So what do most people do when they can't sleep at 3 AM? Make several versions of White Chocolate Bark of course.
I know. I'm a little psycho... like Martha Stewart on crack psycho.
Shelly's Sugar Free Cranberry Pistachio Bark
3 Sugar Free Chocolate Bars (I used SF White Chocolate)
1/4 cup Dried Cranberries
1/4 cup Pistachios
Shelly's Sugar Free Peppermint Bark
3 Sugar Free Chocolate Bars
3 Sugar Free Candy Canes, crushed (place in a Ziploc, be sure it's sealed and whack the heck out of them with a meat mallet or rolling pin)
Shelly's Sugar Free Toasted Coconut Fruit and Nut Bark
3 Sugar Free Chocolate Bars
1/4 cup Toasted Unsweetened Coconut
1/4 cup Dried Cranberries
1/4 cup Pistachios
The Process:
Break up chocolate bars into pieces and microwave for 30 second increments stirring in between till melted smooth. Add dried fruit, nuts, crushed sugar free candy, whatever you like (as much or as little as you want) Mix to coat. Pour onto a waxed paper lined cookie sheet or plate. Refrigerate till firm about 1/2 hour. When firm break into pieces.
You can use any nut/fruit combo I liked the red and green holiday colors of the cranberries and pistachios and the peppermint bark is classic Christmas. This is a holiday treat so don't go crazy and eat the whole batch because it does have calories and they add up. If candy was a trigger food for you. I might skip this one.
Highlights of the day:
* When my drug induced haze from Migraine meds began to lift. My Mum and I went to Starbuck's and hung out for awhile. She's a cheap date... a slice of Gingerbread and a Tall Pike's and she's a happy camper. We swapped memories of my sweet kitty Rosie Posie. We decided the secret to her longevity was that she was a coffee addict like me. She had a little bowl of milky coffee several times a week as a treat all her 20 years.
Thank you my friends for all for your kind words. They truly have been a comfort.
* This blog's title: "Bark at the Moon" like the Ozzy Osbourne song. OK here's something I don't think I blogged before... though hell I may have I talk a lot.
You all know my Dad dying at 67 years old of sleep apnea and my being diagnosed with sleep apnea (now resolved) was the catalyst for me starting to seek out weight loss surgery but seriously there is an Osbourne connection. One weekend I caught a marathon of the first season of Jack Osbourne's Adrenaline Junkie where he is getting into shape and following a strict exercise regimen, training at a Thai boxing camp near Bangkok with the ultimate goal of climbing El Capitan Mountain. It was intense. Jack had some addiction issues and weight issues to overcome and I seriously was inspired by his commitment to make changes in his life. Watching that show energized me and was the "I can do this" push I needed. Well and shhh I have a crush on him too. What a little hottie now.
* Right now. Sipping on a cup of coffee with a splash of SF Chocolate Syrup in it. Fuzzy blanket. AIMing my pal Sarah. Discussing how as a child I never got a picture taken with Santa...
I've been told I would stand in line and just as it got to my turn I would refuse. They would of course give me a candy cane anyway. Score. So every year this would repeat until I started calling it "the line to get a candy cane" instead of "the line to see Santa." I was foiled. The parental units were on to me and my ploy to score free candy so we stopped that holiday ritual.
I really really want one but you know you'd have to wait in line with all the kids and ummm no matter how pure of heart you are it still seems kinda naughty and bizarre. You know what I'm saying. I just need my perfect man to own a Santa suit.
Listening to: Michael Bublé "Let it Snow"
