Spreading Christmas Cheer...and Sugar!

After spending a lazy Sunday around the house with Doug, watching football and digging through old photographs, I decided to try making something new! Ever since I picked up a pack of peppermint bark from Walmart last month I've been dieing to make the homemade version. The recipe was easy to follow and required very few ingredients.

Peppermint Bark

Ingredients:

•1 pound dark or semi-sweet chocolate (I used Baker's b/c it's good quality and was on sale at Publix!)

•1 pound white chocolate (again, Baker's)

•1 to 2 teaspoons peppermint extract

•1 teaspoon oil (canola or vegetable)

•4 to 5 regular-size candy canes, crushed


Directions:

1.Line a baking sheet (with raised edges) with foil, and spray with non-stick spray.

2.Melt dark chocolate in microwave (30 second intervals on high, stirring in between).

3.Add 1/2 tsp. of oil and spread evenly in pan. Refrigerate until solid (5 minutes was plenty)

4.Melt white chocolate using the same method, and add 1/2 tsp. of oil, as well as the peppermint extract.

5.After allowing the white chocolate to cool for about a minute, spread white chocolate mixture over dark chocolate layer
6.Sprinkle crushed candy cane pieces on top, and refrigerate (or freeze) until solid.

7.Remove from cookie sheet, peel off foil layer, and chop into pieces.

To be perfectly honest the hardest part of this recipe was chopping the bark up. I so wanted neat little squares (yes I am a perfectionist!) but instead ended up with various shapes and sizes. I placed the bark pieces in little baggies to hand out to my 10 wonderful staff members. I also brought in left over cookies from Saturday night and a box of candy canes. YUM!!

I packed all the goodies into a festive Christmas bag for easy transport. Just walking around with the bag of treats made me feel extra cheerful!

I hope my team enjoyed the treats as much as I liked giving them out. Who knows, maybe the sugar and peppermint will make them extra productive! LOL.
 
But I wasn't the only one in the auto mall with Christmas spirit! Nick, our General Manager at our Infiniti store, brought us 3 gigantic trays of cookies!
 

Sugar, Chocolate Chip and Oatmeal Cinnamon (I prefer the Oatmeal Cinnamon)

Talk about a sugar high! Thankfully I balanced it out with a healthy breakfast and lunch. And just when I thought I had seen enough treats for the day Whit, GM at our Nissan dealership, brings me his wife's homemade peppermint bark! I was so happy because I didn't save any of my bark for myself. She make hers with just white chocolate and mixes the candy cane pieces in. It's absolutely delicious! He also gave me 3 bottles of red wine. Chocolate and wine...I wonder if he's buttering me up for something (JK). It was so very generous and I can't wait to uncork a bottle this weekend!

 
I'm off to the gym to burn off all the Christmas spirit I consumed today ;)