Turtle Bars

I am sitting here laughing at myself! Oh wait, first things first! Happy New Year! So, I have a blog and I normally post food on my blog. And I take tons of pictures, in fact I got a sweet new camera for Christmas, Woo hoo! I especially take lots of pictures of food, because I'm constantly making good food and trying new recipes and have an awful memory because of all the other things that I'm trying to remember every day, so I take pictures to remember what I've made and hope that one day I'll get a chance to share it with you on my blog and *pause to breathe* last night we had a some friends over for a New Years Eve party and I had been out of town for a couple of days and got back into town just 2 1/2 hrs before our guests were to arrive (for the kids pre-party part of the party). I had some fast cooking to do! I normally spend 4-5 hrs the day before doing party prep and all day the day of the party doing party prep (yes, I take my parties seriously!). Yesterday I had 2 hours. So I made my tried and true favorites! In all the chaos I took not one picture of the dishes I prepared! NOT ONE! Oh, I have some great pictures of friends dancing their little tails off! And cute little ones shaking a tail feather too! Speaking of little ones...my little princess is friends with my dear friends little boy who is just a couple weeks older than the princess...and let me tell you...dare I say...I want her to marry this sweet little brown eyed boy! He's got some moves too! Ok, back to my story. No pictures! But I really want to share this awesome recipe with you. So, just now I went to the kitchen to snap pictures of the turtle bars. GONE! The entire pan is GONE! I think I cut 30 bars. Oh wait...there was this one sad little corner piece left. The rest. GONE! So, here is an amazing Turtle Bar recipe and a pitiful little corner bar pictures to show for it!

Oh, look at that teeny, corner piece. But it still looks good!

mmm...the caramelly goodness!

TURTLE BARS

2 1/4 cups flour
1 cup butter, room temp
1 cup brown sugar
1 pkg caramels, I use the little caramel bits this time
1/3 c heavy cream
1 cup pecan halves
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350. Line 9x13 baking dish with foil or parchment paper. In a food processor combine butter, flour and brown sugar. Mix until crumbly and press into the bottom of the lined pan.
In a microwaveable bowl add caramels and cream and microwave for 1 minute. Stir and microwave for another minute. Continue until the caramel is smooth. Pour over the crust. Sprinkle with the pecans and bake for about 25 - 35 minutes or until the caramel is bubbly and the crust looks done. Sprinkle with the chocolate chips and place in a cool place until set.

Cut, serve, eat and enjoy!


Warmly,
Mary

Christmas Breakfast Wreath

Hello! Just so you know, I do feel really bad about not posting delicious and amazing recipes as often as I should!

Ok, now that is out of the way... Christmas is coming! You know what I realized today? If I was in charge, I would give kids one week off of school BEFORE Christmas and one or two weeks (take your pick) after Christmas. Why? Well, because it's no fun doing all this holiday baking and eating by myself! It would be much more fun dancing and singing and baking and eating and decorating with my four kids. Don't ya think?

I whipped up this little, ok, it wasn't so little but this fun sausage crescent breakfast wreath for my MOPs (Mother Of Preschoolers) Leadership Christmas Party. It was a big hit! It was super duper easy and very few ingredients, I didn't even write down the recipe. Today one of my dear sweet besties requested the recipe, she's good at that..requesting recipes from me and complimenting me...she totally speaks my love language in that way! It makes me happy! Anyway, if you want something festive, flavorful, simple and fun for Christmas morning or a Christmas brunch, this is it!

CHRISTMAS BREAKFAST WREATH

2 pkg refrigerated crescent rolls
1 8oz pkg cream cheese
1 lb breakfast sausage
3 green onions, sliced greens and whites
1/2 sweet red pepper, diced
1 cup shredded cheese, I used cheddar

Preheat oven to 350. In a large skillet brown the sausage then drain the grease. Stir in the cream cheese, onions, peppers and cheese. On a large round pizza pan lay the wide end of the crescent triangles around the edge of the pan making a large sun burst shape. Line with the sausage mixture and fold the shorter end of the crescent triangles over to seal. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes or until golden brown. Slice and serve!

Enjoy!

Warmly,
Mary

Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes

I am so excited to begin posting my Holiday Recipes. I usually make the same Thanksgiving and Christmas feast every year. Basically because they have already been perfected and are delicious! But also because everyone in the family is all about traditions and if I did try to change it up, they’d have my head!

I have the best Holiday memories as a child! They all involve spending time with family. When I was a little girl we would go to my grandparent’s farm in central Nebraska. There was always snow, Christmas music, decorations and lights, fun and games, lots of laughter, snow angels and forts, long walks in the cold, sitting by the fire, bedtime stories and goodies and lots and lots of amazing food! The house was full of aunts, uncles, cousins, siblings, parents, grandparents and neighbors. My grandmother always presented an amazing feast on a lovely formal set table. I still don’t know how one woman did it all!

The memories we make today aren’t the same, but just as precious! Superman and I both go crazy over the Holidays and love creating a magical experience for our little family! With keeping in mind the real reason we celebrate both Thanksgiving and Christmas!

Ah, sweet potatoes….you either love ‘em or you hate ‘em. In our family it’s pretty much divided evenly…well, especially if you open a can throw them in a dish with butter brown sugar and marshmallows. But since I have been making these lovely Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes, I’m seeing more converts!  Sweet Potatoes are healthy for you and very flavorful…give these a good try!

TWICE BAKED SWEET POTATOES

(6 – 8 servings)

4 small – medium sweet potatoes, washed and dried

1 cup sour cream, I use fat free

1/3 cup pure maple syrup

1 tsp cinnamon

Handful pecans (optional)

Handful mini-marshmallows (optional)

Heat oven to 400. Poke the sweet potatoes with a fork a couple of times and then set on the rack in the oven and bake for 1 hr. When done, remove them from the oven and allow them to cool enough for you to cut them in half length-wise and scoop out the sweet potato goodness while leaving the skin in tact. In a small bowl combine the sweet potato insides, the sour cream, maple syrup and cinnamon. Spoon or pipe into the hallowed potato skins and top with pecan or marshmallow and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 15 minutes or until the pecan or marshmallows are golden brown.

Enjoy!

“Come join the fun at the My Baking Addiction and GoodLife Eats Holiday Recipe Swap sponsored by OXO.”

Warmly, 

Mary