Happy Friday everyone! Ok…so I missed last Friday and didn’t post a Friday Favorite. Oops. We were so busy getting the nooks and crannies taking care of for our online consignment and thrift store that time just got away from me. It’s just as much work to have an online store/local consignment store as it is actually have a physical store front. So needless to say, it’s been a very busy week. I’m looking forward to ending the week with our family night.

Now for today’s Friday Family Favorites recipe, I MUST WARN YOU, if you think you’ll  be satisfied after just one taste, think again. think again. You cannot just have one taste of it. Be prepared to eat the whole batch. It’s truly sinful I know. But it’s so good. I’ve been making this Oven Baked Caramel Corn recipe for a while now and it was a bit hit at the Great American Bake Sales I did a few years ago. It’s great for Halloween or around Christmas time for parties or as gifts. It’s also great with some chocolate drizzled over it.

Oven Baked Caramel Corn

Ingredients:

• 1  cup unsalted butter
• 2 cups packed  brown sugar
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
2. Pop popcorn and spread on two shallow sheet pans or 9- x13 casserole dishes work for me. Place in oven to keep warm and crisp.
3. Melt butter in a 2-quart heavy saucepan on medium heat. Once butter starts to melt, add the brown sugar and salt, stirring until sugar dissolves. Add the corn syrup. Continue to boil to the firm ball stage (248°), about 5 minutes. (I like to add the ingredients in stages.)
4. Remove from heat and stir in baking soda. Syrup will start to foam. That’s okay, it’s suppose to.
5. Carefully take popped corn from oven and pour hot caramel mixture over it, in a fine stream. Stir to mix well. Return to oven for 45 minutes, stirring and scraping up caramel from pan bottom every 15 minutes.
6. Cool and serve or store in an airtight container for up to a week.

I think this is pretty much the standard recipe for Oven Baked Caramel Corn. It’s pretty easy. I like to use unsalted butter because with too much salt it can taste too salty. Another trick I like to do is when I’m popping the popcorn, I pop it in a strainer bowl so I can shake the seeds to the bottom when transferring the popcorn to the sheet pan or casserole dish. No one likes to bite into a seed. It can break your teeth.

I’ve done a few Great American Bake Sales in the past during the school year and summer months for the Share Our Strength No Kid Hungry Campaign. Today, I came across these very cute (and FREE!) Printables over at Anything But Perfect that are perfect for my next bake sale. Aren’t they just adorable?

12 Days of Sharing

It was really exciting to participate as a co-host yesterday in the 12 Days of Sharing.  I enjoyed making the Holiday Eggnog Fudge  and it was a bit hit with the family, my taste testers. This has been an adventurous baking week for me. I’ll soon be posting some of our bake sale recipes for tomorrow’s huge event at the Nevada County Toy and Food Run.  The Nevada County Food & Toy Run benefits many families and children directly during our annual bike run in December.

In 1991 four motorcyclists thought about what they could do to help families in need during the upcoming holiday season. They came up with an interesting idea and within a few weeks created an event. The event drew 90 bikers and a responsive cord was struck in merchants, law-enforcement personnel, and the residents in the small sierra-foothill communities of Nevada City and Grass Valley. The event was the birth of the Nevada County Food & Toy Run, a “non-profit charitable” organization sponsoring fundraiser’s to help families in need.

The holiday season is upon us, and you can feel the magic in the air. While you are out and about shopping, consider sharing that magic with children across America.  By clicking on the bage below, your donation will help a hungry child. Over the course of the year, nearly 17 million children are at risk of hunger in America. That’s a pretty large number. With your donation, Share Our Strength is able to provide support to more than 1,000 non-profit organizations across America, help low-income families learn how to eat better for less through their programs and reach the goal of ending childhood hunger by 2015.

Have a favorite cookie recipe? Consider adding a recipe to the 12 Days of Sharing virtual cookie jar. The cookie swap will run until December 18th, so there’s still time to participate:

• Simply make a donate to Share Our Strength by clicking on the above 12 Days of Sharing Badge. By donating you will be entered in a giveaway to win some fantastic prizes inluding a new Cuisinart Mixer, Gift Certificates and More! Every little bit makes a difference, so no donation is too small.
• Submit your favorite cookie recipe to the Virtual Cookie Jar. Share with your fellow readers on Twitter, Facebook, My Space and encourage them to join in as well. (How to participate details)
• Visit In Jennie’s Kitchen often and the Virtual Cookie Jar for featured recipes, more from bloggers hosting, and recipes from the virtual cookie jar.

Here’s a common traditional cookie that we’ll be selling at our bake sale tomorrow and they are really easy to make. I usually make them with butterscotch flavored chips, but for the bake sale, I’m using semisweet chocolate morsels.  This will be my contribution to the virtual cookie jar today.

