I know this probably sounds strange, but one of the most profound moments of my entire Christmas season happened while I was in the kitchen, making candy.

I make a mean peppermint bark. It’s basically crushed peppermint candies mixed into melted white chocolate, then broken into chunks after being spread out and cooled. I also add dark chocolate drizzle or chopped Andes mint candies to mine, because who doesn’t like a little extra chocolate with their chocolate?

In years past, I delegated the candy-crushing to my husband. Those little round Starlight mints are very difficult to break, and Donnie, with his greater upper-body strength, could always accomplish the task in no time.

But last week, Donnie wasn’t home and our guests were due to arrive any minute. I had no choice but to handle the pulverizing myself.

I placed the candies in a zip-top bag, and smacked it a few times with my heavy rolling pin. It barely flaked the edges off a couple of the mints. So I tried rolling the pin over the bag, pressing hard, and still—nothing. I realized that if this candy was going to be made, I had to mimic my husband’s actions and really put some muscle behind it.

So I did. I slammed that rolling pin as hard as I could onto one of the candies and watched it shatter into a hundred tiny bits. Then I moved to another, and another, and suddenly, it felt very satisfying, like doing something deliciously wrong.

And that’s when an experience at a therapist’s office came to mind. Years ago, while my husband was deployed to Iraq, I saw a therapist to help me through the experience. Next to her sofa was a basket of foam baseball bats. I asked what they were for, and learned that they were useful for venting anger; clients could use them to hit the sofa pillows to let out their angry feelings.

I laughed. I told her that I could not imagine doing that, or even needing to do that. It seemed so barbaric. She just smiled her quiet smile and said, “Perhaps that’s a sign that you, more than others, might actually need to do it.” And I thought her response perhaps indicated that I wasn’t the crazy person in the room.

But last week, as I smashed that candy, something clicked. And I knew exactly why she thought I needed a little “bat therapy.’ I also wondered why it took me 43 years to figure this out.

I began to put faces and feelings onto those mints. Bam! That is for the person who totally used me. Slam! That’s for the relative who is rude to my two-year-old because he doesn’t behave like she thinks he should. Crash! That is for the extreme poverty that is hurting my friend. Smash! For the person who lied about my family.

Oh, it felt so stinking good.

And that was the finest, most gloriously crushed peppermint I’d ever worked with—by the time I was done venting, some of those red and white chunks were reduced to pure powder. The resulting candy was probably the best-tasting batch I’d ever made.

I already run a small side business making birthday cakes. Maybe I’ll add a candy component to it as well: Kari’s Krushing Kandies, featuring Powerfully Pummeled Peppermint Perfection, or P4 for short.

Just know that if I ever show up smiling like a Cheshire cat, bearing a bag of P4—you’ll know it’s been a rough week.

Maybe making peppermint bark is the secret to world peace? Because if more people found positive ways to vent their anger, they wouldn’t have to hurt each other.

Thank God for my kids and the Christmas gift they inadvertently gave me. If it hadn’t been for their friends coming over, I wouldn’t have been rushing to make candy on short notice. And who knows how much longer this woman, who was raised to believe that nice girls didn’t act out, would’ve missed out on the delicious, peace-bringing release of physically venting negativity.

A few friends have asked for my soft gingerbread cake recipe, so I thought it would be easiest to share it here. I first baked it to use in this amazing Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle, but it was so great by itself that I’ll have to make it again.

And again.

Oh, and you should try that pumpkin trifle recipe this Thanksgiving— it’s fabulous. It’s good using the gingerbread mix called for in the recipe. But it is positively awesome using half a pan of this gingerbread.

Happy Baking!

