Easy Home Made Peanut Butter Cups!

Who doesn't love Reese's Peanut Butter Cups?!? I mean, c'mon. They're so. good. Right? Unless you're allergic, of course. While the real deal is irresistible, wouldn't it be neat to discover that not only can you make your own, but that it is so simple too?

True story ladies and gents. And if I can do it, anyone can. 

I found a couple of different recipes on Pinterest and decided to make my own version of the two to see how it would turn out:

Recipe #1 - Homemade Peanut Butter Cups @ Fifteen Spatulas 

Recipe #2 - Reeses Pumpkin Peanut Butter Cups @ Chocolate Covered Katie

Recipe #1 is what originally caught my eye, but with Thanksgiving being this past weekend, the addition of pumpkin in Recipe #2 inspired me to experiment a bit. I don't have any specific measurements as this is a recipe that I figured could afford some experimentation, but I will try my best to be as accurate and descriptive as possible. 


Regular Peanut Butter Cups

Ingredients:
- 1 heaping Tbsp room-temperature butter (I used salted, I'm sure it won't matter which you use though) 
- 3 Tbsp peanut butter (as you can see, I used Jif creamy)
- 1/4 cup icing sugar  
- 4 oz (4 squares) semi-sweet bakers chocolate (you could use any chocolate you want!)

Directions: 
1) Line mini-muffin tin with 8 mini-muffin papers of your choice

2) Warm a pan of water on the stove over med-low heat

3) Place 1/2 the chocolate in a small bowl, then place the bowl in the warm stove-water (a double-boiler would also work, I just do not own one). Stir chocolate as it melts, making sure that it's completely melted.

*Be careful not to burn the chocolate, you really only need the bowl to be just warm enough to melt the chocolate, so keep an eye on it! This is also why you don't put chocolate in a pot directly on the burner - it would burn the chocolate. Also be careful not to get water in the chocolate because it will seize and that's no fun! I know, I know, lots of rules - I promise, it's really not complicated!

4) Carefully spoon or pour chocolate into the bottom of 8 mini-muffin cups, dividing evenly amongst them all. Bang muffin tin on counter a few times in order to smooth/even out the melted chocolate. Place in freezer to harden while preparing filling.

5) While the chocolate is hardening in the freezer, you can begin mixing the peanut butter and butter together in a small bowl, being sure to mix it together very well. I used a cereal bowl and a regular spoon from my flatware set, and mixed until smooth and well-blended. 

6) You can now start mixing the icing sugar into the peanut butter/butter mixture, being sure to get out any clumps. It may be beneficial to sift the icing sugar first, but I didn't do so myself and it turned out fine. 
*The filling is the part that can really be experimented with. My measurements for the filling are not exact, I just guesstimated. Honestly, just use my measurements as a guideline and add more (or less) of any of the ingredients as you see fit. Want the filling sweeter? Add more icing sugar. Want it saltier? Add more PB. Go ahead and play with this one, I'm fairly certain that you can't mess it up too badly! 

7) Remove the now-hardened chocolate from the freezer and drop a spoonful of the filling onto the chocolate, dividing the mixture up between all 8 cups. I used a spoon to flatten my mixture out a bit, but in all honestly, anything goes here. Leaving it as a lump is just find if you don't care whether or not it's "perfect".

8) Place the muffin tin back into the freezer for another 10-15 minutes to allow the filling to harden before adding the top layer of chocolate. 

9) Repeat step 3. 

10) Spoon/pour remaining melted chocolate over filling, being sure to tap on the counter after each one in order to smooth and flatten the tops before the chocolate hardens from the cold filling.

11) Place muffin tin back in freezer for 10-15 minutes to allow top layer of chocolate to harden. 

12) Take out of the freezer, peel the wrapper off and enjoy!

Regular PB already filled, filling for pumpkin cups being mixed (quick pic of some ingredients)

Pumpkin Peanut Butter Cups

Ingredients: 
- 1 heaping Tbsp room-temperature butter (I used salted, I'm sure it won't matter which you use though)
- 2 Tbsp peanut butter (I used Jif Creamy)
- 2 Tbsp canned pumpkin (I used plain canned pumpkin, not the pie filler)
- 1/4 cup icing sugar 
- A pinch or two of cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, etc. to flavour
- 4 oz (4 squares) semi-sweet bakers chocolate (you could use any chocolate you want!)

