Did you forget something?

No, I didn't get a new haircut. No, this is not a new recipe post. No, the trash doesn't need taking out....

It's my blogversary! I guess you don't scroll waayyyyyyyyyy down on the right margin of my blog to read my blogversary countdown badge. LOL. It's ok, if you have one, I wouldn't know where to find yours either.

Hard to believe that on New Year's Eve I made a such big decision and it STUCK. Think of all those diets, exercise routines, fads, promises that we've never stuck to or lost interest in....

My blog was a great decision. I love it. Wow, the time FLEW by and over the past 365 days I've posted over 250 times. I think if I was ever asked by a boss or professor to write that much due to THEIR request/demand in one year....I would have passed out or quit. I guess when you truly love doing something...it comes easy and it hits all my creative buttons.

Well since I don't have any food companies banging my door down (I don't know how some of you bloggers get so many of these companies to send you free stuff!) so I will go out on my own and have a giveaway that I will purchase with my own hard earned teacher's salary.

Knowing this blogversary was coming up I've been thinking long and hard to what I wanted to GIVEAWAY......hmmmmm. I thought since many of the blogs I've been reading was what influenced me to start a food blog. THAT would be my giveaway. Whatever blogger's cookbook you'd like...I'd send you. I have many bloggers cookbooks but NOT all of them. There are some other books that have stories with recipes that I also like perhaps you'd like to try one of them....

Here's the gist of my GIVEAWAY:

Write a comment and tell me which of the books that I suggested down below that YOU WOULD WANT for your collection. If you'd like to suggest a new book that YOU have and think I should get to add to my collection do comment about it.... and then add to your commentWHAT BOOK you WOULD like that Santa didn't bring you this year!

Here's my list of goodies I think everyone should get:

One of the first food blogs my cousin Sue referred to me was Orangette. I became a fan and soon enough during my first year of blogging Molly Wizenburg published her first cookbook. Her book is based on her food influences that turned her gift of writing into a passion of writing about food. She is currently crazy busy running a newly opened restaurant with her husband. Things are settling down and she is slowly returning to blogging more. Would you like her book? Here is one of my posts about one of her recipes.








Now, this author is NOT a food blogger but I've been a fan of two Culinary Murder Mystery writers. This is Joann's Fluke's most recent book. She has 12 total, a new one arriving in Feb 2010. I have used many of her recipes and I am very excited about her new cookbook that encompasses ALL her recipes from her books being published in Oct 2011. Here is one of my posts using one of her recipes.








The other Culinary Mystery Writer who was my first is Diane Mott Davidson. Here is my post about her books. Her latest came out this summer called Fatally Flaky. DO know that her books ARE a series.






Dorie Greenspan's book was probably one of my second blogger books. Her blog is about a group of food bloggers who pick a recipe to cook each week and blog about it. A very tough group to join but personally when it was open to me....I decided I couldn't handle that type of pressure to produce. Kudos to many of my friends who do follow the Tuesday with Dorie clan plan. Here is my post of the first recipe I made when I needed to 'break in' my new birthday KA mixer!







I have all these books by David Zinczenko. After I pour through them....I mainly use them in my classroom with my students. Some scary food truths in them. Here is my post about this book. Cook this, Not that is now HOT out in the stores on 12/29. What is cool about this new book is that recipes are included now. Finally. I can see some future posts in it already. Shall I pick you up a copy?






I found this book cross referenced through Amazon.com since they keep track of the many things you order and make suggestions. Baking Boot Camp is writer being assigned to attend the CIA for their baking training and write about it. Of course many recipes are included and they are top culinary school level!










Of course I like the baking boot camp book so much that I went and got the culinary school boot camp one as well. This book was written first and done by a different author both were interesting, especially if you think you'd like to enroll to in any of these CIA classes. I did....notice the past tense.









I love this book! Jeff Hertzbery (one of the authors) even commented on my post from recipe I made from this book. He must have one of those 'robo-search tools' that finds sites who cross reference his book. Ironically, I was also having my first giveaway of ANOTHER book, not his. I know stupid rookie blogger move. But I won't go into the stupid food porn picture site reasons why I wasn't thinking straight. Live and learn. Anyhow, I've made a few recipes and LOVE how easy the dough is to use. Here is my post about the sticky buns I made!

