Bourbon Chocolate Balls

I am a new convert to the brown liquor, specifically the sweet bourbon.  In honor of Memorial Day and the opening weekend of the pool - here is something that would be able to be consumed on the pool grounds.  There's alcohol in them, but no one would know, amirite? (via BuzzFeed)

Chocolate Bourbon Balls
Makes 30 balls

INGREDIENTS

• 12 graham crackers, crushed
• 1 cup brown sugar
• ½ cup butter, melted
• 5 tablespoons bourbon whiskey
• ¾ cup chocolate chips
• 1 cup melting chocolate
• ¾ cup walnuts, crushed
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

PREPARATION

1. In a small bowl or glass jar, add the mixed nuts and bourbon. Cover with lid or plastic wrap and let sit overnight.
2. Combine the butter, sugar, and vanilla until sugar is dissolved. Add in the crushed graham crackers, vanilla, chocolate chips, walnuts, and remaining bourbon.
3. Freeze for 10-15 minutes or until firm enough to roll.
4. Form mixture into small balls, and refrigerate.
5. Coat the balls in melted chocolate and top with walnuts.
6. Chill for 1 hour.
7. Enjoy!

Twix Cookies

LBA is fond of the Twix bar (it's one of the candies he can eat).  I think that Mrs. BA should whip up a batch of these for everyone's good. From This Grandma is Fun via BuzzFeed.

Twix Cookies

Ingredients

• 1½ cups softened butter 
• 1 cup powdered sugar 
• 3 cups flour 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla 
• ¼ teaspoon salt 
• 15 oz caramel **See notes 
• 2 cups milk choc chips 
• 2 tsp shortening 

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees 
2. Cream butter and sugar together. Add your vanilla, flour and salt. Mix well. 
3. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out to ½ inch thick. 
4. To cut cookies you can use a biscuit cutter or I just used a small glass that was 2 inches wide. 
5. Place round cookies on a lightly greased cookie sheet. 
6. Bake at 350 for 14-16 minutes. 
7. Let cookies cool. 
8. Melt caramel and spread the caramel over the cooled cookies. 
9. Let caramel cool completely. 
10. Add your shortening into the chocolate chips and melt in the microwave. Use a microwave safe bowl and watch so that the chocolate does not burn. 
11. Spread melted chocolate over cooled caramel. 
12. Let chocolate set before serving. 
13. Do not put in the refrigerator as it will discolor the chocolate. 

Notes 
I use Peter's caramel which comes in a 5 lb block. You can just cut off what you need, melt it and it's ready to go. If you use the Kraft caramels, follow the instructions on the bag for melting.

Shortbread recipe adapted by Food Network

Halloween Candy

One benefit of being a parent is the "house" takes 50% of the Halloween Candy.  Plus, because LBA is allergic, all the peanut items come right off the top.  It's a hardship - but someone has to make out here.  Why shouldn't it be me.

So what did you and yours score last night?  Here's a list (from BuzzFeed) ranking chocolate candy from grossest to bestest. "The criteria: In order to be considered for the ranking, all candy had to contain either a chocolate-y outer shell or a chocolate-y inner life. Sorry, no gummy candies or licorices were evaluated." [Comments in quotes from BuzzFeed / my comments in italics]

27. Chunky, Nestle

• “Candy with raisins? Who does that?”
• “I heard Chunky was Mussolini’s favorite candy.”
• It's the weirdest - small and yet so completely unsatisfying.

26. Goldenberg’s Peanut Chews, Goldenberg's

• “They sound boring already.”
• “It sounds like candy that would be at your grandparent’s house.”
• “The chewing is the worst, TBH.” 
• “The chocolate is gross.” “It’s vegan.” “Oh.” 
• I can *tolerate* the milk chocolate ones, but that is blasphemy to those who like them - and only acknowledge the dark chocolate ones.

25. Birthday Cake M&Ms, Mars

• “There is a level of fragrance to these that is uncomfortable.”
• “This is an unhappy marriage of desserts.”
• Sometimes it should just be . . .  cake.

