Looking for a last-minute Christmas gift for friends and family? Forget the cookies and go for the candy bark!
Easy and quick to make, these candy bark recipes make a great gift for anyone on your list. Use the recipes below or mix and match your favorite holiday flavors to create your own unique creations!
16 Last-Minute Candy Barks You Can Make for Christmas
Now that we’re about mid-December, you should have seen White Christmas at least 2 times by now, right?
If you’re gearing up to binge your favorite holiday film, check out this list of delicious recipes inspired by the films that make this the best time of the year. From meatloaf inspired by A Christmas Story to the Morton Family strata recipe straight from The Family Stone, here are 10 recipes inspired by your favorite Christmas movies.
Your heart’s a dead tomato splotched with moldy purple spots, Mr. Grinch…
But these snacks inspired by the Grinch will have your heart growing to two times its normal size!
Whether you’re brave enough to go see the new Grinch movie (sense my sarcasm?) or you’re just a fan of the original book/movie, these great grinchy treats will have you banging your tartinkers and slanging your sloo-slunkers!
So you hunkered down and decided to make a big ol’ turkey this holiday…only to discover you’re left with tons of leftovers…
While you can certainly just enjoy turkey as is for days afterwards, there are tons of other ways to put that tasty turkey to use in a variety of other recipes.
From Turkey Curry to Fried Turkey and Waffles, here are 12 tasty and delicious ways to use up your Thanksgiving leftovers.
Canning isn’t just for pickling…you can make delicious jams, jellies, butters and even salsas using the ol’ trusty mason jar.
Not only is this a great way to use fruits and veggies that are nearing season’s end, but these canned creations make great gifts for the holidays.
Surprise the hostess with the mostess with some homemade apple butter, or fill holiday stockings with a can of homemade salsa. Thrifty and fun to assemble, these canned jellies, jams and butters will help you clean out your produce stash in no time!
I love making cookies for the holidays, but it’s a ton of work to have your oven on all day every day and batches of cookies all over your house. My fridge is packed with so much butter and eggs that I don’t even have room for ACTUAL food to live on 😉
I’ve been trying to cut back on the cookies in recent years, so I like to off-set and fill in my cookie baskets with some homemade candies. Candies often take less than an hour to make and often require 0 baking time. They’re great for bringing into the office, as one batch usually makes a ton of servings…and they’re great for gifting, as they can stay out at room temperature and be packaged without the fear of ruining any decorations.
If you’re looking for some quick and easy treats to make this holiday season, look no further than these 12 holiday candy recipes. From peanut buttery buckeyes to candy-coated popcorn, these sweets are sure to get your friends and family in the holiday spirit!
Any true Yooper will tell you, there’s nothing more iconic about the Upper Peninsula than a pasty.
A savory pastry dough stuffed with meat and potatoes, the pasty was developed as a way for miners to have a good, hardy lunch while working underground. The pasty can be eaten warm or cold and the thick, twisted crust was used as a handle of sorts that would be thrown away so miners could hold their food without having to worry about their dirty hands.
Today you can still find pasty shops all over the UP, and most of them come with a variety of fillings; however, you just can’t go wrong with beef, potatoes and rutabaga.
I’ve had several pasties in my years spent up in the UP and they really are a tasty and filling meal. Not only that, they’re actually quite easy to make at home!
I made these pasties in a couple hours and they made great lunches and dinners throughout the week. Serve with a salad or just enjoy on it’s own…it’s certainly enough to fill you up!
Traditional Beef Pasties Recipe
Ingredients:
1 cup lard
3 to 4 cups bread flour or all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
3 medium red potatoes, peeled
1 small rutabaga, peeled
6 baby carrots
1 medium onion
1 pound ground beef
2 cloves garlic, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
1 egg, for egg wash (optional)
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Directions:
For the crust: Combine lard with 1 cup water. Melt on low heat until everything is incorporated and liquid is hot.
In separate heat-safe bowl, combine 3 cups flour and salt. Gradually add the hot liquid to the flour and stir until a very soft dough is formed. Cover and refrigerate until dough is cool, about 2 hours.
For filling: Chop red potatoes, rutabaga, carrots and onion into small 1/8 in. cubes. You’ll want everything to be a uniform size so it cooks through properly.
Add ground beef, garlic and salt and pepper to taste. Stir filling until combined.
To assemble: Divide dough into equal portions (I weighed and divided the dough and got 8 portions with this recipe). On a floured surface, roll out one portion at a time into a 7 or 8 in. circle. Add about 3/4 to 1 cup of filling to center of dough. Moisten edges with water, then carefully fold dough over filling and seal edges. You can use a fork for easy sealing or do the traditional twisted crust by folding the dough over itself from one end to the other.
If your dough is still too soft, add more flour. I ended up having to add about a cup of flour after the dough cooled to get it to the right consistency. It should be soft, but workable.
Place pasties on an ungreased baking sheet. If desired, you can do an egg wash for a little color, which is what I did. Poke several holes in each pasty with a fork.
Bake at 350 degrees F for about 1 hour. Cool slightly before serving.
If you end up with extra filling, pour it in a skillet and cook up a hash for breakfast! I can say from experience, it’s DELICIOUS.
