I am a Honey Bee

All about my adventures with cooking, crafts, and travel

Secret Recipe Club

Dan Dan Noodles- SRC

Dan Dan Noodles

Ah vacation!!

It’s here! It’s really, really here!!!

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The past week has been killer to be able to properly meet a deadline and prep for my time away from the office but it was worth it in the end as I get to enjoy this whole week off with my family. The best.

My dad came up from FL and was saying with us since Tuesday night. On Saturday morning we headed down to Cape Cod with a very packed car. It was quite a feat to fit it all and quite comical to see too. But we made it down and have been having a fantastic time all together.

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From walks to the pool to not napping (kill me) to leprechauns in trees and lots of birthday cake, it’s been a jam packed past 2 days. Tiring but in the best sort of ways. Damn, the dog is even worn out. He cut his foot on something so he has a sad little limp (I’ve bandaged it well!), but even then 5 kids is a lot of him to handle. ha!!

And so here we are, Monday! It’s another Secret Recipe Club Day as well. Holy smokes. It feels like I can tell time from these posts. Every 4th Monday of the month, and before I know it I am prepping for another and then another.

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For this month’s Secret Recipe Club post I was given Sally’s blog, called Bewitching Kitchen. Sally is just the best. She is such a fun, active member of SRC. Plus, her blog is just awesome.

Sally has had the most interesting life. She has lived all over doing scientific research based on bacteria. Everywhere from Brazil to France. Such a smarty-pants who has lived in incredible places. She met her husband while working and since then they have been working together. For just about the past 20 years they been working on “trying to figure out the mechanism of a transport reaction in bacteria.” Umm what? I design bathrooms, she wins. ha!!!

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Anyway, she has been blogging for years and years so she has a HUGE index of recipes. I had such a hard time picking one to make this month. For real!!! I was scrolling, and scrolling, and scrolling through all the recipes. From appetizers to breads to cakes to drinks to entrees.

I picked the Dan Dan noodles as I figured they would be delicious, something that would be fairly easy to whip up, and a crowd favorite. Crowd = me, Price, & my dad.

It was a dinner that really hit the spot!

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The original recipe called for 8 ounces of udon noodles and 12 ounces of ground pork but the packages that I purchased came in 10 ounce and 16 ounce, respectively. Since I didn’t want just a bit left over in each package, I just used it all up and played around with the quantity of the rest of the ingredients. I think it all worked out perfectly.

It is quite spicy so if you are sensitive, then just cut back on the chili oil and try it before you add the full amount. It’s a good heat though. I swear!

Dan Dan Noodles

I served the Dan Dan Noodles with steamed broccoli. I just feel dinner is not dinner without some veggies. I mean, even my pizza has veggies on it. ha!

This was a fantastic dinner!! I could really see myself making this again, which is saying a lot considering my attention span is almost non-existent so I’m always on to trying something new, and hardly make anything ever again.

Dan Dan Noodles

I hope that when you have a craving for a spicy Asian dish you will toss the take-out menus aside and make these awesome Dan Dan Noodles.

Dan Dan Noodles

Dan Dan Noodles

Makes 4- 6 servings

Ingredients

  • 10 ounces udon noodles
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 16 ounces ground pork
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons chopped peeled ginger
  • 1 cup chicken stock
  • 2 – 3 Tablespoons or less chili oil
  • 2 1/2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 2 Tablespoons soy sauce
  • 2 Tablepsoons tahini
  • 1 teaspoon Szechuan peppercorns, optional
  • Pinch of sugar
  • 3 Tablespoons chopped roasted peanuts
  • 2 Tablespoons sliced scallions

Process

  1. Cook noodles in a large pot of boiling water until just tender (follow instructions on the package).  Drain, rinse  with cold water, drain again, and place in a large serving bowl.
  2. Heat the vegetable oil in a medium skillet over medium heat.
  3. Add the pork, season with salt and pepper, and cook for a couple of minutes, just to begin browning it. While cooking, break apart into small pieces with a spoon.
  4. Add the ginger; cook until pork gets lightly browned, about 2 minutes more.
  5. Stir in chicken stock, then add the chili oil, red vinegar, soy sauce, tahini, peppercorns, and a pinch of sugar.
  6. Simmer everything together until the sauce thickens, about 7 minutes.
  7. Pour pork mixture over noodles; garnish with peanuts and scallions.