24. Hershey’s Cookies ‘n’ Creme, Hershey’s

• “This is a luxury candy bar.” 
• “The first piece is always amazing, but you can never have more than, like, 3 pieces at a time (or even in a week).” 
• “I love cookies and cream as an ice cream flavor, but white chocolate in a bar is atrocious.”
• This treads into the white chocolate world - which there is no gray area, here, either you loathe it or you like it.

23. Almond Joy, Peter Paul

• “I only eat Almond Joy. Sorry you all eat Almond Sorrow.” 
• “Does adding almonds to Mounds bars make them any better? I’d say no.”
• I despise coconut in my candy, well, in most things, actually

22. Mounds, Peter Paul

• “Mounds are mom candy.” 
• “Your mom is always like ‘I wish I had a Mounds.’” 
• “Coconut is good only in shampoo.”

21. Krackel, Hershey’s

• “Krackel is the poor man’s Nestle Crunch.” 
• “Krackel was always the thing you got trick or treating where you were like ‘eh, whatever.’”
• I feel like I'm obligated to stick up for Hershey's here

20. Mr. Goodbar, Hershey’s

• “Mr. Goodbar is my favorite because I’m a degenerate.” 
• “Has anyone ever purchased a full-sized Mr. Goodbar ever?
• When I buy a bag of miniatures, I'm usually left with these and special dark

19. Pretzel M&Ms, Mars

• “Pretzel M&Ms seem like a good idea for the first 10 seconds the first time you put one in your mouth, and then never again.” 
• “They’re too funky fake tasting.” 
• “WTF. I like them. I’ll eat your guys’.”
• Like the two of the three above, I would have rated these higher - they are definitely in my top three M&M flavors

18. 3 Musketeers, Mars

• “3 Musketeers are actually trash.” 
• “Sorry I like them. Like, A LOT.” 
• “Nougat is so good.” 
• “But why advertise that you’re low fat. You’re eating a candy bar. You don’t care about those things.”
• My problem is the amorphous "nougat" - I'm not really sure what I'm eating.  Though I like these frozen.

17. Peanut Butter M&Ms, Mars

• “In a pinch these will do, but let’s be real. The peanut butter is far inferior to Reese’s stuff.”
• Not worth my time, though I know that Kim Ayres disagrees.

16. Mint M&Ms, Mars

• “They remind me of those fancy Andes dinner mints.” 
• “Oh man, you know when you go to a restaurant and they bring a mint after the dinner and you’re like, what is this, a garbage mint? but then there’s CHOCOLATE inside and it changes everything.” 
• “Pleasant. Creamy. Refreshing.”
• I'm not interested.  I'm mildly intrigued, but won't seek them out.

15. Hershey’s With Almonds, Hershey’s

• “It’s not thick enough to hold a good almond chunk.”
• “Like of all the nuts they could have gone for they went with ALMONDS?”
• Another of my go to candy bars.  I like these.

14. Milky Way, Mars

• “I think it’s best in fun-size, but not as a legit full-size bar.”
• Like it's cousin, 3 Musketeers, it's better frozen

13. Snickers, Mars

• “Snickers are good but then I feel like I made a mistake after, always.” 
• “I feel like the Snickers and the Milky Way are the basic bitches of the candy bar world.”
• Sometimes I'm up on the Snickers bar, sometimes down.  I definitely have to be in the mood for it.

12. Kit Kat, Mars

• “Kit Kat’s breakable structure pleases me.” 
• “Plus that jingle. Forever in my head.” 
• “Kit Kats are garbage candy. No one ever picks a Kit Kat.”
• That last comment is a little harsh - I'll never turn down a Kit Kat.

11. Butterfinger, Nestle

• “Butterfingers is a desperation candy.” 
• “Physically impossible to eat without feeling like you’re destroying your teeth forever, to the point where your teeth might fall out while you’re eating it. and maybe that’s part of the thrill.”
• “What IS the stuff in the middle. it’s not food.” 
• “Controversial, but I love it. It just feels like danger in my mouth.” 
• “I’m actually not that big a fan of Butterfingers. Probably the least appetizing name of them all. And they tasted just as bad. No one wants to choke on your flaky dust. It’s a poor excuse for a candy bar.” 
• “I want to choke on that flaky dust.”
• When there's other, better chocolate around, I'm going there.  I won't eat a butterfinger unless it's the last one about.

