Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzels and Holiday Bark

You would never think something so simple as pretzel rods coated in chocolate and drizzled in peanut butter would be so good, but oh my god, it is. The saltiness of the pretzels and the sweetness of the chocolate and peanut butter make it something you could just gorge yourself on for hours. Although I'm fat enough, so I probably shouldn't...

They are really pretty simple to make. Melt chocolate, coat pretzel rods in chocolate...

Melt peanut butter chips....

And drizzle over the pretzel rods until your sweet tooth can't take it anymore!

 Another yummy, super easy candy is holiday bark. You can use whatever you want really, you just need some sort of chocolate for the bark, and whatever toppings you find interesting. The new (and really pretty) winter Oreos, peppermint, and Christmas Sixlets. I actually prefer Sixlets to M&M's, not sure why....

I milk chocolate chips and white chocolate chips and melted them. The reason I have the chocolate chips separated is because after they are melted, I added red and green food coloring to plop onto the melted chocolate and swirl into it, making pretty designs.

After the chocolate is melted, you spread in out onto a piece of wax paper in whatever shape you would like.

After that, start plopping and swirling, I use chopsticks to swirl mine. Unfortunately, it was hardening so fast, I didn't have time to take anymore pictures. Sorry....

After the swirling, you just start tossing the candy onto it and pressing it into the chocolate. That's really all there is to it. So easy, yet so yummy.

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Yuletide Bazaar

The Yuletide Bazaar went great. I didn't get as much done as I wanted to, I think I under estimated how much time I would have. Even still, there was plenty of fudge, hot chocolate cones, s'mores on a stick, holiday bark, peanut butter cups, and covered pretzels. I know...not exactly what I was planning for, but it still worked out well.

In my rush, I forgot the camera. I wanted to take a nice picture of the vending table, all set up and pretty with all the goodies on it, but that didn't happen. I still had a blast though. Sold some stuff, drummed up some business, talked to some really great people, listened to good music, I think a great time was had by all. Here are a couple pictures I managed to snap the day before.

I'll post another blog tomorrow about those yummy pretzels. Those were a pretty big hit. I know I didn't get everything I wanted to do done, and I forgot things, I even got there late, but I had an amazing time and hope I can do it again next year. Next time I'll be prepared!

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Hot Cocoa Cones

Hot chocolate, probably considered one of the most loved comfort foods during cold weather. For good reason too, there is nothing like sitting under a blanket with a nice steamy mug of cocoa. My favorite hot cocoa has crushed peppermint, cream, and lots of marshmallows. So yummy.

I decided to make some hot cocoa cones to sell at the Yuletide Bazaar next week, I figured who not, just about everyone loves hot cocoa!

They are fairly simple to make, and really fun too. To make the cocoa mix, you combine:

2 cups of powdered milk

1 cup of sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa

1/2 cup powdered nondairy creamer

You don't have to put into cello cone bags, but I think that is part of their charm. You could put them into tins, bags, jars, whatever your heart desires. 

If you use the cello cone bags, take 3/4 cup of the cocoa mix and pour into one of the bags. Twist the bag where the cocoa is, and take a small rubber band or twist tie and tie it off. Take a pair of scissors and clip off the extra , leaving about an inch above where it is sealed off. 

Then you take the small cocoa cone, and put it inside one of the larger ones. The reason I do this is so the cocoa mix is sealed off, and is easy to get to without much fuss. You then pour in 1/4 cup of mini semi-sweet chocolate morsels, and then 3/4 cup of mini marshmallows on top of those. I then top mine off with either a red or green spiced gum drop. Each cone is about 2 servings, just divide the mix into a mug full of hot milk, (or water if you prefer), stir in the morsels, and top with marshmallows.

There are so many variations to this, you could use different flavors of creamer, you could substitute the chocolate morsels for chopped up Andes mints, crushed peppermints, toffee bits, the only limit is your imagination.

Tomorrow I'll be making some chocolate dipped plastic spoons in little bags, and attach them to the cones with some decorative ribbon and a nice little tag. I usually sell these for $3 dollars each, or 2 for $5. I think I will probably keep that the same.

With how chilly it is outside, I'm tempted to tear into one, make me a mug full, and find something nice on the television!

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Getting Ready For Yule

I've started to get ready for Dec 10th, when I will be setting up a vending table to sell goodies at a local Christmas event. I'm very excited, but also quite nervous because I'm afraid I won't get everything done.

As you can see, I've bought a few things to get started, but I still have loads of stuff to go.

Fudge is going to be my main selling point, as always. I'm also planning to sell jar mixes, hot cocoa cones, dipped pretzels, peanut butter cups, s'more cups, brittle, toffee, caramel, divinity, truffles, ganache, and an interesting chocolate dipped cookie called a Brandy Snap. I have a few other things planned as well, see why I'm nervous! Also, if I have the time and resources left, I would like to sell some whole baked goods like bread loaves and pies for people to take home.

I'm trying to stay away from individual baked items. I really would like to focus more on the candy aspect of this sale, and also, the group that is hosting the event will be selling individual baked items to help fund their cold weather care packages for the homeless in the area. I would hate to infringe on that, it really is a great group of people hosting the event and I wish them the best of luck.

In the next two weeks, I plan to update a good bit with my progress. I would love to do a step-by-step for the Ganache and Brandy Snaps as well.

I hope all goes as planned!

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