HOLIDAY COOKIE SWAP

When you can't do an "in person" cookie swap with friends you go for the next best thing...

A VIRTUAL COOKIE SWAP!

The participants and rules are:

So here are my recipes:

Salted Caramel Brownies

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter

8 oz. plus 6 oz. Hershey's semisweet chocolate chips

3 oz. unsweetened chocolate 

3 extra-large eggs

1 1/2 tablespoons instant coffee granules, such as Nescafe

1 Tbs. pure vanilla extract

1 cup plus 2 Tbs. of sugar

1/2 cup plus 2 Tbs. all purpose flour, divided

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

5 to 6 oz. good caramel sauce, such as Fran's

2 to 3 tsp. flaked sea salt, such as Maldon

1. Preheat the oven to 350.  Butter and flour a 9x12x1 1/2 inch baking pan.

2. Melt the butter, 8 oz of the chocolate chips and the unsweetened chocolate together in a medium bowl set over simmering water.  Allow to cool for 15 minutes.  In a large bowl, stir (do not beat) together the eggs, coffee, vanilla and sugar.  Stir the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and allow to cool to room temperature (it is very important to allow the butter to cool before adding the chocolate chips, or the chips will melt and ruin the brownies.)

3. In a medium bowl, sift together 1/2 cup of the flour, the baking powder and salt and add to the chocolate mixture.  Toss the remaining 6 oz. of chocolate chips and the remaining 2 Tbs. of flour in a medium bowl and add them to the chocolate mixture.  Spread evenly in the bottom of prepared pan.

4. Bake for 35 minutes, until a toothpick come out clean.  Do not over bake!

5. As soon as the brownies are out of the oven, place the jar of caramel sauce without the lid in a microwave and heat just until it's pourable.  Stir until smooth.  Drizzle the caramel evenly over the hot brownies and sprinkle with the sea salt.  Cool completely and cut into 12 bars.

Note: the above recipe isn't a family recipe, it was just something I found in the Food Network magazine that turned out to be a big hit with my knitting group and my family so I figured they were awesome enough to share here :)

Holiday Rolo Melts

I have no idea what these are called, I just made them because the recipe was on the back of a rolo bag and again, another hit with everyone I shared them with.  They are yummy and really easy to make.

1 bag of holiday pretzel rings

1 bag of rolos

1 bag of glazed pecans (found in the baking section of the grocery store)

1. pre-heat the oven to 350

2. line a cookie sheet with parchment paper

3. lay out as many holiday pretzel rings as you can fit on the parchment paper

4. place one rolo in the center of each pretzel ring

5. place cookie sheet in oven 1-3 minutes (test every minute because some ovens melt the rolos faster than others). 

6.  when the rolos is melted (usually in about 2 minutes), remove from oven and set the cookie sheet on counter.

7. place a glazed pecan into the center of every rolo, push down until the chocolate fills the pretzel (if it doesn't fill the pretzel then the rolo and pecan will fall out of pretzel when it cools).

8. you can allow the rolo melts to cool on the counter until hard enough to eat.  I usually pop mine in the fridge to cool them quickly.  

and even better than what is above...

More Recipes!

Please stop over to visit the blogs of the wonderful virtual cookie swappers.  All of these awesome ladies have great recipes to share and bake a million times better than I do so don't miss out!!  (a few may not have finished uploading their recipes yet so stay tuned because all recipes will be live soon).

ALINA

CARRIE

KATHY

MONICA

TERESA

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OFF THE COB: SWEET CORN CHIPS

Ok... I needed to blog about this young man.

A while back Andrew Zimmern (Minnesota's famous chef) had twittered about this Kickstarter fundraiser for a guy named Cameron Sheldrake.   Cameron is a young entrepreneur that started a company called Off The Cob Sweet Corn Tortilla Chips.  His chips are unique in that they are made using real sweet corn, they contain no artificial ingredients, no artificial coloring, they are certified non-GMO, gluten free, and

cholesterol free. When Cameron was looking for backers on Kickstarter I decided to give a little.  Now knowing that the company is legit (yes, I do worry about that on Kickstarter) I wish I had given more.  

