Since I did the melting on a side burner outdoors, this isn't too
far off topic. If any of you are looking for something easy and
quick to make for a food gift, consider peppermint bark. Trader
Joe's here in town has some really decent chocolate for about
$3.50/#. I got 3 pounds each of their 72% dark, milk and white,
and stopped by Kmart for a pound of Brach's peppermint disks.

The disks were unwrapped and coarsely ground in the food
processor, then set aside.

I used a heavy duty outdoor-type 50 gallon poly trash can liner,
taped flat to the picnic table as the working, non-stick surface
for the bark. The dark chocolate was broken up and melted in a
double boiler. I wrapped my carpenter framing square with masking
tape and used it as the leveler. The melted dark chocolate was
poured on the black poly liner and spread out as thinly as
practical with the wrapped square.

While it hardened in our 34f weather, I melted the milk chocolate
middle. This was poured on top of the dark layer and spread
thinly over the top, with a strong attempt to keep it as level and
smooth as practical. This was then repeated with the white
chocolate, after a clean-up of the pan, square and spoons. I also
waited a bit longer between coats, so that the double layer of
dark and milk chocolate were fully hardened.

Finally, the white was added and leveled. Immediately, I
sprinkled on the crushed peppermint pieces, covered it all with
Saran wrap and pressed the peppermint pieces into the white
chocolate surface lightly. Everything was covered with towels and
the (appx) 2' X 4'; sheet was left to cool and harden fully.

An hour later, the sheet was broken into large pieces and brought
inside, where the pieces were whacked with the back of a
tablespoon to shatter them into bite sized pieces. Packaged in
the smallest fixed price USPS box, they made one heck of a great
gift to send out to friends and old neighbors from other
locations.

It's pretty simple and the learning curve is more about when to
add the layers than how to level them. If you add a layer too
soon, there's a lot of bleeding between the colors of chocolate
and if you let the earlier layer(s) harden too much, the next
layer won't melt the previous enough to get good lamination.
Outside of that, when you're done folks will think you really did
something and the whole thing can be done from start to clean up
in under a couple hours and the cost is quite reasonable.

--
Nonny

ELOQUIDIOT (n) A highly educated, sophisticated,
and articulate person who has absolutely no clue
concerning what they are talking about.
The person is typically a media commentator or politician.

On Dec 11, 10:55*pm, "Nonny" > wrote:

*SNIP of a neat idea*

> when you're done folks will think you really did
> something and the whole thing can be done from start to clean up
> in under a couple hours and the cost is quite reasonable.

Wow, Nonny. That's a pretty neat deal, there. I wouldn't have
thought of doing that. But now that you have put it out there, it
seems like a pretty doable deal while watching a game on TV or
enjoying your Sunday. I have a BIL that is nuts about peppermint/
chocolate bark, too.

I don't know about your crowd, but mine appreciates more and more
something that was homemade more than a store bought gift even if it
is much less in value.

That of course excludes the LOML, which prefers nice jewelery. =^0

Robert

What a great idea!! My dd & I have a date to do some cooking forthe
holidays and this looks like one we could handle, and lots who will
appreciate the gifts. Thanks for the details and tips to help us all.
Will report back how it went!!
Nan

Nonny wrote:

> Since I did the melting on a side burner outdoors, this isn't too far
> off topic. If any of you are looking for something easy and quick to
> make for a food gift, consider peppermint bark. Trader Joe's here in
> town has some really decent chocolate for about $3.50/#. I got 3 pounds
> each of their 72% dark, milk and white, and stopped by Kmart for a pound
> of Brach's peppermint disks.

+1

I make about 10 lbs of it every xmas for gifts. Always a hit.

ObBBQ: Smoked shrimp

--
Reg

"Nonny" > wrote in message
...
> Since I did the melting on a side burner outdoors, this isn't too far off
> topic. If any of you are looking for something easy and quick to make for
> a food gift, consider peppermint bark. Trader Joe's here in town has some
> really decent chocolate for about $3.50/#. I got 3 pounds each of their
> 72% dark, milk and white, and stopped by Kmart for a pound of Brach's
> peppermint disks.
>
> The disks were unwrapped and coarsely ground in the food processor, then
> set aside.
>
snippy

I bet you knit your own socks, too.

"Ekal Byar" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Nonny" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Since I did the melting on a side burner outdoors, this isn't
>> too far off topic. If any of you are looking for something
>> easy and quick to make for a food gift, consider peppermint
>> bark. Trader Joe's here in town has some really decent
>> chocolate for about $3.50/#. I got 3 pounds each of their 72%
>> dark, milk and white, and stopped by Kmart for a pound of
>> Brach's peppermint disks.
>>
>> The disks were unwrapped and coarsely ground in the food
>> processor, then set aside.
>>
> snippy
>
> I bet you knit your own socks, too.

If you think I do that, don't even bother thinking about how I
make my own condoms. <grin>

FWIW, regarding the bark, the USPS has different sizes of boxes
they'll give you for free, including a "small flat" one that will
ship anywhere in the USA for $5. While that's not cheap, it's 2-3
day delivery and the box is free. The "small flat" box holds
about 12-16 ounces of the bark. I packaged it by laying Saran
wrap over the box, filling it, then folding the remaining Saran
wrap over the top. It makes a tidy package of the bark and is
just about right to send to old friends, classmates and kin as a
Christmas "thinking of you."


