Day 9: Peanut Butter-White Chocolate Popcorn

There's a funny story how today's 'cookie' came to be. Last night, I was all set to make Butterscotch Haystacks. (No worries, they will come another day. I promise!)

I had melted the butterscotch chips, and was just getting ready to pour in the chow mein noodles to stir and combine, when I decided to taste the butterscotch mixture. Because it's no fun to bake without tasting!

And then, I realized I hadn't melted butterscotch chips. They were definitely peanut butter chips. How can you make BUTTERSCOTCH Haystacks with PEANUT BUTTER chips?? Now, I could have thrown away the peanut butter mixture and just started over. But I'm not one to throw away a $2 bag of baking ingredients!

So, I thought, "What could I do with this melted peanut butter stuff?"

And then I thought of my very favorite kiosk at the mall in the Bean Town. It is a popcorn kiosk, based out of Bluffton. Shirley's Gourmet Popcorn makes the absolute best flavored/chocolate-coated popcorns. And they always have free samples. My favorite is the 'Buckeye'. (can you guess what that's named for?) The 'Buckeye' is a combination of chocolate, peanut butter, and caramel. Gosh, it's so tasty.

So, I had an idea, a brilliant one in my opinion. I decided to make my own version of a gourmet popcorn. I popped some popcorn, and spread it all out on a cookie sheet. I scattered some Christmas M&M's throughout to be festive. And then I drizzled the melted peanut butter chips all over. And then I decided to melt some white chocolate and add that to the mixture, too, along with some Christmas sprinkles.

My Business Man even helped! It was actually his idea to add the sprinkles.

This would be super-cute all packaged up in a little tin. The perfect gift for a neighbor, co-worker, or mail-person.

Or for that jolly old man who comes just once a year!

And did I mention that it's pretty addicting? That salty-sweet combo that you just can't stay away from.

Speaking of salty-sweet combos, I keep seeing recipes for baked goods with bacon in them. (Brownies with a layer of bacon in the middle, maple-bacon cupcakes, ...) Has anyone out there tried anything like this? Is it good?

My favorite salty-sweet combo would have to be dark-chocolate covered pretzels. Trader Joe's makes a dark-chocolate pretzel 'slim' which is my absolute favorite. The ratio of chocolate:pretzel is much greater than the normal ones.

Question: What's your favorite salty-sweet combo?

Servings/Yield

8-10 cups

2 packages microwave popcorn, popped
1 bag peanut butter chips
6 oz. white almond bark
1 cup m&m's
sprinkles

Method

Spread out popcorn onto foil-lined baking sheets. Remove any unpopped kernels. (To avoid anyone breaking a tooth.) Scatter m&m's throughout popcorn.

Melt peanut butter chips on MEDIUM in the microwave until melted, stirring about every minute. Drizzle melted peanut butter chips over popcorn. Sprinkle with sprinkles.

Melt white almond bark on MEDIUM in the microwave until melted, stirring about every minute. Drizzle melted almond bark over popcorn. Sprinkle yet again with sprinkles.

Let chocolate set up. Break into small-ish pieces and store in an airtight container. Perfect for holiday gifts!

Hot Off the Press... [Chicken Bacon Bleu Panini]

So I totally forgot to post a panini recipe last Thursday... whoops. I'm sure you were all waiting with bated breath and were very disappointed. Well, never fear, because I've got a fabulous panini recipe tonight! Tangy bleu cheese and salty bacon come together to form a delectable sandwich. It comes from the panini cookbook I received for Christmas, 200 Best Panini Recipes (thanks Mom!) . The Chicken Bacon Bleu panini : grilled chicken, crisp bacon, and bleu cheese on sourdough with a spread of barbecue sauce and sliced red onion. I had never thought of putting bleu cheese on a panini before I saw this recipe. I feared there wouldn't be enough ooey gooey cheese! But bleu cheese actually melts pretty nicely. It's no Velveeta, but it added a great tang to the sandwich. First, spread the bottom piece of bread with a bit of barbecue sauce, and top with some grilled chicken. I actually used my panini press to grill my chicken for the first time, and it wa

The Arrival of Something New...

Woo hoo for the last Friday of the school year! And only one more day of school next week. (And then a couple teacher workshops...) Another reason to be excited? Our fridge came today!! Isn't she a beauty? It is so nice to have a fridge again. You don't realize how much you miss a full-size refrigerator until you go a couple weeks without it. A bit bare... but that can be solved easily. Bottom-drawer freezer, containing the essentials: moose tracks & Diet Dew trying to get cold asap. Anyways, I'm just popping in to share my beautiful new appliance. The baking monster has taken over, and I'm in the midst of making 150 cupcakes for a graduation party tomorrow. First big baking project in the new kitchen! I'm loving all the counter space. Mmm... chocolate buttercream! Making good use of the baking nook! :) Adios!

Boston Marathon, week #3

Last week was a great week for training - lots of easy runs, a V02-max workout, and my first long run that actually felt 'long'. The goal was to get in 50-55 miles, and I ended up with 56ish, so right on target. Saturday's long run was glorious ! Temps in the 50's in January (!) makes me a very happy runner. I headed out for 16-17 miles and ended up with almost 18. And I remembered to bring fuel! I tried out the blueberry-pomegranate Gu chomps, and they weren't my favorite. I ate one every 2 miles once I hit the 8-mile mark and they left a strange aftertaste. Pretty much as soon as the aftertaste went away, it would be time to eat one again. I'm thinking I will try something else next time. This was the week of the 8's... what a monotonous bar graph. I'll try better next week to make it a little more exciting. Weekly Rundown 1.7.2013-1.13.2013 Mon - 8.2 miles easy Tues - 8.3 miles easy Wed - 4x1200m @ 4:29 (4:32, 4:31, 4:31, 4:34);

Livin' the Dream in Lima

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