it is pretty great no matter what. 

Christmas Eve I went to church then my friend, Cheryl and I made cookies and watched the Muppet Christmas Carol. On Christmas morning I woke up and decided to go see Les Miserables. I was going to hold out until Thursday when my friends and I were going to go, but I decided that since I didn't have plans until the afternoon I would take advantage of my lazy plan-free morning and go see it since I had been anxiously awaiting it for months. I was not disappointed  Les Mis was amazing and definitely worth seeing twice! 

Then in the afternoon I went to my friends, the Ochoa's house for dinner. We had a delicious turkey dinner then watched Home Alone and played Harry Potter Scene It. I brought a peppermint bark cheesecake that was DELICIOUS!!! It was the perfect Christmas dessert. You should definitely try it. Here is the recipe:

Peppermint Bark Cheesecake

Peppermint Bark:

4 oz dark chocolate

4 oz white chocolate 1 tsp vegetable oil, divided 1/4 tsp. peppermint extract, divided about 4-5 crushed candy canes
1 cup sugar
4 oz white chocolate, melted
1 1/2 Tbs. flour
1 1/2 Tbs. heavy cream
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. peppermint extract
3 eggs
1 batch peppermint bark

Crust:

1 1/2 cups finely ground Oreos

4 Tbs. butter, melted

Cheesecake:

3 8 oz blocks cream cheese, softened

Chocolate Ganache:

4 oz. semi sweet chocolate

½ cup heavy whipping cream

about 2-3 crushed candy canes

Peppermint Bark:

Melt dark chocolate with ½ tsp. vegetable oil and 1/8 tsp. peppermint extract; pour on a sheet of parchment paper. Let set.

Melt white chocolate with ½ tsp. vegetable oil and 1/8 tsp. peppermint extract; pour on top of dark chocolate.

Press chopped up pieces of candy cane into the chocolate. Let set until firm. Cut into ½ inch pieces. Refrigerate until ready to add to cheesecake.

Crust:

Mix cookie crumbs and melted butter until well blended. Press mixture into a 9” spring form pan wrapped in tin foil. Bake at 375°F for 7-8 minutes. Take out and turn the oven down to 325°F.

Cheesecake:

In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, eggs, and peppermint extract; mix until smooth. Add in the sugar, flour, salt, and heavy cream and blend until smooth. Melt white chocolate on the stove over low heat or in the microwave. Mix into cheesecake batter. Stir the peppermint bark into the cheesecake.

Transfer spring-form pan and cooked crust to a larger pan, such as a large roasting pan. Pour filling into crust. Add enough hot water to reach half way up the sides of your spring-form pan. Carefully place in center of oven. Bake at 325°F for 1 hour. Turn off the oven. Keeping the door shut, leave the cheesecake in the oven for an additional 45 minutes. Remove and allow to sit for at least 1 hour before chilling.

Refrigerate for 24 hours.

Chocolate Ganache:

Place the chocolate into a medium bowl. Heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring just to a boil, watching very carefully because if it boils for a few seconds, it will boil out of the pot. When the cream has come to a boil, pour over the chopped chocolate, and whisk until smooth.

Quickly spread a thin layer of chocolate on top of the cheesecake starting at the center and working outward. Sprinkle with crushed peppermints and gently press them into the chocolate. Let set at room temperature for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Although I didn't go out and do a Pinterest Christmas like I did last year, I still made my nieces presents. I made a little baby doll for my 1 year old niece, Isla. According to Tim and Malee she loves it and cuddles it. Yay - Auntie Tamara for the win!

For my 5 year old niece, Ashton, I made these adorable little Disney Princess dolls I found on Pinterest. I love how they turned out and according to Tony and Jenn, she loves them too. Win again! I love being an aunt, it is so much fun!

Christmas is over but it was a great year. Now time to ring in the new year! 

Christmas Tamales

I decided to make tamales for a Christmas party at work. I was going to being the chocolate peppermint cookies I made last week. I made twice as many as I needed for Christmas Under the Stars and froze the second half for the work party. However, my cookies were gone within about five minutes and since I blogged about them before bringing them, people wanted to try them and kept asking me where they were. So, Plan B, I brought the second half of the cookies to my Tuesday and Wednesday community groups and decided to make something new for the party.

