Truffle Tray

Let me tell you about a little match made in heaven.

Cookies + Cream cheese + Chocolate.

Seriously....Best. Truffles.Ever!

This year, I made three kinds (someone had to restrain me from making the 10 others I wanted to!).

Sugar Cookies + Cream Cheese + White Chocolate Dip
Adapted slightly from The Scene from Me, Originally from Nestle

16 oz. package of sugar cookie dough, baked and cooled (or I used this recipe to make my own)
8 oz. package of cream cheese,softened (I use low fat)


Mint Oreos + Cream Cheese + White Chocolate Dip
Adapted slightly from Bakerella

1 package of Mint Oreos (I used Trader Joe's Peppermint Joe Joe's)
8 oz. package of cream cheese, softened


Gingerbread + Marshmallow Orange Frosting + White Chocolate Dip

1/2 of this recipe, baked and cooled
1/2 c. of this frosting
1/2 package of cream cheese
1/2 c. marshmallow fluff


How To:
In a Cuisinart, grind cookies into a powder. Mix completely with the cream cheese (and frosting for the gingerbread ones), then shape into about 1 inch balls and place on a wax paper lined cookie sheet. Refrigerate for 30 minutes (or freeze for 15 minutes) before dipping into melted chocolate. After they have been coated, return to the cookie sheet and refrigerate until chocolate is hard. Store in the refrigerator.


Notes:
-I found that it's best to just get down and dirty and mix the cookie crumbs and cream cheese with your hands. I know,super messy,but trust me,it mixes much better.
-I found that the best coating is to use half chocolate and half coating bark (i.e. 1 cup of chocolate chips + 1 cup of bark) and then mixing in 1-2 tsp. of vegetable oil.

Turkey for Two

Or last minute T-Day dishes.....Or breakfast.....Or a midnight snack. Whatever your little heart desires.

<<Disclosure: This post is forever long...just be happy you are the one doing the reading, not the writing :)>>

Get the party started with these apps.



Cranberry Pear Brie Packets
1 pear, chopped
1/2 c. cranberries
1/2 c. chopped onion
2 tbsp. maple syrup
1/2 a puff pastry sheet
2 oz. brie
Olive Oil

Saute onion, pear and cranberries in olive oil until tender. Stir in maple syrup and continue to cook a few more minutes. Cut the pastry into 4 even squares (about 2" x 2"). On a foil or parchment lined baking sheet, place one square, then 2 tablespoons of cranberry topping, the brie cheese, and second square of pastry and then fold over the edges and seal in. Repeat with other squares. Baked at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

(Set aside remaining cranberry mixture for you cranberry sauce)



Best Stuffed Mushrooms....Seriously
Taken from my local paper over 10 years ago


1/2 a package of cream cheese (I use light)
2 tbsp. parsley
2 tbsp. chopped onion
1/2 lb. sausage (I like turkey)
8 oz. mushrooms

Start sauteing sausage in a skillet. Remove stems from mushrooms without breaking the the cap. Chop the  stems and add those along with the onions to the sausage and cook until tender. Add the remaining ingredients and stir until cream cheese is melted in. Place the mushroom caps on a foil lined baking sheet. Fill each cap with filling, then broil on high for 5 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.

Next up, the side kicks.


Sweet Potato Gratin

2 sweet potatoes
2 tbsp. butter
4 tbsp. brown sugar
4 tbsp. milk (or OJ)

Slice potatoes thinly. Grease a 6"x9" and place a layer of potatoes on the bottom. Top with 1/2 the butter and sugar. Repeat with the remaining ingredients. Pour the milk over the top. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the potatoes easily comes out.

Sausage Apple Stuffing

1/2 lb. sausage (Use the other half from the the mushrooms)
2 apples, chopped
1/2 an onion, chopped
1 tbsp. rosemary
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 tbsp. butter
8 oz. chicken broth
2 c. cornbread, crumbled

Saute the first four ingredients together, until sausage is cooked through and onions are tender. Add butter, cornbread and chicken broth and season with salt and pepper. Stuff your turkey....or your face :)

Cranberry Sauce

Remaining cranberry sauce from above brie recipe
1/2 c. cranberries
2 tbsp. maple syrup

Add the cranberries and maple syrup to the remaining sauce from the brie. Saute for about 20 minutes, or until the berries start to caramelize and juices thicken.

The Main Event


Stuffed Chicken Breast

2 chicken breast
Stuffing
Salt, pepper and olive oil

Butterfly the chicken breast. Brush with olive oil then place about 3 tablespoons of stuffing in the middle. Fold over the other half of the chicken breast, sprinkle the top with olive oil, salt and pepper and bake on a foil lined baking sheet at 400 degrees for about 12 minutes.

And last, but certainly not least, dessert.


This ice-cream is so ridiculously easy, you should make it every day...for real.


