Peanut butter chocolate pretzels

I'm still having some lighting issues with my food photography, mostly because I'm too lazy to find the white balance portion of the menu, and my lighting is really yellow, but I wanted to share this recipe with you.  We made these at a friend's house (Thanks, M!) and then I did it again at home.  They are so addicting!  The peanut butter portion just melts in your mouth, the Glutino Pretzels add a little salt, and the chocolate, well, chocolate doesn't need explaining.  These are fresh out of the freezer, which is just a way to set the chocolate, so they are a little dewy. 

I borrowed the recipe from twotinykitchens who borrowed from Foodaphilia :
Ingredients

1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tbsp softened butter
3/4 cup powdered sugar (maybe more)
3/4 cup brown sugar (maybe more)
Pretzels
1 bag  semi-sweet chocolate chips
Directions
Combine peanut butter and softened butter in a large bowl with a fork or whisk, or in a stand mixer.  Add the sugars and mix to combine. 
Use a teaspoon measure to scoop the filling.  Roll each portion into a small ball, then sandwich them between two whole pretzels.  When all the balls are rolled and successfully sandwiched, stick the whole tray in the freezer for about half an hour.
Pour the chocolate chips into a microwave safe bowl and heat at 30-second intervals, stirring occasionally until completely melted.  Remove the pretzel sandwiches from the freezer and quickly dip each half-way into the melted chocolate.  Return to the tray and repeat with remaining sandwiches.  When all are dipped, return the tray to the freezer to set up completely.  Store the sandwiches in the refrigerator until serving time.

I used my silpat to prevent sticking and cleaning.

Look for this red bag of gluten free pretzels at your grocery store!  Most gluten-eaters can't tell the difference. 

Monster Cookies

I have blogged about these before, but they are my staple cookie.  I got the recipe from my gluten free oats bag a few years ago.  Now I just buy Bob's Red Mill gluten free oats because they are available at my grocery store. 

Here's the glutenfreeoats.com recipe that I use:
Monster Cookies

¼ cup butter, room temperature ¾ cup sugar ¾ cup brown sugar 2 eggs 1 tsp gf vanilla 1 cup peanut butter

1 ¼ tsp baking soda 3 cups Gluten Free rolled Oats® 6 ounces of gf chocolate chips

Preheat oven at 350º.

Beat sugar, brown sugar and butter until creamy.  Add eggs, vanilla and baking soda and mix well.  Add peanut butter and mix.  Stir in oats, chocolate chips and nuts.  Place teaspoon full of dough on a lightly greased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart.  Bake for 10-12 minutes until lightly brown around edges.

I love using my Kitchen Aid mixer for these cookies. 

I use an ice cream scoop to create my cookie balls.

I'll put all of the cookie dough into balls, back six of them, then freeze the rest to make fresh baked cookies whenever we want.

I use my silpat for everything!  No need for cooking spray, no need to clean the pan, just rinse off the silpat when you're done. 

Crunchy outside, soft and gooey inside.

30 During 30 List

30 During 30 List*

1. Read Pride and Prejudice
2. Run the Bolder Boulder (a 10 km road race)
3. Climb a new 14er
4. Play 30 different board games (we own 15, not sure I can pull off 30)
5. Grow 30 plants (herbs and veggies)
6. Can 30 pints of veggies
7. Master the making of 3 different types of cheeses
8. Try 30 different ciders or gluten free beers or meads, including home brews
9. Donate hair to locks of love or a similar organization
10. Travel abroad (if this is impossible this year, then at least visit somewhere new)
11. Try 30 new gluten free recipes
12. Learn to use the DSLR camera and take 30 fabulous pictures
13. See 30 different types of birds (and keep track of which)
14. Ski once.  
15. Train to be able to do 30 push ups in a row
16. Pay $30 for a Denver Voice from my favorite homeless man
17. Donate blood
18. Master making gluten free ravioli from scratch
19. Compost
20. Finish a quilting project.  
21. Bike 30 miles
22. Write 30 unique blog posts
23. Learn to knit and knit a blanket
24. Play in a softball game or sing Karoke, two things that make me very, very nervous
25. Take 3 camping trips and learn how to use the camping stoves
26. Sing in a choir
27. Learn to play a song on the guitar
28. Read 30 books
29. Complete a puzzle with more than 3,000 pieces
    
