Sugarplum Drops Recipe

When I was a kid my grandma used to mail us a tin of homemade Christmas cookies every year.  We'd keep them in the refrigerator and mom would let us each have one every day until they were gone.  One of my favorites was Sugarplum Drops.  They combine the flavor of dried fruits and nuts and sugar - so tasty!  When I saw a recipe in Better Homes and Gardens magazine, it brought back all of those Christmas memories.  Here's my version.

 
Sugarplum Drops 

Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens magazine Jan 2008

Ingredients:
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup dried apricots
1/2 cup chopped dates
3/4 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup pecans
1 cup whole natural almonds
1/4 cup orange juice
1/2 cup granulated sugar (or use colored sugar for a festive look)

In a food processor, combine the fruits and nuts and pulse until you get a course mixture, about one minute.  Add orange juice and continue to pulse until the mixture sticks together (like the photo), about 15 seconds.  

Shape the mixture into one inch balls and roll in sugar.  Refrigerate.
Makes 40 sugarplum drops.

caloriecount.about.com tells me that each one is 52 calories, 7.2 g carbs, and 0.9 g fiber.

I made caramel!

For the first time ever I tried making caramel and it was a success.  A yummy mouth-watering success.  I may or may not have accidentally cut some into weird shapes that mysteriously disappeared...

I have no pictures.  Why?  Because it has been miserable and cold and rainy for a few days, and so also too dark for any good pictures (including pictures of the mural I did in my kitchen.  Coming soon...), but here's the link to the recipe on Our Best Bites for Apple Cider Caramels.

I calibrated my thermometer first in a pot of boiling water and, big surprise, my cheap Wal-mart thermometer says water boils at 206 F instead of 212.  So I adjusted accordingly, well, sort of.  I realized 1/2 way through that I adjusted the wrong way.  I cooked the mix to 6 degrees hotter than you're supposed to before adding the rest of the cream, but it looks like it didn't matter at all and they are still yummy.  They look just like the picture.  Yay.  I have loved everything I have made from Our Best Bites.
Correction: I recently looked up the boiling temperature of water at my elevation (2700ft) and water boils at 207.4 here, so my cheap Wal-mart thermometer wasn't so bad after all.  I'm not sure how that was supposed to affect candy making, but I'm glad it turned out well anyway.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake Balls

Today I made a pineapple upside down cake for tomorrow's church potluck. I used a store-bought box of pineapple cake mix. I only wanted to make a 9 inch round since I only had one can of pineapple on hand, so I came up with a delicious way to use up the other 1/2 of the cake batter- pineapple cake balls! This is what I threw together and it turned out yummy.

I used:

- 1/2 of a 24 oz package of almond bark. - 12 cooked pineapple cupcakes, or you could use another 8 or 9 inch round baked cake.

- 1 package softened Neufchatel cheese because I like to pretend this dessert is low fat.

- 1 cup of powdered sugar

- 1/2 a stick of softened butter

Crumble the cake while it's warm.  Blend together the butter, neufchatel cheese, and powdered sugar.  Then add the crumbled cake and mix. 

Roll the mixture into 1- 1 1/2 inch balls. Refrigerate them while you prepare the melted almond bark as directed on the package. I prefer to microwave it in a glass bowl. Using a spoon, coat each cake ball with almond bark.

Tap the spoon against the edge of the bowl to let the excess drip off.

Place them on a sheet of waxed paper and refrigerate until solidified.

YUM!