Today we started out with Salt Water Taffy.  The recipe is one I “pinned” from Pinterest.  We made it exactly as written.  It was really good!  The kids loved making it and had a great time.  We did learn a couple of things though that will be of help to you when you make it.  

1.  Make sure you aren’t working close to any air conditioning vents!  Really important to keep the taffy warm as you are pulling it. 

2.  Little people (younger kids) don’t understand pulling.  I know this should be a given, but even as I was explaining it and demonstrating, they still didn’t catch the concept and were “balling” it up more than pulling it. 

3.  It is important to pull and pull and pull (got quite the workout today!).  Work in as much air as you can. 

We made ours pink, using a gel food coloring.  Hope you enjoy it!

Salt Water Taffy
Yields approx. 50 pieces/1.5 pounds

2 cups sugar
2 T. Cornstarch
1 cup light corn syrup
3/4 cup water
2 T. margarine/butter
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. Peppermint Extract

Prepare a heat safe dish by lightly buttering it. Also lightly butter a spatula.  And have flavor and food color ready.

In a saucepan, sift together sugar and cornstarch. Stir in corn syrup, water, salt and margarine. Place over medium heat and stir until sugar dissolves. Cover pan and bring to a boil for 2 or 3 minutes. Uncover, place thermometer in pan and cook to 256 – 266 degrees F. The lower temperature will result in a chewier taffy, the higher a more brittle texture. Remove from heat and add food color and flavoring. Stir gently, pour into prepared dish/pan.

When cool enough to handle, grease hands and pull the warm candy with fingertips, pulling out to about 12 inches at first. Quickly turn candy back from fingertips of one hand to the other hand, then catch center and pull again. This will incorporate air into the candy. Continue pulling until taffy is light in color and has a satiny gloss, about twenty minutes. Pull into a long rope, cut with greased scissors and wrap in waxed paper squares, twisting ends.

adapted from here. Ms Humble also did it here

Old Farmhouse Chutney Cheese Ball

This unique blend of flavors will delight all your guests and become a favorite appetizer.

ingredients

2 – 8 oz. packages cream cheese

1/2 cup Stonewall Kitchen Old Farmhouse Chutney

1/4 cup green onion – diced

1 clove garlic – crushed

dash of salt

dash of pepper

1/2 cup Colby cheese, shredded

1/2 cup Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

1/2 cup pecans

directions

Mix together the cream cheese, Old Farmhouse Chutney, scallion, garlic, salt and pepper.

Fold in the Colby and Monterey jack cheeses.

Form the mixture into a ball and roll it into the chopped pecans.

Baked Brie In Puff Pastry – Serves 8

An eye-catching centerpiece for your next gathering of friends or family, this pastry creation will leave guests craving for just one more bite.

ingredients

1 sheet of Pepperidge Farm Frozen Puff Pastry

1 jar of Stonewall Kitchen Roasted Garlic & Onion Jam

1 5″ wheel of Brie (skin can be removed if preferred)

Optional: 1 egg white

directions

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Allow pastry to thaw, and then flour a surface and roll out pastry until increased in size by 1/3. Move dough to a lightly greased cookie sheet.

Place Brie in center of dough, form into a flat circle and indent the center of the top to allow a shallow dish for the chutney.

Pour the entire jar of Old Farmhouse Chutney or Apple Cranberry Chutney into the top of the Brie. (It’s okay if it overflows.)

Bring all sides of the dough up to the center top, forming a bag shape. Carefully gather the dough, pinching tightly above the Brie. Be creative in forming your pastry. You may want to pre-cut a strip of dough from the rolled-out pastry to form a false ribbon around the neck of your bag.

Brush entire bag with egg whites; this will make the finished dough shine.

Place in oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until dough is golden brown.

Remove and allow to cool for a few minutes.

With a large spatula, transfer the pastry to a large plate and circle with your favorite crackers. Serve hot.

Wow!

Today is recipe number 3 from Pinterest.  My sister, Donna made them and said they were fabulous.  Of course I’ve changed the recipe up.  I think my Indian name would be Runs with Knives!  LOL  I just can’t seem to play by the rules!

The recipe is for Strawberry Pecan Shortbread Crumble Bars.  I’m going to call it Peach Pecan Shortbread Crumble Bars.  You guessed it!  I’ve used peach preserves instead of strawberry.  I sell this wonderful brand, American Spoon.  I used the Red Haven Peach Preserves.  At my sisters advice, I added 1 teaspoon of cinnamon to the crumble mixture and didn’t chop the pecans finely, but more of a coarse chop.  I also didn’t bake it in a 9″ pan lined with aluminum foil.  Instead I used a slightly larger 10 x 10 tart tin and used spray release on it.