30. Master 3 piano songs

A few alternates:  publish and article (career), send out Christmas cards this year, play soccer, snowshoe

*Friends and fellow bloggers NavyGirl and A created 30-before-30 lists of fun things they wanted to complete before their 30th birthdays.  I ran out of time to do this before my birthday, but I almost think it's for the better.  The young, active part of my life didn't end the moment I turned 30 this week.  It really is the perfect time to start a list! 

I like lists.  I make a lot of them:  to do lists, grocery lists, list of goals and ideas, books to read, movies to watch.  After a great birthday celebration to ring in a new decade, I sat down and started making a list in a blank journal I got for Christmas.  The list includes a few fun things I'd like to accomplish this year outside of my career.  Some of them make me nervous, which is probably good.  Some are inspiring, some will push me to do something rather than taking a night off to rot relax on the couch. 

It reminds me a little bit of Julie and Julia, where Julie spends a year making all of Julia Child's recipes and blogging about them.  I am a little worried that my year will turn into silly tally-marking and scheduling to accomplish it all, when I could just be living life, but you know what?  I'm the kind of person who needs to be pushed because it's easy for me to sit on my butt and come up with ten lectures that need preparing before I'll allow myself to go to the gym.  Anyway, I didn't really make any rules for my list except to keep away from career goals.  Some things I've done before, some I haven't, some I haven't done in a very long time.  Some involve the number 30 (per Dave's suggestion), or a variation of it, some don't.  Some overlap (recipes, books, blogging), but I think it still works. 

My goal is for this list to push me to live it up and do a few things I've always wanted to do.  Any suggestions for substitutions?  What do YOU want to do this year?  Anyone want to take on a **your age** during **your age** challenge with me?

Best Birthday Present!

Me with my new pots!

 

Dave got me brand new pots and pans for my birthday!  He couldn't wait until my actual birthday due to excitement, so I got them a few days early, which was pretty fun since we were stuck inside for a day due to two feet of snow.  Our old collection consisted of three hand-me-downs and a new frying pan whose handle was so heavy, it didn't sit on the stove, but at an angle.  These new pots are pretty high tech!  They have some neat heating technology that we both geeked out on for a while.  What a cool gift for a gal that loves to cook!

 

Cupcakes

I got a chance to practice my cake decorating this week on some chocolate cupcakes.  I made purple and blue/green frosting, put them in the same bag, and tried all different tips. 

 

I paint

... by number.  This guy took me well over a year.  I honestly don't remember when I started it.  I'm working on finding a frame and a spot for it, since all of our walls are already covered in art made by real artists.

Each paint has a number on it and the cardboard came white with tons of areas with numbers on it.  I also had to mix paints to get some mixed shades.  Pretty easy!

Cakes

I am dying to try out a few of these mouth-watering recipes and fun decorating ideas I found on Pinterest.  I might have to whip one of these up for my birthday treat next week! 

Cute cupcake decorating idea.  Source.

Chocolate Mouse cake!  Yes please!  Source,

Red Velvet?  Sure!  Source.

Red velvet CHEESECAKE?  OKAY!  Source

And maybe some strawberry champagne to top it off.  Source.

I'm thinking birthday plans will include Nepalese food, desserts, fun drinks, good friends, maybe some snow shoeing, and maybe even a hair cut and a trip to the spa.  I'll make it a weekend-long celebration!    