Old Fashioned Gingerbread Recipe

• 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/4 Tablespoons ground ginger
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup solid shortening
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/3 cup molasses
• 1 cup room temperature water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Spray a 9″ X 13″ baking pan with vegetable spray.
3. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger and cinnamon. Set aside.
4. In a large bowl of a stand mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat together the shortening and sugar until fluffy.
5. Scrape sides of bowl. Add the egg and mix again, then the molasses, scraping if necessary.
6. On low speed, add dry ingredients, alternating with water until the batter is smooth. Scrape sides of bowl one more time.
7. Pour into prepared pan and bake for approximately 45 minutes or until tooth pick comes out clean. Cool on wire rack, and serve warm, by itself or topped with whipped cream and caramel sauce.

**Note: This is not the kind of gingerbread that can be rolled out for cookies. It’s a fluid batter that results in soft cake.

I love fall. Everyone knows that I love fall. It’s still hot down here, but I had to get a jump on the season by making this yummy cake last night. My house smelled SO good. Yours will, too!

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Spice Cake

1 box Duncan Hines French Vanilla cake mix (if you can’t find this flavor, just use white or yellow)

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

1 cup vegetable oil (yes, that’s a full cup—this ain’t diet food)

4 eggs

2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1/2 to 1 cup miniature dark chocolate chips (I only used half a cup—I think it needed a little more)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-inch Bundt pan and set aside. Put the cake mix, pumpkin, oil, eggs and pumpkin pie spice into the bowl of your stand mixer. Mix on low for a minute to moisten all ingredients. Scrape the sides of the bowl, then beat on medium for a good ten minutes or so, scraping sides as needed.

(I realize that length of time goes against all conventional knowledge on cake-baking, but my grandmother shared that was one of her secrets for transforming cake mix into something really special.)

Stir in chocolate chips with your spatula or a wooden spoon. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for one hour. Let cool in pan a few minutes before flipping it out onto a cake rack to cool another ten minutes or so before slicing.

If you can wait that long….

Oh, and by the way—this is a great recipe for using up jars of baby food. Just substitute two 4-oz. jars of baby food carrots, sweet potatoes or squash for the pumpkin.

Yes, it looks like Alpo.

(And no, I am not a food photographer.)

But it tastes so good! And it’s good for you, and honestly — aside from toast — might just be the easiest thing you’ll ever cook.

You’ll need:

1 cup brown rice

1 cup lentils

1 packet taco seasoning mix

4 cups water

Pick over lentils and rinse. Combine all ingredients in crock pot. Cover and cook for six hours on low.

Serve in tortillas, or taco shells. We had ours on whole-grain tortillas with chopped tomatoes, sour cream, salsa and some cheddar. We would’ve had lettuce, but I was too lazy to hand-wash the salad spinner.

Tomorrow night, we’re having leftovers and my mom and sister are joining us for dinner. I think I’ll saute some onions and peppers in a little olive oil to put on top. Yum!

I’m sitting here procrastinating, something I’m quite good at. Today it’s the grocery shopping I don’t want to do. Because buying food is no longer fun.

Twenty years ago, when I first got married, I’d have laughed if you said I’d feel this way someday. I loved grocery shopping. I even liked clipping coupons.

These days, I groan when faced with a stack of coupon flyers. Heaven knows we need to save every penny we can, but I utterly detest the process. I wish I had the organization/gumption/time to join my friends who are into the whole mega-couponing thing. These are the ladies you don’t want to get behind at the register, the ones who walk out of Publix having paid $15 for $150 worth of groceries and have better-stocked pantries than the Army.

I’m amazed by how much they save, and I might just have to suck up my coupon loathing to learn how. Because every time I shop, I end up spending way more than I anticipated. Of course, that’s easy to do when previously inexpensive cuts of meat like flank steak run over $5 a pound, and a single navel orange costs a whole dollar. It seems like it gets harder every week to feed a family.

Let’s take a look at how my relationship with grocery shopping has evolved through the years.

As a child, with my mother: Boring! Mom says “no” to all the good stuff that’s at my eye-level. Mom’s shopping depends on which diet she and Dad are on. This week the cart is full of raw vegetables and Tab. Last week it was all protein powder and eggs. There’s never much for a kid to get excited about unless she finds joy in canned soup and unsweetened cereal.

