Krispy Peanut Butter Balls

I'm so excited about these, I just had to blog again today! I had already decided that I would be sending Rice Krispie treats to Munch's preschool on her birthday. (As a teacher, I'm not a fan of these huge, frosting laden supermarket cupcakes that kids bring in for celebrations- the aftermath is not pretty. Crumbs everywhere-and they're not easy to sweep/wipe up, frosting everywhere, and usually most of the cupcake gets tossed in the trash.) But I was recently flipping through the December Oprah magazine and saw these yummy looking Rice Krispie balls that had peanut butter and mini chocolate chips mixed in- you know I had to try them! To see the original recipe, click here. It doesn't seem to make many- about 15 golf-ball sized treats. Cute if you're going to package several up for a friend. But for a class treat, I knew I'd need to increase the recipe- this should make enough bigger treats for a class (and don't forget the teacher!)

1/4 c. butter or stick margarine
16 oz. bag marshmallows
1 1/2 c. peanut butter
11 c. Rice Krispies cereal
3/4 c. mini chocolate chips
1 c. Heath toffee bits

Melt butter or margarine in a large saucepan (I used my 6 qt. stockpot) over low heat. Add the marshmallows and peanut butter and stir until melted. Remove from heat and add the cereal, chocolate chips, and toffee bits. Stir quickly until well combined. Using your hands, shape the mixture into balls (coat your hands with oil first if you need to) about the size of an ice cream scoop. Store in an airtight container until ready to serve (if you don't eat half the batch before then!)

Check Out This Giveaway!

Thanks to Sasha for alerting me to this fabulous giveaway- you've got to check it out & enter!

So Cute!

Now that we're done with the holidays, I'm fully into birthday party planning mode. Munch turns 3 at the end of the month, so I'm planning her first "friends" party. Just like with this past Christmas and Halloween, she's old enough to participate in some of the decision making (guest list) as well as understand and remember what's going on. There's a nice equestrian center that we pass daily on the way to daycare. We always wave hello to the horses in the morning and afternoon. So when I found out they did parties, I jumped on it- and I'm crossing my fingers that we get a nice, warm CA winter day.
In searching for invites and party favors online, I came across a great place that does adorable photo cards with a "scrapbook" feel- Heavenly Impressions. Rachel was super easy to work with and my invitation cards turned out great- here's a look:



Be sure to visit her site- there are so many great cards that she can help you create! Now, I've just got to get those goodie bags, menu, and cake figured out!

Grocery Finds

I was at the grocery store recently and happened to pass the British foods display. This unfortunate item happened to catch my eye-



Now, maybe it's just me (and the whole "fresh from the farmers' market" mentality here), but yuck! What sounds more unappetizing than canned peas, and smooshy ones at that? Turns out you can use them to make things like green pea fritters, but I think I'll pass.

However, I had forgotten about this other find and recently unearthed it from the corners of my pantry-



From the website, it seems that it's being marketed as a flavor enhancer for water. I found it next to the drink mixes, Crystal Light and such. But the reason I picked it up is that it had the potential to make my lemon snowballs the zingy little treat that I wanted them to be. These citrusy cookies were tucked into my holiday cookie baskets and trays this past Christmas. They're inspired by a delicious lemon cookie that Williams-Sonoma used to sell when I worked there SO long ago- I'm almost positive it was the Nikki's brand. They were basically a lemony shortbread-like, but possibly drier, cookie, dusted in powdered sugar, but with a really lemony zing. I was positive there was powdered lemon mixed into the powdered sugar coating, but it was impossible to find, except for a couple of random people who sold to bakeries. So I shelved the idea of replicating it until I came across the True Lemon at the grocery store.

I adapted a recipe for lemon cookies that was similar to a Mexican wedding cookie or Russian Tea cake. I'm not sure I quite have it just the way I want it, but it's a good start-



Lemon Snowballs
1 c. unsalted butter, softened
1/3 c. powdered sugar
1 tbs. lemon zest
1 1/2 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 1/4 c. flour
1/4 tsp. salt
additional powdered sugar for rolling cookies (about 1 1/2 c.)
2 packets True Lemon

Combine the butter and 1/3 c. powdered sugar in a medium bowl. Beat until fluffy using a mixer at medium speed. Add lemon zest, lemon extract, and vanilla and mix until combined. Add flour and salt and mix well. Cover and chill dough for at least 1 hour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll chilled dough into 1-inch balls, leaving about an inch between cookies. Bake for about 15 minutes until set, and lightly golden around edges. Let cookies cool for 5 minutes before rolling in a mixture of powdered sugar and contents of True Lemon packets. Allow cookies to cool completely on a rack before rolling in mixture a second time.

Christmas Recap

It's been a week now since Christmas and I'm barely feeling like things are "back to normal". AudioDad's been busy taking the trees down and putting decorations away. The holidays were fun with Munch being able to participate more- not sure how much she really understood, but she went with it okay.
The day before Christmas we headed off to Jelly Belly for Munch's first Santa visit. I've been carefully preparing her (don't want a crying kid!) with Santa stories and waving at the mall Santa whenever we walked by. She was so excited as we waited in line, but got a little shy once she got closer. Munch did great though, making sure to tell Santa she wanted a pink bike with a basket.



For Christmas Eve dinner, I tried a new recipe off C. Beth's blog for Indian fry bread.



It was delicious and easy! We spread them with black beans, added toppings, and ate them taco-style. After dinner, the Munchkin made a plate of cookies for Santa-



then we mixed up some reindeer food (oatmeal with sparkly pink sugar sprinkles)



to sprinkle on the lawn-



Munch said goodbye to Doodle and scampered off to bed. The next morning, she got up nice and early. She carefully arranged all her presents on the coffee table as she opened them-



and one of Grandma's gifts made us all giggle-



a nice, big roll of bubble wrap for dancing on!