Pop Star Crispy Treats

Christmas treats...yum, yum, yum! This year I made caramel popcorn on my own. I helped some roommates back in my college days to make some once. So I figured it wouldn't be so bad doing it on my own. I'm glad I have a huge bowl, because it makes a lot. I used the recipe from allrecipes.com.

Caramel Popcorn

1 cup butter 

2 cups brown sugar 

1/2 cup corn syrup  

1 teaspoon salt 

1/2 teaspoon baking soda 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
5 quarts popped popcorn 

Directions

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (95 degrees C). Place popcorn in a very large bowl. 

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in brown sugar, corn syrup and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil without stirring 4 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in soda and vanilla. Pour in a thin stream over popcorn, stirring to coat. 

Place in two large shallow baking dishes and bake in preheated oven, stirring every 15 minutes, for 1 hour. Remove from oven and let cool completely before breaking into pieces.

I baked the popcorn for a little over 30 minutes because I like my caramel a little softer and it turned out excellent.

In addition to the popcorn, I made rice crispy treats in the shape of stars, and....

 Ginger bread men. I think they looked pretty cool and it was less work than the real cookie.

My First Chili

I've never made chili before and figured I needed to add it to my recipes. I searched the internet for quite some time looking at all the different recipes. I settled on one that looked decent and then found another just as tempting to try...so i took a big risk and made up my own recipe. I am so happy about the the way it turned out, but I was even more happy that Mike really liked it. So, here is my chili recipe as best as I can recall from memory of what I did.

My First Chili

1 lbs ground beef
1 can diced tomatoes (slightly pureed)
2 cans kidney beans (drained)

1 can black beans (drained)
1 green pepper (chopped)
1/2 onion (chopped)

2 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
1 stalks celery (chopped)
1 Tbs jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
1 1/2 Tbs chili powder
1 Tbs Argentine steak rub
1 Tbs Italian seasoning

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 chicken bouillon cube

1 cup water

1 tsp sugar
salt & pepper
hot sauce
oil (for frying) 

 

Toppings:

sour cream (optional)
shredded cheddar cheese (optional)
chopped raw onion (optional)

Sautee garlic, onions, green peppers in oil. Brown ground beef. All all other ingredients and simmer for 1-2 hours. Serve with sour cream, shredded cheese and onions.

The chili freezes well, is great for cold days and yummy served with a baked potato. This recipe is really not hard...just a lot of chopping to do. I hope ya'll enjoy!

November Happy Boy

Benjamin has outgrown his baby bath and had his first big bath. He loves kicking the water around as much as before.

 He also likes to try to feed himself. He's usually unsuccessful at getting the food into his mouth.

 Love, love, love his little face on Thanksgiving day!

Here is the happy boy playing with his pillow pets. His daddy and I are very happy for the blessing he is in our lives. We hope everyone had a great November.

Computer Time

I am on my computer quite a bit for work. Sometimes Benjamin is content playing with his own toys, is thoughtfully watching me type away, or is grabbing at my computer excited to slap the keys or get his mouth on the screen to leave a slobbery mess. The same thing happens with my phone. Well, we solved the problem with the phone by getting him his own toy phone to play with. Last weekend, we received a package from Nonna and Abuelo and found a toy laptop inside for Benjamin. He now enjoys slapping at his own keys, chewing the screen and is amused by opening and closing his toy. Thanks Nonna and Abuelo!!!

First Halloween

I had so much fun planning out our Halloween costumes. I dressed as Abby from NCIS with her hippopotamus, and since Mike didn't want to dress up, I think he fit the part of McGee pretty well.

I've got to take advantage of dressing up Benjamin how I like before he starts making his own choices.