Today was such a great day! I woke up raring to go this morning, hit the cappuccino maker, dragged the teenager out of bed because he had to be at his school at 9 AM for a project, made him a hot breakfast and booted him on his way.  The plan was for me to pick up his girlfriend at 11:30 then swing by and pick him up at noon, but he got finished earlier than expected so we reversed the order.  We then met the hubby at a local waterfront eatery for lunch then headed to our house to just hang for the day.  Do you know what a wonderful feeling it is to have your 16-year-old son and his lovely girlfriend actually want to spend time with you on a Saturday afternoon?  Priceless!

The afternoon turned into a very fun cooking lesson with me showing the kids how to make lasagna.  Actually this was the first meal I ever made for the girlfriend in May or June of '09...the first time she ever had lasagna!  My thought was what a deprived child she was for never having experienced the lucsious layers that make up lasagna.  Trust me, she's an aficionado now! 

Once the lasagna was in the oven, we turned our attention to the sweet side of life.  We set up Santa's Sweet Shop a bit early and that was a good thing.  Once word got out that we were making peanut brittle and peppermint bark, I was getting hounded from friends and family across the country to send some their way.  I'll spend some time in the kitchen tomorrow making fresh batches of brittle and bark (I think that may be the names of my next two dogs!) and getting them ready to ship out first thing Monday morning.  I'll also be making my fresh cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving and a couple batches of pumpkin butter for a lucky few.

And...just as I was ready to sign off on tonight's blog, one of my real-deal award-winning chef friends just chimed in with a, "Did someone say brittle?"  Looks like I'll be shipping to Arizona, as well!  Gulp...this guy's pretty intimidating to cook for, but he's such a dear friend that I know he'll be kind...right, Lee?

Ah, 'tis the sweet life, indeed!

Peppermint Bark

24 ounces milk or dark chocolate bark coating
24 ounces white bark coating
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract, divided
20 pieces peppermint candies, crushed & sifted

Line a large sheet pan with wax paper and spray with a non-stick coating.  Melt milk/dark chocolate over a double boiler (or a tempered glass bowl over a pan of simmering water).  Add 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract.  Por mixture onto sheet pand and smooth until even.  Refrigerate until solid.

Repeat the process with the white bark coating; melt until smooth, add 1/4 teaspoon peppermint flavoring, then pour over the set milk/dark chocolate layer.  Smoothe until even then sprinkle the sifted peppermint candy bits over the warm white bark, adding larger pieces of peppermint candies toward the end.  Gently press the candies into the warm bark then refrigerate till set. 

Break into bite-sized pieces for serving.  This makes a great gift which can be put into a holiday gift tin or some of those beautifully decorated cellophane gift bags.  Maybe try some decorated/themed Chinese take-out boxes to present in.  Have fun!