I realized that I didn’t share my holiday decorations last year like I do every year. Bad Tracy!! Our house was in such a crazy state last year since we had just moved in a few months before the holidays and were still in the process of sorting & moving my parent’s things into other parts of the house. This year I’m going to show you what’s up! I decorated three parts of our house for the holidays. The living room (where the Christmas tree is), the dining room and our family room mantle.
Rocky road is hands down one of my favorite ice cream flavors. It’s not the chocolate or the marshmallows I crave. Nope. For me, it’s all about the toasted almonds. They seal the deal. Every year my mom makes a batch of Rocky Road Fudge and her famous coffee cake for Christmas dessert. I generally allocate my calories towards the coffee cake because HELLO. It’s COFFEE CAKE. Who can resist? This means I usually pass on the Rocky Road. Sad face.
This year I (forcefully) stepped in and volunteered to make her Rocky Road recipe. But I’m doing something I’ve always dreamed of doing….swapping the raw cashews of my mom’s traditional recipe with SMOKED ALMONDS.
Now we have Salted Rocky Road Fudge!
It adds the perfect amount of salt to balance the sweetness of the chocolate. Before I’d only have one piece of fudge–if that. Now? I’m like 4 pieces in…willing myself to walk away. It’s the almonds! They add incredible depth because they’re roasted & smoked. You get the creaminess of the fudge, the pillow puffs of marshmallows with delightful crunches of almonds. Watch out coffee cake, there’s a new guy in town. I can’t wait to see what my family thinks.
Here’s what this past week looked like:
A bit of sunshine & a flower. Felt like a bit of summer in December.
The Cheesy Kitchen adapted my White Bean Soup
To + Fromage adapted my Crunchy Peppermint Bark
A Glass of Milk made my Pear Cranberry Arugula Salad
Chattavore also made my Crunchy Peppermint Bark
Curly Girl Press made my Bourbon Salted Caramels
Kitchen Calculation made my Homemade Amaretto
The Crafty Cultivator made my Candy Cane Vodka
That Pink House made my Herbed Cheese Straws
I realized that I never really announced that this week is BARK WEEK on Shutterbean! BARK WEEK…like Shark Week but for Bark. Bark like the candy, not like the dog sound. Last week I rehashed my Crunchy Peppermint Bark recipe which fueled my current bark obsession. Monday was all about Cookies & Cream Peppermint Bark and today I’m introducing you to another new favorite— TROPICAL BARK.
We shy away from peppermint in this bark and go the Aloha route with toasted coconut, salty roasted macadamia nuts (OH BOY!) and we add the yellow and orange jewel tones of candied mango and pineapple. It’s creamy, dreamy and conjures up a quick island vacation in your mouth. Is that even possible? Maybe. That subtle hint of lime zest makes it uber tropical! I highly recommend candied ginger if you have it. I’m going to add it to the next batch because I have some pantry stocking to do….
I’m glad we’re on this BARK TRAIN together. Woooooot Woooooooot! Edible Gift-Town, next stop!
Question: What would happen if I crushed up Trader Joe’s Candy Cane Joe Joe’s, mixed them with white chocolate and turned them into bark? Uhhh. Could I make a ridiculous bark that would rival my Crunchy Peppermint Bark with puffed rice cereal?
Answer: DING DING DING! YES. And it will be this Cookies & Cream Peppermint Bark!
I feel like I hit the jackpot with this one. The creamy minty filling mixed with white chocolate and cookies is WONDERFUL. When you get a crunchy peppermint bite of the crushed up candy cane?? OH YES. Heaven.
I’m going bark crazy this year. It’s just too dang easy to make something SO GOOD. I have another bark recipe coming this week. I can’t stop this bark train.
So, I am sure you’re probably inundated with Gift Guides these days. It’s getting a little stressful, isn’t it? I think we just need a drink (or two!)…SERIOUSLY. I put together some our favorite things for you to impress your cocktail loving friend/family member and maybe while you’re at it, pick something up for yourself? You deserve it. All of these items are from Amazon, so if you decide to order something now, you should be in good shape for the holidays. Thank heavens for Prime Shipping! CHEERS, friends!