Slightly adapted from Bewitching Kitchen

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Check out all the other great Secret Recipe Club posts this month!

And be sure to check out my 3 years of Secret Recipe Club posts!!!!

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Thanks for visiting. Please leave me a comment to provide some feedback. I appreciate all the comments I receive.

Double Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

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Muffins make me super happy.

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They are really so good. Just delightful. A great way to start your day. Or have as an afternoon snack. Taking the time to bake them up on the weekend just signifies taking the time to treat yourself. Plus, they make your house smell so good. That smell should be a candle. Well, it probably already is.

Double Chocolate Banana Muffins

We haven’t been eating muffins as much as before as we have been following a more Paleo- friendly diet, but that hasn’t stopped me from making them. We bring them to work or Autumn’s daycare. Sharing is caring.

But the thing I love most about muffins now is that Autumn and I get to make them together. She really wants to be involved when I am in the kitchen. I’ve found that baking works pretty well as there are no sharp knives. Yeah, knives don’t really work with tiny toddler hands. But she likes when I count out the Tablespoons or Cups of ingredients. and he LOVES cracking eggs. Seriously loves to crack eggs. She loves when I make crustless quiche as she can crack a dozen eggs.

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So when it came to picking the recipe for month’s Secret Recipe Club post I knew I would have to check out all the baking related recipes from Karen’s Kitchen Stories so I could keep Autumn envovled. And Karen has so so many awesome recipes. I enjoyed browsing through all of Karen’s bread recipes as her recipe annex is quite extensive and they all looked so good. I have bookmarked so many recipes like her Chocolate Walnut Babka, Overnight White Bread, and Transitional Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread.

While bread would have been delicious to make I wanted to make something that Autumn could really help with. So I turned back to her well organized recipe index to find another recipe. I saw these Double Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins and knew they would be a great muffin and something manageable to involve a toddler.

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These muffins are a real breakfast treat as they have 2 kinds of chocolate in the batter. But some days you just need a treat. But the banana makes them healthy, right? ha! The recipe calls for the addition of sour cream to the batter, but I didn’t have that on hand and knew I wouldn’t use the rest of the container, so I used Greek yogurt. I thought the taste and texture of the muffins so I think the ingredient swap worked just fine.

I also added chocolate chips to the tops of the muffins as you can’t have too many chocolate chips. That’s a fact.

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I really suggest that you whip up a batch of these Double Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins for, or even with, the ones you love. Thanks for such a good recipe Karen!! So yummy!

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Double Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

Yield: 12 Muffins

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 C all purpose flour
  • 1/3 Dutch process unsweetened cocoa
  • 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 3/4 Cup mashed banana, about 2 medium previously frozen bananas
  • 1/3 Cup sour cream or Greek Yogurt
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 Cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 Cup canola oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Generous 1/2 C dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips, and 60 more chips for the top of the muffins

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners.
  2. Whisk the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together in a medium bowl.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk the banana and sour cream/yogurt until smooth.
  4. Add the egg, sugar, oil, and vanilla extract until smooth.
  5. Fold in the flour mixture and chocolate chips until just combined.
  6. Portion evenly into the muffin wrappers. Add 5 chocolate chips to the top of each muffin.
  7. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes. Cool in the pan for about 2 minutes, and then on a wire rack.

Notes

Slightly Adapted from Karen's Kitchen Stories

Did you make this recipe?

Tag me in your Instagram pic @iamahoneybee

© iamahoneybee
Cuisine: American / Category: Breakfast

 

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Homemade General Tso’s Chicken- SRC

Homemade General Tso's Chicken

Oh, back to life. Back to reality.

