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I thought I was a solid—if a bit inexperienced—cook when I put on my apron for the first time in Ina Garten's barn. We were making banana-chocolate coffee cake, and one of my jobs was to mash the banana. I put the banana into a bowl and proceeded to chase it around with the back of a spoon, the banana sliding all over the place. Ina came over and showed me that if you put the banana on a cutting board and mash it with a fork instead, that banana will be history in no time. Sounds simple, and it was—a simple change that made a huge difference.
In the two years since, I've learned much more in Ina's kitchen—she's imparted wisdom in everything, be it arranging flowers or carving a chicken. I've grabbed some great tips and tricks that make entertaining simple, stress free, and most importantly, fun! I can't wait to share here.
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In a perfect world, there would be endless Saturday afternoons in December to spend shopping, baking cookies, drinking hot cocoa and red wine and listening to Christmas music. But in reality, the holidays are the busiest time of the year. There are presents to buy and wrap, a million year-end things to finish at work and most important, lots of parties to attend.
There's absolutely nothing wrong with bringing a bottle of wine to a dinner party, but bringing a homemade treat is a really nice gesture, especially around the holidays. This bark takes only 15 minutes to make and will make you a very welcome guest at any party.
While day-long baking extravaganzas may be out of the question, that doesn't mean you can't find time to make delicious homemade treats. This Holiday Popcorn Bark is insanely easy, and with just four ingredients (no kidding!) it's the perfect thing to make if you're short on time and don't feel like spending a fortune on ingredients you won't use again until next Christmas. Did I mention you don't even need to use your oven?
The idea for this twist on traditional chocolate bark came from Pittsburgh Popcorn Company, a store in my hometown that makes all kinds of zany flavors of sweet and savory popcorn. I think I've tried them all, but the ones I love most start with their kettle corn, which is both sweet and salty. The little bit of salt makes the popcorn totally addictive, and in my recipe, it really balances all that sugar, especially considering that the kettle corn is smothered with two kinds of chocolate and crushed candy canes. I always think of white chocolate and peppermint as a classic holiday combination, but I know there are some white chocolate haters out there. If you are one of them, I guess you could use a mix of milk and dark chocolate instead.
Melting chocolate – especially white chocolate- can be a little tricky on the stove, because if the chocolate is heated too quickly, it can seize instead of melting smoothly. Ina showed me how to "temper" chocolate in the microwave instead, by heating it for 30 second intervals and stirring in between until the chocolate is melted and completely smooth. This method is not only much easier, but is faster, too.
Then all you have to do is drizzle the chocolate over the popcorn, crush some candy canes in a Ziploc bag, and sprinkle them on top. Pop the tray in the freezer for a few minutes so the chocolate hardens, break the bark into pieces, and you're good to go!
You can double, triple, even quadruple this recipe to your liking. And if you've really got your life together, you could even make several batches and pack the bark in clear plastic bags as a nice gift for your friends or coworkers. An added bonus is the bark is gluten-free, so you don't have to worry about your friends who can't (or won't) eat gluten.
Get my recipe here.
Lidey Heuck works as Ina Garten's assistant, social media manager, and occasional recipe tester. She lives in East Hampton, NY.
