A Potpourri of Activity

Winter may not officially be here yet, but somebody forgot to tell the weatherman.

I knew this wasn't a good sign when I looked out my front window yesterday morning. My neighbor's kids were playing ice hockey on their driveway.

And of course this is the day my daughter had her last two finals and I had to go out to the allergist's office. Fortunately, the salt and sand trucks were out in full force.

I got to stay in this morning, so I decided to finish making my potpourri packets. Let's see: I have my dried oranges and lemons, cinnamon sticks, dry bay leaves, whole cloves, tulle, ribbon and tags.

Now, how many did I need for gifts this year?

While I was wrapping up (it's a pun, get it?) the potpourri project, my daughter came into the kitchen and began pulling out the ingredients she would be needing for her own little project.

My daughter decided that she wanted to make Buckeye Candies. Apparently, these treats were a favorite of hers in foods class in high school. She set up her mise en place for me: powdered sugar, unsalted butter, chocolate chips and peanut butter.



She softened the butter in the microwave before adding in the peanut butter.

She stirred until well mixed...

Before adding in the powdered sugar. The mixture begins to get a bit thick.

Houston, we have a problem. The peanut butter and the spatula are having issues.

My daughter rolled the peanut butter into small balls.

Parchment paper prevents the balls from sticking to the pans. My daughter let the pans chill out in the garage for a while.

Meanwhile, my daughter demonstrates the proper way to melt chocolate using the microwave. She heated water in a heat-proof container and then set the bowl of chocolate chips on top of that.

This part was messy.

The peanut butter balls were coated in chocolate and then returned to the cold garage.

Wonder if she'll let me have any?

And now you know why these candies are called Buckeyes. Can you tell which one is the real buckeye?