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We’re back from our Caribbean cruise vacation. It was such a wonderful time. A wonderful break from life. It was a wonderful way to celebrate my 30th birthday!

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But we’re back home now and back to the normal grind. Back to work today…

But it seems like Tuesday will be a day at home, and maybe even Wednesday, because of this blizzard heading our way. Yay? I mean it’s great for another day ‘off’ but I’ll need to make up the time in the end and snow. But, damn, I love a good Nor’easter. I heart you already Winter Storm Juno!!

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I am a Weather Channel junkie. JUNKIE. Whenever there is a big storm I watch the Weather Channel, or our local news channel, 24/7. I love tracking storms. I love watching the updates throughout the day(s) as they get more and more information from different areas to get more specific quantities of snow/rain with tides or wind gusts. Oh, it’s so damn exciting.

Plus, it’s a good break from reality so we get to veg out and I get to cook!! I have some fun recipes to get to work on too! I’ve had my eye on a brownie recipe for awhile that I gotta make. And I’m working on perfecting my chocolate chip cookie recipe. It’s getting there!!

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And I know I am going to be making this General Tso’s Chicken again.

Hot damn, this General Tso’s Chicken is so freaking good. It will make you toss your take out menus in the trash. Okay, maybe you still need take out for your egg rolls and such, but I doubt we’ll ever order General Tso’s again. It is gonna be homemade for us all the way now.

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This is another one of those instances when I love Secret Recipe Club as it helped me discover another great blog and recipe. I thoroughly enjoying checking out the recipes on Asiya’s blog Chocolate and Chillies. She posts delicious recipes while sharing about her life in Toronto as a stay at home mom to 2 little boys. Her recipes often pack some heat (from chillies!) since she is Indian and her husband is Pakistani. There were quite a few recipes that caught my eye, including her Chocolate Truffle Energy Bites, Black Bean Burger, Pasta with Spinach Pesto, Roasted Red Peppers and Sundried Tomatoes, but I picked out her General Tso’s Chicken recipe.

I stuck with the recipe with the exception that we love broccoli with our General Tao’s so I added that. Because of that addition I doubled up the sauce. If you don’t want broccoli then cut back the sauce to follow the recipe exactly as it was on Asiya’s blog.

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So while the Northeast is getting slammed with snow, we’ll be cozy at home making chocolate chip cookies and another batch of General Tso’s Chicken, since we know take out is not getting through 24+ inches of snow!

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General Tso’s Chicken

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

  • 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1″ cubes (about 1 lb)
  • 1 teaspoon orange juice
  • pinch of salt
  • 1/3 cup cornstarch
  • 3 1/2 tbsp canola oil, divided
  • 2 Cups pieces of broccoli
  • 1 inch ginger, minced
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 5-7 dried red chillies
  • 2 green onions, white part only, cut into 1 inch length

Sauce

  • 5 Tablespoons rice vinegar
  • 6 Tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce
  • 2 Tablespoons hoisin sauce
  • 1/2 Cup water
  • 1/4 Cup sugar
  • 1 Tablespoon orange juice
  • 2 Tablespoons cornstarch

Process

  1. Marinate the chicken in orange juice and salt for 15 minutes.  Meanwhile, mix all the ingredients for the sauce in a bowl and set aside.
  2. Coat the chicken with the 1/3 cup cornstarch.
  3. Over high heat, heat 2 Tablespoons of oil in a wok/large non-stick skillet.
  4. Add the chicken and fry until cooked through.  Remove and put on a paper towel lined plate.
  5. Add the broccoli and stir every 20 seconds or so. After 2 minutes add 1/4 Cup of water and cover for 1 minute. Remove the broccoli, set aside.
  6. Heat the remaining oil in the wok and add the garlic, ginger, and dried red chilies.  Fry until you can smell the spices.
  7. Add the sauce and mix.  When the sauce boils and thickens add the chicken, broccoli, and green onions.  Stir to coat everything with the sauce.  Serve immediately with some hot steamed rice or quinoa.