Jeff, if you are reading again. I'd love to try your Healthy Breads in 5 five minutes cookbooks to review and another of for future giveaway! Sorry about my food blogger faux pas! I've learned.




Confections of a Closet Master Baker I saw reviewed on another blog.
Honestly when I found out it was written by Sandra Bullock's sister (former resident of Arlington VA, like me) I was curious. Since it was a memoir and had recipes in it, I got it. It was a fun read. Sorry no post yet.








Not sure how I got into Ruth's books. I guess since I love reading biographies/memoirs, when I found out these were the memoirs of a food critic and recipes my curiousity was piqued. I tested out her first one Tender to the Bone to see how I liked it. Really wondering how she became fell upon such a prized job as a food critic. OMG. You GOT to read these....you will be amazed over the stories about her mother's horrible cooking and wonder how she developed such a fine palate. The second book is Comfort me with Apples and Garlic and Sapphires is the last. Wonderful memoirs! Here is my post from the G & S book.






Too many Cooks was one of the those books I grabbed to take on vacation with me. When I was going through the shelves the looking for more reading material....it caught my interest....again I love the storytelling fused recipes thing. This is a story about a stay at home mom who has 4 kids and how she struggles to expose her kids to food preparation and a variety of foods. Sorry no post from her book yet.









Oh Hungry Girl cookbooks are so fun! I subscribe to her site to my email where I get sent very informative things about lower calories foods and how to tweak recipes to make them less evil. I am working through her cookbook like a mad woman. Like here and here and here. Love HER!







Speaking of Love, I also LOVE PW. Pioneer Woman Cooks food blog came into my life shortly after I found Orangette. Ree Drumond is soooooo funny and a hellacious great cook. No way she has the figure she does and eats the amazingly evil food she cooks too! She must eat only like ONE spoonful and then eat a salad! Sheesh I've posted so many of her stuff....like this. She also now has an AMAZING recipe sharing site called Tasty Kitchen. Sorry you are going to have to go around and find more of the stuff I've posted of her because at this point in this post...I am wiped. All these reviews are making me tired and hungry for dinner.



So there you have it! My suggestions. I know that there are many other wonderful and fun books that I do not have. I haven't had the chance to peruse through Steamy Kitchen yet. I have the new Cake Wrecks book but she isn't about recipes just funny pictures yet I adore her site.

OK my friends and FANS....comment and tell me what BOOK YOU'D LIKE to win for my BLOGVERSARY GIVEAWAY! YOU PICK AND I WILL SEND YOU THE BOOK YOUR HEART DESIRES....sorry, I was screaming I get excited like that sometimes....

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED....CONGRATS TO NORAOLSON
Tick Tock!

An popular favorite made with a twist!

If you have kids.....ooh if you only had a dollar for each rice krispie treat you've made.... or eaten. LOL. I played around with the recipe a bit to make it a bit more interesting and a little healthier.











The interesting part is that I used Toasted coconut marshmallows instead of your standard ones.















The healthier part is that I used smart balance instead of butter and:





A combination of puffed wheat and puffed rice. Notice the puffed rice on the right is not dry (meaning they don't explode into a pulverized dust when pinched between your fingers) and overly air bubbled like certain name brands....*ahem.* These good old store brands I think are better.















And that little drizzle of chocolate on top? Did you know Hershey's made these? I didn't until I happened to spot them at my usual grocery baking aisle. *snatch!*



Ok, enough with the background pictures...on with the recipe!





Chocolate Topped Coconut Crispy Treat

6 cups puffed rice and puffed wheat (3 each)
1-10 oz bag of toasted coconut marshmallows
4 Tbsp. Smart Balance butter blend
1/4-1/2 cup sugar free chocolate chips (depending how much drizzle you need)

Line a 9X13 pan with non stick foil or spray foil lightly with non stick spray. Put aside to have ready.

In a small bowl, measure out your 'puffs' to have ready to put in the marshmallow.

Melt marshmallows and butter in a metal bowl over a pot of boiling water. I think the marshmallow melt better this way as opposed to the microwave or directly in a pot. I find they melt so quickly that they get to stringy and sticky before I can get them mixed thoroughly. A 'double boiler' method is kinder and gentler for me.

