DIY Candy Gifts 2016

Hello world! I'm doing a gift post before January! I'm so happy, it's an accomplishment really. The joys of being a fourth year medical student. Anyways, this year I've tried using the phrase "holiday gifts" or "winter gifts" rather than Christmas gifts to be more inclusive to those people that don't celebrate Christmas. I don't, but I grew up celebrating "commercial Christmas" with my family, so we would always say Merry Christmas to people. I didn't think of the religious connotations till college when a friend of mine said, oh, I don't celebrate Christmas. So I tried switching my vocalizations to Winter Celebrations, or Happy Winter! It's a small correction, but it costs me nothing.

That's the thing, about "being PC" it's really just me saying that this thing that I'm doing/saying hurts/offends/excludes you, and it costs me nothing or very little to change, but it costs you a lot when you hear me say...make a joke about women, minorities, immigrants, etc. So I might as well change it. I don't understand the whole "our country is too PC" rhetoric that seems to have taken over some political stages. People are mad that they can't tell an off-color joke?

Frequently I find that people make hyperbolic examples to make their point that being "too PC" is a problem. For example it would not be unreasonable to hear someone say "Well, pink socks offend me/trigger me, so stop wearing them." This makes no sense not only because of the obvious hyperbole that usually the product of not being able to find a real example, but also because the issue of offensive jokes, etc is not that it affects one person, but rather an entire group of people that live a similar experience. Rather it seems like the polite, empathetic thing to do is to, when called out, think about why someone is saying they don't want you to tell that joke/say that thing/whatever else rather than just roll your eyes about having to "be too PC."

Now! On to these totally awesome DIY Winter gifts. During the winter months, no matter where you are, it gets colder...and for me that means time for hearty soups, casseroles, and candy.

So I figured what better way to help celebrate the coming of winter and the ringing in of the new year than with some simple to make candy that you can gift away to people!

Below are the recipes for: Chocolate spoons, Chocolate wreaths, and my personal favorite, the Sweet and savory toffee
Last year's DIY candy gifts can be found here.

Chocolate Spoons: A simple, but elegant gift you can give to your friends that they can use to sweeten up their morning coffee with or simply pop in their mouths for a pick me up. They're also lovely because you can decorate them any way you want.

What you need: Plastic spoons, bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate (8-16 oz), toppings (marshmallow, sprinkles, cocoa nibs, peppermint pieces, more chocolate, toffee, etc.) 

Prep a baking sheet with parchment paper. Melt the chocolate in the microwave or double boiler. Dip just the spoon part of the spoons into the chocolate getting a good coating. Place the spoon on the parchment paper. Top it with whatever toppings you like. Place them in the fridge or freezer to cool, and then pack them up!

Chocolate Wreaths: Round pretzels (I used Utz that I bought from Costco), 16 oz chocolate, toppings (cocoa nibs, sprinkles, peppermint pieces, toffee) 

The key here is to buy pretzels that you'd want to eat just by themselves. If you buy pretzels that don't taste good, or are stale, you'll get beautiful wreaths that taste not so good.

Prep a baking sheet with parchment paper. Melt the chocolate in the microwave or in a double boiler. Add pretzels to the melted chocolate until you feel you've "saturated" the chocolate. You don't need each pretzel to have a thick coating, just enough that it coats it. Then give the pretzels a good toss in the chocolate. I used a spatula to do them. Then one by one, using a fork, pull out the pretzels and lay them on the parchment paper. After a row is done, go back and add the topping to your "wreath." Tossing the pretzels and using the fork adds a texture to the chocolate that makes it look more "wreath" like.

Savory and sweet toffee: This is my favorite. In fact I'm munching on some now as I write this. It's exactly the same recipe that I used last year for the Pretzel Toffee but instead of pretzels I used saltines and I definitely prefer the saltines. Seriously, make this. It's so easy -- you don't need a candy thermometer, you don't need anything fancy, you just need the ingredients, a baking sheet, and some parchment paper.

What you need: 1 cup salted butter, 8oz chocolate, 1 cup light or dark brown sugar, salt, toppings (cocoa nibs, marshmallows, sprinkles, chia seeds)

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 9x13 baking sheet with parchment paper. If you don't have 9x13, use what you have and modify the recipe. Line the parchment paper with saltines. It doesn't have to be pretty, it just have to cover the bottom.