Adapted from Chocolate and Chillies

____________________

Check out all the other great Secret Recipe Club posts this month!

And be sure to check out my 3 years of Secret Recipe Club posts!!!!

 

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Thanks for visiting. Please leave me a comment to provide some feedback. I appreciate all the comments I receive.

Brown Butter Sea Salt Cookies

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I love cookie season!!!!!!!

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This is cookie season right? Let’s go with it. It’s basically the only thing I like about winter.

I just love the variety of it all. Cake it great but you can’t eat 4 slices of different cakes without someone raising some concern for your well being. But eat 4 cookies, eh not so horrible.

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So that is exactly why I was so excited for the First Annual Cookie Carnival from Secret Recipe Club. I’ve had so much fun with my monthly Secret Recipe Club posts the I knew this cookie themed post would be a blast. It’s just a blast to try a new recipe, especially cookies.

I was given Kates’s blog, A Spoonful of Thyme. I checked out her recipe index, which boasted plenty of cookie recipes. I checked them all out but the one that caught my eye was her Brown Butter Sea Salt Cookies.

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I made browned butter recently and now I want to browned butter all the things. So I was gavitated to this recipe. Plus, Kate kinda put up a challenge for the recipe as she felt it could use some tweaking as it wasn’t as sweet as she preferred and a bit to dry. Of course, I wanted to give it a try then. I figured I would play around with it, like I do with more recipes anyway, and see what resulted.

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I amped up the butter amount from 1 1/2 sticks to 2 sticks since she thought they were too dry. Plus, instead of browning both sticks up butter I would just brown 1 stick and cream the other stick of butter with the sugar, before adding in the browned butter. That would keep great browned butter flavor, but lighten up the texture.

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Next I added more sugar to the original recipe. I noticed the recipe called for 1/2 Cup of browned sugar, but most cookie recipes I see use more so I added some more granulated sugar to help sweeten things up.

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While I didn’t have the bakery cookies that inspired Kate to make her own, I can say that these are kick butt cookies. They are buttery, tender, crumbly, and totally amped up from the seat salt sprinkled on top.

I brought these into my office to share and they were a huge hit. I would love it for Kate to try out how I adapted her recipe and see what she thinks of it.

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Brown Butter Sea Salt Cookies

Makes 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients

  • 2 sticks of butter
  • 1/2 Cup lightly packed brown sugar
  • 1/4 Cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoonp vanilla extract
  • 2 Cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • Sea Salt for sprinkling

Process

  1. Using 1 stick of butter, make the browned butter following these directions. Let cool.
  2. Cream the other stick of butter with the brown sugar and vanilla extract. When that is light anf fluffy, pour the brown butterand mix to incorporate again.
  3. In a small bowl whisk together the flour and the baking soda.  Add to the butter and sugar mixture and mix. The dough will be slightly crumbly.
  4. Roll the cookies into 1″ balls and sprinkle with sea salt.  Press the top of the cookies lightly- to shape and help the salt stick. Let chill for 1 hour.
  5. Preheat oven to 325° F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper/silpat. Arrange the cookies on the baking sheet. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until  golden brown.  Overcooking will make them dry and crumbly. Let cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes prior to removing.

Adapted from A Spoonful of Thyme

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 There are TONS of Secret Recipe Club members posting cookie recipes today. Check them out!!!

Apple and Mushroom Wild Rice Stuffing- SRC

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I have a funny story.

It happened on Saturday, but it all starts with something that happened on Thursday. Kinda. Sorta.

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See, on Thursday our wonderful dog walker emailed me asking for me to call her. She wanted to let me know that Kemper’s left eye was all puffy. Not the eye actually, but all around it. Top and bottom lid. My poor bug eyed dog was even more bug eyed. It looked like he was punched. Well, a trip to the vet later, he was having an allergic reaction to something. Nothing in his diet or in the environment changed. Nothing that we could think of. So, he had to get a benadryl shot and keep taking it 3x a day for 3 days, plus pepcid for his stomach as allergic reactions will often upset their stomach. (The things you learn.)

