Peppermint Bark is a yummy Christmas tradition at our house during the holidays. Crunchy, white chocolate is layered with creamy dark peppermint chocolate and crushed candy canes! We make this delicious treat for all the holiday parties and Christmas stockings.

I kid you not, I’ve made over a hundred pounds of this peppermint bark through the years. Probably more. Everyone seems to love receiving it and I love making and giving it.

My funniest memory regarding Peppermint Bark has to be with my first busy little four year old years ago. He was always aggressively pounding on something or other. I thought crushing candy canes would be the perfect job to occupy him. (Positively!)

So I sent him out to the driveway to bang on candy canes with a veggie can. He was excited. I mean, really excited. The candy was in a ziploc bag, in an old camping pan lined with a dish towel. The banging went on and on and then it got really quiet.

I went out to check on him. He’d gotten a little carried away with well doing. Half the driveway was covered in crushed peppermints. We laughed and laughed. (And thankfully I had more peppermints inside, which is probably WHY I could laugh, lol.) Then for a couple weeks we had the sparkliest driveway in the neighborhood, just in time for Christmas.

Peppermint Bark shouts “Christmas” loud and clear from snowy rooftops. This bark is extra yummy because it has whipping cream mixed in with the bittersweet chocolate. This makes the top chocolate layer creamy instead of hard. It’s also highly addictive. (I think it’s every bit as good as Williams Sonoma peppermint bark. Maybe better.)

I pack it in 1/4 lb. candy boxes for gift giving. White box. Red and white striped grosgrain ribbon. It seems that Santa himself prefers Peppermint Bark to cookies, based on an experiment we conducted one Christmas Eve. (!)

How To Make Peppermint Bark:

Crush the peppermints/candy canes and set aside. (To crush peppermints or candy canes: leave in plastic wrappers, place in a heavy duty ziploc bag and bang with the sharp edge of a veggie can. I put the ziploc bag in an old t0wel-lined camping pan. Or use a food processor. (Remove wrappers first if using the food processor!)

 Melt the vanilla candy wafers.

 Spread onto parchment paper. Cool.

Dollop the barely warm melted chocolate, peppermint extract and whipping cream mixture onto the white chocolate.

Spread chocolate mixture evenly on top of first layer, then sprinkle with crushed peppermints or candy canes.

Cool in refrigerator for 15 minutes. Then let sit out for 5 or 10 minutes. (If you cut it when it’s too cold, the hard white layer underneath doesn’t cut cleanly.)

Chop into triangles with a sharp butcher knife and quick, hard pressure.

Package into 1/4 lb. candy boxes for gift giving. Peppermint Bark: It’s how we roll for the holidays.

Keep this treat refrigerated because of the whipping cream in the dark chocolate layer.

Tips for making Peppermint Bark:

• Use a veggie can to crush peppermints or candy canes. Leave the candy in the plastic wrappers and use a veggie can to bang on them. Line an old camping pan with an old towel for the task. Do this in the basement, garage or outside because little pieces of the candy can fly and make a mess.
• I use mini candy canes. I used to use the starlite peppermint candies, but the mini candy canes work best for me.
• Chop into triangles with a sharp butcher knife and quick, hard pressure.
• Keep peppermint bark refrigerated.
• Package into 1/4 lb. candy boxes for gift giving

Other peppermint treats you my enjoy: Peppermint Stick Ice Cream, Pink Peppermint Eggnog Punch, Peppermint Fudge and Peppermint White Christmas cocktail.

Print

Peppermint Bark

Peppermint Bark is delightful any time of year, but especially at Christmas. Use good quality chocolate! This is highly addictive and makes a great gift packaged in 1/4 lb. candy boxes.

Course Candy

Prep Time 35 minutes minutes

Total Time 35 minutes minutes

Servings 1 1/2 pounds candy

Author Allie Taylor

Ingredients

• 16 ounces white vanilla candy wafer disks buy at A.C. Moore or Michael's
• 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate chopped
• 1 1/2 teaspoons peppermint extract
• 4 tablespoons whipping cream
• crushed starlite peppermint candies or candy canes

Instructions

• Melt vanilla candy wafer disks according to package directions. (I use the microwave.)
• Spread onto a 24" X 18" foil or parchment square on top of an inverted baking pan.
• Let harden.
• Slowly melt chopped chocolate over very low heat.
• Remove from heat when just melted.
• Stir in peppermint extract and whipping cream.
• Spread melted chocolate mixture evenly on top of white candy layer.
• Sprinkle with crushed peppermint candies.
• Chill until just hardened, about 15 minutes.
• Wait 10-15 minutes, then cut into triangles.
• Refrigerate!