Every Monday is a “Reci-bee” post, where I share my favorite recipes, recipe collections, and cooking and baking hints and tips.
They say an apple a day keeps the doctor away…and we are smack dab at the forefront of apple season! This is my favorite time of year, when honeycrisps and pink lady apples are available in abundance.
While it’s easy to turn apples into a pie or a treat on a stick, there are tons of other ways you can put fresh apples to use. From easy baked desserts to delicious fall drinks, here are 10 amazing apple recipes to get you in the spirit of the season!
10 Amazing Apple Recipes
French Apple Tartlets
Applepom Fizz
Caramel Apple Cider
Cinnamon Roll Stuffed Apples
Dried Apples
Apple Pie Smoothie
Apple Cider Churros
Apple Cider Pops
Apple Pie Pop Tarts
Healthy Apple Crisp
Every Monday is a “Reci-bee” post, where I share my favorite recipes, recipe collections, and cooking and baking hints and tips.
My first introduction to Matty Matheson was this MUNCHIES video for Braised Short Ribs.
It was basically love at first sight.
First of all, I wish I loved anything as much as Matty Matheson loves food. I mean just look at the joy on his face! Second of all, he’s literally the most colorful man I’ve ever seen. He’s like a big, loveable, cuddly coloring book.
As a lover of Cholula hot sauce and basically any meat that’s cooked low and slow, I bookmarked this recipe and continued my deep dive into the rest of Matheson’s videos.
It wasn’t until the first frost hit Chicago a few weekends ago that I decided it was time to finally bust out this recipe. Full of amazing flavor and stick-to-your-ribs deliciousness, this Braised Short Ribs recipe is just as good as it looks. Serve it with the homemade slaw and some salt and vinegar chips for a hearty, rich meal that is certain to warm you, body and soul.
Braised Short Ribs with Cilantro Slaw
*Based on Braised Short Rib Sandwich Recipe, courtesy of MUNCHIES
Ingredients:
3 garlic cloves, peeled
1 green bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and roughly chopped
1 jalapeno, stemmed, seeded, and roughly chopped
1 poblano, stemmed, seeded, and roughly chopped
1 medium carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
1 medium yellow onion, roughly chopped
1 rib celery, roughly chopped
3 sprigs cilantro
3 sprigs parsley
3 bay leaves, dried
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 (6-inch) long short ribs (about 3 pounds)
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 (5-ounce) bottle Cholula® Original Hot Sauce
1 (12-ounce) bottle beer (I used an IPA)
4 cups beef stock
For Slaw
1 head green cabbage, thinly sliced
1 medium white onion, thinly sliced
4 limes, zested and juiced
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 cup apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup roughly chopped parsley
1/2 cup roughly chopped cilantro
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Directions:
Heat the oven to 325°F. Place garlic, bell pepper, jalapeño, poblano, carrot, onion, and celery in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until finely chopped. Set aside.
Tie the cilantro and parsley sprigs together with string. Set aside. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Season the ribs all over with salt and pepper and cook, turning as needed, until brown all over, about 10 minutes. Set aside on a plate.
Add chopped vegetables to the saucepan and cook until soft and the liquid has evaporated, about 20 to 25 minutes (it’s gonna start smelling amazing in your kitchen). Stir in the tomato paste and cook 2 minutes more.
Add the Cholula® Original Hot Sauce (yup, the WHOLE thing) and cook 2 minutes longer.
Add the beer and beef stock and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Again, I used IPA, but a stout or porter would also be really good here.
Return the short ribs to the saucepan. Top with herb bundle and dried bay leaves. Bring to a boil. Cover, then place in the oven. Cook until the ribs are soft, about 3 hours.
For slaw, toss all of the ingredients together in a bowl about an hour before you’re ready to serve. Cover and refrigerate until ready to plate.
Remove the ribs from the oven and set aside (remove and discard the bones). Strain the liquid, discarding the solids. Place the liquid back into the pan and bring to a boil. Simmer until thick and reduced by half, about 15 minutes.
Roughly chop the rib meat and toss in the reduced sauce. Stuff into toasted buns and top each with the slaw. Serve immediately.
Every Monday is a “Reci-bee” post, where I share my favorite recipes, recipe collections, and cooking and baking hints and tips.
Let’s take a minute and talk about the beauty that is the cast iron skillet.
It can be used to make dinner, desserts, dips and so much more. Cleaning is a breeze, and really, the more you use it, the nicer it is to you. It really is a staple in any kitchen and is the best way for cooking bacon, chicken and even biscuits!
But that’s not all you can do…here are 13 clever things to make in your cast iron skillet!
13 Clever Things to Make in Your Cast Iron Skillet
Pecan Apple Dutch Baby
Country Egg Skillet
Veggie Pot Pie
Chocolate Cinnamon Skillet Brownie
Monster Skillet Cookie
Apple Pie Skillet Cobbler
Skillet Drop Biscuits
Curry Bread with Cheesy Dip
Strawberry Nectarine Skillet Crisp
Skillet Cookie
Garlic Lover’s Pizza
Refried Bean Dip
Cheddar Bacon Ranch Pasta
Every Monday is a “Reci-bee” post, where I share my favorite recipes, recipe collections, and cooking and baking hints and tips.
The Hob-bee Hive 