Fast forward 24 hours to Friday night and my stomach starts itching. No big. It’s the winter. My skin is dry.

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Then it’s Saturday morning and my feet and hands start itching. My hands get splotchy and a bit puffy, enough to take my ring off. So while Kemper is getting Benadryl dose I take a pill too. What the hell is going on!?!? Anyway, Autumn and I then go grocery shopping. Enough of a distraction for me to stop scratching my palms. By the time we got home it was time for Autumn’s nap so I put her down and then got the perishables away. I was crashing so I figured I’d take a 5 minute catnap, or maybe a 15 minute nap. I’m usually great at getting myself up at a certain time, but I didn’t do so well as I woke up at 10.40. And panicked. Why? Because I had to make mac and cheese to bring over to our friend’s house for 1pm. I sprung up and stumbled into the kitchen while freaking out ‘How did you let me sleep so late? I gotta make mac and cheese. We are never gonna get to Mark and Allie’s on time!!!” “Umm, we’re going there tomorrow…” And so there we were. So I took a deep breath, stumbled back to the sofa and fell back asleep.

And that is why you should buy NON-DROWSY Benedryl. Noted.

Now it’s time to discuss this amazing side dish.

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For this month’s Secret Recipe Club post I was given Sarah’s blog Curious Cuisiniere. Sarah shares her adventures; whether it’s in the kitchen, traveling or her recent bakery position.  It all makes for well balanced blog with wonderful recipes including the one I chose for this months SRC.

Sarah shares hundreds of recipes, thankfully all very well organized. I enjoyed browsing through them as she shares a unique range of dishes from all different cultures. As I had been focusing on Thanksgiving recipes I picked her Apple and Mushroom Wild Rice Stuffing as it sounded easy to make – just about 30 minutes- and really flavorful with the layers of flavors from the apples, mushrooms, raisins, and, of course, the wild rice.

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This Apple and Mushroom Wild Rice Stuffing is the perfect side dish for Thanksgiving.  It’s off the beaten path which will make for a tasty alternative to stuffing but goes great with roasted turkey or other fowl.  The earthy texture and filling taste of the dish makes for a hearty side for tummy and palette.  The wild mushrooms mixed with the apples and long grain rice are a wonderful combination.

I changed things up a bit by using fresh mushrooms, as opposed to canned. But the recipe was so great that there was little personalizing needed. I did garnish the stuffing with chopped pecans and dried cranberries but you can leave it plain. Or you might even want to add some pecans into the rice. I love pecans but Autumn doesn’t do too well when nuts are mixed into things. She just spits them out. ha!

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Apple and Mushroom Wild Rice Stuffing

Makes roughly 2 quarts

Ingredients

  • 3 Cups water
  • 1/2 Cup wild rice
  • 1 Cup white rice
  • 2 Tablespoos butter, divided
  • 1 Tablespoon chicken or vegetable broth
  • 8 ounces of baby bella mushrooms, white button mushrooms are okay too
  • 1 medium onion, chopped (approximately 1 Cup)
  • 2 stalks celery, chopped (approximately 1 Cup)
  • 1 medium green apple, cored and chopped (approximately 1 Cup)
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/2 Cup chicken or vegetable broth
  • 1/2 Cup raisins
  • 3 Tablespoons parsley, dry
  • 1 teaspoon thyme, ground dry
  • 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
  • 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Process

  1. In a large sauce pan, mix water and wild rice and bring to a boil. Simmer, covered for 5 min. Add white rice, turn the heat down to low, and simmer, covered, for 15-20 minutes, until rice is tender, but not overcooked. Note: You may have some water left over in the pot when the rice is tender, simply transfer the rice to a strainer to eliminate the excess liquid.
  2. Meanwhile, sauté the mushrooms in 1 Tablespoon butter and 1 Tablespoon chicken broth over medium heat. Cook until browned and reduced in size, approximately 4-5 minutes. Remove from the skillet.
  3. Add 1 Tablespoon butter to the skillet. Once melted, add the onion and celery. Sautee for 3-4 minutes. Add 1 Tablespoon chicken broth and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Add the apples, and garlic and sauté an additional 3-4 min. Remove from heat.
  4. Add the onion mixture to rice along with remaining stuffing ingredients.
  5. Stuffing is ready to serve, or be stuffed inside a turkey.