Then in a saucepan, heat up the butter and the sugar until it melts down and turns into a toffee. Should take about 2 minutes, watch it so it doesn't get too dark, you don't want it to burn. 

Then pour it carefully on top of the saltines, and spread it out. Don't worry if it doesn't cover everything, it'll spread in the oven. Put it in the oven for 8-10 minutes. Check to make sure it's not burning at 8 minutes. Pull it out, let it cool for a minute or two, then pour the 8oz of chocolate/chocolate chips on top.The heat from the toffee with the melt the chocolate. Spread it around in a thin layer.

 Then put your toppings on top! This year I went for a "messy" look, and mixed cocoa nibs, marshmallows, salt, chia seeds, and sprinkles on top. Pop it in the freezer for an hour to let it cool, then break it into pieces by hand and eat it or package it up to go! 

The Shah (now Shah-Hoppenfeld) Tex-Med Holiday Extravaganza! AKA Thanksgiving 2014 in Review

My whole family is vegetarian. Well, my immediate family. For generations, we have been vegetarian. When my parents first moved to this country, that was a bit of a novelty. There weren't vegetarian restaurants galore, and whole foods selling all varieties of "fake meat." There was peas, cabbage, beans, and the occasional magic of tofu. Obviously this is hyperbole (sort of), but it's how they felt when they described it to me.

So obviously we never had the ginormous turkey for thanksgiving, and whatever it is people eat for the winter holidays. But my mom, always the light and life of our family, had a brilliant idea when I was a little girl of tex-mex holidays. After all, we love (no hyperbole) Taco Bell for it's vegetarian-friendly-at-no-extra-cost menu, so why not? Thus was born, the Shah (now Shah-Hoppenfeld) Tex-Mex Holiday Extravaganza!! No matter where I am, or who I'm celebrating Thanksgiving or the Winter Holidays with, I need Tex-Mex.

It reminds me of home, of tinsel wrapped around my banister, our big obnoxious plastic tree that was awkwardly bent at all angles but no one cared enough to fix it, my brother playing Golden-Eye, my dad looking at coupons for all the upcoming sales and separating out the worthwhile from the worthless, and my mom dancing in the kitchen taunting our dog with food singing "dancy-dancy, dancy-dancy, dancy-dancy-re!"  It might not make sense to you, but it makes perfect sense to me.

Now our family is bigger, with a lot more distance between all of us, but whatever. Nothing can stop the Shah (now Shah-Hoppenfeld) Tex-Mex Holiday Extravaganza. Full name, copyright pending.

So this year, we added in some new "traditionals" to the mix of our traditional. So along with tacos with all the fixings, we had cranberry sauce, brussel sprout salad, mascarpone mashed potatoes, and mushroom gravy.

So here's to what I'm most thankful for: a great family who will always add our own pzazz to tradition.

Cranberry Sauce - Modified from Laurie's Little Kitchen. Made it 2 days ahead of time to let the flavors meld. I made it in a slow cooker, and just dumped all the ingredients in -- instead of water, I used red wine, and for the spices I used 1 stick of cinnamon and 1 anise. I took the anise out half way so it wasn't overwhelming, and took out the orange when it was done cooking but left the cinnamon stick in. Loved it, will make it again. 

Brussel Sprout Salad - From my head. Sauteed up 2 bags of TJ shaved brussel sprouts with some olive oil, soy sauce, and a little bit of balsamic just until the shavings were wilted. Then mixed in cut up dried apricots, slivered almonds, and pistachios. Definitely one of the evenings favorites and will most certainly make it again. 

Butternut squash and apple soup - Modified from a food network site. Instead of carrots, I used 2 apples and used vegetable broth instead of chicken broth, and butter instead of peanut oil. I also added in garlic and onion. Overall, a phenomenal and easy soup to make. Especially if you get pre-cut butternut squash from TJs. Can you tell I use Trader Joes a lot? Served with sour cream, creme fraiche, or mascarpone with scallions.  

My brother sniffing the soup

Mascarpone Mashed Potatoes and Mushroom Gravy - Definitely the winners of the evening. The mashed potatoes are from What's Gaby Cooking and the gravy is from Oh My Veggies. I basically followed both recipes exactly, except I used some Thyme in the mashed potatoes, and didn't peel them. For the gravy, I didn't use shallots, but instead used a red onion since I really enjoy the flavor more, and didn't use mushroom stock but used regular vegetable stock from Better than Bouillon (which I love).  