Notes

How to crush the peppermints: leave in plastic wrappers, place in a heavy duty ziploc bag and bang with the sharp edge of a veggie can. Or use a food processor. (Please take off wrappers first if using the food processor!)

Refrigerate peppermint bark!

You may also like: Peppermint Stick Ice Cream

The post Peppermint Bark Recipe appeared first on Through Her Looking Glass.

Friends, it’s a wonderful day today. Why you ask? WHY??? Because great things have already happened in my little corner of the world today, the most exciting being that I remembered my mailman’s name. Yes, I am challenged in this area. In the winter months we barely see him because he’s hidden under umpteen layers.

When No One’s Watching by allie taylor

Plus there’s only three hours of daylight then anyway. Ok, not that bad. It’s not Iceland. But it’s dark and dreary for months on end and we tend to stay in, hibernate. There’s always just enough time from when I saw him last to forget his name. (The name game’s easy for him, he sees my mail.)

So last year I made him some Peppermint Bark for Christmas. Peppermint Bark is one of my specialties and I do love to give it out at Christmas time. I left the bark in a white candy box on our mailbox, with a Christmas card addressed “to our mailman Jeff.”

I never saw him during the Christmas season (it’s dark, we hibernate), but in January a nice note was in my mailbox addressed to Allie and Jon, thanking us for the candy. It was signed “Mark.” I was mortified. I’d been calling him Jeff (and perhaps other names) for years. Right then and there, I added a little note card to my address rolodex under M for Mailman Mark. M for mailman. M for Mark. And that’s how I remembered it today when I saw him at the mailbox.

It’s the little things.

I’m not sure why I told you all that, except you might find it interesting, especially if your mailman’s name happens to begin with an M and you have trouble remembering it. Something else I find interesting, and recently heard through the grapevine from another mailman in town, is that our Mailman Mark used to be a Navy Seal. Now that’s interesting. I haven’t brought it up to him yet because I’m still working on remembering his name. But when I get past that awkward stage and the opportunity presents itself, I’ll ask him about being a Navy Seal and fill you in.

That was all random. I really want to talk to you about the quote that hung on the wall of my high school French and English classroom.

“What you are when you are alone, that alone you are.”

Some of you reading this can see in your mind’s eye that very classroom and the quote hanging above the chalkboard. We stared at that quote for many years, it’s indelibly etched in my mind. A great quote that’s made me think twice more than once. (Pun intended.)

I thought about it again this week as I was opening a new bank account and chatting it up with the customer service rep. The computers were down, the wait was interminable. Eventually it was closing time and the computer main still wasn’t up, so I had to go back the next day.

But something the bank rep said while we were waiting really floored me. She said their branch goes through two large boxes of branded pens (hundreds) each week at a cost of $103 per box. The pens are set out in large quantities in the lobby and ATM glassed-in area. She told me it’s common for people to walk into the bank or ATM area during the day, grab two handfuls of pens and walk out. These are not necessarily customers doing business at the bank. Opportunists. We can be grateful they weren’t wearing ski masks and brandishing weapons, but in a sense, they were robbing just the same. (This bank is in a nice area of town.)

And then she told me this, floored me even more. Last October a lady waltzed in. She went right up to the main teller counter with the enormous lollipop bouquet to the left, maybe two hundred lollipops. These are of course for kids and customers with a sweet tooth. The lady, (and I use that term loosely) was not a customer. She marched right up to the counter, grabbed two fistfuls of lollipops, as many as she could hold, called back to the tellers while exiting, “Yay! I don’t have to buy Halloween candy this year!”

Bold opportunist.

First off, let me say there were likely some very disappointed little trick or treaters at her door on Halloween. I mean, who wants bank lollipops for Halloween?

We Kids want chocolate. And peanut butter. And Snickers.

And this is the scary thing. And we’re not talkin’ Halloween ghost scary, we’re talking’ people scary. The scary thing is: if this is what people do in broad daylight when there are eyes looking and watching, what happens When No One’s Watching? That my friends, is the scary thing.

“What you are when you are alone, that alone you are.”

 You may also enjoy: Cookie Thief

The post When No One’s Watching appeared first on Through Her Looking Glass.

“Deck the halls with boughs of holly! Fa la la la la, la la la la!”

Rhode Island is near and dear to my heart. I was born there just a few short years ago. Giggle. Only thirty-nine by forty-one miles, Rhode Island has some of the best coastline in all of New England. (I’m not biased or anything.)