When the last of the mallows are just small lumps, go ahead and put in your cereal. Mix well with a rubber scraper. Pour into prepared pan and press down with wet hands. Some people think you should butter your hands. But I find that the crispies still stick when the butter melts away. I find a quick wet under the faucet, wipe hands together and press down....nothing will stick.

Melt chocolate in small ziploc bag for about a minute. Clip a small hole in corner and drizzle on tops. I drizzled only on about half of them. I also made sure I sort of "dragged the tip" of the bag while I drizzled for I wanted to ensure the chocolate would adhere better. Sometimes if you drizzle from above the chocolate just 'lays' on top and will crack and fall off when you bite into it.




Cook's Notes:

• I like how the Smart Balance works with these crispies. Have you noticed that after about a day the usual krispy treats are dry and hard and hurt your gums behind your teeth when you bite into them? These keep chewy and the puffs don't get super dry or hurt your gums. The last time I made these....the treats were just as soft and chewy as the first day by day five.
• You would think with all the coconut on the marshmallows that these would be overly 'coconut-y'. Since they are toasted and ground finely....it's a subtle coconut flavor yet nutty. No big pieces of coconut that you keep chewing on. If you want to crank up the coconut add a some coconut extract to the melted mixture before you add the cereal.
• I like that I could make a few changes to help the calorie/health level of these treats. More importantly I really think the change of type of fat source really keeps these from drying out so soon.

Enjoy!

I am not ready to leave yet...

Traditionally, we see and eat a lot of gingerbread during the holidays. But I am just not ready to give them up even though the holidays are finishing up. To wean myself off I found this recipe for soft molasses cookies. I can't keep K-man's hands off of them! That is fine....they will never get stale this way....

Soft and Chewy Molasses Cookies

3/4 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar, packed (I used 1/2 cup Splenda's brown sugar blend)
1 large egg
1/2 cup molasses
2-1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1-1/2 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. allspice
1 tsp. nutmeg
quick dash of ground cloves
coarse decorating sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream together butter and sugar. Add egg and molasses and mix well. Stir in dry ingredients. Cover and chill for about an hour to give batter time to firm up. Take a small ice cream/cookie scoop to portion out dough into balls and keeping the amounts the same.

Dip cookie dough balls in some kind of decorating sugar. The coarse kind looks great on these.

Place cookie on parchment/silpat lined cookie sheet. Bake @ 350 for 10 minutes. Let cookies remain on cookie sheet for a minute or two before cooling on a rack.

Nice chewy cookie, very moist. Love THEM! I had made some gingersnaps that were getting hard almost the next day. These are still soft on day three.

Yummy with some milk....make some NOW!

K-man is only eating these despite the macaroons, dark chocolate cookies and some oatmeal raisin cookies still here in the house. I think his choice for 'dessert' says a lot!
Enjoy!

Butterscotch or Brown Sugar?

I got a new cookbook for Christmas and as I was looking through it I saw a recipe for carrots that made me change something on our Christmas Dinner menu. I had some butternut squash and still was kinda soft on how I was going to prepare them.

I've seen recipes for brown sugar carrots before....but butterscotch/nut squash seemed tasty with a fun name.

Roasted Butterscotch-Nut Squash

1 butternut squash, peeled, cored and chopped into chunks (our grocery has boxes of these already done for you!)
1/2 stick butter, melted
1/4 cup brown sugar (I used Splenda brown sugar)
1/2 tsp. salt
freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees or use the broiler if you wish.
Line baking sheet with non-stick foil or spray with non-stick spray. Place squash on baking sheet. Stir in brown sugar and salt into melted butter. Pour over squash and use a rubber scraper to help move the squash to coat. Don't worry too much for the sugar will melt and coat better as you go along.

Cook in oven for about 20-30 minutes (depending on the heat level you used). Keep a watchful eye on your squash and moving them around every so often with rubber scraper. When the sugar has thickened and the squash is soft enough or the sugar has encrusted enough on your squash (you decide how you want it)

Keep in mind you need a high heat to caramelize the sugar and achieve some sugar crunchiness. If you also, over cook it or move it around too much....you may end up with butternut mush. Sprinkle with freshly ground pepper before serving.