The other day a package arrived for me and when I opened the box and discovered a bag of chips my first thought was "who in the heck would send me chips?" Forgetting about Cameron's Kickstarter Project.  When I found the handwritten thank you note it all came back to me.  

I was really excited to try the chips but I'll be honest, I didn't expect them to be very good.  I've purchased several types of chips at the Natural Food Store and I have always found them to be either too salty, not salty enough, lacking taste or being too hard, etc... but I wanted to know what "sweet" corn chips taste like so I tore open the bag and started eating :-)

I have to report that Cameron's Sweet Corn Chips are the best I've ever eaten.  My family and I devoured the entire bag in a matter of minutes, they were sooooooo yummy! Lots of flavor and just the right amount of salt. I'm bummed that we don't carry the chips locally yet but perhaps soon.  Luckily, the chips are for sale out east in some Whole Foods Stores (for those of you who live out that way) and they are also sold on Amazon (for those of us who don't live out that way).  Now I'm just waiting on my delivery so I can make some guacamole to eat with my chips :D

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CLIMATE CHANGE THROUGH THEIR EYES

Have you ever wondered what climate change looks like through the eyes of our wild neighbors?

photo source: CLICK HERE

Climate Change through the eyes of a Grizzly Bear: more mountain pine beetles = less whitebark pine trees = less whitebark pine seeds = starving grizzly bears 

photo source: CLICK HERE

Climate Change through the eyes of a Polar Bear: melting sea ice = less access to seals = more energy spent hunting for food = less time for reproduction = less polar bears  

photo source: CLICK HERE

Climate Change through the eyes of an Orangutan: drought = loss of habitat due to more wild fires = no food and no place to live

photo source: CLICK HERE

Climate Change through the eyes of a Snow Leopard: warmer, wetter weather = loss of alpine habitat = loss of hunting grounds = desperation = exposure to humans & livestock = increased retaliatory killings of the snow leopard

photo source: CLICK HERE

Climate Change through the eyes of a Gazelle: drought = expansion of desert land = loss of of trees and grass = less food = having to compete with livestock for food = loss of life for the gazelle.  

photo source: CLICK HERE

Climate Change through the eyes of a Cheetah: loss of the gazelle = eating outside normal diet = getting less “healthy” protein = negative effect on sperm health = changing the ability to reproduce effectively = dwindling number of cheetahs

photo source: CLICK HERE

Climate Change through the eyes of a Tiger: rising temperatures = melting sea ice = rising water levels = flooded lands = loss of habitat

photo source: CLICK HERE

Climate Change through the eyes of a Shark: warmer waters = expanding food search area = becoming stressed = a refusal to mate = less sharks + more exposure to humans = more conflict = slaughtered sharks.

photo source: CLICK HERE

Climate Change through the eyes of a Sea Turtle: warmer weather = melting ice caps = rising sea level = erosion of nesting beaches & changes in sex ratios = less sea turtles

Photo source: CLICK HERE

Climate Change through the eyes of a Bird: warmer weather = change in migratory patterns = missing out on food sources & mates = unhealthy birds = less offspring. 

Add poaching and human caused habitat destruction and what do you get?

EXTINCTION!

Now what does climate change look like through your eyes?

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REAL FRIENDS MAKE SURE YOU NEVER STOP CREATING

I wish I had a bumper sticker that said real friends make sure you never stop creating or maybe even better would be real friends know that creating keeps you sane or something like that.
My friend Teresa over at Homestead Notes (growing, writing, creating) is the person my bumper sticker would be referring to.  When I was giving up on knitting, she mailed me a a pattern for knitted sox to keep me going, when I told her I wish I could bake like her she sent me an awesome cookie recipe to get me baking, and most importantly when I don't say anything at all she knows exactly what I need - like the wonderful wolf fabric she sent me yesterday.  It came at the perfect time, bringing a smile to my face after learning that the injunction to stop the wolf hunt has been denied.  Yes, fabric with beautiful wolf faces makes me smile in the midst of all the idiocy of hunting and trapping.