In this situation, most people would find the quickest, easiest thing to make last minute, but what do I do? I decide to try something festive that I have never made before that takes all day - tamales! Why? I have no idea! I keep making things! Christmas is turning me into a machine. It is fun though, I love learning something new.

I made pork tamales and they were time consuming but not as bad as I thought. I was able to make the pork filling yesterday, it just cooked in the crock pot all day, so no big deal. And today I made the masa and assembled them. I turned on some Christmas music and my friend, Cheryl came over and helped me assemble. It is definitely more fun to assemble tamales with friends.

Here is the recipe:

Pork Tamales

Makes about 30 tamales

Pork Filling:

Ingredients:

1/3 cup cider vinegar

3 Tbs. lime juice

3 canned chipotle chiles

3 tsp. salt

1 ½ tsp. pepper

4 cloves minced garlic

3 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. Mexican oregano

1 tsp. coriander

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. cloves

3 bay leaves

1 (5 lb.) boneless pork shoulder roast

1 large yellow onion, quartered

3 cups chicken broth

Directions:

Combine the cider vinegar, lime juice, chipotle chiles, garlic cloves and spices in blender and puree until completely smooth — about a minute or so. Coat pork pieces with the spice mixture and place in the broth. Add the bay leaves and the onion pieces.

Cover and cook on low until the pork is tender, about 9-10 hours. Stir the pork every few hours. When the pork is tender, remove from slow cooker, and shred with two forks. Add about 1 cup of the broth to the meat to keep it moist and flavorful. 

Strain the remainder of the liquid, discarding the bay leaves and onion, and reserve 7 cups for the masa dough. Refrigerate overnight then when the fat is solidified, skim it off of the top and discard.

Dough:

Ingredients:

9 cups masa harina

5 1/4 cups of broth from pork (or chicken broth if you don’t have enough liquid)

4 1/2 tsp. baking powder

2 1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tsp. paprika
1 1/2 tsp. chili powder
1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1 ½ cups lard

1 package dried corn husks  (about 75)

Directions:

Soak the corn husks in a large bowl of hot water for 2 hours.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the lard (yes, I said LARD) with a tablespoon of the broth until fluffy and about triple its original size (about 10 minutes). Combine the masa harina, baking powder, and spices; stir into the lard mixture, adding the broth in increments and mix until well incorporated and the mixture feels very fluffy and light. Test by taking a teaspoonful and dropping into a glass of water. It should float. If it falls to the bottom, keep on beating. The consistency should be of soft cookie dough.

Assemble & Steam:

Pat dry softened husks. When filling each husk, place the smooth side facing up from the palm of your hand. Spread 1/3 cup of masa with a large spatula or knife leaving a 2 - 3 inch border on the tapered (bottom) end of the husk. The masa should be evenly spread across the lower 3/4 of the husk leaving about 1 inch on the left side. 

Place 2-3 tablespoons of pork filling in a line along the center of the masa. Make sure to leave 1/2-inch at the top and bottom, and room on the sides for the masa to close around the meat.

Slide a second corn husk under the prepared one facing the opposite direction so that the masa is in the middle of the two tapered ends. 

Carefully roll the tamale, starting with the side covered in masa. Turn right side over to center of filling; fold left side over filling, allowing plain part of husk to wrap around filling.  

Fold the two tapered ends down and secure by tying the package shut with a thin strip of husk.

Line the bottom of a steamer basket loosely with a few of the husk scraps. 

Stack tamales upright, side by side. For best results, the tamales should be firmly packed, put not too tightly, as the dough needs room to expand some.

Layer some husk scraps atop the tamales to help lock in the steam and add another layer of flavoring. 

Once you have a full pot of assembled tamales, fill the bottom of the steamer pot with water, making sure the bottoms of the tamales are not in the water. Do not let the tamales touch the water or the dough will get soggy.

Cover and bring just to a boil. Steam the tamales for at least 2 hours, adding water as needed so the pot doesn’t go dry.

To test for doneness, carefully take out a tamale from the middle of the basket. Unwrap, the masa should be firm and pull away from husk easily, if not, continue cooking.

Your tamales can be eaten immediately, if you like. But to make them even better, eat them leftover: let them cool completely, then re-steam for about 15 to 20 minutes before serving. This gives you the best texture.