--
Nonny

ELOQUIDIOT (n) A highly educated, sophisticated,
and articulate person who has absolutely no clue
concerning what they are talking about.
The person is typically a media commentator or politician.

On 12-Dec-2009, "Nonny" > wrote:

> "Ekal Byar" > wrote in message
> ...

.. . .

What Nonny said. This is the best deal in town. Whatever fits, ships. You
can really load these boxes up.Weight don't matter. They're also usable
for international, but I don't know the rates for that. Believe me, that
large
flat rate box will hold a lot of stuff for $13.95 anywhere in the U.S. I
used
the medium box last Christmas with a lot of canned goods inside. Didn't
pack well enough, but it did arrive on time.

Excerpt from USPS rate chart:

Priority Mail Small Flat Rate Box $4.95 8-5/8" x 5-3/8" x 1-5/8"
Priority Mail Medium Flat Rate Box (FRB1) $10.35 11" x 8-1/2" x 5-1/2"
Priority Mail Medium Flat Rate Box (FRB2) $10.35 13-5/8" x 11-7/8" x
3-3/8"
Priority Mail Large Flat Rate Box (Domestic Addresses) $13.95 12" x 12" x
5-1/2"
Priority Mail Large Flat Rate Box (APO/FPO Destinations) $11.95 12" x 12"
x 5-1/2"

--
Brick (Too soon old and too late smart)

"Nonny" > wrote in news:IxVUm.64565$X01.40035
@newsfe07.iad:

>
> "Ekal Byar" > wrote in message
> ...
>>
>> "Nonny" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> Since I did the melting on a side burner outdoors, this isn't
>>> too far off topic. If any of you are looking for something
>>> easy and quick to make for a food gift, consider peppermint
>>> bark. Trader Joe's here in town has some really decent
>>> chocolate for about $3.50/#. I got 3 pounds each of their 72%
>>> dark, milk and white, and stopped by Kmart for a pound of
>>> Brach's peppermint disks.
>>>
>>> The disks were unwrapped and coarsely ground in the food
>>> processor, then set aside.
>>>
>> snippy
>>
>> I bet you knit your own socks, too.
>
> If you think I do that, don't even bother thinking about how I
> make my own condoms. <grin>
>
> FWIW, regarding the bark, the USPS has different sizes of boxes
> they'll give you for free, including a "small flat" one that will
> ship anywhere in the USA for $5. While that's not cheap, it's 2-3
> day delivery and the box is free. The "small flat" box holds
> about 12-16 ounces of the bark. I packaged it by laying Saran
> wrap over the box, filling it, then folding the remaining Saran
> wrap over the top. It makes a tidy package of the bark and is
> just about right to send to old friends, classmates and kin as a
> Christmas "thinking of you."
>
>



just a headsup unless your item is heavy for it's size you can get a
better price on the shipping by just using priority mail. The flat
rate boxes are great for the heavier for the size items. You can
order the priority boxs online at usps.com 3 different sizes are
available or get them at postoffice but have to ask they are not as
visible as the flat rate boxes.

great idea. Lee

--
Have a wonderful day

"Nonny" > wrote in message
...
> Since I did the melting on a side burner outdoors, this isn't too far off
> topic. If any of you are looking for something easy and quick to make for
> a food gift, consider peppermint bark. Trader Joe's here in town has some
> really decent chocolate for about $3.50/#. I got 3 pounds each of their
> 72% dark, milk and white, and stopped by Kmart for a pound of Brach's
> peppermint disks.
>
> The disks were unwrapped and coarsely ground in the food processor, then
> set aside.
>
> I used a heavy duty outdoor-type 50 gallon poly trash can liner, taped
> flat to the picnic table as the working, non-stick surface for the bark.
> The dark chocolate was broken up and melted in a double boiler. I wrapped
> my carpenter framing square with masking tape and used it as the leveler.
> The melted dark chocolate was poured on the black poly liner and spread
> out as thinly as practical with the wrapped square.
>
> While it hardened in our 34f weather, I melted the milk chocolate middle.
> This was poured on top of the dark layer and spread thinly over the top,
> with a strong attempt to keep it as level and smooth as practical. This
> was then repeated with the white chocolate, after a clean-up of the pan,
> square and spoons. I also waited a bit longer between coats, so that the
> double layer of dark and milk chocolate were fully hardened.
>
> Finally, the white was added and leveled. Immediately, I sprinkled on the
> crushed peppermint pieces, covered it all with Saran wrap and pressed the
> peppermint pieces into the white chocolate surface lightly. Everything
> was covered with towels and the (appx) 2' X 4'; sheet was left to cool and
> harden fully.
>
> An hour later, the sheet was broken into large pieces and brought inside,
> where the pieces were whacked with the back of a tablespoon to shatter
> them into bite sized pieces. Packaged in the smallest fixed price USPS
> box, they made one heck of a great gift to send out to friends and old
> neighbors from other locations.
>
> It's pretty simple and the learning curve is more about when to add the
> layers than how to level them. If you add a layer too soon, there's a lot
> of bleeding between the colors of chocolate and if you let the earlier
> layer(s) harden too much, the next layer won't melt the previous enough to
> get good lamination. Outside of that, when you're done folks will think
> you really did something and the whole thing can be done from start to
> clean up in under a couple hours and the cost is quite reasonable.
>
> --
> Nonny
>
> ELOQUIDIOT (n) A highly educated, sophisticated,
> and articulate person who has absolutely no clue
> concerning what they are talking about.
> The person is typically a media commentator or politician.
>
>