We all know that peanut butter and jelly go perfectly together.  But do you know what else goes perfectly with peanut butter?  Chocolate.  Oh yeah, and cashews.  Combine them all together, and what you have is the absolute perfect snack.

I’m not going to lie – this was by far my favorite of the peanut butter recipes that I did for Tablespoon.  Between my husband, daughter and I, we devoured this all in less than 24 hours.  It’s that dangerous.  And that delicious.

Here’s how you make it:
 

 
Start with some air popped popcorn. You can use microwave popcorn, but I prefer air popped.  (And you save a few calories – not that it matters that much, because you are going to be drenching it in peanut butter and chocolate!)
 

 
The peanut butter mixture is just a mixture of peanut butter, honey, corn syrup, sugar, and vanilla.  Cook it up, and pour it over your popcorn.  I poured it over the popcorn in a bowl, but it would be way easier to put your popcorn on a sheet pan and pour the peanut butter mixture over.
 

 
Melt some chocolate chips, and drizzle the chocolate over the peanut butter popcorn.  Add in some cashews, and if you have the patience, wait for the chocolate to set up.   Or dig right in – because that’s what I did!!

Make sure you check out the recipe over at Tablespoon, along with my other peanut butter recipes.  And I have one more coming to you tomorrow!!
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© Deborah Harroun for Taste and Tell, 2012. | Permalink | 18 comments |

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A little while back, the folks at Tablespoon contacted me to see if I would be interested in doing a special one-month collection of recipes for them. With the theme of peanut butter. Peanut butter? How could I resist??? Creating 5 recipes around peanut butter would not only be a piece of cake, (what better ingredient?), but I thought it would be fun!

So over the next 3 days, I’m going to be bringing you 3 of those 5 recipes. So I apologize right now for the crazy amount of sweets I have coming at you this week, but it’s all worth it!

Up first – one of my favorite cookies. I love peanut butter cookies, and turning them into thumbprint cookies was a no-brainer. And what goes better with peanut butter than jelly?

One of my biggest things when making thumbprint cookies is the double indentation. I’ve seen lots of recipes that have you freeze the cookies before baking so that the indentation stays, but I say why waste the time? Here is what I do.
 

 
After you make the dough, roll it into balls. Use your thumb or your knuckle to make an indentation. I usually opt for the knuckle, because my fingernail always leaves a mark when I use my thumb! Bake the cookies.
 

 
When they come out of the oven, some of the indentation will have disappeared. You don’t want to use your knuckle again, (unless you don’t care about burns!), so I use the end of a wooden spoon. Works perfectly every time!!
 

You can find the recipe – along with my other peanut butter recipes – over at Tablespoon. The recipe is also included below!

What is your favorite way to enjoy peanut butter?

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Read the rest of Peanut Butter and Jelly Thumbprint Cookies (308 words)

© Deborah Harroun for Taste and Tell, 2012. | Permalink | 22 comments |

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Mother’s Day is past now. And I’ve come to believe that it is a hard “holiday”. I had a conversation with my mom and sisters the other day. My mom said that she had read this article that said that most women don’t like Mother’s Day. You hear stories and stories about moms that do it all. Moms that have perfectly dressed and behaved children. Moms whose kids only say cute and witty things. Kids who spend the day pampering mom while she gets to take the whole day off, napping, being fed, and reading a book. Women hear these stories. And they read hundreds of them on the internet. And it makes women think that they aren’t good enough.

The truth of the matter is that motherhood is messy. It’s full of dirty laundry and bathrooms, cooking, cooking and more cooking, homework, fixing boo-boos, stopping fights, cleaning up (usually a bazillion times a day), dirty diapers, spit up, fingerprints, and nothing remaining your own anymore. Anyone who says that motherhood is only happy times and well behaved children is full of it. And unfortunately, in today’s world, it is much too easy to read the blogs and compare your life to other people’s lives. Mom guilt is a very real thing, and I think that in today’s world, it’s only getting worse and worse because it’s so easy for us to share our lives and to look into the lives of others.

I was talking to a mom whose youngest son just turned one. I asked her if they did anything for his birthday, and she told me that she felt guilty because they just went to dinner with some friends, and then went back home and had cupcakes and sang him happy birthday. She said she had read a blog where the mom was preparing for her child’s first birthday. The birthday was still 3 months away, and she was already gung ho – making decorations and planning this elaborate party. Seeing this online mom’s preparations, and knowing that she didn’t do anything but have cupcakes for her son – all led to mom guilt. But then she said that she thought back to when she was a kid. She didn’t have a million pictures growing up. She didn’t know when she took her first step, or what her first word was. And she never remembered having a big birthday party – only family get togethers. And guess what? She turned out to be a happy, well-adjusted woman with great memories from her childhood.