Directions: 
1) Line mini-muffin tin with 8 mini-muffin papers of your choice 

2) Warm a pan of water on the stove over med-low heat 

3) Place 1/2 the chocolate in a small bowl, then place the bowl in the warm stove-water (a double-boiler would also work, I just do not own one). Stir chocolate as it melts, making sure that it's completely melted
*Be careful not to burn the chocolate, you really only need the bowl to be just warm enough to melt the chocolate, so keep an eye on it! This is also why you don't put chocolate in a pot directly on the burner - it would burn the chocolate. Also be careful not to get water in the chocolate because it will seize and that's no fun! I know, I know, lots of rules - I promise, it's really not complicated!

4) Carefully spoon or pour chocolate into the bottom of 8 mini-muffin cups, dividing evenly amongst them all. Bang muffin tin on counter a few times in order to smooth/even out the melted chocolate. Place in freezer to harden while preparing filling.

5) While the chocolate is hardening in the freezer, you can begin mixing the peanut butter, butter and pumpkin together in a small bowl, being sure to mix it together very well. I used a cereal bowl and a regular spoon from my flatware set, and mixed until smooth and well-blended.

6) You can now start mixing the icing sugar into the peanut butter/butter/pumpkin mixture, being sure to get out any clumps. It may be beneficial to sift the icing sugar first, but I didn't do so myself and it turned out fine. This is also when you'll want to add your cinnamon/pumpkin pie spice, adding a little at a time until you reach your desired flavour.
*The filling is the part that can really be experimented with. My measurements for the filling are not exact, I just guesstimated. Honestly, just use my measurements as a guideline and add more (or less) of any of the ingredients as you see fit. Want the filling sweeter? Add more icing sugar. Want it saltier? Add more PB. Go ahead and play with this one, I'm fairly certain that you can't mess it up too badly!  


7) Remove the now-hardened chocolate from the freezer and drop a spoonful of the filling onto the chocolate, dividing the mixture up between all 8 cups. I used a spoon to flatten my mixture out a bit, but in all honestly, anything goes here. Leaving it as a lump is just find if you don't care whether or not it's "perfect".

8) Place the muffin tin back into the freezer for another 10-15 minutes to allow the filling to harden before adding the top layer of chocolate. 

9) Repeat step 3. 

10) Spoon/pour remaining melted chocolate over filling, being sure to tap on the counter after each one in order to smooth and flatten the tops before the chocolate hardens from the cold filling.
11) Place muffin tin back in freezer for 10-15 minutes to allow top layer of chocolate to harden. 

12) Take out of the freezer, peel the wrapper off and enjoy! 

Congratulations, you have just made (and hopefully sampled) your very first home made peanut butter cup! There are endless possibilities with this recipe. What's a variation that you have tried or want to try? Leave your answer in the comments :-) 


-J

Some DIY and Local Awesome

A bit of local awesome:

I was somewhat traumatized a handful of years ago, when I experienced my first spa-manicure. I won't bore you with the details, but it ended with a (probably) life long painful ugly mess of a non-growing cuticle. I swore I'd never do a mani (or pedi, not that I'd ever had one) at a spa, ever again... until today. 

For my most recent birthday, I was given a voucher for a mini-spa adventure which included a mani, pedi, facial and arm/hand massage. A girl can't say "no" to some pampering, especially not a girl who's on a mission to explore her hometown while creating herself. I'm glad that I was given the opportunity to get over my dis-taste for spas because this experience was a world away from my last. The owner, Emily, was a gem. She made me feel totally relaxed and at home. I will be back! She doesn't have a website, so I snapped a quick picture of her brochure:

Beautiful, relaxing view

A few fun cleaning tips, inspired by Pinterest:

1) Drain cleaner made from baking soda, white vinegar and boiling water. So simple and it worked like a charm! I used it in the bathtub drain which was definitely getting clogged up with a lot of hair, especially after giving a couple of felines a bath or two recently. It really couldn't have been much easier!

2) Jewelry cleaner made using dish soap, salt, baking soda, hot water and a piece of tin foil. Again, so simple and incredibly effective. I was shocked at how sparkly an old family ring came out - I've never seen the diamonds so sparkly! Be sure to read through the comments on the post as well, there are more helpful tips there.

So easy!

