Recipe

Caramel Corn Recipe

0 · Dec 3, 2013 · 5 Comments

Caramel Corn Recipe // Hello Whipperberry friends! Can you believe that it's December already? It feels like this season flies by so fast…it's hard to take it all in isn't it? There's just so much to do, and so little time to do it! But I admit I love it all…the fast pace of the malls, the music, the gatherings and the goodies. Oh my, how much do I love the goodies! I might need a bigger pants by the time January rolls around! Nah, holiday calories don't count right?! 😉

Speaking of goodies, I wanted to share a family favorite recipe with you today. This caramel corn is actually my Grandma's recipe, and I remember my Mom making it for us every year…I always looked forward to it! And now I make it for my family. Don't you just love recipes that get passed down through the generations? There's something so special about sharing a recipe with your loved ones that generations before you have been enjoying too. Love that so much.

Anyway, this caramel corn is SO good. Creamy, and chewy and delicious! I hope you try it and love it!

This caramel corn is also perfect for gift giving or simply just enjoying with your family during a movie night! It's quick and easy to make and it's crazy delicious! Trust me when I say this treat will get devoured. I seriously could eat this all by my lonesome!

Ingredients

1⅓ cups granulated sugar
1 cup salted butter
1/2 cup corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla
8 cups popped popcorn
1 cup pecans & almonds (optional)

Instructions

Pop your popcorn. Then measure out about 8 cups and spread it out onto a large cookie sheet.
If you wish to add nuts to your popcorn, you might want to toast them in a 350 degree oven for 2-5 minutes, watching them very carefully. Toasting them brings out amazing flavor! When the nuts are toasted, sprinkle them over the popped popcorn. Set aside.
Now on to the caramel! In a saucepan melt the butter, then add the sugar and corn syrup.
Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.
Continue to boil, stirring occasionally until the mixture turns caramel colored.
Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.
Then pour the caramel over the popcorn and nuts. Using a fork, gently mix, and separate into clusters.
You can eat it at this point while it's soft and warm, or you can let it cool and enjoy it later.
Store in a tightly closed container.

Deeeelish! I hope your holiday season is full of cheer and much deliciousness!

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If you get at chance this season, I'd love for you to stop by my blog for some Christmas cookie recipes! Yum.

Mint Chocolate Chip Blizzard Cookies | Candy Cane Crumble Nutella Cookies | Eggnog Ice Box Cookies

Have a delicious day!

Creamy Flan Recipe

21 · Dec 1, 2013 · 3 Comments

This post brought to you by Eagle Brand // I LOVE FLAN! I don't know if I can emphasize that enough. My Mom has made flan for years and it has become a bit of a holiday tradition. All be it, a rather non-traditional holiday tradition. Most people don't correlate Flan, a creamy custard like dessert with strong Latin roots with Christmas, but they should! It's so easy to make and the creamy custard with the caramelized sugar is just lovely.

Ingredients for Flan Recipe

1 cup sugar

1 14 oz. can of Eagle Brand™ Sweetened Condensed Milk

1 12 oz. can of Carnation® Evaporated Milk

6 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

pinch of salt

Directions for Flan

Caramelize sugar by putting it into a saucepan and melting the sugar until it becomes caramel. Try to avoid stirring the sugar, just swirl the pan. If you stir the sugar it could cause sugar crystals to form in your caramel. When the sugar has fully caramelized, pour into the bottom of your oven safe ramekins or a 8×8 baking dish.

Set aside and let cool while you are mixing the custard.

In your mixing bowl, combine the Eagle Brand™ Milk, Carnation® Evaporated Milk, eggs, vanilla and salt and whisk together well.

Pour custard into your dish or ramekins right on top of the caramel.

Next, you will need to heat some water. Place your ramekins or baking dish into a larger baking dish. Pour the hot water into the dish up to the middle of the custard dishes.

This is called a Bain Maria or hot water bath.

