2nd Annual QA Christmas Candy Party
By
Excuse me for a second while I fill you in on the my latest happenings and not-so-adventurous adventures, then we’ll get to the real stuff.
It’s been a while since I’ve had the chance to sit and down and work on The Cooking Dish, which is unfortunate because I have some delicious foods I’ve been wanting to post. Unexpectedly, however, I now have 4 to 5 days to work on it, if I’m up to it. For the past two weeks I’ve been fighting off a cough and intermittent fevers, and I finally thought I was getting better… BUT I woke up last night at 2:00 a.m. with a sever chest pain which kept me up for the rest of the night. Straight away this morning I contacted the family doctor and after a visit to the office left with a note saying, “stay home from work, you’ve got bronchitis and other junk” and some prescriptions to fill. Oh joy. I’m personally not a fan of involuntarily taking time off from work, but I don’t want to infect my co-workers either (you guys can thank me later–when I get back to the office).
So, without going into many more details, I’m stuck here at home and at the same time, trying to keep my distance from my overly-cute kids so they don’t get sick. That’s nearly impossible.
Well, thanks for listening to the rant… on with the show.
As of last year (2008), we started a new tradition in my department at work: The Annual QA CCP (Quality Assurance Christmas Candy Party). Although next year, we’re thinking of taking on a P at the beginning so it’ll be the QA PCCP (Pajama Christmas Candy Party).
Since my mom has been teaching my siblings and I how to make Christmas candy since we were only little squirts (just tall enough to burn our fingers on the stove top), and my brother and I work in the same department, there’s twice the trouble-making at the CCP. These CCPs have usually lasted an exhausting 6+ hours, but they’re always loads of fun.
On this years CCP menu we had
1. Fluffy sugar cookies with frosting and sprinkles
2. Pfeffernusse cookies
3. Peanut Butter Kiss cookies
4. Holiday Squares
5. Turtles
6. Honey Taffy
7. Butter Toffee
8. Peanut Brittle
9. Divinity
10. Various candies and pretzels to dip in chocolate
and also a nice dinner provided by Hawaiian Josh and our Indian friends, who’s Indian food is mouth-watering. The cookies were all baked before-hand so we could use the stove for dinner and the holiday squares. Some of the candies were also made before hand so we wouldn’t have so much to make at the party. I think next year we’ll scale it down even more and maybe have some time to play games or something. Guess we’ll see.
I’ve added a few photos (90–yikes!) that you can see, and also a YouTube Slideshow. When you click on a photo, it will open in a lightbox. And unfortunately there are so many pictures that I didn’t take the time to label them all or show names.
Enjoy!
Slideshow
I apologize to my German friends and readers who can’t view this video. Because of the accompanying music track (licensed by Sony music), my slideshow has been blocked to all German IP addresses… :( Who knew that Harry Connick, Jr. would be banned. Sorry about that!
CCP Photo Gallery
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- Chris mixing the first batch of holiday squares.
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- Supratim and Bonnhi
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- Alina
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- Josh helping Nate's kids
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- Bonnhi making holiday squares.
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- Bonnhi making holiday squares.
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- Would you like a bite of this apple?
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- Nate's kids frosting sugar cookies.
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- Soupy & Nate's kids frosting cookies.
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- Soupy frosting cookies.
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- Kids frosting cookies.
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- Nate helping the kids frost cookies.
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- Hi Alina! Melting chocolate.
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- Here goes my little Robyn snooping around again.
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- Maggalicious
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- Exploring the stairs!
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- Josh the Hawaiian cutting chocolate only like Hawaiians can.
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- I was caught red-handing licking the batter.
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- Me demonstrating the double-twist dough-flattening pan shake.
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- Robyn says, "Time to go home!"
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- Nate practicing safe kung fu on the chocolate.
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- Alina dipping pretzels.
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- Alina dipping pretzels.
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- Alina dipping pretzels.
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- Nate, Josh, Chris
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- Nate, Josh, Chris
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- Dipping away.
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- Yep. It's chocolate.
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- Too... much... candy... so... dizzy...
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- Pre-baked Holiday Squares
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- Making truffles and caramel
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- Oh yeah! The caramel is getting started!
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- Yummy sugar cookies frosted with love by the kids.
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- Sima, Bonnhi, Alina
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- Kids playin' around.
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- Kids playin' around.
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- Kids playin' around.
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- Kids playin' around.
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- Daniel and Bonnhi
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- Daniel letting me know the chocolate is melted.
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- Bonnhi
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- Sima
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- Nate
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- Alina
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- My beautiful wife, Afton.
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- Sima & Bonnhi
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- Good ol' Josh
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- Josh
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- Nate, Maggalicious, Afton, Daniel
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- Nate, Maggalicious, Afton, Daniel...?
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- Bonnhi
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- Nate & Maggie
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- Bonnhi
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- Nate, Maggalicious, Afton, Daniel
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- Nate, Maggalicious, Afton, Daniel
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- Nate, Maggie, Afton, Daniel
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- Afton
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- Josh
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- Daniel, Sima, Chris stretching honey taffy
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- Bonnhi stretching honey taffy... We accidentally over-cooked this stuff so it wasn't stretching very easily.
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- Daniel handling the hot taffy
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- Daniel, Sima, Chris stretching honey taffy
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- Daniel stretching honey taffy.
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- Bonnhi stretching honey taffy... We accidentally over-cooked this stuff so it wasn't stretching very easily.
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- Daniel & Sima stretching honey taffy. We accidentally over-cooked this stuff, so it wasn't stretching very well.
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- Bonnhi Stretching Honey Taffy
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- Bonnhi, Chris, Daniel's hand, Sima
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- Alina catching all the chaos on film
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- The candy doctors are in... *snap* *snap*. Chris and Daniel.
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- Chris & Daniel
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- Daniel & Sima
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- Bonnhi and 2" of Chris' Face
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- Hawaiian Josh
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- Robyn says, "More food please!"
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- Good ol' Robyn
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- Robyn says, "Is this ever going to end?"
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- A Bunch of Cookies and Candy
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- A Bunch of Cookies and Candy
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- A Bunch of Cookies and Candy
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- A Bunch of Cookies and Candy
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- A Bunch of Cookies and Candy
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- A Bunch of Cookies and Candy
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- A Bunch of Cookies and Candy
Sorry about not posting any of these candy recipes. I promise I’ll post them in time. The CCP wasn’t the best of places to be taking recipe photography.
I’m sorry you’re feeling so crappy. Sounds like your body was telling you to slow down and take the holidays off!
I made some perfect honey taffy and turtles in California, by the way. I decided to try the caramel using sweetened condensed milk and it was delicious, nice and chewy like you want it to be for chocolates.
Hey-
I’m way impressed with your website. Have you always loved cooking or has this just occured gradually. I have read some great books lately on becoming a better cook/baker. Check out bread books by Peter Reinheart. Great way to improve your pizza or whole grain bread making techniques. Also for pie crust of biscuits (way cool idea), you can freeze your butter and then grate it in the flour, strring occasionally so it doesn’t re-lump for an excellent flaky crust. Tried it and it came out beautifully. The dough stays nice and cold with is needed for a flaky crust. Also if your looking for more flavor check out Eat this Book by Tyler Florence. He tells you how to become a better cheif by using fresh flavor. And you can get a small coffee grinder and grind your own spices. Very impressed with your site. Keep up the good work.