By popular demand, and by popular I mean two requests, here is my hot cocoa mix recipe.

6 cups of dry milk powder
3 1/3 cups of confectioners sugar (I imagine powdered sugar should work fine)
2/3 cup cocoa
2/3 cup non-dairy creamer (I used hazelnut flavored creamer which worked pretty nicely)
2 tsp of cinnamon

Be sure to use a big big bowl when mixing. Enjoy !

I was bored today and decided to try something new for lunch. Considering I slept through breakfast, lunch was going to be the best thing in the world ^_^ Today I made Curry Chicken !

It probably took longer to prepare the ingredients than it did to actually cook them. Below is the rough recipe I followed. The pictures I took are not the best. I was more concerned with eating than with capturing the moment ;)

Ingredients

• 3 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 Medium Onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 chicken breast
• 1/4 tsp tumeric
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp coriander
• 1 tsp curry paste
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp tomato puree (Took me forever to figure this one out, thanks Mom!)
• 2 tbsp whipping cream

Steps

1. Chop up the onion into pieces.
2. Chop up the garlic into small pieces.
3. Chop up the chicken into 1inch squares.
4. Heat a good size skillet on medium heat, add the olive oil and onions. Fry the onion for about one minute.
5. Add the chicken to the onions, and fry together for 5-6 minutes.
6. Add the garlic to the mixture and stir until everything is golden brown (took about 2-3 minutes for me)
7. Add the salt, tumeric, cumin, coriander into the mixture and stir well.
8. Stir into the mixture the tomato puree, curry paste, and the whipping cream

I think it took me about ten minutes to make this, this recipe makes about two servings. So I had lunch and dinner set today ^_^ I had it over white rice, and it was pretty yummy.

Been meaning to give this a try for some time, and I finally found time to make them. The process was pretty easy, but I found I don’t really care to cut onions. I was able to make about ten burgers which should last me for a bit. Considering I didn’t have any handburger buns, I went out and made a batch. I have about twelve made up and in the freezer.

They turned out more like dinner rolls, perhaps I had them in too long. They still taste good though, and worked out pretty well if I say so myself :)

I cut up some parsley, and chopped up a half onion (yellow), as well as some italian seasoning. I was totally winging all of this, but made ten patties.

I used my awesome George Foreman grill, grilled it for about seven minutes and then flipped. I flipped it so the top side would look grilled like the bottom :-) I added some cheese a couple of minutes before pulling them off. They were mighty tasty !

The recipe is super easy. I combined a couple packages of ground turkey meat with chopped onions, parsley, and seasonings. Made into patties and grilled it up. I was just playing around, so I didn’t measure anything :-)

The beginning part is easy, hard to mess this step up :) Just add the water, sugar, corn syrup, salt, and peanuts in a large pan to blend under low heat. I think it took about 10-15 minutes for it to be pretty blended, then I raised the dial up to medium-high. This next step is where I missed up the first time through.

You just let the sucker boil without any stirring. I know some may be asking, “You have so much awesomeness, how can you mess this up”, since I didn’t have my candy thermometer last time I am assuming I didn’t get it hot enough. It has to boil until it is 300 degrees.

I did make an oopsie tonight though, it was hanging around 275 for about 20 minutes…so I stopped watching it religiously like I probably should. It sort of got up to 350, but its ok. I didn’t smell burnt sugar like when I burned the candied orange peels haha. I think they turned out OK, as you can see :-) They taste yummy, so that is all that really matters.

I found this recipe online, I forgot where since I looked at so many :)
 
Ingredients

• 1 cup water
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 2 cups raw peanuts
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons butter, plus extra for pan and fingers
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

 
Directions

• Mix together in a 3-quart, heavy bottom saucepan the sugar, water, corn syrup, salt, and peanuts. Stir over low heat until well blended, then raise heat to medium-high and boil without stirring to 300° F. on a candy thermometer. If working without a thermometer, see TIP.
• While syrup cooks, generously butter a baking sheet and set aside. Measure butter, baking soda, and vanilla. Have them within reach.
• When syrup reaches 300° F, remove from heat and immediately add butter, baking soda, and vanilla. Stir in and then pour and scrape candy onto prepared sheet. Spread it out as much as possible–it will be stiff and begin to harden quickly. It can be pulled and stretched (with buttered fingers) to make a thinner sheet, but do this very carefully, as the candy will be hot.
• Cool on the sheet and break into pieces. Store air-tight in a waxed-paper lined container.
• TIP: If you don’t have a candy theremometer, have a bowl of ice water near the stove. When the boiling syrup begins to turn golden brown, drop a small amount – about 1/2 teaspoon into the cold water. When the syrup immediately hardens into a brittle string or ball, it is done.

I followed the tip last time, and ended up with caramel. Nothing wrong with caramel, but I wanted brittle. Save yourself some trouble and get the thermometer. Also I found a hammer works great when it comes to actually breaking the brittle into pieces :-)

Here are some pictures from my candied orange peel experience. It really is very easy, the only “hard” part was peeling those stupid oranges ^^

 
I started with four oranges which I peeled; which sure makes a bit more than expected. The white portion of the peel is where the sourness comes from. I blanched the orange peels a few times to reduce the sourness, it actually worked out quite well.

 
I then brought the sugar water mixture to a boil until it reached 230 degrees. Then I added the orange peels, and had the simmer for about 30-45 minutes. This was actually the second attempt, the first attempt I learned the difference between simmer and boil. Watching the sugar mixture go from boiling clear to boiling brown all of a sudden was neat, but my kitchen still stinks as a result ^^

 
They simmer until the peels are translucent. I then rolled them in sugar, then allowed them to dry on racks for about 4-5 hours. As you can see from the last photo that a catch pan is a good idea, or else the counter would have been pretty messy :)

 
They don’t taste too bad actually. Very similar to those fruit jelly things you find in the stores. I will be making them again, the next time though I won’t roll them in sugar considering I find them too sweet.

 
I didn’t put up a recipe since there are so many online. If anyone is interested I will hook them up. It sure is easy :)

Friday was an awesome night ! I was bored while everyone was at work, so I made peppermint bark.

I also had tickets to see Presidents of the United States of America ! Two of my brothers along with two nephews hung out with me at the PUSA concert, and it was amazing ! I think the most stressful part about getting ready to fly home was forgetting the tickets :)

After the show I kept Derek and Larry company at the shop. I had some work to do anyways ;) We got home around 4AM, and figured out everything is funny when we’re so tired. My parents have nut crackers all over the place for Christmas. We felt we needed to help decorate with The Urkel. Nevermind, it is still awesome and hilarious two days later ^^

Wednesday night I was in the mood for something sweet, and decided on peach cobbler ! Guess I embarrassed Derek by talking to the strangers in the store. It’s all good, I had fun :)