Salty Buckeyes

My personal chef, Sugar Baby, made these for us yesterday. They were good, but a little too sweet for most of us. I was surprised to find there was no added salt in the peanut butter mixture (only what already came in the peanut butter). So, to add some saltiness, I sprinkled sea salt on the finished product. That's more like it!


Sugar Baby got the recipe from allrecipes (just want to give credit where credit is due!)... Here it is:

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
• 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons shortening

Directions

1. Line a baking sheet with waxed paper; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, mix peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and confectioners' sugar with hands to form a smooth stiff dough. Shape into balls using 2 teaspoons of dough for each ball. Place on prepared pan, and refrigerate.
3. Melt shortening and chocolate together in a metal bowl over a pan of lightly simmering water. Stir occasionally until smooth, and remove from heat.(Or you can use the microwave to melt this - just be careful not to let it burn!)
   
4. Remove balls from refrigerator. Insert a wooden toothpick into a ball, and dip into melted chocolate. Return to wax paper, chocolate side down, and remove toothpick. Repeat with remaining balls. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to set.

Lastly, and most importantly, sprinkle each one with a little bit of sea salt. Mmmm...

Sweet, Sticky and Spicy Chicken

Sugar Baby found this recipe on allrecipes.com and made it for our lunch (or is that dinner?) today. It was soooo good! We will definitely be having it again. She doubled the sauce part of the recipe and it made enough for all eight of us. Here is the recipe, copied & pasted from allrecipes.com.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh ginger root
• 2 teaspoons chopped garlic
• 2 tablespoons hot sauce
• salt and pepper to taste
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into 1/2 inch strips
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Directions

1. Mix together brown sugar, honey, soy sauce, ginger, garlic and hot sauce in a small bowl.
2. Lightly salt and pepper the chicken strips.
3. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add chicken strips and brown on both sides, about 1 minute per side. Pour the sauce over the chicken. Simmer uncovered until the sauce thickens, 8 to 10 minutes.

Warning!

You may gain several pounds by viewing the following picture. Proceed with caution.
It's worth it though, right? ?

Mmmm... that's Sugar Baby's Brownies topped with mint chocolate chip ice cream, and then topped with today's recipe: homemade hot fudge sauce.

This recipe, unfortunately, is very easy and fast to whip up. In a matter of minutes, you can add a hundred or so calories to an ordinary bowl of ice cream. Terrible stuff, hot fudge sauce...

Ingredients:
2/3 cup cocoa
3/4 cup margarine or butter
2 cups sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups milk
1 tsp vanilla

Combine everything except the vanilla in a medium saucepan and heat until boiling, stirring constantly. Boil for one minute, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Serve hot or cold, but hot is best.