Pick your poison - chocolate/peanut butter or chocolate/mint

Christmas is just around the corner and I have been making treats like crazy this year. There are so many parties and social events to bring things to, it is the perfect excuse to try new recipes. I made two pretty amazing things this week - chocolate peanut butter pie and chocolate peppermint cookies. I love chocolate and peanut butter and I love chocolate and mint so I have a hard time telling you which one is better, solution - make both!

It was my friend, Jason's, birthday this week and he asked for something chocolatey and peanut buttery, I found this recipe (NOT on Pinterest, believe it or not) and I was a little skeptical at first. Based on the ingredients, it looks like it would be way too heavy and rich, but it isn't. It is rather perfect, it got rave reviews and I definitely plan on making it again! Here is the recipe:

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

Crust:

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup butter, melted

4 Tbs. sugar

Chocolate Filling:

1 1/3 cups semisweet chocolate chips

2/3 cup whipping cream

2 Tbs. light corn syrup

1 tsp. vanilla

Peanut Butter Filling:

1 cup peanut butter chips

2 Tbs. creamy peanut butter

1 3/4 cups whipping cream

2 Tbs. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

Topping:

1 cup whipping cream

¼ cup powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1/3 of chocolate filling mixture

4 Reese’s peanut butter cups

Crust:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix graham cracker crumbs and melted butter until well blended. Press mixture into a 9” pie plate. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Refrigerate until cool.

Chocolate Filling:
Combine chocolate chips, whipping cream, corn syrup, and vanilla in microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on medium heat until chocolate softens, about 3 minutes. Whisk until melted and smooth. Spread two thirds of the chocolate mixture over bottom of crust. Freeze 10 minutes.

Peanut Butter Filling:

Microwave peanut butter chips and 3/4 cup cream in large microwave-safe bowl on medium heat at 15-second intervals just until chips soften, stirring often. Whisk in peanut butter and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Cool to barely lukewarm. Beat remaining 1 cup cream and sugar in medium bowl until very thick but not yet holding peaks; fold into peanut butter mixture in 3 additions. Spoon mousse over chocolate layer.

Topping:

In a large bowl, whip cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla until stiff peaks form. Top chilled pie with whipped cream. Drizzle remaining third of chocolate mixture on top of the pie and sprinkle pie with coarsely chopped Reese’s peanut butter cups. Chill at least 1 hour before serving.

Before it was mutilated:

After it was mutilated:

Another annual Christmas tradition is "Christmas Under the Stars". My church hosts it every year and it is a ton of fun. We go to a park and decorate it all up with Christmas lights, we sing Christmas Carols and read the Christmas story then we pretty much gorge ourselves on cookies and hot chocolate. I usually make my mom's sugar cookies at Christmas because it is nostalgic but decorating them is a bit time consuming so I decided to try something quicker. I found this recipe for cookies stuffed with York Peppermint Patties on Pinterest accompanied by this picture:

My mouth started watering right then and there. And I have to say, they taste as amazing as they look. This one is a winner! If you have any cookie exchanges to go to this Christmas season, bring these,  I promise they will impress. 

Chocolate Peppermint Patty Cookies

Ingredients:

3 sticks butter, slightly softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

2 eggs

3 cups flour

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

24 miniature peppermint patties, frozen

6 oz. white chocolate

Directions:

Beat together butter and sugars until soft and creamy. Add eggs one at a time. In a large bowl sift together all of the dry ingredients. Add to butter/sugar mixture in increments.

Turn out the dough onto a large piece of plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. 

Working with approximately 1 tablespoon of dough at a time, use your fingers to evenly encase each of 24 miniature peppermint patties (unwrapped and frozen) with the dough.

Place on the prepared pans and smooth the dough with your fingers, if needed.

Bake until just firm to the touch, about 12 minutes. Remove the pans from the oven and let cool slightly. Transfer the cookies on the parchment to a rack to cool completely.

In a small bowl, microwave 6 ounces of white chocolate chips on high in 30-second bursts until it is creamy and completely smooth when stirred. Using a piping bag, drizzle the white chocolate over the cookies. Let cool completely before serving or storing.

As you can see, I make a lot of cookies for Christmas Under the Stars! I am also bring some to a work Christmas party.