Monday, December 11, 2006

Christmas Goodies

This past Friday night, I got together with 2 friends and we made truffles. We each made a batch ~ Plain chocolate, peppermint and rum.

Treats
Originally uploaded by pwinn.



They are very easy to make!

Chocolate Truffles

3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 (14 ounce) can EAGLE BRAND® Sweetened Condensed Milk (NOT evaporated milk)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS
In heavy saucepan, over low heat, melt chocolate chips with condensed milk. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla (or one of the variations). Chill 2-3 hours or until firm.

This is the perfect time to watch my new favorite movie, The Lakehouse. :0) We all loved it!

Shape into 1-inch balls; roll in any of the listed coatings.

Chill 1 hour or until firm. Store tightly covered at room temperature.

Coatings (optional):
Finely chopped toasted nuts, flaked coconut, chocolate sprinkles, colored sprinkles, unsweetened cocoa powder, confectioners' sugar or colored sugars, mini chocolate chips.

Variations:
-Amaretto: Omit vanilla. Add 3 tablespoons amaretto or other almond- flavored liqueur and 1/2 teaspoon almond extract. Roll in finely chopped toasted almonds.
-Orange: Omit vanilla. Add 3 tablespoons orange-flavored liqueur. Roll in finely chopped toasted almonds mixed with finely grated orange rind.
-Rum: Omit vanilla. Add 1/4 cup dark rum.
-Peppermint: Omit vanilla. Add 1 teaspoon peppermint extract.
-Bourbon: Omit vanilla. Add 3 tablespoons bourbon. Roll in finely chopped toasted nuts.



Chocolate
Originally uploaded by pwinn.




Nuts
Originally uploaded by pwinn.




I also made another easy recipe this weekend. These coconut macaroons are nice and crunchy on the outside and moist on the inside.


Coconut
Originally uploaded by pwinn.




Coconut Macaroons

Makes 30

3 large egg whites
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoons salt
1 package (14 ounces) sweetened flaked coconut (5 1/3 cups)

1. Preheat oven to 350F Line baking sheet with parchment paper (or coat generously with nonstick cooking spray).

2. In a large bowl, whisk together egg whites, sugar and salt until frothy. With a fork, stir in coconut until moistened.

3. Drop mixture by packed level tablespoons (I use a metal cookie scoop) onto prepared sheet. Bake until lightly golden, 25 to 30 minutes.

Recipe from Martha Stewart

Enjoy!!

30 comments:

Amanda said...

Half the time I come here I get hungry. :-p

Anonymous said...

Oh, they look perfect on the etage plate!

Lady of the house said...

I bet those macaroons just disappear!

Crescent said...

Oooh! I picked a great day to check in with you. I loved The Lakehouse too and asked for it for Christmas. Those recipes are going right in my Christmas goodies file.

Kim @ Home Is Where The Heart Is said...

YUMMY!

Julieann said...

One word for this post---YUMMY!!!!!


Julieann:)

Sandra said...

I agree with the other comments - YUM! Thanks for the recipes, too. :o)

Becky said...

I love macaroons, but have never tried making them. If I get a chance, I'd like to try these. I'm sure they'll be a hit.

Thank you for sharing!

Carole Burant said...

That's how I make my chocolate truffles and they certainly are yummy:-) I've made them with the various flavourings too and they're just as delightful!! Those coconut macaroons looks so delish, I'm copying the recipe:-) Hugs xox

Anonymous said...

Truffles...wow they look good!

Anonymous said...

Deliciousness!

Anonymous said...

Deliciousness!

theups said...

What FUN!!! How exactly did y'all do this? Did everyone bring their own ingredients? Or did the hostess have all the ingredients and y'all just dove in??? I would LOVE to have something like this!!! (And I wouldn't mind eating them, either!!).

His,
Mrs. U

Anonymous said...

Wow. I didn't know truffles were so easy. And they look fabulous. I'm selecting just a few goodies to make this Christmas, and I think these would better than decorating sugar cookies this year. Yum!

smilnsigh said...