This was absolutely DELISH with our Christmas ham dinner. The saltiness of the ham and the sweet cubes of squash....K-man thought these were sweet potatoes! I like the idea of having squash instead of sweet potatoes to cut down on the carbs. Hmmmm, this would be interesting to mix the squash as well as some sweet potatoes and roast them together one night....hmmmmm

Give this a try, it will not disappoint!

Enjoy!

Quick Fix!

Of course, all my biscotti has been put into gift bags and long been given away. Despite us wanting a little chocolate cookie fix, I also wanted to have 'something' in case I needed some quick Christmas Cheer. My remedy is the cake mix cookie for mixing up a batch PDQ (pretty darn quick).

Dark Chocolate Craving Killers

1 (18 1/4 ounce) box devil's food cake mix
1/4 c Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1/2 c. chocolate chips (I used Hershey's sugar free choc. chips )

1. Preheat oven to 350°
2. Stir dry cake mix, cocoa powder,oil and eggs in a large bowl until dough forms.
3. Add chips and mix. Shape dough into 1" balls.
4. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
5. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until center is JUST SET.
6. Remove from pans after a minute or so and cool on wire racks.
7. Enjoy!!

These were just awesome. Of course, during the holidays you have people drop by every so often and it was nice to have these hanging around to serve with coffee. Hot coffee and a moist fudgy dark chocolate cookie= perfection.


Enjoy,

Happy Holidays!

My fellow food lovers....my best wishes for a warm, happy, healthy holiday to you. Whether you celebrate Christmas, Kwanzaa or Hanukkah it's all about family, love, blessings, thinking of others, children and most of all FOOD!

It's almost been a year for me as a food blogger and I've really enjoyed all the new friends, followers, fans and opportunities that have come my way. You are the best gift I can possibly have closing out my newbie/rookie year as a food blogger.

May bigger and better things all come our way in the new year of 2010!

Always play with your food,

Guilt free appetizer= Having dessert

Another guilt free goodie from Hungry Girl...God Bless her....and her recipes are so fun too!

If you are putting out a holiday spread for a party and you would like something you can nibble on that you don't have to worry about ruining your waistline and can still feel you are allowed some dessert....try these:

Hot Boneless Buffalo Wings
Hungry Girl 200 under 200

8 ounces raw boneless chicken breast, cut into 10 nuggets
1/4 cup Fiber One cereal (original)
1 ounce (about 14 crisps) Pringles Light Fat Free Barbeque Potato Chips (or any other FF BBQ version)
3 Tbsp. Frank's Redhot Cayenne Pepper sauce
Dash onion powder
Dash garlic powder
Dash cayenne pepper
Dash salt
Dash pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a blender or food processor, grind Fiber One to a bread crumb-like consistency.

Crush potato chips completely. In a small dish, mix crushed chips with cereal crumbs. Add onion, garlic powders, cayenne, pepper and salt. Mix well.

Place chicken pieces in a separate dish. Cover with Frank's sauce and toss to coat.

Line cookie sheet with non stick foil. Give each chicken piece a 'shake' so it's not dripping with sauce, then coat evenly with crumb mixture. Lay crumb mixture covered nuggets on the baking sheet.

Bake in oven for 10 minutes.

Flip over nuggets and bake for another 10 more minutes, or until outsides are crispy and chicken is cooked throughout. When I flipped the nuggets over they were a bit soggy and I did a quick pass over with some non stick spray to help them crisp up. Worked great.

Garnish with celery sticks and serve a low fat Blue Cheese dressing on the side. Serves 2.

These were awesome. Fun snack too! Save this recipe for Super Bowl Sunday!

Enjoy!

I am all for EASY at this time of year!

Here's an easy one dish meal for you before all your intense holiday cooking...

I found this in my Hungry Girl 200 under 200 Cookbook. It's fabulous!

