Adventures in Cooking: Soft Molasses Cookie Monkey Bread

 When making cookies for Christmas, I always double the recipe. I doubled the soft molasses cookies and just didn't get a chance to bake them before Stacy came up for cookie baking. We started to roll them in sugar and half way through Stacy mentioned she didn't need any as no one really eats them. Okay now I have a double batch of soft molasses cookies that my family really only needs a single batch. They make that many cookies. 

As the we piled the rolled dough on a cookie sheet to put on more sheets as they came out of the oven, Stacy mentioned it looked like monkey bread. And a brain child was born. She was like I would if we could make cookie dough monkey bread. After a google search, it looked like we could. Someone else tried it but sliced the dough but we wanted to keep the monkey bread idea and be able to pull about the dough balls.

We decided to go for it. We finished rolling all the dough into balls and sugar. Then I dug out my Bundt pan and we put the dough balls in the pan. 

Not knowing really how long to bake, we just kept an eye on it. Once it was golden brown and starting to pull away from the pan, we took it out of oven. I would guess it was about 20-30 minutes.

I decided to serve it at cookie baking on Friday. I covered it with foil and let it sit on top of my refrigerator for the week. Then I heated it back up in the oven for about 5-10 minutes.

I flipped it out of the pan and as you can see the dough started to bake together instead of staying separate like in monkey bread.

Once I flipped it over, it was a bit easier to pull apart. You definitely could pull off bits of cookie.

Erin said it tasted like pure brown sugar. Danielle said it wasn't bad. I thought it was a tad underbaked.

I decided this might work but it definitely needs to be made the same day. It might work best with sugar cookie or peanut butter cookie dough. Stacy and I decided it definitely a possibility but needs more tweaking. Maybe we will find the secret to monkey bread cookies or we will just make oddly shaped cookies.

5109. See the North Pole Christmas Village in Chilton

 When Tracy tagged me a Facebook post about a Christmas Village in Chilton, I knew had I to check it out. This is the same village that moved from Kaukauna to Chilton after it got too big. I asked Stacy what she would like to see more the tin trees in Manitowoc or the Christmas Village. She opted for the village because it was closer.

The North Pole Christmas Village is really closer to Potter than Chilton out in the middle of nowhere. It is open Tuesday-Sunday 4-8 until December 23rd. Admission is free. There is a small parking lot close to the building otherwise you can park in a field. 

The North Pole Christmas Village is dubbed Wisconsin's Largest Indoor and Outdoor Christmas Walk-thru. There is not much outside to see escape the Grinch in jail and a drive in movie theater

Inside is a different story. The North Pole Christmas Village is in a barn. You enter and immediately see a Christmas Village display. It is very nice. You think it is all going to be like this.

After going through a path of lighted trees, you reach the North Pole. Here there are animated elves in various North Poles scenes. This wouldn't be so bad if the elves didn't remind me of the creepy doll that my uncle has on his sofa.

That is on the right side.. on the other side is the reindeer pens. And they are just as sinister looking.

Since we missed picking up a scavenger hunt, I don't know if the pig in the sled shop is part of it or not. It does seem a bit random as does the Minion and Mrs. Potts and Chip in the classroom.

The next room you get to is Santa's Teddy Bear Village.

It is just like it sounds and whole room of moving teddy bears. Stacy wants to know if the army bears are volunteers or forced labor. 

The bears are definitely cuter than the elves.

Well until we got to the random talking moose...

Then he throws in some penguins for good measure.

In all honesty, I don't know what to think. It is very nicely done but those creepy elves.. Maybe I am the only one that found the elves creepy. Everyone else seemed to be enjoying themselves. There is even a separate room with Santa at the end. Maybe I just don't like creepy dolls. Don't let that stop you from checking it out if you get the chance. Like I said it is beautiful.. weird but very well done.

7097. Make hot chocolate bombs

 I love my hot chocolate especially peppermint hot chocolate. Mom gave me a hot chocolate bomb once and it was fine. I just prefer someone else to make hot chocolate for me. Last year in one of my Brenda Novak book box we got hot chocolate bomb molds. I put it in my cupboard and forgot about it. Then for my birthday Heather gave me a Hot Cocoa Bomb Cookbook and more molds plus the candy melts to make them. I guess I was going to take attempt making my own hot chocolate bombs.

Ingredients and Materials

• Hot Chocolate Bomb Molds -- Mine were silicon
• Candy Melts -- You could use straight up chocolate but that requires tempering. Don't use chocolate chips. Heather gave me Wilton Dark Chocolate and White Chocolate ones. I picked up milk chocolate ones at the Bulk Food Store. I preferred the ones at the bulk food store. The melted so much nicer.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• A Silicon brush
• Hot chocolate mix -- I used premade mix Janis gave me the other year and I also made mine own. You can also use store bought hot chocolate mix
• Fillers -- Crushed candy canes, chocolate chips, Sprinkles, crushed Oreos. The recipe book gave a lot of unique suggestions. Basically think of the flavor you want and you can add extras that have that flavor
• A Cookie Sheet or other oven safe plan

Steps

    1. Melt the candy melts in the microwave per the directions

    2. Pour about a tablespoon or two into the mold. Do one mold at a time

    3. Brush the chocolate up the sides of the mold making sure you no longer see the mold. Try to catch the "holes" at this step. It is much harder to fix later.

    4. Stick in the fridge for 5 minute

    5. Pop the shells out of the molds. This was way easier than expected. They really do just pop out.

    6. Check for holes -- If you find holes, put the shell back in the mold and brush chocolate over the hole and chill for 5 minutes again.