Inspired by Curious Cuisiniere

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Check out all the other great Secret Recipe Club posts this month!

 

And be sure to check out my 3 years of Secret Recipe Club posts!!!!

____________________

Thanks for visiting. Please leave me a comment to provide some feedback. I appreciate all the comments I receive.

Cranberry French Toast Casserole

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Our mornings are so rushed with getting up, getting ready, getting Autumn packed up for daycare, Kemper out, and getting our stuff packed up that we often get our breakfasts on the way into work or if there are vendor presentations in the morning I’ll be able to get something like a muffin or some fruit. Those hectic mornings mean that I try to take the time to make a nicer breakfast on the weekends. I still don’t have a lot of time but it’s still great to make a nice scramble, bagel sandwiches, Kodiak Pancakes, or some waffles.

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Fusilli with Fresh Corn and Chicken in a Garlic Cream Sauce- SRC

Fusilli with Fresh Corn and Chicken in a Garlic Cream Sauce

Holy cow.

You guys this recipe knocked my socks off.

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And then the dog ate them. Just kidding! He only eats the baby’s socks. And thankfully it’s summer so we’re going barefoot now. woohoo!

This recipe is simple but it hits all the right notes.

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Since getting this month’s Secret Recipe Club assignment I’ve made this twice. Making a recipe again when I don’t have to is big. Especially in such a short period of time! But when you find something you love you go with it. And I loved Mary Kay’s blog called Homemade Cravings. Seriously, I had some cravings after I checked out her blog.

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Check these out…  Mini Layer Nacho Bites, Panera Autumn Squash Soup, Cream Cheese and Caramel Frost Apple Cupcakes.  See, she has great taste! Check out her Pinterest account too. She pins some great dishes as well. yum!

Since I made this twice I made some alterations the second time around. Nothing too drastic but just a few things to make it my own. I increased the amount of chicken to the recipe to add more protein and increase the amount of servings this pasta dish made. (hello leftovers!) As well, I increased the amount of sauce that is made since I loved it the first time I made it so I had to have more!

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It’s quick to get all of this together but my tip to you is how to get the kernels off the corn cobs easily and neatly. Take a big pan and put an upside down bowl in the middle of it. That is going to be your pedestal where you hold up your corn, bottom side down. Then you run your knife down the side of the corn, allowing the kernels to fall off into the pan.

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Be sure to use all the great fresh corn you have at your finger tips this summer when you are making this great pasta dish. Yum! I bet this would also be great with some fresh zucchini as well.

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Fusilli with Fresh Corn and Chicken in a Garlic Cream Sauce

Ingredients

  • 1 pound Fusilli (Rontini works well too)
  • 2 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 1/2  pounds chicken, chopped into bite size pieces
  • 3 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 4 ears of fresh corn on the cob, kernels cut off
  • 3/4 Cup half and half
  • 1/2 Cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 Tablespoon parsley, minced
  • Salt and Pepper

Process

  1. Cook the fusilli according to instructions on package. Reserve 1 Cup of the pasta water.
  2. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat, add the chicken pieces. Brown the chicken and then move to the outer edges of the skillet.
  3. Add the garlic to the center of the skillet and saute for a minute.
  4.  Add the corn kernels to the skillet. Mix everything together and cook for another 4-5 minutes until tender, stirring every 30 seconds or so.
  5. Add the cup of pasta water, half and half, and the cheese. Allow to come to a low boil.
  6. Remove from heat and toss with the drained fusilli until all pasta is evenly coated. Toss with the minced parsley.