EZ Tomato Basil Chicken
adapted from Hungry Girl

1 lb. raw boneless chicken breast tenders (you could also cube/strip up 1 lb. worth of regular chicken breasts
1-1/2 cups (half a 20 oz can) crushed tomatoes with basil
1-1/2 cups thinly sliced onions
1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp. pepper
salt to taste


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Bring a pan sprayed with non stick spray to high heat on the stove. Add onion and cook just until they begin to brown, about 3 minutes.

Pour half the tomatoes (one fourth of the can) in a medium baking pan. Lay chicken in the pan and top with onions.

Pour the rest of the tomatoes (another 1/4 of can) evenly over chicken and onion. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes, until chicken is cooked through.

Allow chicken to cool and sauce to thicken slightly before serving.

Make 4 servings

Simply delicious. Plain buttered pasta with garlic bread on the side. Or a salad...very moist and flavorful. And exactly as she says...EZ!

Enjoy!

Whole berry, jellied or homemade?

I've been avoiding cranberry sauce at the holidays due to the fact that K-man doesn't like it and I go along with it only because it's one less leftover I have to deal with despite the fact I love cranberry sauce.

Finally this past T-day after eating the moist turkey I decided something was missing and I realized it was the cranberry sauce! I love a forkful of turkey and cranberry. So I finally came to the conclusion...heck with what I was thinking. I am having MY cranberry sauce despite whether K-man is eating it or not.

Perhaps the gelatinous can shaped red stuff weirded him out. Had he ever TRIED homemade? So, I dug out a family recipe and decided to give it a whirl and see if K-man liked it (I've converted him on some things because my way of cooking something was tastier that somethings he was served as a kid)

Cranberry Sauce
slightly adapted from my cousin Beth

1 bag cranberries
2 apples, quartered, cored and peeled
zest of one large navel orange
insides of said large navel orange
1 cup sugar (I used 1/2 cup splenda)

In a food processor put the bag of cranberries, apples, orange zest and sugar. Peel that orange, remove navel and put segments in processor (my cousin throws the WHOLE orange - peel and all, but the pith/peel in my opinion is too bitter). Pulse and blend until the consistency you like. Chill in refrigerator. Best when made a day or two before serving!

This recipe is very 'orangey' as well as tart from the cranberry. I think it is very refreshing and I love the sweetness and tartness of it.

So, does K-man like it?


Enjoy!

Waited so long and worked so hard...

I am shaking my head over this post.
Ohhhh, if you all only knew what lengths I've had to go through for this recipe. And you're gonna sit and read it too! LOL

A 20 year wait for this recipe, making it twice in row. Taste-testing it.... and thinking "am I losing my mind or cooking skills? Taking pictures, writing the pre-post, a feeling in the back of your mind....this doesn't feel right. Then an another surprise email, I find out that recipe was (oopsies!) WRONG...all pictures are now defunct, the recipes (old and tweaked one) in the post are inaccurate. The now for sure REAL recipe (completely different) had be done a third time before my posting comes up.

The madness for this Chocolate Macaroon started....

While I was in my sophomore year at college, we spent Christmas at my aunt and uncle's house. I remember only two things. My eccentric Danish exchange student roommate that invited herself to our holidays and the chocolate macaroons my aunt Lucia made. I think every time I walked by the plate of these beauties, I ate one.

We left with the recipe and it fell into my mom's deep abyss know as various manila envelopes where she stored her recipes. Perhaps a year later we requested for Aunt Lucia to make them again when they came up for the holidays. Twice eaten, never again did they return for the holidays. I think it's been maybe 20 years since I've eaten them....but never forgotten. Yes, they were THAT good!

I've asked my mom to look for the recipe....she couldn't find it. Too many recipes in too many envelopes (proof that the manila envelope filing system -sucks!) I emailed my cousin to harass her mom for the recipe....she emailed her mom, Lucia. I am reduced to gently harassing my cousin to get the recipe and she says her own emails get bounced to her mom's junk mail....sigh, sniff, sniff....

I've been dreaming, hoping, begging, searching....waiting. Finally Aunt Lucia came through (or so I thought, LOL). What finally made the difference? I told Lucia I had a food blog.

So here is the original recipe she sent:

Chocolate Macaroons*

1 (7 ounce) bag sweetened flaked coconut
3 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar
2 large egg whites, at room temperature
2 (1 ounce) semi-sweet chocolate baking squares, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pinch salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or foil; lightly coat with cooking spray (if using nonstick pans or liners, do not use cooking spray).