Fun Photos with the New Camera

Christmas was the perfect time to invest in a new toy, a DSLR camera!  With the help of a photographer friend, I finally decided on the Sony A55 and thus far, I am extremely pleased!  Once I figured out how to set it on automatic+ and which lens to use for what, I just can't seem to take a bad picture.  I know I have a lot to learn and some experience to gain, but I am convinced that this new toy will be perfect for a new photography hobby for both of us as well as improved food pictures for my blog.  The camera also has an awesome panoramic feature and it takes movies.  Here's a few from playing around just the last few days.

Dave took this one from our backyard where he ran into a very famous meteorologist who just happens to be our neighbor while he's on sabbatical this year.  Should I have him autograph my books?

Dave's again-- a female Flicker.  Her boyfriend came by later and we got some great pics of him eating our suet.

Just after Wednesday's snowstorm, the sun came out right before it set.  This is taken from our backyard.  I almost missed the photo op because my battery was charging inside and I went out with an empty camera.  I got back just in time.

National Center for Atmospheric Research plus the Flatirons in the distance on our hike.

Dave's shot, a little tree-framing.

We had a little fun with Lightroom, removing a blemish, then playing with the different effects.

Devil's Thumb-- one of many. 

Heading home.  We saw more dogs than people on this hike.  None of them were on a leash even though it is required by law.  Most strange dogs hate Dave for some reason and one of these days he's going to come home with a bite out of him, I swear!

Looking southeast off the ridge.

Peppermint tea, my favorite!  Grandma got me these cute measuring spoons last year.

Enchilada night!

Christmas decorations I made last year from a terracotta pot, burlap, gold spray paint, and pine cones from Dave's Grand-dad's old land, and a wooden star.

We still had two pumpkins left to make into puree.  This one was a long island cheese pumpkin.  (Dave's photo)

Check out my cute new apron, a xmas gift from some of my favorite people!  How thoughtful!  It is reversible and on the other side are cupcakes!!!!!

Okay, who wants some pumpkin puree?  I ended up with about a gallon and I still have some left from the last batch!

Books and their movies

This week I watched the movies of three books I read this last year:  The Help, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and Water for Elephants.  Here are my reviews without any spoilers.

The Help was a fabulous book.  In fact, I stayed up until 2:30 in the morning on a school night when I finished it.  I just couldn't put it down!  The movie was also great, but the motivation behind many things wasn't entirely explained in the movie.  I recommend the book first, then the movie.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was a really hard book to get into because the story is so complex and there are just so many characters.  I got through 2.5 of the 3 books before giving up on them.  It seemed like a lot of back story for a few insanely huge action points in the plot.  I watched the Swedish movies and they weren't bad.  Now we have the American version of the first book in theaters now.  My cousin and I read the books together and we thought it would be fun to catch this movie in the theater last week.  The movie was really great with one huge problem:  I'm not sure I'd understand the movie without having read the book, in fact one of the main conclusions in the movie was completely anti-climactic and we had no idea what had happened.  There is one other warning on this book/movie, the whole thing is about rape.  Keep this in consideration before choosing your movie-going partner!

Water for Elephants was a really short book.  I read the whole thing in a week on my brand new Kindle Touch.  The book was great!  The movie was similar to The Help in that the motivation for things was not explained in the movie.  I'm not sure seeing the movie without having read the book would be that great of an experience.  I think this movie gets the lowest ratings of the three from me.

On an unrelated note, I also watched Remember Me and Friends with Benefits, both of which were worth seeing.

What do you think?   Any book/movie combos that you particularly liked?

2012 Resolutions

My new years resolution is to be young.  I turn 30 this year and I'm hoping to make the change-over to my 30's feeling young and acting in ways that are mature, but fun.  It's a year to say "yes" to fun things, plan adventures, work hard, and play harder.  It's a year to take care of myself, be active on a regular basis, and refine my gluten free diet to look good and feel good.  It's a year to live it up and do the things I've always wanted to do, make big plans, and enjoy life.  I can't imagine a time when I'll have any less responsibilities financially or care-taking-wise.  Why not take advantage? 

Here's to a fabulous trip around the sun! 

What have you resolved to do this year? 

29th birthday in 2011, which means 30 is a month away!