"VALENTINE: Every Hour is Happy With You" Cocktail Gift

Last Valentine's Day was pretty lame because I was on week 6 of a 16 week recovery of hand surgery.  I've mentioned in posts past that Mr. Devilish Dish and I passed the recuperation time by watching reruns of "Bar Rescue" and creating cocktails.  Aside from the excruciating pain, and frustration of only having one hand to blow dry my hair, I have to say those few weeks were time well spent with my husband.  He took great care of me and went to great effort to keep me comfortable, sane and entertained.  In addition, we learned a lot about the art of cocktail making and when Valentine's Day rolled around I knew I wanted to get him the handful of tools I realized we were missing in our bar set-up.  We needed a cocktail mixing glass, a cocktail strainer and he asked for sugar cubes.  I also found a company that sells the most unique cocktail mixers, bitters and more.  El Guapo is located in New Orleans, which is dear to our hearts because my brother-in-law is a chef there.  I had already ordered gifts for him from this company in years past, and I knew their LOVE POTION BITTERS would be the perfect addition to a cocktail themed Valentine basket.  I also added a bottle of their Cajun Grenadine which features the famous Ponchatoula strawberries.  And of course no Valentine is complete without some chocolates so I added some of his favorites in there too.  Considering I put the entire thing together with one hand, I was pretty impressed with this little gift.  Even if I wasn't able to tie a bow on it.  And the best part, is I do love a Valentine Pun, so I was able to add a little homemade card that said, "Valentine: Every Hour is Happy With You." Which turned out to be very true, because My Valentine is the one that helped me get through that mess of a surgery recovery. 

Valentine: Every Hour is Happy with You!

These bitters are so unique,
and fit with my theme perfectly.

I filled the cocktail mixing glass
with a variety of his favorite candy.
(And mine too.  I ate that Reese's.)

Did you know that traditional grenadine
is made from pomegranate? THIS certified
Cajun version features Louisiana strawberries. 

Here's the whole basket.  Good thing
it didn't need a bow, because I couldn't 
tie one with one hand.

Hope this gives you some Valentine inspo!

Caramel Apple Nachos - National Caramel Apple Day

Apples and caramel are a quintessential duo.  For years I've made this recipe.  Sometimes I use a big layer of caramel in the middle of a round platter, topped with finely chopped pecans and then place the apple wedges all around in a beautiful flower shape.  Sometimes I just place them in fun colorful rows and drizzle caramel over the entire thing.  You could also drizzle with melted white chocolate or even a chocolate sauce too.  And the toppings are endless.  Chopped pecans, peanuts, walnuts, mini chocolate chips, or even some chopped pretzels for a little salty flavor.  I used a crushed Butterfinger candy bar, some finely chopped peanuts and some mini M&M candies and some Halloween Sprinkles.  I think I told you I spent an entire day creating some frighteningly fun snacks to share with you for the month of October.  I fed Mr. Devilish Dish some Spooky 7-Layer Dip, Mummy Hot Dogs with Eerie Eyeball Pasta Salad on the side, and for dessert: Caramel Apple Nachos.  He's a good sport and ate all of it, silly as it was.  The Caramel Apple Nachos at the end of the night absolutely stole the show.  What's not to love about a fresh juicy apple drizzled with sweet caramel sauce? We both agreed the crushed Butterfinger was our favorite topping.  This could be a great use for leftover Halloween candy.  You know those big, beautiful juicy caramel apples you see in stores covered in all kinds of creative candy coatings?  Just like that.  Chop up those Fun-Sized Snickers and leftover Reese's Pumpkins and get ready for your own National Caramel Apple Day Celebration!

Happy National Caramel Apple Day
and Happy Halloween!

Choose your favorite apples, caramel sauce,
and toppings of your choice.

I gave my apple wedges a quick dip in
lemon lime soda to prevent them 
from browning.

Arrange your apple wedges on a platter.

Drizzle with caramel sauce and sprinkle
with the toppings of your choice.

A great use for leftover Halloween candy.
Chop up those candy bars and enjoy.

A colorful and tasty treat.
Perfect for post trick or treating!

CARAMEL APPLE NACHOS

4 assorted apples (We love Honeycrisps, Braeburns and Granny Smiths)
Caramel sauce or topping of your choice
Assorted crushed candy and nut toppings (such as Oreos, peanuts, pecans, sprinkles, Butterfingers, crushed pretzels etc...)