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh... Ohhhhh... Such heavenly gooodies! Ohhhhhh.... :-)

And you endorse 'The Lakehouse.' I'm so glad, as we are still waiting for it to come, from rental. Must be lots of people are loving it tooooo.

We both love Sandi Bullock and it's nice to see that she's still making romantic films.

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness those look so yummy. I'll have to try making them all!!!

Kelli said...

Hi Mrs. U! Each of us took the ingredients for one batch. We all made a different flavor and split them up evenly between us. We took whatever toppings we liked and shared them. It was so much fun! The girls were sad they couldn't come so we are making more this week. :0)
Kelli

Kelli said...

Smilnsigh, The Lakehouse is on my Christmas list now! I heard a rumor that it was Sandra Bullock's last romantic film. :0(
Kelli

Rebecca said...

Wow-what gorgeous pictures! Fantastic job! can I ask...what kind of camera do you have? Do you have any special lenses?

Anita said...

Kelli, your truffles look fantastic, yummy yummy!

I've just tagged you! There is a christmas meme going around to list your favourite Christmas songs. Hope you will list yours as well, it's fun!

Tammy said...

Oh my, how yummy!

Randi said...

Those truffles look SO good!

Lakehouse was a great movie--even my hubby liked it!

Kelli said...

Rebecca, Phillip takes most of the pictures for my blog, here is what he has:
-Canon Digital Rebel XTi

Lenses:
-50mm s/1.8
-70-300mm s/4.0/5-6
-18-55mm s/2.8-4.5

I have no idea what any of that means but I hope it helps. ;0)

Kelli

Anonymous said...

I guess that's a hazard of phone conversations -- the 's/' should be 'f/'.

Also, my memory was fuzzy on a few lensy things. So the real list of lenses is:

EF 50mm f/1.8 II
EF-S 18-55m f/3.5-5.6 (x2)
EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III USM

Sorry for the mixup; all my fault. The (x2) is because I have two of those lenses. One came with my original Canon Digital Rebel, and one came with my new Canon Digital Rebel XTi (which was a very recent gift, so most pictures on the blog are with the "older" Rebel).

Rebecca said...

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! That was like rubbing salt in my VERY open wound there Kelli! That is the VERY same camera that I have been pining away for-for about three years now. But there is NO way we can afford it...especially with those lenses (oh HOW I WANT SPECIAL LENSES!) Wow. Oh Gosh-now I am positively GREEN!!!

Rebecca said...

Not to highjack the comments section but I have two questions for your hubby-or the phillip guy who commented (or both if they are one in the same...). Do you know if the lenses to the canon rebel digital and the canon EOS film camera are interchangable? And the second...a long shot. Any chance you would want to sell the other canon digital? Or even just the extra lens?

Anonymous said...

Rebecca, I am indeed Kelli's hubby.

Canon SLR film cameras use EF lenses, and have for a long time. The new Canon Digital Rebel series can use all of those old EF lenses, plus also new EF-S lenses, like the one that comes in the kit. So yes, the lenses are interchangable.

I feel your pain. I saved up for a few years to buy the first camera, and added the lenses slowly, one at a time. The 50mm was $50, and possibly the best lens purchase ever.

Sadly, my original Rebel (and the kit lens!) is now broken, which is what prompted the generous early Christmas present of an XTi. I was not looking forward to saving up another few years!

Rebecca said...

Thanks for the information. I am glad to hear that the lenses are interchangable and also about your lens preference. Now-for one more questions...IF you don't mind! :-)

What type of lens did you use to take that top truffle photo?

You take beautiful pictures!

Anonymous said...

Rebecca, for most pictures on Kelli's blog, you can click the photo to get a larger version at flickr, then look over to the right where it says:
Taken with a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi. [or whatever]
More properties
And then click on the "more properties" to find the lens info. In this case, those truffle pics were all taken with "EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6" which is the kit lens.

Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Hi Kelli,
Those truffles look delicious, would love to try making them. How many do they make?