Life isn’t perfect. Motherhood isn’t perfect. And just because you see it online, that doesn’t make it true. And I think that is what Mother’s Day was about to me this year. Taking stock, and realizing – yeah, I think I’m doing an ok job. Yes, I let my son eat rice krispie treats for dinner last night, but does that make me a bad mom? (Ok, maybe if I did that every night, it would, but we were helping my sister to prepare a party, and I just needed to keep him happy!) But my kids are healthy. They are (mostly) happy. They may not speak 3 languages, or know how to read by the age of 3. I may not throw elaborate birthday parties, or take them on world-wide adventures. But I love them. And I know they love me. And that’s all that really matters.
 


 
Do you know what else isn’t perfect? These cookies. I’ll admit – I really struggled with the recipe for a couple of reasons, but I think I got it all figured out for you. These cookies are ooey and gooey and super messy. But boy, are they delicious! These are cookies that you want to serve with lots of napkins. The marshmallow creme filling oozes out, so you won’t want to fill the cookies until just before serving them. And my cookies were slipping and sliding, but nothing that a little re-adjusting didn’t fix. And even though they are messy, they are totally worth it!

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© Deborah Harroun for Taste and Tell, 2012. | Permalink | 35 comments |

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Mother’s Day is tomorrow. I always like to sit back and think around this time, both about how lucky I am to have such a wonderful mother, and how blessed I am to be a mother.

I can honestly say that my mom is one of my best friends. When I need some advice or someone to talk to, she is always #1 on my list. And even though it was hard to live apart from my husband for those few months, I cherish that time that I had with my mom. I’d be up working after putting the kids to bed, and she would get home, and we’d spend time almost every night talking. We still get to talk on the phone and when we get together, but when you don’t live under the same roof, life gets so busy that it’s hard to have that much time together. So I will always treasure those few months and those late nights talking. My mom is one of those moms that never yelled. And as a child, I only remembered her being positive. I wish that I was more like her!
 

 
And let me just tell you – being a mother is harder and more rewarding than I ever thought it would be. All I ever wanted, since I was a little girl, was to be a mom. And I feel so blessed to have my two beautiful children, and one more on the way. I was putting my kids to bed last night, and as I sat in my daughter’s bed, with my daughter laying with her head in my lap as I read her bedtime stories, I couldn’t help but have my heart swell, full and grateful. I really am blessed.

These breakfast cups would be perfect to make for your mother, (or easy enough for someone to make for you!) for Mother’s Day. Nothing too fancy, but a well-loved favorite, just in a different shape. I know that I definitely wouldn’t complain if my husband and kids served this up to me on Sunday morning!
 


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© Deborah Harroun for Taste and Tell, 2012. | Permalink | 7 comments |

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Today’s Blogger Spotlight is one of the funniest food bloggers out there, in my opinion. I love visiting Kristan’s blog – Confessions of a Cookbook Queen. I love how open and honest Kristan is, and don’t even get me started on the food!! I’m so happy that she is here sharing with us today!

I’m Kristan (pronounced Kris TANNE, not to be confused with the ever popular Krist TEN).

I’m a proud housewife with a son in the first grade. Like most little boys, he’s funny and cute but a little weird. Which only makes me love him more.

I spend too much money on make-up.

I eat my kid’s Fruit Roll-Ups. As in…the whole box.

I believe in cake mix.

I love watching questionable television, but I balance it out with lots and lots of books.

I live in rural Arkansas. But I mostly stay home and pretend that I’m in an apartment smack dab in the middle of New York City. It gets me by.

I want baking to be cool. Of course, I’m not cool, but I’m hoping that someone cool will read my blog and make sure that baking sweeps the nation. Or the world. Whatever.

If I could, I would paint my life pink, sprinkle it with glitter, and give everyone a cupcake.

I believe in having fun, telling the truth, and making fun of myself. And everyone else, for that matter.

And I’m a prime example that even the most imperfect people can create fabulous things in the kitchen.

I have no formal training, other than some cake decorating classes I took a few years back at Michaels craft store. I do some cake and cookie decorating from my home, and I feature those projects from time to time. Mainly though, I just want to present good recipes in a very approachable way. (from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen)

What inspired you to first start writing your blog?
I was reading a lot of blogs and did a ton of baking and cake decorating at home. I realized that although I LOVED the blogs I was reading, I didn’t feel like many of them spoke to ME in particular. They all seemed so perfect!! I thought that maybe I’d have a voice to contribute that wasn’t out there already.

What kinds of posts are your favorite to write? What do your readers seem to like the most?
Probably the ones that are about everyday stuff that you think no one else thinks about. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve written about some weird thought that lives in my brain, held my breath, and hit publish. What I’ve come to realize is that most of us think the same things, whether we admit it or not. I get so many emails saying “I showed that post to my husband and he said it was like I wrote it myself!!” That makes me feel a little less weird

Where do most of your recipes come from?
A little of everything…inspiration is everywhere!!

Caramel Butter Pecan Bars

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Read the rest of Blogger Spotlight | Confessions of a Cookbook Queen (648 words)