    7. Put your cookie sheet in a warm oven. I just set my oven to warm.

 
    8. Put about 1-2 Tablespoons of hot chocolate mix in half the shells. Remember you have tops and bottoms.

 
    9. Add your fillers to fill the shell. If it is over the top, it's fine because remember you are putting another shell on top

    10. Take your cookie sheet out of the oven. 

    11. Take one of the empty shells and swirl it around the warm cookie sheet a few times to melt the edge

    12. Press the two halves together to close the bomb

    13. Let sit until you are ready to use in airtight container. The cookbook says best to use within 1-2 weeks

    14. Enjoy in a cup of hot chocolate

Tips and takeaways

1. Fix those holes before you fill them. 
2. If you don't fill your holes before you fill your shells, chocolate chips make great sealants. Just cover the hole with chocolate and add a chocolate chip. Now you have monster hot chocolate bombs.
3. Use more chocolate than you think when making the shells

Flavors I made

• Dark Chocolate Peppermint -- Crushed candy canes
• Milk Chocolate Chocolate Chip -- Mini Chocolate Chips and Christmas Sprinkles
• White Chocolate Oreo -- Crushed Oreos

It was a fun. I will be curious to see how they taste. Maybe I will make them a yearly Christmas tradition. Maybe it was a one time thing. 

Hot Chocolate Mix

4 Tablespoons Cocoa Powder -- I used Dark Cocoa

4 Tablespoons Sugar

A few grains of sugar

Mix together. It makes about 6 hot chocolate bombs

Completing the Alphabet Book Challenge

 One of the reading challenges people were doing in the Friends and Fiction Facebook Group was the alphabet challenge. The challenge was to read a book that started with each letter of the alphabet A-Z. At the end of October, I decided to see how many letters I managed to read so far this year. It turns out I had 4 letters left K, Q, X, and Z. Since I already read Sue Grafton's alphabet previously, I had to find other books that started with those letters.

Between my kindle and the Libby app, I managed to find 3. I put the 4th on hold at the library. I finished the challenge a few weeks later.

Here are the books I read this year for the alphabet challenge

A -- All Summer Long by Dorothea Benton Frank
B -- The Breakaway by Jennifer Weiner
C -- The Cloisters by Katy Hays
D - Dear Carolina by Kristy Woodson Harvey
E -- Eight Hundred Grapes by Laura Dave
F -- Forever, Interrupted by Tara Jenkins Reid
G -- Girls in White Dresses by Jennifer Close
H -- The House of Eve by Sadeqa Johnson
I  - Iona's Iverson's Rules For Cummuting by Clare Pooley
J -- Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren
K-- The Keeper of Secrets by Julie Thomas
L - Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
M -- Mastering Art of French Murder by Colleen Cambridge
N -- Now is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson
O -- One Summer In Savannah by Terah Shelton Harris
P -- The Perfumer of Paris by Alka Joshi
Q -- Quick and Dirty -- Stuart Woods
R - Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
S -- The Spectacular by Fiona Davis
T -- The Twelve Dogs Of Christmas by Susan Wiggs
U -- Unladylike Lessons in Love by Amita Murray
V -- Vinyl Moon by Mahogany Browne
W -- The Women -- Kristin Hannah
X -- XOXO by Axie Oh
Y -- Yours Truly by Abbey Jimenez
Z -- Zoo by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge

When I created this list, I tried to pick the one of the most recent books I read that started with each letter with a few exceptions. Some books were such amazing books that I had to share them. 

My favorite was Remarkably Bright Creatures. Girls in White Dresses was probably my least favorite.

I challenge you to the Alphabet challenge. You can choose to do it in a year or maybe it will take you two or more years. Next year, I think I want to do a middle grade or picture book Alphabet Book challenge. There are some really good picture books out there. 

Ooh Look... Kites!

 Andrea and I had another croffle date. On the way back from Eb Flo, I noticed several brightly colored kites flying high in the sky. I said we need to check it out. Andrea is used to my random Ooh look moments and directed me to where the kite flyers were.

There was a strip of land near the lake just off the evil roundabout. Here there were several kites set up. I say set up there were multiple kites on one string that one person fly or was staked to the ground.

One string had 1 big kite and like 6 smaller kites attached to the small string. With such a blue sky and bright it was definitely eye catching.

There were about 5 or 6 kites in the air at a time -- all on long strings. It was just nice and relaxing seeing bright colored kites flying on a gorgeous fall day.

We were not the only people that stopped to watch the kites. I'm sure the kites are they often but for me it was my first time seeing multiple kites flying on a bright blue sky. 

If you ever get the chance to stop and watch brightly colored kites against a bright blue sky, do it. It is the perfect self care activity that does not cost anything and will make you fill a kid again. 

Seeing the Avenue of Trees

 As part of Light it Up Appleton, downtown businesses sponsored and decorated a Christmas tree. These trees were displayed along College Avenue. All the trees were donated by Grandpa Dan's Christmas Tree Farm. As we collected our treats from various businesses, we also checked out the trees.

Each tree was unique. Some went all out and others kept it simple.

You could vote for your vote by scan the QR code. Heather and I voted for the Charlie Brown Tree.

I also voted for the Oscar the Grouch Tree.

Victoria's Tree, which I didn't think was that spectacular was the winner so I don't have a picture of it but you can see on the Appleton Downtown Facebook Post about Light It Up Appleton.

Hopefully next year they will do this again and have more trees.