Cut your apples into wedges.  If you aren't serving immediately you may want to give them a dip in lemon juice or lemon lime soda to prevent browning.  Place onto a serving platter and drizzle with caramel topping.  Sprinkle with your favorite assorted toppings such as candy bars and nuts.  Enjoy!

A Totally Awesome 1980s Party

 I am a true 80's kid.  You know...Generation X: Raised on hose water and neglect.  Literally.  Commercials came on right before the evening news and said, "It's 10 o'clock, do you know where your children are?" Television had to REMIND our parents to summon us home for bedtime.  It was truly a different time, and if you know you know.  We loved it.  Now I have my great nephews, the Littlest Devils making me kind of a pseudo grandmother.  A really cool Gen X grandmother.  You know Mr. Devilish Dish and I love live music.  In the last year we've seen Adam Ant, Psychedelic Furs, The Church, Duran Duran, Rick Springfield, The English Beat, Wang Chung, Paul Young, John Waite, Toto, Christopher Cross and Men at Work.  (Not including countless Red Dirt and other genres, but this is an 80's post!) Take me back!  Anyway, now that I am a cool Gen X G-ma, I saw these adorable personalized beaded bracelets.  I wanted them with the Littlest Devils names on them but they were kind of pricy.  You know I'm a crafty girl, so I landed upon the idea to make some custom bracelets (think those Swiftie style bangles) and it reminded me of the good 'ol days when we made friendship bracelets.  I remember in 10th Grade, I had a class with Mr. DD and he asked me to make a friendship bracelet for him.  Mind you he was NOT my boyfriend at the time.  He was just one of the cutest boys in the whole school and a very preppie golfer-type.  I remember spending hours at the craft store putting together the exact combination of embroidery threads to make him the ultimate preppie boy friendship bracelet.  Apparently it worked because we've been together over 30 years now.  Since I am still an 80s girl at heart, the night I decided to try my hand at creating the beaded bracelets, I invited over some crafty friends and decided to make a true 80's themed feast.  Not only did we create some totally awesome bracelets and have some good food and good laughs, we turned on YouTube and found some videos with assemblages of old 1980's commercials.  It was hilarious hearing, "Where's the Beef?" and "Mikey Likes It."  I hope this inspires your next get-together for some 80's themed fun!

Here's the full spread.  This was so much fun 
planning and putting together.

No 80s party is complete without some glow
necklaces and bracelets.

Remember the Sea Monkeys? My mom would NEVER
let me have those.  We enjoyed Shrimp Cocktail with
Mr. Devilish Dish's SPICY COCKTAIL SAUCE.

I made a small "charcuterie board" and cut a brie
cheese to look like Pac-Man.  I just added some salami,
crackers and fresh grapes.

The hardest part of the whole night was hollowing
out a cabbage for the "Cabbage Patch" relish tray.
Just ranch dip served in a cabbage with some
fresh veggies.

Remember hitting the mall for an Orange Julius?
Not only do I have a recipe for the DRINK HERE,
but I have a FRUIT DIP that tastes exactly like the
original drink.  We enjoyed that with fresh berries.

I added a bowl of candy and glow sticks.
Most of the candy I found at Dollar Tree.
Pop Rocks and Ring Pops were the thing
back then!

I hope you get some inspiration for your own 80s party.  This was kind of a spur of the moment event, but I know I will use these ideas in the future.  This could be the beginnings of a great costume or birthday party.  

Pink & Brown Mother's Day Party 2017

Well before Mother's Day rolled around last year, I knew exactly what to do for gifts.  I created these super fun Subway Art Pillows, using all of the kid's and grandkid's names.  And the granddogs.  Because they're family too.  I actually made the pillows way back in February of 2017.  I thought I was really on the ball last year.  And then the week of Mother's Day arrived and I had no idea what I was doing to celebrate.  We always have some kind of gathering at my house.  Usually I have some kind of elaborate theme, but last year I drew a blank.  Which was a little disappointing considering the pillows had been wrapped and ready to go since February.  I sat staring at the chocolate brown gift bags with pink tissue and suddenly it hit me to use pink and brown as my colors.  And the snowball started rolling from there.  I have tons of those cylinder vases that always show up as a centerpiece.  I immediately thought of strawberry pink marshmallows as filler.  And then chocolate.  And then of course chocolate dipped strawberries came to mind.  After that the ideas were endless and I had to edit.  I narrowed things down to just chocolate dipped fruit.  Strawberries, "Monkey Tails" (frozen chocolate dipped bananas on a stick) and chocolate and caramel apple slices.  I debated on drinks.  My family is all about coffee or sweet tea but somehow coffee and frozen bananas just didn't sound like a match.  And then it hit me.  In keeping with the theme I went with chocolate milk and strawberry milk.  Served in champagne glasses of course.  After all Mother's Day is a very important celebration!

