In need of a very good treat to give for the holiday?  Almond bark, popcorn, pretzels, peanuts oh my!!  This is the perfect, affordable treat that when wrapped in cute holiday buckets and plastic goody bags, will make anyone smile!   You can make it small and large batches and even use different themed bags & buckets for different holidays.

INGREDIENTS:

• *Air pop corn popper-because my husband is a freak and thinks that Microwave ovens (along with everything else in this world) cause cancer.  I think that SEX causes cancer and that we need to keep that out of our house too!!!!! (lol)
• *Vanilla Almond Bark
• *Spanish peanuts
• *Pretzels
• *Popcorn

DIRECTIONS:

I melt one entire block thingy of Almond Bark on my stove top (again the microwave issue with the man) in a plain ole pot on LO to MEDIUM LO, until completely melted. While the candy is melting, Me & Orville Redenbacher get the poppin’ party started!! I fill the popcorn to the level indicated 2 times. This usually gives me enough popped corn for a full batch of Goodies. I used a fairly HUGE bowl.. Add popcorn, peanuts, & pretzels. When the candy is completely melted (whew, my arm is tried of stirring occasionally to prevent scalding) I add the melted candy and mix until completely covered.

Pour onto a wax paper to cool, as a little holiday cheer, I sprinkle red and green candy decor (sugar) over popcorn goodness before it cools.. Fill up your favorite holiday gift bags, add a cute lil bow or ribbon. There you have a perfect scrumptious homemade gift.

I also have a picture of just a Christmas candy that I make, just excluded the popcorn. Mix candy, pretzels, and peanuts until covered, and plop down on wax paper until cool. I also add the colored sprinkles for some holiday flare…..Get your filthy hands outta there I am taking a picture…….

Get your filthy candy grabber’s outta there, you no microwave wanting Nymph…or you’ll pull back a stump..

Happy Holidays Ya’ll!!

Pound cake is great, but pound cake with a fruity topping is even greater!  With this recipe, I decided to use Strawberries, Blueberries, and Bananas.  With so much going on on the fruit side, I needed a balance to which I chose simple but tasty pound cake.  This is a super easy recipe to make and is great when you’re short on time.  While the baking of the pound cake is an hour at the least, everything is done within 15minutes.  So, you ready for the recipe?  Let’s git-r-done!

INGREDIENTS:

For the pound cake

• 1/2 pound butter (or 2 sticks), a little extra for the pan
• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
• 3 cups sugar
• 5 eggs
• 3 cups all-purpose flour, a little extra for the pan
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the fruit topping

• 1 cup of strawberries (sliced)
• 1 cup of bananas (sliced)
• 1 cup of blueberries
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon of brown sugar
• 1/2 stick of butter
• whip cream (optional) I didn’t use it but it would be good!

DIRECTIONS:

First, preheat oven to 350′.  CAKE: Cream butter and shortening together.  Add sugar, a little at a time.  Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each one.  Stir dry ingredients together in a bowl and add to the previous mixture, alternating it with milk.  Mix in vanilla.  Pour into greased and floured loaf pans (2 of them) and bake for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until a toothpick comes out clean.

During the last 10 minutes of baking time, heat a nonstick skillet and add your butter, sugar, cinnamon, brown sugar, and fruit.  Saute for about 3-5 minutes.

Take out pound cake, cool, and slice.  Pour sauteed fruit mixture over pound cake and devour!

Serve with whip cream if you like.

OMG, I just tasted the most delicious French Madeleines from Donsuemor today.  Finally, I have experienced food porn in a package!  I try various foods all the time but this one takes the cake….literally.  If you’re not familiar with these soft, moist, shell shaped cakes then you’re missing out!  They have crisp edges and the buttery melt-in-your-mouth taste is sorta like pound cake, only heavenlier.

You can get these delightful pieces of heaven in for flavors; Traditional, Dipped, Lemon Zest, and Rich Chocolate with Lemon Zest and Traditional being my favorites.  The chocolate ones were amazing as well but I enjoyed the more natural flavors of the others.

While these are French Madeleines, they are American made (San Fransisco area) with an inspired French recipe.  They are the finest of fine with all natural ingredients.  And when they say these are the ones that you’ll remember, they’re not lying.  It’s an instant addiction and can now understand how madeleines are a historic icon.

OMG!  I just had a brilliant idea!  What if we used these, as a substitute, for the cookie in my homemade ice cream sandwiches???!!!  Oh yeah!  How divine that would be!!

So where can you get these wonderful French Madeleines?  At fine retailers or even at Donsuemor.  I also heard that they will be bringing these to Texas, possibly trying to get them in some of the HEB stores!

Until we meet again my little scrumptious delights…………….

Got company coming over unexpectedly?  No problemo people!  I got you covered with this super fast easy to make Mex-Tex Dip.  In fact, if you’ve got 5 minutes and 3 ingredients, you’re good to go!

There are several variations of this and my sister-in-law, Bell, was the one that introduced this one to me.  It’s extremely simple and people who don’t even like cream cheese, love it.  While I prefer to eat this creamy with a bit of spice dip with Fritos, it’s also good with Lay’s Ruffles.  Shoot, eat it with whatever!

Even though this is a small helping, I still used my Kitchenaid Mixer because I love to feel like a professional, despite being far from it.

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 pkgs cream cheese (softened)
• 1 can Ro*tel Tomatoes & Green Chilies (your choice of mild or hot)
• About 2 cups of Corn or ever how much you like

DIRECTIONS:

Simply mix all three ingredients together until creamy.  Yes, use the whole can of Rotel with juice.