Baldur

Clarence Birdseye is born (1886)
The Smallpox Virus is eradicated (1979)
The Supreme Court of the USof A stays the 6th recount of Floridian ballots in the presidential election (2000)

Dragon

I just had to post this, it really is quite amazing!

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/paralympian-eyes-olympic-glory-miracle-crash-133210518.html

Hazer

I thought I would share a "recipe ' with you. I picked up ingredients today (my first time out grocery shopping since I got my new knee) for chocolate covered cherries. I use long stemmed maraschino cherries, drained well and patted dry with paper towel. I cover them with a mixture of peanut butter, icing sugar and Rice Crispies (or whatever brand of crisp rice cereal you use). I chill them and then dip them in melted chocolate, and once the chocolate is set, place them in a small foil cup.
Does anyone have a recipe for them that doesn't include peanut butter? My family loves them the way they are but I like to give them as gifts and should really have a nut-less version.

Baldur

Emily Dickinson is born (1830)
Nobel Prizes are first awarded (1901)
Theodore Roosevelt wins one becoming the first American to do so (1906)
The first Grateful Dead concert takes place (1965)
Industrialist and Art Collector Armand Hammer dies (1990)

Dragon

Those sound good Hazer, I'm afraid I don't know a nutless version. I do wonder how you cover them in peanut butter. Do you dunk them in or spread it on them? Also, do you mix the peanut butter, icing sugar and rice crispies first then put that on the cherries, or do you do it in stages (peanut butter, then sprinkle with sugar then dip or roll in rice crispies)?

Hazer

I'm sorry, I wasn't very clear. I combine the peanut butter, icing sugar and rice crispies, which I crush to make a smoother covering. I mold this mixture around the cherries and chill them before dunking them in the melted chocolate.

Baldur

I had never heard of the Rice Krispies variant though it sounds intriguing.
Classically the confection is made using a fondant to coat the cherries before dipping them in the chocolate.
Fondant can be difficult but this version sounds simple enough:

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,177,146188-230193,00.html

Baldur

Let me paste it here:
CHOCOLATE COVERED CHERRIES

Read more about it at www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,177,146188-230193,00.html
Content Copyright © 2011 Cooks.com - All rights reserved.

3 tbsp. butter
1/4 c. evaporated milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
3-4 c. powdered sugar, sifted
48 maraschino cherries, drained
1 (6 oz.) pkg. semi sweet chocolate pieces

Melt butter over low heat, stir in evaporated milk, vanilla and salt. Remove from heat and gradually stir in sifted powdered sugar.
Turn out onto a board, lightly sprinkled with powdered sugar; work with hands until smooth. Cover cherries completely by shaping about 2 teaspoon fondant around each cherry.

Melt semi sweet chocolate in double boiler. Drop fondant covered cherries into melted chocolate to cover. Remove from chocolate with two forks. Place on waxed paper to cool.

Baldur

Baldur recommends the Cooks.com website when searching for recipes.
There is a lot there to wander through.

Hazer

Thanks Baldur. I will have to give that one a try too. The peanut butter ones I made for tonight's gathering got rave reviews. What I like about them is that they are not overly sweet, and the peanut butter and chocolate combination...well, one can hardly go wrong.

Baldur

Big Mama Thornton is born (1926)
Edward VIII is officially decrowned (1936)
UNICEF is established (1946)
Sam Cooke dies (1964)
Rey Mysterio is born (1974)
Bernie Madoff is arrested (2008)
Bettie Page dies (2008)
Today is National Tango Day in Buenos Aires

Dragon

Today, Dragon and hubby went and bought most of our supplies for hosting Christmas dinner this year. We're having a relatively small group, just our parents. This still means 7 people will be coming over since both of us have step-parents, which is actually a fair few when it's your first ever time hosting. I'm starting to get a little nervous but can relax a little in knowing that these are our folks and all of them are pretty understanding. (Also they're all pretty helpful and have hosted their fair share of turkey dinners so we have good resources to turn to!)
We're planning a traditional turkey dinner with gravy and stuffing and mashed potatoes (I make a very fine mashed potato if I do say so myself). We're thinking of doing a candied sweet potato dish as well but that's not for sure yet, and we'll be serving an arugula salad too. Just realized we don't have any rolls bought but we'll need to pick up the arugula a little closer anyway so we can get them then. I will be trying my hand at the Layered Pumkin/ Toffee Cheesecake, I hope I'm up to the task.
Also on the list of things to do are gifts for the family. This year we're going to make no bake cookies for everyone so I'll have to get on that this week too. Sigh, it's a busy time of year isn't it?

Hazer

Don't worry Dragon, I'm sure everything will turn out fine. My daughter is coming today to bake fruit cake with me. We are kind of late this year, but I am only starting to do my baking since I still can't stand for too long since my knee replacement surgery. My fruit cake recipe is nice and moist and doesn't require aging as some do, which is a good thing since we are usually slicing into it as soon as it cools down. I have already prepped the pans and measured out the dry ingredients so we'll be ready to get started as soon as she gets here.
I should try and sleep a bit more because I've been up since 4 am. I have a little 6 month old grandson to play with today too, so I won't have any time for napping this afternoon!

Baldur

A busy, busy day ......
The First Crusade hits the town of Ma'arrat al-Numan. 20,000 of the inhabitants are massacred (1098)
Edvard Munch is born and presumably screams for the first time (1863)
Sammy Davis, Jr. is born (1900)
Frank Sinatra is born (1915)
Bob Barker is born (1923)
Connie Francis is born (1938)
Douglas Fairbanks dies (1939)
Dionne Warwick is born (1940)
Adolph Hitler anounces that the eradication of the Jewish race is imminent (1941)
Grover Washington, Jr. is born (1943)
Tallulah Bankhead dies (1968)
An earthquake and tsunami kills 259 in Colombia (1979)

mdawrcn

I would like to compliment Baldur on his new comment format. There was certainly nothing wrong with the old birthday format, but I am very interested in the dates of events and people's births, deaths, etc. I tend to lose track of how my age compares with those things, so it is interesting to see them, if that makes sense.

Dragon

I must thank Baldur, a while ago he posted a banana bread recipe. My husband just made a couple of loaves this morning and it is wonderful! This will definitly become our go to recipe.
Good luck to Hazer on all the holiday baking. I'd love to try homemade fruit cake. I don't think I've ever known anyone who makes it. Hmm, Hazer is Albertan isn't she? Maybe a little trip up north is in order, hehehe.

Oh and Hallelujah! The Cable/Phone/Internet saga is over! Shaw showed up this morning, right when they said they would, and hooked us up. So I now no longer have to worry about typing this all out only to find that I'm no longer connected. Yay!!
We also have a big decision as to whether we will be watching Iron Chef or Doctor Who tonight. Ahhh, decisions decisions.

Baldur

Thank you everyone for the kind comments.
Baldur may be baking banana bread himself this afternoon. I have several severely over-ripe bananii in the kitchen right now.

Baldur

Dr. Ephraim McDowell performed the world's first oviorotomy, removing a 22 pound tumor (without anesthetics) (1809)
Mary Todd Lincoln is born (1818)
The Nanjing Massacre begins (1937)
Neuengamme concentration camp opens near Hamburg (1938)
Grandma Moses dies (1961)
Saddam Hussein is captured (2003)
The Baiji (Chinese River Dolphin) is declared extinct (2006)

Baldur

In honor of Mary Todd Lincoln here is a short clip. For some reason the video is slightly sped up, it should play a bit slower.
It's still a good one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXwdRqyGM-o

indigo

LOL! THANKS for the laugh Baldur... Good one! May I also say that I really enjoy
your new format.