Here was our Pink & Brown PERFECT Celebration!

I used the brown gift bags with pink tissue as my
inspiration, so I included them on the table...

Cylinder vases for centerpieces.  Filled with:
strawberry marshmallows
Whoppers
Starbursts mini's (all pink!)

Champagne Glasses of course!
Mom deserves to be celebrated!

Here is the table all ready to go...

For the chocolate dipped strawberries I simply
dipped them in melted chocolate bark and the Wilton pink candy melts.  Then I put the extra melted
chocolate and pink candy into zip-style baggies, clipped
the corners and used them to drizzle.

For the Monkey Tails:
I cut the bananas in half and put them on popsicle sticks.
Then I dipped them in to the melted chocolate coating.
Some I rolled in coconut flakes, some in chopped pecans,
and some I left plain.  Nothing beats a good 'ol
chocolate dipped banana.  After dipping, these went
in to the freezer.

For the Caramel Apple Slices on a stick, I sliced the apples
about 1/2-inch thick and inserted the popsicle sticks.
I drizzled them with caramel sauce (Ghirardelli from abottle) and more melted chocolate.  Some I garnished with
chopped pecans (think Turtles!) and some I left plain.

Aren't these carafes just the cutest?
Chocolate milk and Strawberry milk were the ideal
beverage choice for my Pink & Brown Party!
(I can report NO ONE drank the Strawberry Quik milk..I tried
a little sip, but it didn't taste like it did when I was a kid.
OH well, it looked super cute and that's all that matters.)

All ready for the Moms to enjoy. 
Attending were my Mom, her twin sister Aunt Sissie
(she's my other mother lol) Little Devil, my best friend Barbara,
and her daughter Emily.  It was a great girl's afternoon.

Here are the pillows I made for the Moms.  They
absolutely loved them.  They were such a hit, in fact
I had orders for several from other friends and family.
If this is something you might be interested in, you can
visit my Facebook Page or email: scarf.factory.girl@gmail.com

St. "Patties" Day Homemade Peppermint Patties + FREE Printable Gift Tags

St. Patrick's Day is almost here.  While we don't usually celebrate much, I do decorate and try to cook some kind of fun treat for the day.  I am in fact Irish in heritage.  My great great grandfather was full Irish.  Fun Fact, there is a small town in Southeastern Oklahoma named after him: McMillan.  So I wear my green with pride!  Normally my go to treat for March is Lucky Charms Bars which are essentially Rice Krispie Treats made with Lucky Charms cereal.  It's a must try because: MORE MARSHMALLOW.  This year I decided I'd try something new to share.  Mr. Devilish Dish loves chocolate and mint together.  Junior Mints, Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream, mints at the Olive Garden.  All his favorites, so I had him in mind when making these.  Normally you'd think homemade peppermint patties would be appropriate at Christmas time, but they sell Junior Mints year round so I think we're okay here.  AND once you call them St. Patties, then you've got an utterly Irish treat, perfect for some St. Patty's Day sharing.  I've even included some printable tags.  I simply cut them out, folded them over, and stapled them onto the Ziploc Snack Bags.  Whether you are Irish, or just Irish for a day: You are sure to be lucky with a platter of patties for St. "Patties" Day!

An Utterly Irish Treat!

Peppermint Patties for St. "Patties" Day

Only 4 ingredients...

