Baking Adventures With Cheryl and Ethan…The Sweet End of the Stocking Season.

Well, not really.  In fact, we had to sew up 10 stockings this morning.  However, most people have received the memo that their stockings run the risk of not making it in time for Christmas at this point in the year.   The people that order now are usually ok with that.  However,  by and large, the crazy rush is over…..Time for Treats!

It is a tradition now that the week following Christmas, and after the Stocking rush is over, that we make Thank You Christmas treats for all the people who were helpful during those crazy weeks of insanity.  And, as always,   Cheryl has to make this an adventure instead of just a “ho humm” experience.   I imagine I’m partly to blame.   I never can say no to a crazy idea.  Or Baking something we have never attempted before…..

Before I go down that road though,  We usually start with the known quantity.   That is to say…things we have done before and are familiar with..   Enter the White Star Cookie!

I’m actually not a fan of these as they tend to be a little too sweet…even for me!  However, they are fast easy and other people seem to like them….Or at least have never told us that they are terrible and throw them away as soon as they receive them.  I’m ok with that….it is the thought that counts after all.  And Our thoughts tend to be  over the top in sweetness…..Is that so bad?

Then there is the kiss cookies.   Have I mentioned we seem to have this love affair with chocolate and peanut butter?  Not in a Reese's peanut butter cup way,  but rather every recipe calls for some type of peanut butter foundation.   I blame Cheryl.   Who DOES have a Reese's peanut butter fetish.

My only role in these two treats is the mixer.   Cheryl needs my manly arms to dot he mixing.   And, if you ever had to suffer watching Cheryl Wrestle with a large bowl of peanut butter and flour…well…You would volunteer to be the mixer as well.  ( trust me…It’s painful to watch!)

And then it is finally time to begin trail blazing.   The part of ever Christmas where Cheryl has to fulfill her fantasy of being a top baker on the Food Network.  She reads these “magazines”  that tell her to buy these “books”   and they tell her to try there “delicious recipes” that we have never seen nor done before.   I have always known Cheryl has this weakness to for the unfamiliar.   Add in the power of suggestion that her magazines push on her and we have a recipe for adventure ( or disaster). 

The Idea is a cake ball.   Similar to a truffle,  only with a gooey decadent cake in the middle instead of a chocolate fudge.   Cheryl found a book, and, as usual,  asked me to figure out what the pictures mean. 

As any true man,  I never actually read the instructions.  I simply look at the pictures and go from there.   I think it is simpler this way.  My stuff always turns out looking exactly like the picture.   As for any “problems “ with the flavor;    well, that is the recipe’s fault, not mine.  

So:   Bake a cake…..a good one that is a little under baked. Then mix in the “binder/ frosting”  We decided to make the German Chocolate Cake ball….because I’m part German; I like Chocolate;  I like coconut; and it was the only recipe with a clear picture I could go off of….

The mixing was fun.   I should have snapped a picture of Cheryl getting all gooey making the balls with her hands.  Instead, I thought I would show how Cheryl had to roll the balls in melted chocolate.  Notice the clean white shirt she is wearing….

After the mixing, we had to cover them with a coconut/pecan topping and then let them cool.  Now for the Gift  Box assembly.  We already delivered several to the post office and the UPS guys. We still have a few left that we are thinking about giving to the neighbors and Landlord if we see them any time soon.   We shall see. 

In the end,  it was fun…as always.  We got messy, fought like cats and made fun of each others baking techniques.  My ego was damaged but, I think, made stronger by the whole ordeal.  in the end, we had a refrigerator filled with calorie laden treats that we must give away before I gain even more weight for the holidays.   And it’s all thanks to Cheryl’s adventurous spirit….and her Magazines.  Thanks!