3) Microfiber couch cleaner using rubbing alcohol in a spray-bottle, a sponge and a bristly-brush. Our light-tan microfiber couch gets a lot of abuse (I really need a bib when I eat/drink anything) and has consequently seen much better days. We were honestly starting to consider tossing this one in the basement apartment and replacing it with something of another material. Well, I don't think that any of that will need to happen because the two small test-spots that I have used appear to be turning out gorgeously and I can't wait to get started on the rest! I will try to remember to post before and after photos when I do.

And that's about all that I have to report for the day. I plan to spend the next two days devouring my camera guides and hopefully starting on a photography project to get me practicing. Stay tuned!

3 Days of Fun & Thoughts

 

 

Some thoughts, encounters and fun from the past three days:

1) PacMan pretzels, made by myself and BFF:

Inspired by this post that I found via Pinterest. Not horrible for a first try!

2) Cucumber Baseball:

 

I have no idea what the cucumbers did to deserve that, but it was funny! If you were there, anyway...

3) While visiting Nanny over the weekend, she lent me The Road by Cormac McCarthy, a book she had been raving about. It's written in a style that I've never read before but I really thought that it was fantastic. The story tells the happenings of a man and his young son who are walking across post-apocalyptic - and extremely freezing - America. It really make you think about what people would do if ever faced with such dire circumstances. I feel that it's, sadly, not far off from the events of this book. I've learned that there is a movie based on the story and I may just have to check it out to see how it compares to the book.

I always seem to enjoy any book recommended by Oprah's Book Club

4) Boyfriend and I visited the newly opened restaurant The Works which everyone has been raving about, but neither of us were overly impressed by. The service was fairly attentive but you could really tell that they were recently opened as it got a bit awkward at moments. The decor was a sort-of construction site/pub feel and the way they served the food and drinks was very unique (see photos). However, we both found that our fries were very hard to chew and tasted of old grease, and the burger patties were charcoal on the outside and dry as a bone inside. We had already waited for half an hour on a not-too-busy Monday night, and weren't overly interested in waiting any longer for new food if we complained, so we did our best to eat what we could. It has potential, but I think we'll be waiting for them to iron out the new restaurant kinks before returning.

Drinks served in measuring cups!

Lightbulb S&P shakers

Wilty-looking fries and a charred burger.

5) Weeds only has one more episode! After 8 seasons and 101 episodes of Botwin family shenanigans, they have come full circle back to Agrestic/Regrestic where they are wrapping things up and the cast is moving on. I'm alright with it, they really had a good run while it lasted but it couldn't possibly drag on any longer. I wonder how it will all end?! So exciting!

Not to worry fellow Weeds fans - Justin Kirk's (Uncle Andy) new comedy Animal Practice starts on September 26th. If you didn't catch the pilot episode that aired just after the Olympic closing ceremonies in August, be sure to watch the premiere. Unless you don't like monkeys in lab coats... 

5) Sons of Anarchy season 5 premieres tonight!! I know, I know -I'm talking about a lot of TV but, at least it's super-epic TV. I am stoked to have the entire incredibly talented cast of SOA blow my mind for another season. If you've never watched it, you are seriously depriving yourself and I'm sad for you. 

6) I was able to read about 3 pages of my Magic Lantern guide to our DSLR last night, and I feel that I've already learned a lot. I'm pretty stoked to see what else I'll learn, and have even started an inspiration board on Pinterest. Check it out!

 

Until tomorrow....

Disorganized? Who, me?

Right, so you all hate Mondays... I don't really "have" Mondays anymore... blah blah blah. Well, for your information, I'm no longer unaffected by Mondays. I'm actually glad to see Monday today. Yup. I said it. Boyfriend has gone to the city to work for the day and it's rather cool outside so I threw open the windows for some fresh air, made myself some tea, and sat down to tackle a stack of miscellaneous crap that has accumulated on my end table (it's really more of a bookshelf).

Once I had enough piles, I realized that some of the piles needed a home in the office, but the office looked like a tornado had passed through. Then, I decided I would just tackle organizing anything I could today, so I got on Pinterest and started searching office and kitchen organization. And then I got lost in the lovely world of Pinterest and started searching everything. 

3 hours and a lunch-break later and here I sit. Nothing is organized, and I've created an even bigger war-zone. There are piles everywhere, along with the aftermath of my lunch-making escapades (I made poutine for which, of course, I had to make bacon). It was a 3-appliance, multi-utensil adventure and we have no running water today. I think it's time to pour a vodka, or maybe crack a beer. This is going to require more effort that I had accounted for. 