10. 100 Grand, Nestle

• “The only legit full-size candy bar.” 
• “I have never had one of those.” 
• “Nope.”
• On my list, this one is much, much higher.  It is possibly one of my most favorite candy bars, ever.

9. York Peppermint Patty, Hershey’s

• “These make me feel like I’m eating a cool mountain breeze. In a good way.” 
• “I cannot abide by peppermint candy. it’s like trying to eat a Hershey bar after brushing your teeth.”
• A favorite of Mrs. BA, but not of mine.

8. Hershey’s, Hershey’s

• “Never what I reach for, but always surprisingly satisfying.” 
• “#Classic.” 
• “I never usually want anything to do with milk chocolate. It’s garbage chocolate. But sometimes Hershey’s is aight.”
• These are fine, and even better when you smear a bit of peanut butter on them.

7. M&Ms, Mars

• “#Classic.” 
• “A binge food.”
• Meh

6. Baby Ruth, Nestle

• “Baby Ruths are actually really good, but I think of them as a dad candy bar.” 
• “I would agree, they are perhaps the most forgotten candy bar.” 
• “But you know what? They’re great.”
• Of the peanuts in my chocolate bar, these are better than some of the others out there.

5. Nestle Crunch, Nestle

• “Crunch bar is the superior rice candy bar.” 
• “Most definitely. Love the thinness of Crunch.”
• They're OK.

4. Take 5, Hershey’s

• “Woefully underrated.” 
• “Pretzels, caramel, peanut butter and chocolate? Sold. DOUBLE SOLD.” 
• “This proves that there should be pretzels in MOST if not all candy bars.”
• Along with the 100 Grand, these might be my top two favorites

3. Toblerone, Toblerone

• “The nougat is seriously crack.” 
• “I love how it opens.” 
• “Toblerone is too much work for your mouth. It’s like mouth geometry.” 
• “It has a neat shape and there’s toffee in it. You can’t not love this stuff.”
• Toblerone will always make me think of airports and duty free items.

2. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Hershey’s

• “I love the Reese’s peanut butter in all forms - pieces, cups, actual peanut butter jar.” 
• “Instead of flowers, throw Reese’s in my grave.” 
• “Shower me in peanut butter cups.” 
• “Reese’s forever.”
• There isn't much wrong in life that can't be solved by a fresh, cold, Reese's

1. Peanut M&Ms, Mars

• "Peanut M&Ms are so much better than regular M&Ms.” 
• “They are perhaps the best.”
• “They’re the elegant mom version of M&Ms.” 
• “Solid, substantial, perfect size and weight.”
• I would agree they are the best of the M&M family

DIY Cadbury Creme Eggs

Mrs. BA has a weakness for Cadbury Creme Eggs.  Personally, I can't stand them.  And that's saying a lot.  With the introduction of Halloween Creme Eggs a few years ago, she can get her fix now twice a year.  But now if she wants, she can make her own any time of the year.

In addition to the recipe below, BuzzFeed posted a while back - "17 [other] Scrumptious Ways to Eat a Creme Egg."  Click on the link to see the recipes for the items listed below.

1. Creme Egg Donuts.
2. Creme Egg Brownies
3. Creme Egg Pudding
4. Homemade Creme Eggs
5. Dip Toasted Brioche In A Creme Egg
6. Deep Fried Creme Eggs
7. Creme Egg Cupcakes
8. Creme Eggs Benedict
9. Creme Egg Salad Sandwich
10. Creme Egg Toastie
11. Creme Egg Foo Young
12. Creme Egg and Bacon Rolls
13. Creme Egg Cocktail
14. Creme Egg Chocolate Hearts
15. Creme Egg Milkshake
16. Creme Egg Cookies
17. Creme Egg pie

Homemade Creme Eggs
(from Food 52 - see a video here)

Makes 15 to 20 eggs

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Lyle's golden syrup (or corn syrup) 
• 6 tablespoons butter 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• 3 drops orange blossom water (optional) 
• 1 vanilla bean, seeds removed (optional) 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
• 3 cups powdered sugar 
• 12 ounces dark chocolate (or bittersweet chips) 

1. Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer that has been fitted with the paddle attachment (this can easily be done by hand or with a hand mixer). Add the golden syrup, salt, orange blossom water (if using), vanilla seeds, and vanilla extract. Mix on medium-low to combine. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula to make sure everything is mixed well. 
2. Turn the mixer to low and slowly add the powdered sugar. Mix until completely smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. 
3. Place one third of the mixture into a small bowl and add enough yellow food color to obtain desired color. 
4. Cover both bowls with plastic wrap and put into the freezer for at least 15 minutes. It is necessary that this mixture be very cold while you work with it. 
5. When the sugar mixture is thoroughly chilled, remove from the freezer. Working quickly take about a half teaspoon of the “yolk” mixture and roll it into a ball. Continue forming your yolks. 
6. Once the yolks are complete, place them on a plate or a sheet tray covered with parchment and then put that back into the freezer. 
7. Now, measure a tablespoon of your “whites”, and then roll that into a ball. Continue until all the white portion of the sugar mixture is gone. If the whites are too soft to work with, place back into the freezer for a few minutes. 
8. Remove the yolks from the freezer. Place a white in the palm of your hand and gently flatten a bit. Create an indent in the center to rest the yolk in. Place the yolk in the center of the white, then cover it up. Roll the white into an egg shape. If at any point the sugar mixture gets too soft, quickly put it back into the freezer. 
9. Continue this process until all your eggs are complete. Return to the freezer. While your eggs are chilling, temper your chocolate. Or melt the chocolate in a microwave at 30 second intervals stirring very well in between. Add 1 tablespoon canola oil to the chocolate and stir well. This gives you a little more flexibility with the chocolate eliminating some of the need for precise tempering. You will not, however get as nice of a crack as you bite into the egg. 
10. Working with one egg at a time, remove the egg from the freezer and stick a toothpick in it. Dip the egg into the chocolate and carefully let the excess chocolate drip off. Place the toothpick into something – like a potato perhaps – while the chocolate sets.
11. Place the chocolate-covered egg into the fridge for 10 minutes while the chocolate sets. Carefully remove the toothpick from the egg and cover up the small hole with a little bit of tempered chocolate.

Highs and Lows - Happy Halloween

Marking a high, 40 years ago today, someone threw a switch and the Internet was born (no, it wasn't Al Gore). So feel free to spend a little time down the rabbit hole today. Have some birthday cake.

As to the lows, today marks the 80th Anniversary of the first Stock Market Crash that sent the nation and the world spiraling into the Great Depression. What is that saying about history? "Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it?" Yeah, something like that. Got any money in your wallet? Maybe we could all go trick or treating for money, instead of candy on Saturday. Remember Unicef boxes? If you are of a certain age, I'm sure you do.

LBA and SoBA will celebrate Halloween at their daycare tomorrow with a costume parade and then on Saturday there will a parade in town and later trick or treating around the neighborhood. Coming of age in the late 70s and early 80s, I trick or treated during the Tylenol scare, stories about razor blades in apples, and being forced to give up loose candy (which to this day I am convinced that it was just my parents way of getting the candy they liked - hey that's what I would do).

Trick or treating today is very much an organized, structured event. In my neighborhood, one only goes to lights with the porch light on, only from 6:00pm to 8:00pm, and never alone. It's a far cry from when I would hit the pavement moments after getting home from school and trick or treat on my own (usually covering most of my neighborhood - about 100 houses at least), arriving home at dark with a sack full of candy. Then there was the inevitable sorting, trading with siblings, losses to parents, etc. But I usually wound up with enough candy to survive a few weeks on sugar rushes.

I will take LBA trick or treating on Saturday, while Mrs. BA and SoBA will stay home to greet the neighborhood children. LBA is dressing up as a robot this year (handmade costume by yours truly) and SoBA will parade around as a fireman.

And if you are at a loss for something to do on Saturday and Halloween is not your thing, but lighthouses are, you could take a trip to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the Cape May Lighthouse (New Jersey). I would go, but I've already climbed that lighthouse. Maybe some of you MARACians returning home from Jersey City will make the climb?

Do you see the light?

I like lighthouses. I think we've already covered that. So I noted with interest this recent story from CNN. It would seem that a Massachusetts lighthouse, presumed destroyed had just retired to California instead.