2. In large bowl, toss coconut with sugar until evenly coated. In a pan melt the chocolate; let cool slightly. In small bowl, combine egg whites, chocolate, vanilla and salt until blended. Add to coconut mixture; blend well with spatula.

3 On prepared baking sheet, form heaping table-spoonfuls of mixture into 15 mounds, 2 inches apart. Bake 15 minutes or until bottoms are golden and tops start to brown (centers will be slightly soft). Let cool 10 minutes on baking sheet; remove with spatula to wire rack; let cool completely on rack.

*These were NOT as I remembered, these were light brown, crispy on the outside and just tender on the inside. The coconut overly chewy. No way these were the same. Was my memory incorrect? Was I losing my touch in the kitchen?.... The color and moisture were all wrong...

My memory of them were DARK, moist, dense, creamy yet soft chew, and super fudge-like.

Now I switch the apron for my lab coat.....food scientist...to create something darker and more moist....

Chocolate Macaroons Version 2

1 (7 ounce) bag sweetened flaked coconut
3 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar
1/4 cup Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder
2 large egg whites, at room temperature
3 (1 ounce) semi-sweet chocolate baking squares, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pinch salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or foil; lightly coat with cooking spray (if using nonstick pans or liners, do not use cooking spray).

2. In large bowl, toss coconut with sugar and cocoa powder until coconut is dark and evenly coated. In a pan melt the chocolate; let cool slightly. In small bowl, combine egg whites, chocolate, vanilla and salt until blended. Add to coconut mixture; blend well with spatula.

3 On prepared baking sheet, form heaping table-spoonfuls of mixture into 15 mounds, 2 inches apart. Bake 15 minutes or until bottoms are golden and tops start to brown (centers will be slightly soft). Let cool 10 minutes on baking sheet; remove with spatula to wire rack; let cool completely on rack.

AND....Here are the results....


Version 1 on the left.- crunchy outside, over chewy coconut.

Version 2 on the right.- softer but gooey on the inside, yet still too chewy.









Here they are head to head, opened up.

Sorry to say version 2 is close....but it's not it. Dang it.






I email my Aunt Lucia telling her about the future posting and that I had to tweak the recipe for it wasn't the same as I remembered. Then she realized something wasn't right and it WASN'T the real recipe after all. Bless her heart, she dug for the recipe. She could have kept me in the dark I wouldn't have known really. She emailed me again and told me that I was going to shoot her. I was right, she didn't send me the right recipe at first....

Now, here it is!

The REAL Chocolate Macaroon

1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk

3 squares unsweetened chocolate

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cans (4 oz each) shredded coconut

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease cookie sheet.

In top of double boiler, combine condensed milk, chocolate squares, and salt; cook over boiling water, stirring frequently, until chocolate melts and mixture thickens, Remove from heat.

Add coconut and vanilla; mix well. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls, 1 inch apart, on cookie sheet. (Don't worry about space really, they don't spread at all- cram them on the sheet)

Bake 10 - 12 minutes or just until cookies are set. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

RESULTS? DING DING....OMG, I can die a happy woman now, an old friend is back in my life now after twenty years. Unfortunately, I have to check into rehab for a coconut overdose!

What is K-man's take on all this? He's tried all versions. He knows the full story, which is his favorite? The third one....he says it's melt in your mouth good, he used the term buttery but it's not got butter in it. LOL I was worried for a minute there for of the first two he like version 1 better. ACK! Thank god he likes THIS one as I do, for now I know he's a keeper. Otherwise it would have been sad to see him go..hahahhahaha.

The first two recipes are good if you like the crunchy, chewy type of macaroon or the second version if you like some gooey-ness. But I PROMISE you, the last recipe, is not only easy but I bet it will win you over too....afterall....for 20 years these beauties have lingered in my mind. Memory still good....check!

Lucia....these 'rock' like the days you made them, thank you so much for your tireless digging to give this to me....I will treasure this recipe always now and make them each holiday in honor of the best Aunt in the world! Love you!

Tired of coconut now but happy,