Food

Entertaining: Dessert Bar – Homemade Twix Bars + Hot Cocoa

~ Paris
My favorite candy bar has hands down always been a Twix bar {with Milky Way bars coming in at a distant second place}. The mixture of a buttery shortbread cookie juxtaposes the sweetness of the caramel and milk chocolate perfectly, so much so that I try to avoid passing out the candy bar during Halloween since I end up eating every last one instead. This year to try and elevate our candy addiction and avoid eating everything we bought for the trick or treaters, I decided to make a homemade version of the Twix bar and paired it with my favorite hot cocoa for a dessert bar of sorts with homemade candy and a drink. It ended up being the perfect way to have a decadent dessert – the homemade version was far more indulgent, making one bar ridiculously filling – and I can’t wait to do this again on Monday night, after the kids have collected the candy, and along with a beautiful fireplace and cozy cashmere throw.

Ingredients:
Shortbread cookies
Caramels
Milk Chocolate
4 Tablespoons Heavy Whipping Cream or Milk

Recipe: 
1. Using two tablespoons of the heavy whipping cream or milk, melt both the caramels and the milk chocolate in two separate double boilers.

2. Once the caramel is melted and thickened, drizzle it on top of the cookie, avoiding it dripping over the sides.

3. Then drizzle the milk chocolate over the caramel and cookie, allowing it to drip over the sides. After a couple minutes, help mold the shape of the chocolate with your fingers to give it more of a candy bar look and feel.

4. Refrigerate for a couple hours or until the chocolate hardens.

5. Serve with a mug of hot cocoa and enjoy!

x Paris

Penne with French Herbs, Crumbled Gruyere, & an Olive Oil Drizzle

~ Paris
The other afternoon I found a bottle of Rodelle’s Herbes de Provence in our fridge. It was one of those impulse buys – something that looked amazing {add it to pastas, pizzas, soups, sandwiches…the possibilities being truly endless}, but that ended up rarely being used and tucked away to the back of our fridge. I decided to add it to my afternoon pasta, along with olive oil and crumbled gruyere. While the dish without the herbs would have been good – who doesn’t like pasta tossed in olive oil and covered in fresh, slightly melted cheese – the herbs {a blend of thyme, fennel, basil, savory, and lavender} added an extra dimension of flavor to the dish that I didn’t expect. I love that even once this bottle gets over {and I know it will very soon now that I have rediscovered it}, I can add any combination of herbs from our garden to add a slightly different flavor combination. The best part is this is ridiculously easy to make – just toss the penne with olive oil, add in the herbs, to taste, and then crumble fresh gruyere on top, which will melt slightly thanks to the warm, freshly cooked pasta.
x Paris