The evening's winner. Barely any left by the end of the night.

Our Traditionals -- Spanish rice, guacamole, salsa, sour cream, tortillas (corn + flour), hardshell tacos, chips, lettuce, beans, etc. It was wonderful, although I did learn that making spanish rice in the slow cooker does not turn out as well as stove top. Everything else was great though. 

Then of course the extras:

Krinkle in his bed.  

Cooking Thanksgiving Dinner with Tyler!

The Shah (now Shah-Hoppenfeld) Tex-Mex Holiday Extravaganza!

Coconut Cherry Millet Muffins

Most of what I post is pretty healthy. Well, in small portions at least. But this takes the cake, or the muffin I guess, for being most healthy. Millet Muffins. Before you turn away grossed out, I will tell you have made and finished these more times than I can count. More impressively, my husband, the butter-sugar-cream lover, loves these.

But first, my usual story: Today, or the past two days, have been good. My dear friend Sam, more like dear sister, came to visit us on Wednesday night. We both took a day off of work, and spent much needed time with each other. It wasn't her first time in Texas, but it was her first time in San Antonio, visiting the place we've called home for almost the past two years.

It was amazing. Tyler, Sam, and I packed up a picnic on Thursday and trekked up to the San Marcos River to play around for a few hours, watching the puppies jump in the water, going down rapids, and treading water...trying to keep away from the river weed. It was awesome. And we got our ladies-evening after that when Tyler to school--shopping, getting our nails done, and munching on those mall-pretzel snacks that are too good.

All in all, it's been pretty great so far, with the cherry on top being that she was accepted to her top-choice medical school today! You know you love someone when you feel an all-consuming happiness when they get happy too. Ahhh the sisters you make in life. Anyways, to celebrate, we went to Austin with these tasty muffins in tow.

Since they're made with whole wheat, and greek yogurt, they are both filling and have a good deal of protein in them. Experiment with putting different things in them--I really like the sour cherry and coconut mix, but you can do raisin, cranberries, rolled oats, etc

Coconut Cherry Millet Muffins
Adapted from SuperNatural Everyday by Heidi Swanson
0.5 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 eggs, whisked
1 cup greek yogurt
0.5 cup honey
2.25 cups whole wheat pastry flour***
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tbsp. lemon juice + zest of 1 lemon (zest = optional, but tastes better)
0.5 tsp. salt
0.33 cup millet
0.5 cup sour cherries
0.25 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

***Do not use regular whole wheat flour, they'll come out hards as rocks. The pastry flour is has less gluten and more carbohydrates, and therefore make baked goods softer, but is still healthier than the all-purpose flour alternative.

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 12 muffin tin with paper liners or just spray down the sides with oil spray. Please make sure you spray the muffin liners with the oil spray as well, or the muffins will stick to the sides of the liners and you'll lose tasty goodness.

Whisk together the melted butter, eggs, yogurt, and honey in a bowl.

In a separate bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients, including the sour cherries and coconut flakes.

Then mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Use a spatula to mix them gently, so you don't flatten them too much. When they are just mixed, so there is no dry ingredients left un-wetted, start spooning them into the tin. About 2 spoonfuls per cup, or however big you like your muffins.

Put them in the oven for 15 minutes. Serve them warm with jam and butter, or room temperature as a breakfast or with soup. They keep for about 3-4 days outside! 

How To Make...Bath Bombs

First off, fear not. I have not left the foodie-world. I am still baking, cooking up a storm, etc. In fact, I made these tasty Millet Muffins from Heidi Swanson's cookbook, Supernatural Everyday. I don't usually buy cookbooks, but this one is quite excellent. Sooner or later, I'm going to have to post my variation on her quinoa cakes. 


Anyways, since the holiday season is coming up, I have forayed into the homemade gift world, and I love to share my success (less so my failures for obvious reasons). These homemade bath bombs are a definite success. 

Totally not mine. Picture pulled from the web, but that's what
they look like from the store usually.

What are bath bombs? They are those balls that you buy in the store, and you toss into your tub...they fizz, add moisturizer, nice smell, and generally relaxation-ness to your experience. They're quite wonderful...and exorbitantly expensive. Fret not! They're super easy to make at home. 


Here are mine, I didn't want to add any coloring, so they're plain white, but you're welcome to color yours. 