One thing that I desperately need to include in my office organization is a place to store all of the nail crap I've accumulated. Just this weekend I bought 4 new bottles of nail polish and took over the kitchen at least twice to try fun things with my nails. Last night, I made my own version of these sunset nails using this tutorial as a guide. They were super easy to do and turned out alright, but I definitely need some smaller brushes if I'm going to start painting palm trees and such. 

*Ignore my ring finger, I was just seeing what the colours looked like in a marbled effect, which was my original intention when I sat down to paint them.

Ombre sunset nails

Speaking of sunsets, here is a photo I snapped of the first official sunset of Summer 2012. The colours in the sky were incredible! 

Alright, I think that's enough procrastinating for one afternoon. To organize, I go!!

Hello again, Monday!

Happy Monday! 

To save you from my usual babble, I will summarize my weekend with a short-but-awesome list of what my weekend looked like:

1) We went for a midnight stroll on Thursday night to grab some Whistle Stop dessert poutine. Yum.

Strawberry Dream Poutine

2) I was able to use up a few more of our absurd amount of too-ripe bananas by making these muffins. I used 1/2 cup of white sugar & 1/4 cup of brown sugar instead of the full 3/4 cups of white sugar, and I added about a teaspoon of vanilla to the banana mixture. Next time, I'd replace even more of the white sugar with brown (I'm a bit obsessed with brown sugar), but these were still very very delicious!

Mmm Banana Crumb Muffins

3) I spent Friday night having Vodka Friday with the girls, however I decided to drink pretty much everything BUT vodka, and ended up with a Hangover of Death all day Saturday. No, I do not have photographic evidence of this one.

4) Despite my liver trying to kill me all day Saturday, I was able to acquire two new pieces of art for our walls, created by the ridiculously talented Ashley Wilson.

So much going on in this one!

I have wanted this one since I first saw it. The colours!

5) Hangover of Death finally (mostly) subsided by Saturday night, so we went to a late screening of the newest Happy Madison film, That's My Boy. As usual, Adam Sandler knows how to cause side-splitting laughter. Hilarious movie with a great cast, which happens to include Blair Waldorf Leighton Meester to help me out with summertime Gossip Girl withdraw...

6) I decided to have craft time, so I went on Pinterest and decided to make these Father's Day cards. Super-easy for anyone who may be craft-challenged!

Aaaaand that just about sums up my weekend. How was yours? What did you do to amuse yourself in this heat? 

Just another Manic Monday

Well, I'll say that was a successful weekend! 

Saturday was the local dragon boat races, and while they were forecasting thunderstorms all day, Mother Nature decided to play nice and only gave us a couple of small showers in the morning. I love watching our community come together and rally for such a good cause. People get into this festival, and I do mean REALLY get into it. Our downtown is transformed into a sea of pink everywhere you look, and people can be found randomly breaking into song and dance at any given time. Check out this article about Saturday's races, complete with a slide show (Nanny is in photo #13) and a short video. The final tally for funds raised won't be announced until the fall, but they are so far sitting at over $170,000. That's a lot of money from a town of 75,000 people. If that isn't community spirit, I don't know what is.

I was feeling a bit "festive" and made some Pink Lemonade cupcakes. Mmmm summer!

A few blocks up the street from dragon boat races, A Taste of Downtown was happening. If there's one thing that I love about living in Peterborough, it's definitely our amazing selection of restaurants that reside in our downtown core. Mike and I, forever following our taste buds, decided to hit up Charlotte Street for the rare treat of getting to eat at all of our favourite restaurants at once. Apparently we didn't quite get enough during the day because after several drinks with friends, we walked back down to Whistle Stop for one of their 50+ poutines. Ohhhh mouthgasm. Very quickly devoured by 3 of us were Pulled Pork poutine, Philly Cheese Steak poutine, and Strawberry Dream dessert poutine (if you love funnel cake, you'll love dessert poutine). I really can't get enough of this place.

...Apparently I failed to take many photos of my weekend, but that's fine. I will have many more delicious encounters with food and will find many more awesome things to fill my time with that will all require photographic evidence. 

And now, I go (with a promise to take more photos). I have 5 hours to plan, gather, get ready, drive 45 minutes to a cottage, and set up for this evening's event: a mini-birthday party of sorts for a good friend. Cheers!