Avocado 2-Ways: Sweet & Savory

Savory.

Zingy Guacamole

Ingredients

• 3 or 4 medium sized avocados (the more the merrier!)
• 1 or 2 medium sized tomatoes diced
• 1 small small onion diced & caramalized (or cooked through)
• 2 teaspoons - 1 tablespoon Siracha (or to taste
• pinch of salt (or to taste)
• pinch of ground black pepper (or taste)
• optional: pinch of ginger

Cooking Directions

1. Simple gather ingredients in a mixing bowl.
2. Smash together until desired consistency.
3. Season and serve!

 Sweet. 

Chilled Avocado Pudding

Ingredients

• 1 or 2 medium sized avocado
• 1 banana
• 2 heaping teaspoons coconut oil
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
• optional: milk (as much needed to reach desired consistency)

Cooking Directions

1. Gather ingredients in a blender and pulse until smooth like pudding.
2. If it becomes too thick add a little milk to reach desired consistency.
3. Refrigerate until chilled and serve!

 Hope you enjoy!

Get Your Feast On!

Some Treats for Valentine

One can argue that it's cliche and even cheesy to give a loved one a box of chocolates for Valentine's Day and to some degree, I'll agree, HOMEMADE.....anything really...let alone, assorted chocolates is a game changer. Unless they're not into chocol...........let's be serious lol. All I know is if I got some of this any day of the week, I'd be one happy gal.

In this assortment of goodies, I've included MY version of the Hershey's White Chocolate Symphony Bar, but instead of using toffee, I made caramel brittle instead. And you can't go wrong with chocolate covered nuts & dried fruit. It all really is kinda simple to make, but the final result is  fabulous.

Assorted Chocolate Treats

Ingredients

• 1 bark semi-sweet chocolate
• 1 bark almond bark or white chocolate
• 1 cup peanut brittle
• 1 cup peanuts
• 1 cup dried cranberries

Cooking Directions

1. Melt the chocolate (white or semi-sweet).
2. Coat nuts, brittle, and dried fruit.
3. Place on a sheet tray lined with wax or parchment paper.
4. Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes or until chocolate coating has set properly. 

And here's a little something I created in the spirit of love. I drew the tree, sunset, and shadows with markers. For overall color as well as the title text, I used photoshop :)

Hope you have a lovely Valentine's Day! To me it's not only a day for lovers alone, but for love in general. So may you enjoy this day with the people or person you love the most whether it's your husband, wife, family, best friends, pets, etc! 

Get Your Feast On!

Bark! It's beginning to look a lot like.....

So  much Christmas spirit this year....well, every year but this year in particular. We rummaged every inch of our storage unit aka the basement and managed to put out 99% of our Christmas/Holiday decorations. So far, it's looking good :)

The first time I ever tried Peppermint Bark was at a holiday party at work several years ago. I'm not a huge fan of mint-chocolate anything, so naturally this didn't sound appetizing at all. Surprisingly, I enjoyed every bite. I'm so happy I tried it. It's decadent, but refreshing at the same time and has become my favorite holiday nosh. I'm pretty sure this is a popular treat in general, but in case you're  not sure how to make it yourself, I included a quick and straight-forward recipe.


White Chocolate VS Almond Bark?

Now this is something I've always wondered. Does anyone else out there prefer to use almond bark over white chocolate or vice versa? I've always used almond bark in place of white chocolate and I don't really taste the difference, but I'm sure I'm wrong. I know that white chocolate dries a little bit more yellow whereas almond bark dries completely white, which I usually prefer because it's aesthetically more appealing to me and for this time of year it's just wintery and gorgeous. Oh and white chocolate tends to be a little bit more expensive, but I've always wondered, other than the color, what the difference is between the two.

If anyone knows, please let me know in the comments!

Candy Cane Bark

Ingredients

• 1/2 Cup almond bark melted
• 1 (about 1/4 Cup) crushed candy cane

Cooking Directions

1. In 10 second intervals, microwave almond bark until it's melted (be careful not to burn it!)
2. Crush candy cane and sprinkle into white chocolate. Mix thoroughly until candy cane is well incorporated.
3. On a cookie-sheet lined with wax/parchment paper, spread mixture evenly and thinly OR create cookie sized dollops.
4. Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes or until completely solidified.
5. Break off into pieces and serve!

What is your ultimate favorite holiday snack?

Get Your Feast On!

Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake

 

So sinful.

The cake definitely lives up to its name :) I tried to get as clear of a picture as my little point-and-shoot camera will allow me of the actual recipe on the Hershey's Cocoa Powder container.

If you'd like a bigger more legible version, go ahead and

Polish chocolate goodness

My mom came home from work with these amazing Polish chocolates. I don't know how popular or if they're even considered good chocolates over there, but when I tasted them I almost died haha. So delicious. They come in these cute colorful sachets and each chocolate has a different filling: caramel (advokat k, I don't know what that means, but that's what that was labeled), pistachio, hazelnut, and coconut. My favorite was the pistachio and hazelnut. I couldnt' stop eating them haha.

I forgot what this one was, but it had little crispies inside in a creamy chocolate ganache.

Yum.

peace&love,

Andrea