Place in a 300˚ oven for one hour or until the custard has set. Remove from oven and let cool for 10-20 minutes. If you are using ramekins, you can then invert the flan out on a plate at this point. Or, you can let it chill and serve later.

We really like to serve it with whipped cream and berries… SUPER yum!!

The folks at Eagle Brand would LOVE to help make your holidays a little sweeter. They are offering a fabulous GIVEAWAY!!

Click HERE to visit the GIVEAWAY!!

Disclaimer // This post is sponsored by Eagle Brand™ Sweetened Condensed Milk. I received a KitchenAid Mixer and product to help create this post.

Three Tips for Picture Perfect Pie Crust

15 · Nov 27, 2013 · 109 Comments

This post brought to you by Crisco // When I was about 14 years old, I had a wise woman in my life, her name was Mrs. Robinson, who gave me some great advice… When in the kitchen, learn how to make one thing REALLY well. If you love chocolate cake, learn how to make the best chocolate cake. If you love pies, learn how to make the best pie out there. She said that if you have one really good dessert recipe, you could catch any guy you want. LOL!! Well, I decided that I wanted to make the perfect pie. To be more specific, I wanted to learn how to make the perfect pie crust. That way I could have several more options when it came to my man catching baking skills!

I have to say, I got pretty good at it. I was always called on to make the pies in my house during the holidays and after many attempts after awhile, they turned out nice and flaky every time. Then I met my so-to-be husband and boy was she right… He loved pies. All kinds of pies… Blueberry, Peach, Cherry & Apple. I was golden… Thank you Mrs. Robinson!!

Recently, I was asked by the lovely folks at Crisco to become a Crisco Pie Partner and I was thrilled. I'm excited for two reasons… I'm excited to share some of my hard earned pie tips and tricks with you, and that I could also honor my friend Mrs. Robinson, who has since passed on by sharing her sweet advice with all of you. So here you have it… Some tricks to making Picture Perfect Pie Crust EVERY TIME thanks to Mrs. Robinson.

With the holidays here, we are all gearing up to do all kinds of holiday baking and pies are always on the list. However, many of us have taken to using store bought frozen pie crust and my friends… it's just not the same. We have been tricked into thinking that pie crust is hard to make and it's not. It's really rather easy if you follow a few basic principles. Here are my tried and true pie crust secrets…

Tip #1 // Selecting the Right Ingredients

For years the debate with pie crust has been, which fat is better… Butter, Crisco or Lard? After MANY years of making pies and trying each option myself, I hands down select Crisco shortening every time. It just seems to make the lightest, flakiest crust each time. Sometimes I will do half butter, half Crisco if I'm wanting that buttery flavor but I always use Crisco or even the butter flavored Baking Sticks. The recipe I'm using today is your simple basic pie crust using just flour, salt, Crisco and water…

It's super simple click HERE to visit the recipe page. Can I just take a minute and thank Crisco for coming up with the Baking Sticks… I LOVE them!! No mess, no fuss and the measuring is done for you. PERFECT!!

Tip #2 // Cold Ingredients are your Friend

The absolute key to making good crust is to use COLD ingredients. I place my Crisco Baking Sticks in the freezer for a few hours before hand and I use ice cold water when mixing the crust. I also try not to touch the dough too much with my warm hands. That will also cause the dough to warm up and you don't want that.

The reason why you want things to stay cold is… You want your Crisco to stay solid and in small little pieces within the crust. When those little nuggets are hit by the heat in the oven that is what makes those flaky little pockets in the crust that we love so much. Without those little gems, your crust will turn out solid and tough and not a whole lot of fun to eat.

To start, I place my flour and salt in a large bowl. Then I remove the Crisco from the freezer and cut it into small pieces…

Sometimes, I even stick the Crisco back in the freezer for a few minutes after I have cut it, in order for it to chill again. Then I place my shortening into the bowl with my flour and salt. Using a pastry cutter I cut the Crisco into the flour…

Again, you want to make sure to leave your shortening in small little pea size pieces so don't over work.

