Buckeyes

This last weekend, I had plans to go with a good friend to see the Hunger Games. We were super excited for it, and we had an idea that we shouldn't go to the Hunger Games, well, hungry. Soooo we were bad. She had plans to make puppy chow, but they fell through (completely within reason). I was going to make my usual oreo truffles, but a little voice in my head said "HOLD IT! ...What about those Buckeye things you've seen on Pinterest?"

What ABOUT those Buckeye things? I had all the ingredients already. Why not slap some together? How bad can it be?

Luckily, aside from a mess with some powdered sugar (me + powdered food = sugary mushroom cloud), the answer is Not Bad At All. Well, more like "oh my god I have discovered the secret to Reeses." Because Oh. My god. I have discovered the secret to Reeses, and the secret is in buckeye candy. I cut the recipe I used in half, because it said it would make 72 candies, and the LAST thing I needed was 72 chocolate covered peanut butter balls!! But the half recipe only made 20, so maybe I didn't need to worry so much...

Buckeyes
Recipe modified from VeryBestBaking.com



1 cup creamy peanut butter
~2 cups powdered sugar (the original recipe called for 3 3/4 cup, so half of that is 1 and 7/8 cup)
2 Tbsp butter, softened
1/4 tsp vanilla
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. Using a mixer, beat the peanut butter and butter together until smooth and combined.
2. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla, mix until completely combined. The mix may be crumbly.
3. Take a tablespoon of the mixture and roll into a ball. It may need some kneading to form into a solid ball, but a little work will make it come together. Place the ball on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
4. Freeze for one hour.
5. In a microwave safe bowl, melt down the chocolate chips. Heat them 30 seconds at a time until the start to get melty, then every 10 seconds once they begin to melt, stirring after each time.
6. Once melted, take the frozen peanut butter balls and, using a toothpick or fork, dip them in the chocolate, leaving the top uncoated. Replace on the parchment once dipped.
7. Pop them in the fridge to firm up, and try your best not to dive headfirst into the baking sheet.
8. Try not to eat them all at once! But now is the time to enjoy!

We snuck our treats into the completely full theater, and after being in a ziplock baggie in my purse for an hour or so, they were a bit, um, not quite round. A few of them had molded into one giant buckeye. But they were still delicious, if a little messy. The random people sitting next to us I offered to share with agreed.

HOW many years worth of recipes?!

If you read any of my other blogs or know me in real life or from the various forums I live on, I've admitted frequently to being addicted to Pinterest. Especially for food. Emphasis on "especially". I have over 2500 pins now, and, at last count, over 1000 of those were recipes, and the way I have them organized doesn't let me get away with pinning duplicates easily, so it's over 1000 unique recipes. That's enough for one recipe a day for nearly three years. At the rate I go trawling for new recipes, it won't be long before I DO have enough for three years worth of recipes. But at the very least, I want to start trying new ones and cutting down this list. What do you think, one meal a week made from Pinterest recipes, including dessert? Would you all care to follow me down this likely path of destruction?

Smoked Mozzarella Risotto

Risotto. Riz owe toe. Scary word. At least, in the kitchen. If you know what risotto is (and I've had people who said they didn't when I told them about this), it seems like a high-class restaurant dish, a side for only the experienced. Guess again. Yeah, apparently, you can make this stuff at home, and it's actually not hard!

A few months ago, I found this on Pinterest

Tasty-looking, yes? It's from the amazingly delicious blog Homemade by Holman (and the picture is 100% courtesy of them until I find the one I took). I had to make it. No matter how intimidating it looked, and she swore it wasn't hard, even for cooking newbies. She wasn't lying.

Smoked Mozzarella Risotto

1 tbsp butter
1/2 small white onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup arborio rice (apparently this is the rice to use for all risottos)
1/4 cup dry white wine (Again with the wine, I just used more chicken stock since I'm not a wine fan)
3 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes
2 oz smoked mozzarella cheese ,chopped into small pieces
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Salt to taste

In a large enough pot, heat the 3 cups of stock over medium heat.

In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. When completely melted, add the onion and garlic and saute until the onion is translucent. Add the rice and stir it up to make sure the onion and garlic are distributed. Toast the rice, stirring frequently for about 2 minutes. Add the wine (or if you're like me, 1/4th cup of stock) and cook until almost all the liquid is gone.

Start adding the warmed broth 1 ladle at a time, being sure to stir often. Add another ladle of broth when the first ladle is almost all gone, just like before. Keep this up until you've added all but the last of the broth. The rice should be creamy and a bit runny, but still have a little bite to it. Add the sun-dried tomatoes with the last bit of broth and again cook until the rice has absorbed most of the broth.

Turn off the heat and add the mozzarella and the spices (except the salt. Only add the salt if you think it needs it)

And that's it! You've made risotto! Now, mine had a few hiccups. I think I mixed up the amounts of the thyme and the basil, so it was VERY thyme-y. Also, the cheese absolutely refused to melt. Wouldn't do it. I think next time I'll try adding the cheese a bit before taking it off the heat to try and melt it down more. Despite the hiccups, this was delicious, definitely a new dish to add to our regular sides. I'm keeping an eye out for other risotto dishes, too. It's really not as intimidating as it sounds!