Teresa knows that one key to inner peace is being creative.  Whether that be writing, making soap, knitting or baking... creativity is the spice of life :-)

So this post is for you T - Thank you!!

The beautiful wolf fabric Teresa sent:

My first lace scarf.  I'm actually about to finish it and it only took me 2 months. Yay! (don't laugh but I'm thinking I might frame it. LOL!)

and... the awesome cards I received in a swap.  I don't have pix of the ones I sent to others but here is what I received back:

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WOLF WALK 2012 - DULUTH, MINNESOTA

If you're in Minnesota please attend Wolf Walk in Duluth to advocate for gray wolves and stop the wolf hunting and trapping season in November. 

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WHO COULD HAVE KNOWN...

That my creative energy would return and I wouldn't even realize it.  Since August I've felt like a new person.  After turning 40 last year I fell into this nasty little funk and had no energy to write, craft, or even spend that much time in nature.  My summer began pretty poorly but before I knew it I was busy making cards, knitting, baking; all of a sudden I feel good again.  All I want to do is spin fiber, knit, poke around the garden - is it some kind of weird rebirth?  Who knows and who cares right?  As long as I am being productive and enjoying myself.
So my blog share is really just about what I've been up to.    Let's start with my garden:

PEAS: didn't turn out due to the insane heat we experienced this summer.

TOMATOES & ASPARAGUS:  stolen by one of natures creatures, likely deer and rabbits.

CUCUMBERS: due to my raspberry bush being grossly overgrown it swallowed up my cucumbers so I couldn't get to them without being attacked by a hoard of wasp (I learned my lesson about how closely I plant things).

STRAWBERRIES: looked healthy but didn't produce a single strawberry because of the early spring and refreeze we had.

APPLE TREES: still not producing apples.  I learned from an organic farmer that it's because I purchased the large apple trees and not the dwarf.  Apparently it may not produce for 3 more years.

PEANUTS: didn't grow - don't know why

BLUEBERRIES: deer ate them all down to little nubs.

LAVENDER: one bush died and the other is doing ok.

So what did turn out perfectly?  Shallots,  beans and raspberries!  This is the first year to plant shallots and beans and I've planted a raspberry bush a year for the past 4 years.  Thanks to my friend Teresa over at Homestead Notes (growing, writing, creating) and her advice on what book to buy I learned when to harvest the shallots and beans so not only did they grow well I was able to harvest them before they rotted.  My raspberries were in a happier mood than last year, producing and producing and producing lots of yummy fruit.  They must love heat!

And speaking of feeling creative, productive and having such an awesome friend, Teresa sent me a wonderful little package of goodies this past weekend.  The package included a recipe for pumpkin pineapple muffins, 3 little cloth bags with gifts inside, a pretty handmade card and this:

Colorful, interesting fiber to spin!  The pinkish fiber is cotton and the silky looking blue fiber is tencel.  I've never spun either so I'm looking forward to seeing how it spins.  

Thank you so much Teresa for the wonderful package and for knowing what I enjoy so well.

Now I'm off to knit :-)

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DOES THE INTERNATIONAL WOLF CENTER MISLEAD THEIR MEMBERS?

I'm writing this for one reason only. How many people look at the International Wolf Center the way I did? That is why I write. If you are anything like I was you see the Intl. Wolf Center as a haven for wolves. A place that educates the public not he factual information pertaining to Canis lupus, a place that is run by people that care about and want to preserve our wolf population (their twitter page says they advance the survival of wolves). Well... if you think like that I would say that you are wrong, just as wrong as I was. 

ANNOUNCEMENT!  Howling for Wolves and the Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit challenging hunting and trapping of Minnesota wolves.

Click here to see copy of lawsuit filed

This year our wolves were taken off the endangered species list.  As soon as I heard about it I sent a facebook message to the International Wolf Center asking how we could help them protect our wolves. They replied that they serve only to educate the public on wolves and were remaining neutral in the wolf hunt/trap debate.  It bothered me but I understood.  Later I was reading an article that had the founder of the Intl. Wolf Center, Dr. Mech, quoted saying the wolf hunt/trap was a testament to how well our wolf population is thriving.  Here are some quotes from Dr. Mech:

Many of the folks who see public wolf hunting as a positive development actually are pro-wolf.