Magic Cookie Bars

Ingredients:

 1/2 cup butter, melted

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1 (14 ounce) can Sweetened Condensed Milk

2 cups semisweet chocolate morsels, butterscotch flavored morsels or peanut butter morsels

1 1/3 cups flaked coconut

1 cup chopped nuts

Directions:

 Heat oven to 350 degrees F. I like to use my large bar pan for making these because it evenly conducts heat and these cookies comes out great! If you don’t have a large bar pan, you can coat a 13×9 baking pan with no stick cooking spray.

Combine the gragham cracker crumbs and melted butter. Press into bottom of prepared pan. Pour the sweetened condensed milk evenly over the crumb mixture. Layer evenly with the chocolate chips, coconut and nuts. Press firmly with finger tips or a fork.

Bake for 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool. Cut into bars or diamond shapes.  Store at room temperatures.

These are absolutely fabulous! Enjoy!

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas here in the Sierra Foothills. Our first snow of the season has fallen. The trees are covered and the ground looks like powdered sugar. The baking season is upon us and today is the first day of 12 Days of Sharing.

For the next 12 days I’ll be posting some homemade baked goods and jams in honor of the 12 Days of Sharing. On Saturday, our team Nevada County Bakers will be at the Nevada County Food and Toy Run selling those baked goods and homemade jams to raise money for the Share Our Strength campaign. Being part of the Share Our Strength campaign, I’ve met a lot of fellow food bloggers dedicating their time to this great cause, including fellow food blogger, Jennifer Perillo of In Jennie’s Kitchen who is hosting our 12 Days of Sharing event.

Today I’ve decided to contribute to the Virtual Cookie Jar  a zesty Lemom Muffin recipe along with a homemade Mango jam. This is one new recipe I’ll add to our bake sales.These muffins are light and fluffy with a zesty kick. I hope you enjoy them! Later in the week I’ll be dedicating more to the cookies.

If you would like to donate to Share Our Strength, just click on the badge below.  By donating you will be entered in a giveaway  to win some funtastic prizes inluding a new Cuisinart Mixer, Gift Certificates and More!

Zesty Lemon Muffins

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter

1 cup sugar, plus a little extra to sprinkle on top of muffins before baking

4 large eggs, separated

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon lemon zest

Directions:

In a medium size mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy; add egg yolks one at a time, beating well. Set aside.

In another mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt; add to creamed mixture. Slowly add the lemon juice, beating well.

Lightly beat eggs whites until frothy. Fold egg whites into batter; stir in lemon zest. Using large scoop, fill muffin cups about three-quarters full. Sprinkle tops of muffins with sugar.

Bake lemon muffins at 375° for 20 to 25 minutes, until lightly brown. Makes about 12 lemon muffins.

Mango Jam

Ingredients

12 cups fresh mango diced

2 cups sugar

4 cups water

zest of 1 lemon

Directions:

In a medium pot, cook mango slices in water about 15 minutes or until tender. Drain.  Add sugar. Boil until thick and of jam consistency. Stir often to prevent scorching. Cool to room temperature. Jam will thicken as it sits. Spoon into canning jars. Makes a great holiday gift.

 NEVADA COUNTY BAKERS COOK FOR A CAUSE

RECIPE FOR ACTION

Despite the much needed rainy weather mother nature brought us this past weekend, our Great American Bake Sale was a success.  Our booth was moved inside the Nevada City Vets Hall so we were able to set up in the kitchen area. We sold coffee, hot chocolate, tea and a variety of baked goods, jams and marmalades. Approximately 10 moms contributed bakes goods and we received and a few donations from other supporters. I thank you all for your time, support and dedication to our event. We were able to raise $250 within the first couple of hours. That’s pretty good on a rainy day. More donations are being offered from fellow supporters.

We coordinated our event with the City Wide Yard Sale in Nevada City. As local residents searched for treasures and the best deals they were eager to satisfy their sweet tooth. The smell of cupcakes filled the hall. Our Aloha Obama Cookies, Piggy Pizza Pops, Cookie Pops and Carmel Corn were a big hit. It was a delightful treat to see the expressions on kids faces as they stopped by our booth.

According to the Food Bank, monthly distributions to individuals and families has risen sharply with the economic downturn. It is up by one-third in recent months. Every week they deliver 8,880 nutritious lunch snacks to the needest school children. But because of a lack of resources, just as many children who qualify for this service are being denied.

• $25 could cover the cost of a 4 dish utensil set to serve children free after school meals.
• $100 could buy a food carry bag to enable organizations to deliver hot and cold meals to children.
• $500 could cover the cost for an organization to buy a new deli slicer to prepare sandwiches for 150 children.
• $1000 could help an organization pay for a staff person to server meals at a meal site in the summer.

I want to make a difference in this this world and in my community by participating in the Great American Bake Sale. I can make a difference and affect the lives of many children right now from my own kitchen.

The Nevada County Bakers is a group of moms joining together in the fight to end Child Hunger in America and in our community. Help us by making your donation today, visit Nevada County Bakers. For more informatiopn about this event or future events, please contact Noel Chapman. Check back soon for our Nevada County Bakers Great American Cookbook.

Thanks to all who supported the Nevada County Bakers Great American Bake Sale. We look forward to working with you in the future.