Today a recipe. I’ve been trying to post this for days; finally, a long night of sitting in the tow truck later, here it is.  But first a disclaimer: I know chocolate bark is often more of a Christmas treat, but, surprisingly, this still tastes quite good even though it’s midJanuary. To be a typical food blogger I’d have to tell you how dark and depressing January is (although I actually don’t even think it is) and that you really deserve to treat yourself to this decadent snack to get you through this latest phase of this pandemic. (you actually do.) Consider yourself told, if you wish to be. 

Espresso Salted Caramel Cranberry White Chocolate  Decadence 

Vague Ingredient List 

•White chocolate I buy the cheapest bulkest white chocolate available at whichever store I am shopping at. 

•Salted Caramel or Caramel Sauce I use this recipe

, but any salted caramel sauce will work. See note below to find out more about this salted caramel sauce. 

•Dried Cranberries I dry my own very painstakingly in my oven, but any dried cranberries will work.

•Espresso powder I don’t know anything about espresso powders. The one I have is mass produced and available at superstore. 

Even More Vague Directions

•Melt white chocolate. I am a double boiler person, though for some of you more professional and patient cooks, a microwave would probably work well. I am the worst chocolate melter in history probably, so I usually end up stirring a dash of cream into my chocolate to make it smooth. 

•Spread chocolate in a thin layer over parchment paper. 

•Drizzle salted caramel sauce over white chocolate. 

•Sprinkle a light dusting of espresso powder over chocolate and caramel layers 

•Finish by tossing dried cranberries at random over the bark. 

•Freeze. This doesn’t take long to freeze. Depending how thick your chocolate and how cold your freezing place (outside is the best fastest freezer for me these days) an hour or two might do it. 

•Once frozen, crack into bite sized pieces. 

•Eat. Or store in freezer in an airtight container or bag. 

•I have not included amounts because I’m not that organized. You can make as much or as little as you want. 

My Thoughts on Salted Carmel Sauce 

I made this salted caramel sauce recipe  (the same one I mention above in the ingredient list) in August to serve to a multitude, and I still had 2 tablespoons in a jar in my fridge that I could never bring myself to throw out and that’s what I used for this recipe. My Grandmothers should be proud that I inherited, or learned, their frugality. Yes, you read that right. I made it in August. I made a vat of it (2 recipes maybe) and I’ve used it many ways, on many things, and served many people with it, and 5 months later it’s, shockingly, still edible. Throughout the fall it adorned Apple nachos, made humble carrot cake muffins into a fancyish Sunday dinner dessert, garnished cheesecakes and mini cheesecakes, been a fabulous accompaniment to sorbet and ice-cream, and perhaps more. I’m not advocating for this recipe over any other recipe for salted caramel sauce, although it’s the only one I’ve ever made; mostly I just think homemade caramel sauce is worth the slightly labour intensive  process, and that it’s not as intimidating as I once imagined it to be. 

The (boring) Story Behind the Recipe 

I use the word accidental a lot when I refer to my cooking. I really cannot stress that word enough. I may sometimes try to plan ahead, or determine to follow a recipe exactly, but I can rarely follow through on these resolutions. I usually make last minute changes or end up doing ingredient swaps when I find I’m out of something. And more often than not I don’t even use a recipe, or, if I do, I use it for something to base my food on, not something to follow exactly. 

I explained where my salted caramel sauce came from (my fridge). The chocolate, on the other hand, I had melted to swirl on top of some lowly peanut butter balls to make them tea party worthy. I melted way too much and couldn’t bring myself to put it in the garbage, so I had to come up with a solution. I spread my chocolate on a providential scrap of parchment and scanned my kitchen for some toppings, and that’s how this espresso salted caramel cranberry white chocolate came into existence. 

One Final Recommendation 

You can totally make this without the espresso powder. Okay, you could probably leave out any of these ingredients except maybe the chocolate part. And you could add ingredients also. But the ingredients I suggest compliment each other in decadent perfection. About the espresso powder. You could leave it out. But then your white chocolate bark will be nondescript and boring and just like karen’s. Non-Coffee People, don’t be afraid to try this. The dusting of espresso should be so light (see picture below for reference) that the flavour doesn’t scream COFFEE!!  at you. It is there to enhance the other flavours more than to add a layer of its own flavour. So my final recommendation is not to make this unless you have espresso powder.

Espresso Salted Caramel Cranberry White Chocolate  Decadence 

Small Firsts Attempt to Mark Passage of Time

January. 2021. 

Now. 

I think it’s January 2021, but I mean if you’d tell it it was November 2020 I’d probably believe that too. What is there to mark the passage of time. [yes, I know, a calender]

Although my life is low key, I have done some new things recently. Low key new things, of course; we Wouldn’t want anything too dramatic or out of the ordinary to mar this barren expanse of winter months. The first happened a couple weeks ago. The others are from this week. I don’t do a lot of things I haven’t done before. I think I should do more, actually, because I’m scared of getting stuck in one place and routine that I’ll never be able to dig myself out of again.  these are such minimal accomplishments that I’m  embarrassed to share them. But I am in need of a count my blessings session, so maybe narrating these will cheer me up. Or maybe you can cheer me up by pming me or posting a comment about what new things you’ve done recently  

FaceTime with a Stranger.