I’ve got a real treat for you today. Through Her Looking Glass was invited on an exclusive Rhode Island Christmas Home Tour in Barrington. Love this home owner’s style, she knows a thing or two about design and ringing in the season. When you got it, you got it. And she does. You’ll see warm wood tones, artistic vignettes, lamp light, gorgeous artwork, eclectic decorations and a dash of coastal inspiration.

Fireglow mingles with saltwater breezes…

Clever perch, fella.

The starfish were hung by the chimney with care…

“Meet me under the mistletoe…”

Love. Love. Love.

Clever use of driftwood….

Pewter. Fruit. Classic.

The Holy Family.

Twelve drummers drumming. (Well, actually just one.)

“Sing we all Noel…”

Unclench those teeth, little holiday man. It’s Christmas after all!

There just aren’t enough wreaths in this house. 

“Infant Holy, Infant lowly, for His bed a cattle stall.”

An elf! (Not on the shelf.)

Rudolph putting on airs.

This gorgeous platter is begging for some Decorated Christmas Roll Out Cookies http://throughherlookingglass.com/?p=1821

(Or Peppermint Bark  http://throughherlookingglass.com/?p=1977 )

Must. Have. Chocolate.

“Peace on earth, good will to men.”

Snowman. With attitude.

There’s just something about a cut glass shade. Gorgeous.

“Silent Night. Holy Night.

All is calm, all is bright

Round ‘yon virgin, mother and child.

Holy infant, so tender and mild,

Sleep in heavenly peace,

Sleep in heavenly peace.”

-Franz Gruber, 1818

Thanks, Sis, for an inspiring home tour and getting me in the Christmas spirit. Love what you’ve done. Such a beautiful home and family, inside and out. Merry, merry Christmas!

The post Rhode Island Christmas Home Tour appeared first on Through Her Looking Glass.

Hello friends, and happy weekend! Hope you’re out tooling about, enjoying fun Christmas activities today. Exciting things are going down at Through Her Looking Glass this weekend!

Several years ago, on a frosty December morning, I came down and discovered this sweet scene…

So we’re having a fun Christmas Photo Caption Contest  for the above picture, complete with an awesome prize pictured below:

Christmas gift package from Through Her Looking Glass:

• Yarnball Christmas Ornament    http://throughherlookingglass.com/?p=1530
•  “An Orange for Frankie” by Patricia Polacco  http://throughherlookingglass.com/?p=1677
• Vanilla Bean Maple Syrup    http://throughherlookingglass.com/?p=1156
• Homegrown Mint Extract
• 2 Christmas DIY Bookmarks   http://throughherlookingglass.com/?p=1133

CHRISTMAS PHOTO CAPTION CONTEST Rules:

(Yup. We got rules. Just like “Always (!) Follow the Rules”. Did you miss that funny post? Click here…  http://throughherlookingglass.com/?p=1076 )

• The Christmas Photo Caption Contest runs from the publish of this post, Saturday, December 6th until Sunday, December 7th, 2014 at midnight. Entries after Sunday night midnight don’t count.
• You may enter twice per person. (Additional entries after the second don’t count.)
• My hubby Jon will be the impartial judge. He’ll judge all entries, but won’t know who authored them.
• A winner will be announced on Monday, December 8th, 2014 on the Through Her Looking Glass blog post. Also on Facebook. The winner will also be notified by e-mail.
• My immediate family (my five guys) may submit entries, but are disqualified from winning the prize. (Sorry guys, I’ll bake you a cake or something. Or peppermint bark?)
• Other relatives can participate. (Why should you be penalized just ‘cuz you got stuck in my gene pool?)
• The only entries that count are comments listed here underneath this post, in the order they are received. (Facebook comments, e-mails and Tweets don’t count.)
• Don’t be grinchy, share the fun! Let your friends and family join in on this Christmas Photo Caption Contest. Share this on e-mail, FaceBook, Twitter and Pinterest. Get in the Christmas spirit, the more the “merrier”!

Can’t wait to see your clever captions! AND GOOD LUCK!!!

Update:

Many thanks to all who took time to think of so many fun, creative captions for the Christmas Photo Caption Contest this past weekend, December 6-7, 2014.  It was so entertaining to see your entries come in.

Big congratulations to Linda (pictured with husband Jack) for her winning entry:  “I’ll just close my eyes for a minute…”  

The post Christmas Photo Caption Contest appeared first on Through Her Looking Glass.