Shopping Around the World

This month we are focusing on desserts/cookies or other yummy treats that you create or love to eat this time of the year.  This holiday season has been a little challenged here at the Hotel Thompson – with mom’s surgery, recuperation and other trying things that showed their ugly head.  Usually mom fixes this dessert, boxes them up in little Chinese containers that are decorated with pictures of us anipals and hands them out.  This year, she just didn’t get a chance to play around and have fun.  BUT she wanted to share this recipe because it’s fun and the treats are delicious!

So here is mom –

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What you will need:  bag of shelled pecan halves ($7.00); bag of Rolo candies ($4.00); and a bag of square pretzels ($3.00) = total cost $14.00

The most time consuming part of this recipe is unwrapping all of the Rolo’s.  Usually I will sit in front of the television with a two bowls – one for wrappers and one for the unwrapped Rolo’s.  Watch some television and start unwrapping.  It makes it go faster.  Trust me, this is the annoying part.

After you are done, get out a cookie sheet and wrap it with aluminum wrap.  Put your square pretzels on it and put one Rolo on top of all of the pretzels.  Your oven needs to be set at like 200 degrees.  Place the pan in the oven for about 2-3 minutes, until you see the Rolo’s getting soft.  Take them out and immediately push a pecan half on top of the pretzel.  We call these Reindeer noses.  Cute huh?

Now make a mental note.  Don’t put so many pretzels on the tray with Rolo’s that when you take them out of the oven they soften before you can put the pecan half on them.  I can usually do about three trays with the ingredients above.  Happy eats!

 

Shopping Around the World

Thanks to everyone for another great edition of Shopping Around the World last month.  It’s so awesome to see the various prices around the world – and the pictures with recipes!

This month we have a suggestion from my cousin Sammy on highlighting cookies or other sweets for December.  Is there a special treat that you fix only around the Christmas holidays?  A certain cookie to share?  It does not have to be five items or less this month.  Share your recipe and picture of your sweet items.

This time of the year mom loves to fix what she has always called reindeer noses.  Now they have been called other things like yummy, pure grace, delicious, Rolo droppings, etc.  Snorts with piggy laughter.  It doesn’t matter what you call them because you will absolutely love them.  AND they are so easy to make.  You will need:  1 bag of pecan halves (prices range on this – the bag I bought was $8.99); 1 bag of Rolo caramels in milk chocolate candies ($4.00) ; and 1 bag of small pretzels ($1.50 on sale).  Total paid around $14.50 for some priceless candy 🙂

Turn your oven on to around 250-300 degrees.  While that is pre-heating, start taking all of the aggravating pretty foils off of the Rolo caramels in milk chocolates.  Yes you can be like my mommy and eat some for all of that painstaking foil removal.  Then, put some parchment paper on a baking pan.  Add a bunch of small pretzels and top with one Rolo each.  Now, here is the tricky part.  You don’t want to put so many on the baking pan that when you pull it out of the oven you don’t have time to top them with the pecan half.  You see they will cool fast and you want that finishing touch – trust me.  Okay so now you have your pan planned out.  Place it in the hot oven for around 5 minutes until the Rolo melts all over the pretzel.  Once that happens, remove the pan and quickly add a 1/2 of pecan to the top squishing it down in the chocolate.  mmm – just thinking about it.

Let these cool before trying one.  Trust me on this – daddy found out the hard way.  Once they are cool, put in a air tight container and share… or not 🙂