Food Blogger Cookie Swap 2015

The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap is back again this year. I always have such a great time researching, planning, and making my treat for this exchange. I always find a million recipes and have a hard time slimming it down to the perfect one to send out. Here's what I did last year, the year before and even the year before that!

This year I decided on S'mores Cookies from the Chocolate Moosey blog. I did alter the recipe slightly because after the first batch of dipping the cookies in chocolate, I realized they wouldn't be ideal to ship that way. So I modified and put the chocolate on the inside. 

I gathered all the ingredients and my mom's spritz cookie press. I have never used the press on my 

own, so this was going to be a fun experience. 

The dough came together really easily and luckily I had my food processor to make graham cracker crumbs. (Two sheets of graham cracker = 1/2 cup of crumbs almost exact!)

I then found the perfect tip to use for the Spritz and filled up the press with dough.

I then needed to do some testing to find out how much dough to press out to make the perfect sized cookies. My first batches ended up a little large and clunky, so I used less dough on the subsequent batches.

After letting the cookies cool completely, it was time to pair them up and get them ready for the fillings. You want to make sure you pair up cookies of almost the exact same size so when they sandwich together, everything is even.

And these silicone liners worked wonderfully for the cookies. Not a single thing stuck to the pan!

I filled one pan with cookies and topped them with one mini marshmallow each. Those went under the broiler and were watched closely for the toasting to happen. This was about 2 minutes max.

The other tray of cookies were spread with a thin layer of melted chocolate. Once the marshmallow is toasted, immediately sandwich the cookies so the fillings don't get too cooled. You want the marshmallow to smoosh and ooze and stick to the chocolate.

Don't mind the quality of the pans in this picture - this was just used for broiling. But watch the gooey, toasted marshmallow smoosh out when the top cookie is pressed in place.

And the voila, they are complete. I wrapped them up in groups of six per bag and tied them off with fun holiday ribbon.

Then it was time to wrap up the cookies securely with lots of tissue and newspaper for padding and send them to my fellow bloggers.

Of course you have to have a taste tester and my guy was a very willing participant. He loved them. The graham cracker cookie was delicious and he didn't want me to ship them all out!

In return for my cookies, I received treats from three bloggers - salted caramel cashew cookies that were divine from Stetted.

Ginger and Lime cookies from Hot Dinner, Happy Home that were the most unique cookie my guy and I have even eaten. I would have never thought that flavor would have worked and it really did.

Hall Nesting sent me Peanut & Cookie Butter Chocolate Chip cookies that were very large, thick cookie - made perfect for sharing. I could definitely taste the cookie butter.

I love this exchange and look forward to it every year! Here's how it works - you need to be an active blogger that writes about food throughout the year. You sign up and a few weeks later are given the names, addresses, and websites of three fellow bloggers. In return, your name, address, and website is provided to three other bloggers. Then you bake your treats, package them, and ship them out. The hardest part is waiting patiently for your three treats to come in the mail and find out what they are. 

Holiday Party Foods

I had my first of many Christmas parties this past weekend and boy did we have a spread of food. My friends really know what they are doing in the kitchen and I ate and ate and ate my way through the party :)

I made two treats that I have wanted to make for quite some time and finally had the opportunity: Apple Pie bites and crescent cream cheese bites. Recipes are below. Here are a few snapshots of other great party snacks.

Brandon treated all of us to two homemade cheesecakes - Eggnog and Pumpkin - I didn't have any but everyone raved about them. My Apple Pie bites are behind the two cheesecakes.

Mo wraps up front and my crescent rolls are in the back of the picture. Mo wraps are just lunch meat, lettuce, cheese and sauce wrapped in a tortilla.

It's Wisconsin so what is a party without cheese and sausage. The pepper jack had a bit of a kick to it - definitely mellowed out my palette after all the sweets I consumed.

Caroline found a recipe called "Just Like Wendy's Chili" and she had cheese, sour cream, chives, pepper flakes and Fritos for us to dress it up with. It was delicious and it did resemble Wendy's chili.

Bagel Dip! Another Caroline specialty that is always loved by all.

 Meatballs - there were little smokies too but I didn't get a picture of that.

 Sweets! It's not a Christmas party (or any party) without them. Oreo balls and sugar cookies!

 

And of course libations and a roaring fire set the mood for the evening. This is one of my favorite holiday beers. I also tried the Cranberita from Budweiser and it has a wintery taste to it when you mellow it out over some ice. Straight from the can it's too sweet. And at 8% alcohol per 8-oz. can, it's good to water it down a bit.

Apple Pie Bites:
I found them on this blog. I had to cook mine a bit longer but my apple slices might have been larger. My mom sprinkled her's with powdered sugar and I think a powdered sugar and water glaze would be a nice addition and make it more like a turnover. But everyone loved them.