Regulated hunting of wolves will not endanger the species again.

[a hunt] That isn't going to hurt the population, Mech said.  And it may reduce human-wolf conflicts by making the animals more wary of humans, he said.

You can see and hear Dr. David Mech talk about how the DNR's plan to trap and slaughter 400 wolves in Minnesota is the best management plan and he also says it is "conservative."

SEE VIDEO OF DR. MECH HERE

So much for remaining neutral right?

I also recently learned that in the winter 2010 publication by the International Wolf Center, Dr. Mech was actually quoted explaining how to carry out a wolf hunt on pregnant females and pups and when it is best to kill them for their pelt.  Sound neutral to you?

I figured the best I could do after learning about Dr. Mech's position on the wolf hunt/trap was to stop giving the Intl. Wolf Center my money but... after receiving what should be my last publication from the center I had to go a bit further, which is this blog post.

In the fall 2012 International Wolf Center Publication sent to members (which I just received in the mail) there is an article titled "Minnesota's First Ever Wolf Season."  In the article the author Dan Stark states the following:

After taking public comments, as required by law, the DNR will publish a final rule for the 2012 wolf seasons.  While decisions about whether to have a wolf season and when to start it have already been made through the lawmaking process, the DNR public-comment process is intended to seek input on the wolf season proposal.

Now... the above quote may not mean much to people outside of Minnesota but as someone who believed  the Intl. Wolf Center was neutral on the hunt/trap issue and as someone who supported them financially in the past, I am angry that not only have they not remained neutral and probably contributed to the push for hunt but they outright lie.  If the above quote isn't a lie and just a delay in the publication process then they have no business writing articles that are so grossly outdated.

Back in late spring/early summer the DNR accepted public comments on the wolf hunt/trap in Minnesota and out of the 7,000 + people who responded, 80% were against the hunt.  The quote by Dan Stark leads people to believe that the DNR would take the public comments into consideration when deciding to have the hunt/trap but in fact that isn't true.  The DNR knows the results and made no changes to their plan to allow 400 wolves to be trapped and slaughtered.  In fact, the Intl. Wolf Center feigns surprise at the backlash:

Nancy Gilbson, co-founder of the International Wolf Center in Ely, said the results clearly indicate the public is still divided on the question of a wolf hunt, even if the survey was hijacked by anti-hunting groups.  "It's a surprise to me," she said of the number who responded and the overwhelming anti-hunting sentiment they expressed.

READ REPORT ON SURVEY HERE (STAR TRIBUNE) 


No anti hunting groups hijacked the survey.  That is the excuse that came out of the pro killing camp when they saw that 80% were against the hunt/trap.  I took the survey and I'm not anti-hunting.  I made numerous calls to notify people of the survey and I spoke with several hunters that shared my view that the wolf hunt is a mistake and were eager to fill out the survey.

So before I take this post in a direction that will defeat the purpose I'll close with this.  Everyone I've ever spoken to about the International Wolf Center believes the center is all about preserving our wolf population.  Even I was shocked to learn that they didn't remain neutral and I kept searching to see if the quotes above were some kind of mistake.  So if your goal is just to keep a minimum number of wolves alive across the nation (numbers not based on a current, accurate count) then the Intl. Wolf Center deserves your dollars but if you want to see a CURRENT count of wolves, one that isn't based on scat, tracks and deer carcasses, and if you think our wolf numbers are too low and still deserve protection then give your time and money to an organization that actively works to stop hunting and trapping of wolves.

Organizations that are on the ground, working diligently to educate the public on what is really behind all these wolf hunts across the U.S. and why slaughtering wolves is a mistake:

MINNESOTA
Howling for Wolves
Howling for Wolves on Facebook
Howling for Wolves on Twitter

NATIONWIDE
Center for Biological Diversity
Center for Biological Diversity on Facebook

INFORMATION ON WOLF ISSUES NATIONWIDE (be prepared to see some gruesome photos on this site)
Howling for Justice

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