As a child, with my grandmother: Fun! Let’s see how many treats I can convince her to buy this time. Little Debbie cakes? Check! Sprite? Check! Ice cream, Fritos and Hershey bars? Check!

As a college graduate, living in my first apartment: Elated that I can buy my own food—and that includes alcohol. Cart contains Lean Cuisines, Diet Coke, frozen pizza, cheap wine and chocolate.

As a young military wife, stationed in Scotland, with a commissary the size of a 7-11: I love having a husband to take care of. I feel like a proper June Cleaver strolling around the weekly open-air market, choosing the perfect farm-fresh carrots that my sweetie loves so much. Then I see a friend who informs me that the commissary received a shipment of Cocoa Puffs. We race there (by foot) and buy the remaining boxes. Then Donnie and I devour that taste-of-home for breakfast, lunch and dinner for two days in a row, completely eroding the insides of our mouths from crunching through all that gravelly cereal.

Married several years, stateside, without children: These are the gourmet years. I collect and study cookbooks. I buy cooking magazines at the grocery checkout after strolling around for two hours seeking out the freshest and most creative ingredients to feed my man. These are the years that I learn how to roast garlic, zest an orange and bake a flawless cheesecake.

Married, with children—The Early Years: I flee to the grocery store at night, after the husband is home to take care of the kids. It’s a welcome change of pace from changing diapers and wiping noses all day. I enjoy the novelty of buying cute little baby items, but the best part is having a whole hour alone before my hubby calls, begging me home.

Married, with children—The Later Years (also known as “now”): Years of shopping on a squeaky-tight budget have turned me into a deal-a-holic. I make menu plans and study grocery ads online before heading out with a specific list. The huge amount of food consumed by three growing boys is astounding. I have to go for quantity over quality sometimes and buy staple ingredients to cook from scratch. It usually feels like a chore, not different from doing laundry or scrubbing toilets. But when my sons declare our inexpensive homemade pizza better than Papa John’s, I can’t help but smile.

This recipe makes enough for four entree-sized servings. We had it tonight with grilled ham and cheese sandwiches. The boys were not thrilled with it, but both agreed they’d have liked it without the salsa chunks.

Wimps.

Salsa Tortilla Soup

2 cans tomato soup (10 oz. cans)

1 soup can water

1 soup can milk

1 cup frozen corn kernels

1/2 to 1 cup chunky salsa

Tortilla chips

Shredded cheddar or pepper jack cheese

Whisk together tomato soup, water and milk until smooth. Stir in corn and salsa. Heat over medium heat for 10 minutes or until hot, or microwave about five minutes, until hot. Spoon into bowls. Crumble a generous handful of tortilla chips over each serving and top with some shredded cheddar. Pass extra chips and some hot sauce at the table.

My sauerkraut recipe isn’t exactly like the way Honey used to make it. Donnie and I prefer ours mellow, peppery and sweet. My grandmother’s was peppery, too, but only slightly sweet. She always called this concoction “Kraut and Wienies” and she left the hot dogs whole. I slice mine, because I like getting a little bite of meat with each forkful, and I think the smokiness diffuses more into the kraut when they’re sliced.

But the trick of adding lots of onions and slow-cooking the whole thing, that is from my Honey, who was one of the best cooks in the world.

Kraut and Wienies

2 medium onions, quartered and thinly sliced

1/2 stick butter

1 jar sauerkraut (32 oz.) or 2 cans (16 oz.) sauerkraut

1/4 cup dark brown sugar (or to taste)

1 cup apple juice

Nature’s Seasons seasoning salt to taste

Black pepper to taste

1 pound Oscar Mayer hot dogs, sliced (I use the no-nitrates variety)

In large nonstick frying pan, cook onions in butter until translucent. Drain sauerkraut well; rinse and drain it again once or twice. Add to frying pan along with remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Cover with lid, lower heat and simmer at least 30 minutes. (I prefer to cook it an hour or two so the kraut is really tender). About half an hour before you’re ready to serve, take off the lid, turn the heat back up to medium-high and cook, stirring often, until liquid is evaporated. Adjust seasonings and serve hot with mashed potatoes or perogies, and a crusty bread. We also like ours with Heinz ketchup, but that’s probably totally unorthodox.