Peach Pecan Shortbread Crumble Bars

The new Christopher Elbow Fall flavors are now in!  Oh my!  Port Wine & Fig, Pumpkin, Winter Spiced Chai and many, many more.  We still have some of the Summer flavors left, but once they are gone, they are gone.

The shop is decorated and ready for Halloween!  We have everything you need for the kids parties, your parties, fun gifts and decorations.  Stop by soon to see it all!

This past week, the kids cooked a lot of great recipes, from easy – Trail Mix Tacos, to more complicated – 3 Cheese Stuffed Ravioli.  Their favorite recipe?  Cowboy Campfire Vegetable Medley!  That’s right, a vegetable dish!  Go figure!  This was, I must add, a really delicious recipe.  (I will post it later this week.)

The kids learned kitchen safety, about buying local, and how to read recipes.  They also learned Jet’s number one rule – WE HAVE TO TRY EVERYTHING!  That’s all I ask.  Don’t say “yuck” until you try it.  If you don’t like it, you don’t have to eat it.  But how are you going to know you don’t like it if you don’t try it?

We do Kid’s Thyme in the Kitchen Culinary Camp twice a summer, June and August.  They always fill up quickly, because we limit the number of kids we take.  If you are interested, call Jet at the shop (816)554-3755.

Yesterday I spent the majority of my day cleaning my house.  It was a mess.  Not dirty, just really messy!  It felt good to get really sweaty cleaning.  I put on some “classic” rock and roll and just went at it.  By the way, why do they call it “classic” rock and roll?  It’s just rock and roll to me.  The best ever!  There isn’t any better music to clean by. 

One of the things I cleaned, was my pots and pans.  Ever wonder why stuff sticks to your pans?  One of the reasons is that they are dirty.  You may not even realize it.  Take a good look at the inside of your pans, do they have a film?  Shadowy?  That is a build up.  When you cook with it, stuff will stick.  The best non-abrasive cleaner to use is Bar-Keeps Friend.  Use it with a non-abrasive scratcher sponge.  Scrub until the film is gone.  Ta-Da!  Next time you cook with it you will see a big difference.

Another reason stuff may be sticking, is that you aren’t properly heating your pan up prior to putting food in it.  Over medium heat, heat the pan till hot.  Then pour your oil in.  Heat the oil completely before adding anything else to it.  A properly preheated pan, will keep food from sticking.

Ok, lesson over!  Check back here often as I will try to post more tips and recipes.

This is a nice segue into our announcement – in a few weeks, you will find a new chocolate counter in the shop with a new chocolate line.  Kansas City’s own Christopher Elbow!  And let me tell you, I LOVE CHRISTOPHER ELBOW CHOCOLATES!  They are not only the most wonderful and decadent chocolates, but also the most beautiful! 

We will continue to carry our other premium chocolates from Sweet Shoppe USA and Abdallah.  We will have the best chocolate lines in KC.  Be watching here for further announcements of when they arrive.

Baked Potato Soup

• 2 lg. baking potatoes
• 3 T. thinly sliced green onions
• 1/3 c. margarine or butter
• 1/3 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/4 t. dried dillweed
• 1/4 t. salt
• 1/4 t. pepper
• 4 c. milk
• 3/4 c. shredded American cheese
• 3 T. thinly sliced green onion
• 4 slices bacon, crisp-cooked, drained & crumbled

Scrub potatoes thoroughly with a brush; pat dry.  Prick potatoes with a fork.  Bake in a 425 oven for 40 to 60 minutes or till tender.  Let cool.  cut potatoes in half lengthwise; gently scoop out each potato.  Discard potato skins.

In a large saucepan cook 3 tablespoons green onion in margarine or butter till tender; stir in flour, dill, salt, and pepper.  Add milk all at once.  Cook and stir till thickened and bubbly.  Cook and stir for 1 minute more.  Add the potato pulp and 1/2 cup of the shredded cheese; stir till cheese melts.

Garnish each serving with the remaining shredded cheese, 3 tablespoons green onion, and bacon.

Makes 6 servings.

The girls worked on rolling out gingerbread cookies and cutting them out into fun gingerbread men and snowflakes.  Then they frosted them with buttercream frosting and enjoyed the fruits of their labor.  One little girl said, I don’t like gingerbread cookies.  I gave my usual answer that any child whoever has attended any of my classes will tell you, “You have to try one bite.  If you don’t like it, you don’t have to eat it, but you need to try it.”  Next time I looked over at her, 3/4 of a cookie was gone! 

The recipe I used today came from Mary Engelbreight’s Tis the Season Cookbook.  It is a mild gingerbread cookie flavor most people love! 

Have fun and make some cookies!