When I was studying abroad, I remember my Italian flatmate's total confusion when I brought sweet potatoes home. My Chinese flatmate, on the other hand, was as excited as I was to have them. We threw them in the oven and then ate them with a spoon right out of the skins. Simple, delicious, and very nutritious.

Happy New Years, everyone!

Hello world!

It is with great joy and honor that I present to you my very first post on Sarah, Shelly and Brett's illustrious cooking blog. I enter this format with much trepidation, so please do not pulverize me in the comments section (or I'm afraid my ego will never let me come back). However, needless to say, I'm pleased to bring you a scrumptuous, little recipe for caramel corn!

To be totally honest, I'm kind of bummed this is my first post. I was hoping for something a little more culinarily challenging, but when you've procrastinated past the point of apologies, this is what you're reduced to. So, CARAMEL CORN it is!



Ingredients
12 cups of popped corn
1 cup of roasted pecans
1 cup of M&Ms (optional)
1 stick of unsalted butter
1 cup of packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup of light corn syrup
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 large brown paper grocery bag

I'd like to preface the instructions by stating you can use whatever kind of popcorn you'd like. Precooked popcorn, microwave popcorn, stovetop cooked popcorn. I personally cooked my corn on the stovetop in oil (cheapest!).

Instructions
1) Place popcorn and roasted nuts in brown paper grocery bag. Shake it up a little to combine (If you'd like, you can add pretzels too!)

2) Melt butter in microwave for approximately 1 minute. Add brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt and microwave for 2 minutes. Stir the mixture for about 30 seconds to a minute, and then placed back in the microwave for 2 more minutes. The mixture will bubble and boil. Do not be alarmed!

3) Add baking soda to sugar mixture. It was get foamy, but once it starts to do this... carefully pour it on top of the caramel corn. Fold over the paper bag and start to shake!

4) Throw it back in the microwave for another minute. Take it out and shake again. Then another minute in the microwave. Open the bag, add the M&Ms and shake for 30 seconds one last time!

Voila! Just spread it over a cookie sheet and let it get crunchy! You can break it up and start munching on it within 5 minutes.

Here's an idea: For an inexpensive Christmas gift, I put mine in Christmas-themed Chinese take-out boxes. Good for coworkers or neighbors!

Either way, this is such an easy snack to make... I hope that you enjoy!

Okay. . . maybe I'm the only one here, but I'm sort of wishing that I had some of the recipes from last weekend's party. . . so if you're reading this, you should post your party food recipe. In the meantime, here is the recipe for the dish that I brought. I'm too lazy to get up and retrieve the recipe for the Chocolate Pecan Pie, but if somebody wants it, let me know, and I'll go dig it out. I have to say that I did like this recipe, but it seemed like a lot of work for what it was. It's a shame frozen pie shells don't come in a mini size. . . Then again, maybe I should not attempt to do this sort of thing after working a late shift at the library.

Leek and Onion Tartlets

2 T. butter
1 onion, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp. dried thyme (I didn't have thyme, so I used Herbes de Provence)
1 pound leeks, thinly sliced
2 ounces Gruyère or Emmenthal cheese, grated (I live in Podunk, America, so I had to use Parmesan)
3 eggs
1 1/4 c. light cream
pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
salt and ground black pepper

For the pastry
1 1/3 c. all-purpose flour
6 T. cold butter
1 egg yolk
2-3 T. cold water
1/2 tsp. salt

1. To make the pastry, sift the flour into a bowl and add the butter. Using your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour until it resembles fine bread crumbs. Make a well in the center of the mixture.
2. Beat together the egg yolk, water and salt, pour into the well and combine the flour and liquid until it begins to stick together. Form into a ball. Wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
3. Butter six 4- inch tartlet pans. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough until 1/8 inch thick (which I found to be an IMPOSSIBLE task), then using a 5 inch cutter, cut as many rounds as possible. Gently ease the rounds into the pans, pressing the pastry firmly into the bottom and sides. Re-roll the trimmings and line the remaining pans. Prick teh bottoms all over and chil in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
4. Preheat the oven to 375. Line the pastry crusts with foil and fill with baking beans. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 6-8 minutes, until golden at the edges. Remove the foil and beans and bake for another 2 minutes, until the bottoms appear dry. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Reduce the oven temp to 350.
5. In a large frying pan, melt the butter over medium heat, then add the onion and thyme and cook for 3-5 minutes, until the onion is just softened, stirring frequently. Add the thinly sliced leeks and cook for 10-12 minutes, until they are soft and tender, stirring occasionally. Divide the leek mixture among the pastry crusts and sprinkle each with cheese, dividing it evenly.
6. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs, cream, nutmeg and salt and pepper. Place the pastry crusts on a baking sheet and pour in th egg mixture. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until set and golden. Transfer the tartlets to a wire rack to cool.

If I've never mentioned it, the best recipes are never my own. Again, this one comes from my Mom-mom. It's one that she's cooked for years, and, for some reason, she thinks that Jared's the only one who likes them. . . So, she makes extra for him (spoiled brat) but not for the rest of us. So, this year, I decided to make a batch for myself. I'm sure that I'll bring most of them to the Cookie Swap at the library. It's going to be next Saturday at 10:30 if you want something to do that morning. We're also making beeswax candles. Just bring some cookies, your recipe, and a sense of fun! Anyhow, when we were eating Thanksgiving dinner, I asked Mom-mom for this recipe. She mailed it to me this week, and I noticed (I guess because it was on her ice cream recipe too) that she always writes "Good Luck" on the bottom of her recipes. I wonder if she thinks that the recipes are that hard - or that I'm that awful of a cook. Anyhow, these are awesome and are well worth the work. This does make a pretty big batch, so if you're eating them yourself, you may want to half it.