Even selfies scare me, to be honest. So video calls are definitely not my friends, except if my own camera is off, or I’m talking to my family’s faces. I’m not photogenic. Maybe it’s the years of anti-camera drilling. Maybe I’m just insecure and ugly. Also *goes into tangent about current impossibly perfect photography trends that she really knows nothing about but nevertheless despises.* Whatever the reason. I don’t like being photographed by myself, or by others. Even with filters and magical lenses and *tangent continues.* Even a basic driver’s license photo is intimidating to me. Now that I’ve established all that, I don’t have much more to say. I FaceTimed  with a stranger. I’d never FaceTimed a stranger before. But  it was actually great. And maybe that will be the end of my camera related insecurities. Except it wasn’t. 

Cross Country Skiing 

You know this is quite a difficult long trail for your first time skiing. Upon arrival, I was greeted with these words by the friend who had invited me. 

Now you tell me, I thought but [surprisingly] didn’t verbalize in return. 

You mean you haven’t even gone downhill skiing?

Uh. No. I’m one of those old fashioned snowboarder people. 

Oh. 

Despite the anticlimactic beginning, the afternoon truly was magical. Snowflakes fell in sparkling showers in the meadows.  The Enchanted Forest was shadowy and lonely and mystical and aptly named. There was a fairytale cabin in a clearing and we filled it  with sarcastic chatter as we entered its wood fired cosiness. I sat daydreaming, staring through the window over a snow-curtained valley and forgot to be part of conversation when it turned less sarcastic. As to my first skiing experience ever, although the trail was long, it wasn’t too long, and the foreboding warnings didn’t come true. My skis only got tangled once and, despite decrepit ski boots, I never even got cold toes. 

Cooking More Interesting This Week 

Does anyone else end up cooking the same 10 meals over and over again because you’re boring and know you’ll like them? I’m on a mission to not be this person. I feel like it’s something I will not succeed at. But this week I did. 

I made Honduran Enchiladas one night. First time. Corn tortillas were successful. Egg on top was unexpectedly delish. Will make again. 

I made pitas that tasted good and actually sort of puffed like they were supposed to.

And then I made chicken shawarma and I was the happiest. 

Skid Steer. 

No vehicles belonging to other people were harmed in the creating of this episode. 

On a whim, I drove the business’s / brothers business’s skid steer a few weeks ago and found out how easy it was and how empowered it made me feel, and I wondered why it took me this many years to get into a skid steer. This week I drove it again, this time for a worthy work cause. And I still felt important and clever and also very nervous because I was sure the security system was being monitored by above mentioned suspicious brothers. I moved all the snow out of the compound that I was supposed to move with literally no mishaps. This is truly a feat for me: if there is a possibility for a mishap I will find it, ie Tipping my husband’s snowmobile while going the slowest speed in the history of snowmobiles, a story for another day. 

Stay tuned for more snowmobile/ atv/ skid steer related escapades. I hope I will not have any more to tell, but I fear this won’t be the case. 

Last Day of Over-Sharing Challenge

DAY 30: What I feel When I Write

First a Life Update. In keeping with yesterday’s post on goals, I accomplished one of my immediate ones. We got my snowmobile running today. That involved rebuilding the top end of the motor. BTT says I did most of the work, but that wasn’t strictly true. I took it apart and put it back together but the in between important stuff was mostly him. A also contributed, mostly by talking a lot, but also with some helpful bolt inputting. Whoever it was, it worked. And we’re all happy with the outcome. And now we can go sledding and bring all our kids sledding. This is a good winter for snowmobiling parties since most other activities are off. 

What I Feel When I Write: I’ve read many blogs, but I don’t remember anyone writing about this. I’m sure people have, but maybe not many people, and not the people I read. 

When I’ve written this month I’ve often felt pressured. That’s not ideally something I like to feel when I write. Because I am night owly, and write best at night, many of these last 30 posts have been written in the evening or later, and when I do that, my eyes scold me. Writing with the knowledge of an audience isn’t ideal. Maybe if you all were strangers it would be easier. Sometimes I think you’re going to know too much about the real me, maybe not so much by what I write as by the way I write. I’m scared of too many people knowing me. 

I like my words to come from me, to stem organically from my thoughts and my life. I like my writing to be effortless. I like to lose myself in my own or keyboard. I like to stop writing and surprised at the words in front of me. I like my hand to get cramped from trying to keep up with the words flowing out of me. This is all idealist, but it’s my truest form of writing. Maybe it’s my truest self. When I can write like this, I feel cleansed. When I empty my mind onto a paper or screen, it’s a form of freedom. I realize things I never know about myself, about my thoughts, about my life, about other people. 

To reiterate and condense: I think best in writing. Writing calms me. Writing makes everything make sense. You guys freak me out. 

There. I’m done my 30 day challenge. Maybe I’ll disappear for a while to recover from over sharing. Or maybe this habit will stick.