Crescent Wreath:
I made the wreath last year for a Christmas party but put veggies on it. This year I used the same concept, but went for a completely different flavor.
1 tubes of refrigerated crescent rolls
1- 7 oz tub of Honey Cream Cheese
1 tsp. cinnamon
12 grapes cut on quarters
1/4 cup Craisins
1/3 cup pistachios (I used Wonderful Roasted and Salted Shelled)

Open each tube of rolls and cut into 8 pieces and arrange on a cookie sheet in a wreath shape. Cook for the time on the package or until the crescents are lightly browned. Remove from oven and let cool. Mix  cream cheese and cinnamon together. Spread evenly over the crescent rolls. Top with Craisins, grapes and pistachios. That's it - nice and simple.

Pin-It Tuesday: Christmas Party Recap

I owe a lot of my new favorite treats to Pinterest. Sure I used to search the internet for recipes before the existence of this website, but now with social media, making recipes that my friends are also posting and from fellow blogging-friends means more to me (and makes me feel that they will be fail-proof).

Two weekends ago, my friends all got together at Tory's new apartment for our 2nd Annual Christmas Party. Everyone makes a dish or two to share and we play rounds and rounds and rounds of games while munching, drinking, hysterically laughing and sharing plenty of holiday cheer. We even do a white elephant exchange and some gifts from year one made a return to be re-gifted for years to come.

Last year I made everyone cork xmas trees as a take-home gift and my close ladies cork boards with wine corks. This year, I continued the tradition and made cork Rudolph's for everyone.  (not white elephant if you were confused!)

Ok - onto the munchies.

Not the complete table but the camera was misplaced shortly after here.

chocolate chip boots and santas and fudgy brownies

Oreo cake

Goat Cheese Tartlets

Bruschetta on costini

onion dip & Tuscan dip with crackers

S'mores on a stick

Bagel Dip - Must get the recipe soon!

The table also included apple cider sangria, pickle rolls, taco dip, pizza rolls, beer, apple pizza, wine and I'm sure something else I'm forgetting.

And here is what the table included that I brought.

Creamy Bruschetta Bites

About two days before the party, I got my daily email from Hungry Girl (LOVE HER) that included some slimmed-down versions of favorite holiday treats and this bruschetta really hit a chord with me. I changed it just a bit to include ingredients I had around the house. Original recipe found here.

My version:
2 small loaves french bread (bought from Dollar Tree)
2 wedges of Laughing Cow Swiss Cheese (I used Aldi's version)
1 medium tomato (de-seeded)
1/2 cup chopped green onion
1/2 Tbsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. minced garlic (I used the squeeze container kind)

Bake the loaves as directed (8 min. at 375 or until browned). I then sliced the bread into 1 inch slices and laid them on a cookie sheet and toasted them for 5 min. per side (just enough to crust up a bit so the bruschetta didn't make it mushy!)

In a bowl, stir the cheese wedges until smooth. Add tomato, onions, basil and garlic into the cheese. Let sit for a 1/2 hour. Evenly distribute the topping amongst the slices of bead and place on a platter to serve.

Hungry-Girls' Creamy Bruschetta Bites

These were pretty good - the toasting of the bread helped them not get soggy, and the bread was just the right amount of crusty!

Veggie Crescent Wreath

I found that the recipe really over estimated the amount of veggies and dip needed, so my improvisation includes adding a veggie platter in the middle of the wreath to use up the veggies bought and extra dip.

2 tubes refrigerated crescent rolls (8 oz each - I used reduced fat)
8 oz. reduced fat cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup light sour cream
1 tsp. dill weed
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1 cup chopped broccoli flourets
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup finely chopped red pepper
celery leaves

Remove crescent dough from tubes but do not unroll. Cut each tube into 8 slices and arrange in an 11 inch circle on an ungreased cookie sheet. (I left mine barely touching, knowing they would expand.) Bake at 375 for 15-20 mins. or until golden brown. Cool for 5 mins. and transfer to the serving platter.

In a mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, sour cream, dill weed and garlic powder until smooth. Spread over the top of the crescent wreath. Top with the broccoli, celery and red pepper. Arrange the celery leaves to look like a bow.

Fill the center of the wreath with broccoli flourets, celery slices, carrots (had around the house) and red pepper. Serve the extra dip in a dish on the side in a small container for guests to scoop out of.

These were amazing - the crescent rolls and dill dip was soooo yummy. 

Adult Caramel Apple Cider

I made this exactly as the recipe stated, just made a lot of mugs at one time :)  The cinnamon never really dissolved and I'm wondering if cinnamon sticks would work better? Regardless of the cinnamon, this was delicious and completely gone by the end of the night!

Southwest Egg Rolls

 
I followed this recipe to a T. My only changes are that I added half of a red pepper chopped up into the mix. And for the size of the egg rolls that I made, I got almost 30 out of the recipe and not just 20.

These were so good that my mom and I made them as an appetizer for her family party last weekend. We didn't have as many egg roll wrappers, so we bought wonton wrappers and used the extra filling for Christmas Eve as mini egg rolls! Serve with salsa and sour cream!