Perfect for gift giving...
Simply attach one of my FREE printable tags below:

Click on the image to enlarge.
Right click and save to your computer.
Open with the software of your choice
and print onto cardstock.These images are my exclusive artwork.
Please be courteous when using these printables
and remember they are for personal use only

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Homemade Peppermint Patties

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
6 cups powdered sugar
1 (24 ounce) package chocolate almond bark

In the bowl of a stand mixer combine the condensed milk and peppermint extract.  Gradually add the powdered sugar, a cup at time until the mixture is very thick.  (It will be a little thicker than the consistency of Play Doh.) Divide mixture into 4-6 sections and roll into logs.  (I wanted my finished patties to be a little bigger than a quarter, but feel free to make yours a little bigger if desired.)  Wrap each log in plastic wrap and freeze at least 1 hour or over night.  Keep the logs in the freezer, removing one at a time, until ready to dip so they will hold their shape.  Slice each log into 1/4-inch discs.  In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the chocolate almond bark in 30-second intervals (stirring between) until melted and smooth.  Using a fork dip each peppermint disc into the melted chocolate, coating evenly.  Place on a waxed paper-lined cookie sheet until chocolate has hardened.  Repeat with remaining logs in the freezer.  These can be stored in an air-tight container at room temperature or try them frozen for a cool treat! 

Prep Time:  Approximately 1 hour total               Cook Time:  Needs to Freeze

Yield: Approximately 132 quarter-sized patties (Not counting rejects and ones we couldn't resist eating)

NOTE: I found it easier to work with a smaller log of dough at a time.  You want it to stay cool so the patties maintain their shape.  Cut off a section and leave the remainder in the freezer or form smaller logs. 

             





     

Chocolate Covered Snickers Strawberries

It's finally time for our Winter Edition of Freaky Friday.  And as I'm typing this, boy is it Winter here in Oklahoma.  Little Devil just came home early and even our local taco joint just posted a closing.  Ice and sleet are serious stuff, making this the ideal time to stay in perusing new recipes.  There's no better place for finding new recipes and fellow food lovers than our Freaky Friday group.  If you aren't familiar with Freaky Friday, once a quarter we get together and re-create recipes from one another's blogs.  It's a secret for everyone, including you all!  The most fun is seeing who was assigned your blog and what they chose to make.  Learning about fellow bloggers and getting to know their cooking style is always great fun.  This time, I had the pleasure of getting to know Deanna, or "Dee" from Seduction in the Kitchen.  Dee is a native Pittsburgh girl, living in Ohio.  I really enjoyed perusing her blog because she has wonderful sampling of foods from her home state.  Being an Okie girl stuck here in the middle of America, I'm always anxious to sample flavors from around our glorious country.  I was really intrigued by Dee's "Pitts" Burger with Iron City Beer Braised Onions.  In fact, I was tempted to make them for Super Bowl Sunday because it sounds like exactly what every guy I know wants to eat.  When tailgate time rolls around again, I can't wait to make her Tailgate Crock Pot Pierogies with Kielbasa, Bacon and Onions.  Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING on Dee's blog is truly tempting and seductive, but in the end I chose her Chocolate Covered Snickers Strawberries for our Valentine's Day meal. These strawberries truly sum up Dee's motto, "Everyone has a love affair with food."  Nothing is more seductive than a chocolate covered strawberry, but Dee has taken it to the next level by adding caramel sauce and chopped peanuts.  Fresh strawberries with hints of Snicker Bar flavor?  I'm definitely seduced! 

From Seduction in the Kitchen...
Truly Seductive!

A juicy red berry,
cored and filled with caramel sauce.
Dipped in chocolate and rolled in chopped peanuts.

Check out my chocolate "schmear"
I was trying to be fancy.

I made these for our Valentine's Day Dinner Dessert.
The perfect valentine!

I used my Pepper Corer to hollow out the berries.
It works great on jalapenos too!

The chocolate chips were a breeze to melt
in the microwave using my silicone bowls.

Chocolate Covered Snickers Strawberries
Freaky Friday Winter 2018
Thanks Dee!

Chocolate Covered Snickers Strawberries

by: Seduction in the Kitchen
1 pint of large red strawberries, washed and cored
1 bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips (I cheated and used milk chocolate)
1/4 cup caramel sauce (I used Ghirardelli)
1/2 cup chopped peanuts

Fill the center of your hollowed out strawberry with caramel sauce. Place the chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl, and cook in 30 second intervals, stirring in between each until the chips are melted and smooth.  Dip the strawberry in to the chocolate, making sure to cover the top, to keep the chocolate sauce in.  Shake off excess chocolate.  Dip the chocolate coated strawberry into the chopped peanuts.  You can cover the entire berry or just partially dip in peanuts, that's up to you.  Place the berries on a waxed paper-lined cookie sheet.  Refrigerate, allowing the chocolate to harden.

Prep Time:  Approximately 25 minutes  Cook Time: Needs to chill slightly