ya'll come back now, ya hear?

well i am taking a holiday break to spend with the family. i expect lots of over eating and lots of laziness to be followed by a new year's resolution of diet and exercise. i wish you and yours a delightful and safe holiday. merry christmas and happy new year! see you in 2010, so don't forget.

enjoy. beth

rebecca's mom's chocolate jack daniels fruit cake

i made a chocolate fruit cake spiked with jack daniels this past weekend and with thirty folks at my house on sunday to eat, it was devoured, not a scrap, a crumb left. i am going to send you over to the foodie blog it's located, so miss rebecca's pic can do all the talking. i think it is fair to stay it was a big hit. i did get to eat a piece though, moist, fruity, jd tangy and delicious. i am a loyal follower of ezrapoundcake, and when this popped up, i just had to make it. the cake is her mama's fruit cake recipe, a family tradition. while you are checking out the recipe, mosey around a bit, ezrapoundcake is one of my absolute favorite sites. miss rebecca cooks and bakes like i like, good ol' comfort foods, but she takes it to the next level of goodness. if you have ever had my(i use that term loosely) king ranch casserole, that is another one of her recipes and its dang tasty. please go check out ezrapoundcake and please go make one of mama's chocolate jack daniels fruit cakes today. it is too easy and too delicious not to and to quote ezrapoundcake, "guaranteed to get you into the spirit". enjoy.

peace and love, bethcomptoncalifornia

we po....we ain't got no marshmallow skiers....

we wanted to roast marshmallows the other night, but we do not have the appropriate equipment, so jamie improvised with a surf rod and a metal skewer. don't ask me why on the video i squeak something out that sounds like "skiers" rather than skewers. it's gotta be the southern accent. enjoy our version of "camping with the rednecks".

good ol'oatmeal raisin cookies

today is my husband's birthday and these were his birthday "cake". you see, oatmeal raisin cookies are his favorite. the recipe is one that i found years ago on recipezaar, and there is no reason to try any others. he loves them, done. you can find the recipe here. the cookies are soft, moist and chewy. i don't make any changes except to add about a 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon. now, i have added chocolate chips, walnuts and cranberries to dough in the past. also, i don't own a cookie scoop(hint-hint), so i just use a spoon to make a ball about an inch big and then flatten it a little with my fingers. the dough does not spread much at all, so don't go too big or thick. overall, this is just a great basic oatmeal raisin cookie that needs little or no help. enjoy.

oh, and the recipe makes a ton, too!

easiest toffee ever

first, i apologize for the crappy pic of the finished toffee, but it is dark, gray and pouring outside, so no natural light photo. i need to snap something because it was being inhaled. oh well, sorry.

okay, this is the easiest and tastiest toffee. it comes together in minutes. the wait time is mostly for the chocolate to harden. i am making more today!

place a cup of nuts, your choice, on a silpat or parchment paper. spread them out, they don't have to be perfect, although i did flip my pecans upright, but just sprinkled on the slivered almonds. in a saucepan on high and stirring constantly, melt two sticks of butter and one cup of sugar, tsp of vanilla and pinch of salt. stir, stir, stir until it goes from light brown to about the color of the pecans above.

now pour the toffee mixture all over your nuts. do not scrape the pan, you don't want the crystals clinging to the side, just let it flow over your nuts covering the best you can. now let it cool. it will cool very quickly, maybe ten minutes or so. you will be surprised. oh, your saucepan will look like a mess, but go fill it with water, let it sit and magically the toffee residue will pour out with the water.

now melt a cup of chocolate chips(semi-sweet or milk) in the microwave, stir often as not to burn. start at one minute, stir, heat in ten second intervals till you get the right consistency. pour over you toffee and make pretty swirls with your knife covering your toffee the best you can. at this point you could sprinkle anything you would like on top, crushed nuts, candy sprinkles, me, it was sea salt. i only wished i had some fleur de sel. let the toffee cool, a few hours, then break into pieces. enjoy!

this is crazy good folks!

why didn't someone tell me....

how easy it is to make biscotti! wow, these were a cinch to make and are truly delicious. i am participating in another round of "secret bakers" this month and this time it is a cookie exchange. when i saw these posted here, i knew i had to make them. in my deranged mind i always have thought that biscotti were too troublesome to make, boy was i wrong. they come together so quickly and are just too dang easy not to make. i followed the recipe to the "t" and they baked up so crispy and chockful of flavor. i did use dried, tangy cranberries as suggested. i am going to make another batch with some mini chocolate chips and walnuts. enjoy!

they baked in no time flat, browning so nicely. i did go overboard on flouring my surface, so there is too much "leftover" flour on the cookies. you'll see in other pics. hey, live and learn.


i melted about a half cup white-no-chocolate-involved chips in the micro and drizzled, slung and slopped over the cookies.

ain't they purty?
see, flour overkill....oh well, didn't hurt the taste none. go make ya some today.

i'm still here, again.

i will be baking this weekend and posting for secret bakers, so stay tuned, pretty please.

life is so much better when you get a handle on it!