Tip #3 // The Key is a Light Hand

When it comes to working with this kind of dough. a light hand is key. Don't over mix the Crisco into the flour. Next, you will lightly fold in the cold ice water into the dough. I use a rubber spatula at this stage and gently fold in the water starting with one tablespoon and slowly mixing it just until the dough starts to come together. Again… light hand here. The more you mix the tougher the dough will be.

For this crust, the recipe calls for 3-6 tablespoons of water. I ended up using 4 but, that will depend on your environment where you are baking. You may need more, you may need less. Then I pour the loose dough out onto a clean board and this is what it should look like…

Now, this is the one step where I will quickly use my hands. I carefully pull the dough together and form it into a disk like so…

Then I wrap it in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes. Once it has chilled again, than I am ready to roll it out. On a clean floured surface I roll out my dough. I carefully turn the dough after a few passes with the rolling pin, to ensure that the dough doesn't stick to the board. You may even need to turn it and flour your surface a few times. But, be careful not to over flour.

Then using your rolling pin as a handy tool… roll the dough onto your pie plate…

I trim my edges a bit and then crimp my edges using my two finger pinching method…

Now, you have the perfect canvas for any pie that you can dream up…

Not sure what to make? Crisco has you covered! Here are some fabulous resources for creating the perfect pie…

You can call the Crisco Pie Hotline 1-877-FOR PIE TIPS (877-367-7438) for all kinds of around the clock PIE help this holiday season!
Crisco has a Picture Perfect Pie Pinterest board that has all kinds of fabulous recipes.
The Crisco Kitchen has teamed up with Michele Stuart owner of Michele's pies in Connecticut, she is over at Crisco's site sharing all kinds of fun pie tips and ideas.
Crisco is hosting a fun Rate & Review contest for a chance to win a Michele Stuart pie prize pack. Visit the Rate & Review site to rate your favorite pie for a chance to win!

I hope Crisco and I have inspired you to pass on the freezer pie crust and try your hand in a truly homemade pie. I promise, if you follow these tips you will blow your family away with your scrumptious pies this year! In order to do just that… Crisco is giving away a fabulous Perfect Pie Prize Pack to one of you!! Here is what you will win…

A Prize Pack valued at $200!! Follow the directions in the Rafflecopter box below to enter. This giveaway is open to those with a shipping address within the United States and will be open from November 27-January 2 with the winner announced on January 3rd.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer // This post is sponsored by Crisco. I did receive payment for development of this post.

Cranberry & Feta Cole Slaw Lettuce Wraps

1 · Nov 19, 2013 · 1 Comment

Hello my Whipperberry friends! It's me, Shannon, from eat.sleep.make. If any of you follow us over at ESM, you know that I'm a vegetarian. I share an abundance of veggie-friendly recipes that I've come up with. Today I'm going to share with you a delicious (and very pretty, if I may say so) Cole Slaw lettuce wraps recipe. This is perfect for holiday gatherings or even just for no reason at all! I chose to use all organic products. And not only is this organic and vegetarian, but it is also gluten-free.

Measurements:

1/2 cup Cranberries

6 cups chopped Cabbage

1 Carrot

1/3 cup Mayo

1 tablespoon Honey

Fresh Ground Black Pepper (to taste)

1 teaspoon Celery Seed

1/2 Squeezed Lemon Juice

Feta

1 teaspoon Raw Sugar

1 – Slice and dice your cabbage and carrot

2 – In a food processor, chop up your cranberries and Raw sugar.

3 – In a bowl, mix your cranberry/sugar into the mayo, lemon juice, and honey.

4 – Pour cranberry/mayo mix onto cabbage and carrots. Add celery seed and black pepper – MIX.

5 – Once your cole slaw is done, clean and lay out one leaf of butter lettuce. Fill it with your cranberry cole slaw, drench with feta and wrap it.

6 – Enjoy!

Stop on over at eat.sleep.make. and check out some of my other vegetarian friendly recipes!