Christmas Coal

Since I'm always looking for new holiday cookies and since my baking list is always ridiculously long, I like to find recipes that are simple or require very little time to make. When I came across this recipe for Lumps of Coal, I was in love - not only was it a quick no-bake recipe, but I could use Peppermint Joe-Joes from Trader Joe's to make them truly Christmas-y!

(And sorry for no picture, but really, they're just blackish cubes.)

Christmas Coal (with thanks to Sweet Pea's Kitchen and Pinterest)
1 package peppermint Joe-Joes (or mint Oreos)
1 bag mini marshmallows
4 Tbsp butter

Line an 8x8 baking dish with parchment paper and set aside.

In a food processor, pulse cookies until ground. My food processor is smaller, so I did this in batches. Make sure to fish out any pieces that don't get chopped up well and add them back to the processor for more time.

In a medium pot over medium heat, melt butter, then stir in marshmallows until melted. Stir in ground cookies, then press into prepared baking dish, making sure to get the mixture into all the corners. Let set at room temperature (I waited an hour or so), then cut into pieces.

I cut mine very tiny, because A) I was making a huge cookie tray and wanted people to get little bites of everything, and B) these things are RICH!. Considering how easy these are to make, I'm fairly sure that they will be going on my Christmas cookie list for years to come. :)

Christmas Appetizers

What would Christmas be without some strangely thematic food?!? This year, I became totally enamored with these veggie tray Christmas trees on Pinterest, and I knew I'd have to make one happen. I made my mother volunteer for the veggie tray for our family gathering, and my father and I spent the morning before the party having fun with toothpicks and fresh produce.

I combined a number of similar ideas from Pinterest to make this tree. I should have taken a photo of the base before we started adding veggies - we used a cabbage on the bottom, an apple in the middle, and a carrot on top. Both the cabbage and the apple had the ends trimmed so they sat flat, one on top of the other, and the carrot was a nice handhold to stabilize the tree as we added the veggies. We cut about half of the carrot off at the end because it was too hard to stab the toothpicks into it.

After the base was complete, we added big pieces of broccoli and cauliflower to make up the bulk of the tree. Grape tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers made up the decorations, and baby carrots and more cucumbers were placed around the bottom of the tree like presents. We added some bits of kale here and there to fill in any holes, and the kale really gave the tree a full look. The star on top is a yellow pepper that I cut with a cookie cutter.

The tree was a huge hit at the party, although I noticed that people kept taking veggies from the back of the tree because they didn't want to ruin how it looked. I started purposefully taking my pieces from the front so others would start as well.

The best part of the day, though, was after dessert when my cousin's son came up to me and said "I want that apple!", pointing at the tree. I took apart what was left and gave him the apple. A little while later, I came back, and he was basically using the leftover parts of the tree as legos, building little men with the veggies and toothpicks, then eating each piece. I told my cousin that all snack times from here on out should involve toothpicks. :)

My cousin Emily is also on Pinterest, and leading up to Christmas, she had repinned the veggie tree AND this cool cheese tray tree. I told her what I was making, and I knew her mother had gotten some cheese, so she should make this one. This was a big hit too, and such a simple but beautiful way to present cheeses and meats!

North Pole Cupcakes

When I started my new job at the library, I was informed that during our quarterly Friends of the Library book sale, there was also a cupcake sale. I couldn't possibly not participate. I'm not usually a cupcake baker (cookies are really more my thing), but I was willing to join in.

And thankfully, my Pinterest obsession came in handy once again! I had pinned these adorable north pole cupcakes, which I thought would be perfect for the bake sale. The original pin used striped paper straws for the pole, but I wanted to make them as edible as possible, so I opted for peppermint sticks topped with bell-shaped gum drops. The sign and string, however, couldn't be edible, but that's close enough.

Thanksgiving Acorns

How beautiful are these?! My Pinterest obsession is doing me well and giving me plenty of things to blog about. I was given the Thanksgiving assignment of dessert and opted for the caramel nut bars I first made last year. Only after this decision did I find these adorable acorns and decide that I HAD to make them. Luckily, these are easy to throw together and only takes a few ingredients

Everyone I've shown them to absolutely loves them. Taste-wise, the chocolate-to-cookie ratio was off (at least for me), but they're so cute, that really doesn't matter.

They're very simple to make and would be a cute craft to make with kids. Melt a little bit of chocolate and use it to stick unwrapped Hershey's Kisses to Nutter Butter bites. Once the chocolate has hardened, tip the cookies on their side and stick Hershey's mini chips (they look like tiny Kisses) on with a little more melted chocolate. Let that set up a little longer before serving or packing away.


This is my second entry for the Holiday Pin It and Do It Challenge, from this pin.

Cauliflower Not-Pizza

I saw this recipe floating around the interwebs over the summer, and I was automatically intrigued. Pizza crust made out of cauliflower and cheese?! Is that even possible?

Well, not entirely. Calling it pizza is a real stretch. Calling it a delicious cauliflower treat - sure, let's run with that instead.

I can see this being a perfect way to get kids (or *cough* reluctant adults) to eat their veggies. I personally love cauliflower, but I know lots of people who aren't big fans. Top it with enough cheese, though, and they're sure to at least try it. Add that much cheese and you start losing some of the health benefits, though, don't you?

Since I already enjoy cauliflower, I don't think I'll take the time to be making this again. I could just melt some cheese over regular cauliflower for a similar taste.

Cauliflower Not-Pizza (inspired by Mom, What's For Dinner?)
1 small head of cauliflower, steamed and riced
1 cup shredded low-moisture mozzarella cheese, divided
1 cup Parmesan cheese, divided
1 egg
1 tsp pasta sprinkle (or dried basil and oregano)

Preheat oven to 450°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine the riced cauliflower, 1/2 cup mozzarella, 1/2 cup Parmesan, egg, and dried herbs. Stir together until the mixture is uniform. Put the mixture onto the lined pan and gently press into a rectangle. Press as thinly as possible - this will help it crisp up.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until it starts to brown. Remove from oven and gently invert onto another piece of parchment paper (so the bottom is now the top and can brown). Top with the remaining cheese and bake until cheese is melty and golden. Serve immediately.


This is my first entry for the Holiday Pin It and Do It Challenge, from this pin.

Holiday Pin It and Do It Challenge

Like I said, I'm a little obsessed with Pinterest right now. I've already done a bunch of things from my boards, but just like NaBloPoMo is getting me back into blogging, I'm joining a challenge to start doing more of the things I've pinned.

Between now and the end of December, I'm committing to completing 8 (or more) pins through Trish's Pin It and Do It Challenge. While I'm betting they'll mostly be recipes, I'm sure I'll get some crafts in through my other blog as well. I'll be keeping track of the pins I've done on this board.