I also have a thing for "gummi" products. Bears, worms, coke bottles, whatever. Now it would seem that I can combine my love of lighthouses and gummi stuff. Provided all of you people can keep your minds out of the gutter, unlike the link above.

Making a dirty joke out of our nation's navigation beacons. Really . . . It's not like lighthouses are you know, phallic or anything.

Oh Fudge, Part II

Here, as promised, is the second fudge recipe. This one is provided by frequent commenter to this blog, DD. Enjoy.

• 3 cups chocolate chips - any kind you like - semi-sweet, milk chocolate, Hershey's, Nestle's - I like to use Ghirardelli's ( or if you are really adventurous use white, or mint, or peanut butter, or butterscotch chips, or a blend and swirl them together, marble style)
  
• 1 can (14oz) Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk
  
• dash salt
  
• 1 cup chopped nuts - optional - I use pecans
  
• 1 1/2 t vanilla - real Mexican if you have it

You can do this in the microwave but I like to use the stove. Melt the chocolate over low heat - watch and stir it or it WILL burn. Stir in dash of salt and sweetened milk. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and nuts. Spread into foil-lined square (8 x 8?) pan. Chill until set, then cut and put in pretty box or tin lined with saran wrap. Keep it covered so it doesn't dry out.

I usually only make this at Christmas so I make several batches at once. If it's cold outside just set it on the back porch to set - out of reach of the critters.

Smooth and creamy. Yum!

Oh, Fudge

I will admit it right up front. Not only is the recipe from Anna, I stole the title of the post from her to. Now if I could only get her to make the fudge, too. This is her grandmother's recipe.

• 1 can evaporated milk
• 1 lb brown sugar
• 1 lb confectioner's sugar
• piece of butter, size of an egg yellow
• 2 1/2 heaping t Hershey cocoa
• 2 1/2 heaping t of marshmallow
• 3/4 cup walnuts

Put milk, sugar, and butter in a deep pan. Stir continuously until you can drop a bit into cold water and it's kind of caramel-ly in about 1/2 hour. Keep stirring. Then put in marshmallow, stir, put in nuts, stir. Pour into butter greased pan.

Here's my interpretation: butter, 1 T; about 4 teaspoons of cocoa; and I used marshmallow fluff for the marshmallow because this isn't the kind of fudge that has marshmallow chunks in it. I put the pan on medium heat because who knows what it is supposed to be. At about 20 minutes, there was a definite change in how it felt to stir it and lo, and behold, when I dropped some into cold water it didn't just seem "caramel-ly," it tasted just like caramel. I put the cocoa in when I put in the marshmallow, because it doesn't say when to add that. (I love that kind of recipe the best!) I probably should have taken it all off the heat at that point, and with future attempts I probably will. You should probably switch to a whisk when you put in the fluff because it's a lot of work to get the lumpy marshmallow incorporated with a wooden spoon. I think it was smart to use a glass pan, but grease it within an inch of its life because this stuff is hard to get out of the pan!

Coming next week, the other fudge, which is pictured here. Then you too will be able to have a fudge-off in your own homes (oh, that sounds dirty).

Long Live the Candy Desk

The Washington Post reported this week that in addition to being the senior Senator from Ohio, George Voinovich (R), has a new title, the Candy Man. After Senator Craig Thomas died in June, the Senate's famous candy desk was given to the Ohio Senator. The owner of the candy desk is required to fill it with candy for the other Senators. Here's the hitch. There were no major candy manufacturers in Wyoming that Thomas could patronize. Senate ethic rules (really, even for candy?) prohibit accepting candy from other states.

The Senate historian reports that tradition was started by Senator George Murphy of California more than 42 years ago. The desk, located in the back row of the Republican side of the Senate, is now the official candy desk. The historian relates the desk has been assigned over the years to John McCain (R-AZ), Slade Gorton (R-OR), Robert Bennett (R-UT), and Rick Santorum (R-PA).

Possibly one of the few redeeming qualities of Santorum is that while keeper of the candy desk, is that he kept is fully stocked with one of Pennsylvania's greatest exports. Currently, Voinovich has stocked the desk with candy from Spangler (maker of the dum-dum - insert appropriate joke here), Mars, and Harry London, maker of the Buckeye, an Ohio tradition.