Going down Memory Lane

I love how cooking and baking certain things in my kitchen brings back so many memories of family and friends that I love so much.  This year, when I started my tradition of making buckeyes for the holidays, I couldn't help but stroll down Memory Lane. 

I started making buckeyes with my mom and sister a long time ago.  My mom made them every year to give as holiday gifts, and when we were old enough, Megan and I loved helping her.  When I went away to college, Angie, Heidi, and Lauren joined in my tradition and we all made buckeyes together every year when we did our gift exchange.  After college was over and we all went our separate ways, I can remember making buckeyes alone in Centerville, and crying because I missed my friends so much.  It wasn't long, though, until I had made some new, amazing friends and made buckeyes (and more memories!) with Lindsay and Sara.  And when we moved to New York, I introduced buckeye making to Danielle and Shara during a playdate with all our boys.  Last year, Jarrod joined me in my buckeye making extravaganza, and this year, my favorite little helper, Gavin joined in.  Call me crazy, but the whole time I was making buckeyes this year, I was thinking about all those lovely ladies that have made the delectable desserts with me in the past and how the tradition started so long ago with my mom in 'Dixie's Diner.'  One day, I'll be in the kitchen making them with my own daughter...and I can't wait!

 So, how do you make these wonderful things?  Well, here you go!

Start with two sticks of softened butter.

Add 2 cups of peanut butter.

Then, add 6 cups of powdered sugar and 2 tsp. vanilla.

Get your hands dirty and start mixing!  Really...your hands are best for this part.

You'll eventually end up with a ball of peanut butter mixture like this....

Start taking chunks of the peanut butter mixture and roll it between your hands to make small balls.  I place mine on a nonstick baking sheet.

This is what Gavin's plate of rolled buckeyes looked like! :)

Place the buckeyes in the refrigerator to get cold.

In the meantime, melt 12 oz. of chocolate chips and about 1/2-3/4 bar of paraffin wax (I use Gulf Wax - it's near the canning supplies at the grocery store) in a double boiler.

When the chocolate has melted and the peanut butter balls are chilled, use a toothpick to dip the buckeyes in the chocolate about 2/3 of the way up.  You'll end up with a small section of peanut butter left to be seen.  Transfer them back to the baking sheet, pinch the hole to close it up, and then chill again.  

I realized as I was posting this that I didn't get pictures of the dipping process or the final product.  I did get this one of Gavin trying to dip his... 

And if you want to see what the buckeyes will look like, just check this old blog post: Buckeyes

Enjoy!

Go Buckeyes!

Thanks to my mom and Jarrod's mom, the whole family has new Buckeye gear to wear this fall!

Buckeye Success!

Great times this morning! The boys played so well together, and we got our buckeyes made. Gavin really enjoyed his first buckeye, but of course he tried to put the whole thing in his mouth and gagged. Now he is napping away, and I wish I was! :)

Fun Times Friday

Today is the day I make buckeyes!!! My favorite holiday tradition ~ well, one of them, at least. It started when Megan and I were much younger, helping mom make buckeyes for all the people she works for. When I went away to college, mom sent Jarrod and I care packages to our dorms full of buckeyes. I remember opening my box and finding crumbled buckeyes everyone, yet Jarrod's arrived perfectly! Apparently she wrapped his box better.

When Jarrod and I got an apartment of our own, I continued the buckeye tradition with Angie, Heidi and Lauren. It was part of our gift exchange. I wish I had that silly picture we set the self-timer up to take that year...us all lined up with one of us (I think it was Heidi) holding a peanut butter ball on toothpick! :)

The first year we moved to Centerville, and I hadn't made many close friends yet, I made buckeyes alone....and cried while doing it! I missed my Toledo friends! But eventually, I made wonderful friends at Shaw, and we made buckeyes at Lindsay's house one year. Great memories! And when Angie, Heidi, and Lauren and I got together for a girls' night gift exchange, we always tried to make buckeyes.

Last year's buckeyes were a failure - once again I was making buckeyes alone. Jarrod was in NY, and it never worked out to get together with friends to make them. I always gave buckeyes to my parent volunteers, so I desperately needed to get them done. Not easy with a 7 month old. For some reason, Gavin didn't cooperate in the buckeye making and they turned out horrible...I think I only got half my batched dipped.

This year, I'm excited to make new memories in my buckeye making extravaganza! I wanted to make it a playgroup event, but I knew Gavin wouldn't do well with too many kids over here so I limited it to just two other moms. Danielle and Shara are coming in an hour or so to make buckeyes with me with Evan, Antonio, and Gavin play and watch Sesame Street. I'm so excited! I'll try to take pictures so I can post them. I can't wait until I can make buckeyes, and many wonderful memories, with Gavin....just like I did with my mommy! :)