Pumpkin Ice -Cream

1 c. whipping cream
1/2 c. condensed milk
3/4 c. puree pumpkin
1 tbsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ginger
A dash of nutmeg

Whip the cream until stiff peaks form. Fold in the remaining ingredients. Spread into a freezer proof container and freeze, 4-5 hours or until solid.

Cranberry Pear Crisp

3/4 c. cranberries
4 pears, sliced
2 tbsp. flour
2 tbsp. sugar

1/3 c. oats
1 c. flour
6 tbsp. butter
1/4 c. brown sugar
1 tbsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ginger
Dash of nutmeg

Mix together first four ingredients in an 8" x 8" pan. In a separate medium sized bowl, melt the butter. Add remaining ingredients and stir until well mixed and crumbly. Sprinkle on top of fruit. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until juices begin to bubble. Cool and serve with pumpkin ice-cream.

*Special thank you to Mr. Runway Chef....this post would not have been possible without all is help and support*

2 Ingredient Chocolate Mousse

 Wednesdays always need a little something extra to help get you through the last part of the week.

And what better than a chocolate recipe...a chocolate recipe with 2 ingredients none the less?

Don't let the amount of ingredients fool you...this is nothing but pure heaven!

Again, I say don't be fooled by the number of ingredients...unfortunately, having only 2 ingredients does not equate into taking only 2 minutes to make.

Now before you go complaining and wanting to hate me because you think dessert is hours away, try to resist! You can whip this up, refrigerate it well you prepare dinner and then when you're all done eating, this bowl full of chocolaty fluffy peaks will be waiting for you. You will no longer hate me....in fact you will want to shower me with gifts (*cough*Chanel*cough*) for gifting you with such a simple dessert recipe.

2 Ingredient Chocolate Mousse

1 c. chopped chocolate (I used the milk chocolate bar from Trader Joe's...chocolate chips also work)
2 c. heavy whipping cream

Over low heat (or a double boiler), melt together the chocolate and one cup of cream, stirring constantly. Place in the fridge until cool, about 30 minutes. Mean while, beat the other cup of cream until stiff peaks form. Take the cooled chocolate mixture and beat that separately until thick. Fold in the plain cream. Serve with a dollop of whip cream on top and/or berries.

Nutella Truffles

You heard me...nutella and truffles... combined.... in the same sentence....in the same recipe?!!

My only word to describes these yummy little bites: Heaven! Thank you to one of my good friends, Danielle, for giving me the idea/recipe :)

There could not be a more appropriate way to get through the rest of the work week (why is it ONLY Wednesday??!WHY???!!!)

Nutella Truffles

Adapted from several recipes, mostly this one Half Baked

1 (12-oz.) package semisweet chocolate morsels
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup Nutella
3/4 cup finely chopped, toasted hazelnuts
Wax paper 

Microwave everything except the nuts together in a medium-size microwave-safe bowl for 1 1/2 minutes or until melted and smooth, stirring at 30-second intervals. Let cool 10 minutes.

Beat chocolate mixture at medium speed with an electric mixer for 2 minutes, until whipped and smooth. Cover and chill 2 hours or until firm.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Chop hazelnuts (I place mine in a ziplock bag and use a rolling pin to "roll"them into pieces) and place them on a baking sheet and toast in oven for about 5 minutes or until the nuts start to turn a golden brown.  Remove from oven and allow them to cool completely.

Shape chocolate mixture into 1-inch balls (I used a teaspoon and shaped them by hand...you can use a melon ball scooper or a small ice-cream scoop). Roll in hazelnuts. (If chocolate mixture becomes too soft to shape, refrigerate until firm.) Place on wax/parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Chill 1 hour before serving. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Strawberry Cheesecake Smoothie

You are probably looking at this recipe because there is 'cheesecake' in the title and if you're anything like me cheesecake is just something that can NOT be resisted!!!

Now I hate to disappoint, really I do......

but there is no cheesecake to be found in this recipe....waaaaaait, WHAT??!!!

Ok, I promise there is a good reason and I promise this tastes just almost as good as the real thing.

You see, I was really craving cheesecake. At 10:30 at night. Cheesecake takes FOREVER to make. The cardboard crusted mush labeled as cheesecake with a $7 tag at the grocery store next door just wasn't going to cut it.

So I came up with this instead. Bonus, it's much healthier for you....you can thank me later when you still fit in your bathing suit after eating drinking some 'cheesecake'.

Strawberry Cheesecake Smoothie

1 c. frozen strawberries

2 tbsp fat free cream cheese

1 individual size strawberry cheesecake yogurt (plain,vanilla, or strawberry are also good)

2 graham cracker sheets

1/3 c. strawberry juice (I use Crystal Light)

2/3 c. milk ( I use fat free)

Combine all ingredients in the blender and enjoy! Makes 2 servings.

Note: Feel free to increase or decrease the amounts based on how thin or thick you prefer your smoothies. I have also made this using only milk and not juice and it still comes out tasting like yummy cheesecake, just a little less strawberry tasting!