Bath Bomb Recipe
Adapted from petitelefant.com


0.5 cup corn starch
0.5 cup Epsom salts [get it at your regular grocery store]
1 cup baking soda
0.5 cup citric acid [get it online, or I bought mine at Whole Foods]
0.75 tbsp. water
3 tbsp. olive oil
Essential Oil [totally optional, but it adds a nice smell. Get it at Whole Foods]
Small ice cream scoop, shot glass, or something to shape the bombs


First, grind up the Epsom salts super fine. I used a blender, you can use the back of a large spoon, mortar and pestle, or whatever you have to grind something up. 


Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl (corn starch, salts, baking soda, and acid). 


In a separate bowl mix the wet ingredients (water, olive oil, and essential oil). Yep, has to be in a separate bowl because when you add water to the dry ingredients, the baking soda, a base, reacts readily with the citric acid, obviously and acid. Anyways, mix the wet ingredients together nicely. Then quickly add it to the dry ingredients. 


Mix the whole sha-bang together with a whisk or your hands (we used hands), until it's the consistency of slightly wet sand. 


Fill up whatever you're using to shape the bath bombs, and it down hard. I used an espresso cup, filled it up, and pushed down with my finger tips. Then flip it upside down on a cookie sheet, or wherever you want to put the bombs, tap the back with your hand hard, and viola out it'll come! 


If it falls apart, don't worry, just put it back into the bowl and try again. 


Let these suckers dry overnight, and you'll have some lovely bath bombs! Try them in a tub, or pack them individually in saran wrap and then put them in a cellophane bag with the pretty ribbon and you have a lovely gift! 


PS -- anyone on my gift-giving list, you're totally getting these! 

Presenting: The wonderful, the awesome, the S-! (and a stuffed pepper)

This is a first for the Clumsy Cook Blog, but please welcome a guest writer: me! I just wanted to share that being friends with M- is an exercise in recognizing and coming to terms with your own laziness. M- and I have many similarities. We were both science majors, lived on the same hallway for 4 years, graduated from Wellesley, are finishing our first year as TFA teachers, applying to medical school. But here is one area where we are very different: last night for dinner, I alternated handfuls of pretzels with handfuls of chocolate chips. M- made organic chard gratin, whatever that is. 

I said goodbye to my 130 kiddos on Wednesday, suffered through the two extra days of paperwork that amounts to letting the door hit hard-working teachers on their way out, and then fell into bed. And then I woke up and... had no idea what to do. It has been at least five years since I had this dilemma. It was Saturday and I had nothing pressing to begin the hard work of procrastinating on! So I took inspiration from M- and actually ate something today other than Lean Cuisine 2-minute microwavable pizza (which, all things considered, is actually impressively yummy). My frozen-food lifestyle thrown aside, here is my first attempt to give the Clumsy Cook a run for her money.

Too lazy to go to the grocery store, I raided the pantry, and came up with the ingredients to make a spice cake. Now, I grew up in the country, and it was an implicit rule that every food had its own time of year. Spice cake is quite obviously a fall food, so forgive my lapse in proper seasonal etiquette. My spice cabinet needed organizing. Short story short, a simple spice cake with blackberry jam between the layers, frosted with cream cheese frosting and with embellished with fanciful raisin patterns is both a good way to clean out the cupboards and to create something delish-ish.

The leveled pieces of cake became a masterpiece in their own right when stuck together with cream cheese frosting and jam swirled together for a wonderfully simplistic, rustic look.

Ok, so truth be told, my sweet tooth leaves my stomach caring very little for actual food. My sophomore year of college, I had a stomach thingy that left me with a doctor-endorsed diet of ice cream for dinner, and no one heard much complaining from me on that matter (right, M-?). I will concede, though, that a regular, healthy dinner is necessary for good mental health. 

Even so, these early summer days on the river in Muggy Memphis leave you in a weird hungry/un-hungry state, and drained. Listen up: here is the cure. I'm calling it "Summer Stuffing", but feel free to make up your own, much cooler and descriptive name. 

Summer Stuffing

Recipe (2 servings)

1/2 cucumber, diced

1 bell pepper

1 vine tomato, diced

2 ears corn, cooked, cut, and chilled

small handful of walnuts, chopped medium-fine

small handful of left-over chicken, shredded, if you are so carnivorously inclined (Mita Note: Or fake chicken..."Chikin")

1 tsp. olive oil

dash salt, pepper to taste

a slice or two of fresh lime

several leaves of fresh basil