Adapted from Homemade Cravings

 

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Secret Recipe Club

There are so many other great posts out today. Be sure to check them out on the link below:

As well, check out my 2 years of Secret Recipe Club posts!!!!

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Thanks for visiting. Please leave me a comment to provide some feedback. I appreciate all the comments I receive.

Copy Cat Almond Joy’s- SRC

 Copy Cat Almond Joy's-1

Yay! Today is Memorial Day!

We are sticking home today to hang out, cross some things off the to do list, and grill. We made steak last night so I think some hot dogs for lunch and chicken for dinner. Autumn even had her own piece of steak (not seasoned, well done) that she sucked on and then dropped for the dog. I swear I try to grab what she is about to do but she is sneaky. And when she isn’t dropping him food she hangs a hand over the edge for him to lick. Those two are going to be trouble as she grows up. It’s going to be too cute! And a bit awful!!

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Anyway, we did some crafty stuff for our room yesterday and we’re going to do some stuff for her room today. I have most of the elements together for a gallery wall for her so I am going to put it up while mapping out some place holders for the 2 little canvases I am going to order. I just love to be able to create something new for our house. I only wish we did it more often.

Anyway, May has sped by and it’s now time for this month’s Secret Recipe Club post I was given the blog Sew You Think You Can Cook. Lauren shares recipes on her blog that she makes when she is not busy with quilting scrapbooking, and cross stitch. When she is not cooking and crafting she is an aerospace engineer… hello smarty! Sounds like a cool profession says the person who pulls out a calculator to figure out a tip. ha! 

While I was eyeing a few of her savory recipes, like the Vineyard Chicken, her homemade Almond Joy bars jumped out to me. I hadn’t made candy in the awhile and never a candy bar like this. I was up for the little challenge!

Copy Cat Almond Joy's-4 Copy Cat Almond Joy's-5

Copy Cat Almond Joy's-6 Copy Cat Almond Joy's-7

I really suggest using a stand mixer to make these Almond Joy’s. The mixture is sticky and would require a bit of muscle so I think it’s best to use the stand mixer so you knew you evenly mixed everything together. If you need a workout then be sure to just a greased bowl and a wooden spoon. Assembling the bars is a breeze. The trickest part is the chocolate part. I never have much luck coating candy evenly, and neither did Lauren, so I decided just to coat the tops. If you are a pro at coating candy then feel free to do that instead, you’ll just need more chocolate.

So a big thanks to Lauren for such a wonderful recipe. As well, a very special thanks on this Memorial Day to her and her husband, who is in the Air Force!!!

Copy Cat Almond Joy's-2

Copy Cat Almond Joy’s

Makes 24 candy bars

Ingredients

  • 10 ounces sweetened condensed milk
  • 2 1/2 Cup powdered sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • pinch of kosher salt
  • 3 Cup sweetened shredded coconut
  • 48 whole salted almonds
  • 8 ounces of milk chocolate

Process

  1. Line an 8″ x 8″ baking pan with aluminum foil. Then spray the lined pan with cooking spray.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, pour the condensed milk and half of the sugar. Using the paddle attachment, beat until combined. Then add the remaining sugar and beat.
  3. Add in the vanilla extract and salt then beat for another minute until really whipped.
  4. In one large batch, add in shredded coconut and beat together until the coconut evenly coated with the condensed milk mixture
  5. Using greased hands, press the coconut mixture into an even layer in the lined baking pan. Score the candy bars by dividing the pan in 3 pieces in one direction. Then rotate the pan and score it into 8 equal pieces in that direction. Place 2 almonds onto each candy bar.
  6. Freeze for at least 30 minutes.
  7. While the bars are still in the pan, completely cut through where you had previously scored the candy bars.
  8. Melt the chocolate and then evenly pour it over the bars. Let cool complete prior to removing the liner from the pan. Gently flip the candy over onto a cutting board. Cut out each candy bar by cutting through the chocolate at each location where you had cut through the candy previously.

Adaped from Sew You Think You Can Cook

 

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Secret Recipe Club

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