Now doesn’t this look good?

Oh, and if you don’t have time for the crock pot, you can also make it in the microwave. I’ll post those instructions, too.

I would include the ounce size on the jar of sauce, except every time I go to the store, it seems they reduce it little by little, so who knows how much is actually in one anymore? It used to be like, 30 ounces…now it’s 20 something. Just get your average-sized jar, or those canned ones by Hunts and Del Monte are actually quite good.

Pizza Dip

1 jar spaghetti sauce

1 pound Velveeta cheese, cubed

3 oz. sliced pepperoni, cut into quarters (I like turkey pepperoni — less grease!)

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

Stir sauce, Velveeta, pepperoni and 1/2 cup mozzarella together in crock pot. Heat on low 4 hours or so, until cheeses are melted, stirring once. Sprinkle remaining mozzarella on top about five minutes before serving. Serve with breadsticks, crackers, potato or tortilla chips.

To microwave: combine sauce, Velveeta, pepperoni and 1/2 cup mozzarella in a 2-quart glass dish. Microwave on high for approximately 8 minutes, stirring after every 2 minutes, until everything is melted together. Top with remaining cheese before serving.

This is the child who often walks into the kitchen while I’m cooking and asks, grimacing,  “WHAT is that HORRIBLE smell???”

So, when tonight, between shoveling in bites of chicken, he said, “Hey, mom — I think you need a new category on your blog for recipes. And you should start with this one!” I was a little surprised.

I never really thought about food blogging before, but I do get asked for recipes quite often. So Donnie and I batted the idea around and figured, why not?

So, tonight I introduce you to my new category: Kari’s Kitchen. I’ll start by adding a couple of recipes people have requested in recent weeks, and build on from there. Sometimes there will be pictures, sometimes not. I’ll also post pictures of past creations, so you can see some of the cakes I’ve designed and other goodies.

And remember, when visiting Kari’s Kitchen, the following always holds true:

Just kidding! My tagline is actually….

And some nights, this sums it up nicely:

Anyway…hope to see you in the Kitchen soon!

On to 10 things I’ve really enjoyed recently…

1. Discovering The 77s channel on www.last.fm. Love me some Christian alternative music: 77s, Michael Roe, The Choir, The Lost Dogs. See yesterday’s post for a link to an awesome Choir song.

2. My friend Gina ordered this Fruit and Nut Wrap platter for our MOPS meeting this morning and it was SO good. It would be really easy to make this myself: Flatbread spread with cream cheese and peach preserves, then layered with sliced bananas, and sprinkled with dried cranberries and walnuts; garnished with fresh strawberries.

3. We made this potsticker recipe last night and it was super-yummy. Thank you, Mr. Liu, whoever you are!

4. Seeing the sun shine again! Man, it felt like it was cold, cloudy and rainy forever!

5. Hearing my oldest tell my middle son that he’s pretty much the coolest kid he knows. Brotherly love is such fun to witness — except when it’s in the form of wrestling matches where someone gets hurt. Then, not so much…

6. Actually being in a church service Sunday morning instead of wrangling Jonah in the nursery. (His little snot-nosed self stayed home with dad.)

7. Getting a whole slew of fun, education-based titles to write for the company I freelance for. I have gleaned some excellent ideas for our homeschool via my research. A great deal of them are on this site — check it out!

8. Jonah’s four-hour nap today, and catching a snooze beside him for part of it. Sleep is so divine!

9. Jonah’s crazy, curly bed-head, rosy cheeks, sleepy eyes and cuddling when he first wakes up.

10. Watching American Idol. I’m finding Steve Tyler and JLo much more enjoyable than I thought I would.