When I worked at the Manor I always had to have a fresh plate of cooked Chicken Tenders in the refrigerator for the Mrs. to snack on at all times.  I also had to have a tray of fresh vegetables and dip and a tray of devilled eggs at the ready for the Mrs and Mrs.

  

It used to really annoy me if I got them done and in the refrigerator and the daughter came home with her friends and then they snuffled them all up without a second thought.  That meant I would have to make a quick trip to the shops and do them all over again . . .  along with my other duties.    I did not have a very understanding boss.  The daughter and her friends eating all that you had prepared was not a good enough excuse.  Those things had to be there no matter what.   It was my job after all  . . . so I shouldn't really complain.  It wasn't that I didn't like doing these things, I just didn't like having to do them twice in one day.

 

Chicken tenders are  a little strip of meat that is attached to the underside of a chicken breast.  Most of the time you won't actually see them on the breast because they have already been removed and packaged separately, but occasionally you will find them still attached.  This is the most succulent and tender part of a chicken breast, with the exception of the tendon that you can usually see quite clearly running down the length of the tender on one side.  I normally remove this prior to cooking, as it can be quite tough and unappealing.

 

The first way that you can do this is I recommend two ways to grab the tendon with your fingers (or a piece of paper towel) and pull on it while scraping with your knife to release the tendon from the breast. Continue to lift and scrape until the tendon is completely removed. Alternatively, you can use a sharp boning knife and slice along both sides of the tendon (without slicing through the tendon). Then lift any part of the tendon that has been separated from the breast and use your boning knife the cut any parts where the tendon has not cleanly separated from the meat.

 

I have also heard of people using a fork to do this.  Basically you cut around the small piece of the tendon that is already protruding out a little bit, just to get a little better grip on it. Then, slide that end of the tendon through a fork and pull it straight out as the fork holds the chicken in place. You might have to use a paper towel to hold on to the tendon as it has a tendency to slip right through your fingers.  The paper towel helps to hold it in place.

 

Hopefully they will stay all in one piece (the tenders) but occasionally they will tear a bit.  That's not a problem when you are doing some thing that is wrapped in bacon like these ones I am sharing with you today.  The bacon holds them together well.

  

This recipe has to be the Cadillac of chicken tender recipes  . . .  imagine it  . . .  a length of juicy and tender chicken . . . .

 

Rolled in a selection of herbs and spices . . .

 

Wrapped in a rasher of streaky bacon  . . . .

 

Coated in a mix of brown sugar and chili powder  . . .

 

And then baked, until the chicken is cooked through and all of those fabulous flavours from the bacon and spices have been absorbed . . .

 

And the brown sugar and chili mixture has coated them in a sticky sweet layer of finger-licking goodness!

 

Oh boy but these are some good!  Especially if you serve the with a dip for dipping.  Some people like a sour cream ranch dip and others like a honey mustard . . .  still others like a creamy garlic dip.

  

Me, I like them just the way they are. Unadulterated. A lip smacking tasty mix of sweet, spicy and smoky!!

 

This is a really popular finger food for when you are entertaining guests at a cocktail type of affair,  or for when the gang is all gathered  together to watch the big match, children's or teen parties, etc.  In short . . . . anytime. Put it this way, there are never any leftover. 

 

Most of the year I am not much of a hot drink lover.  I know lots of people can't live without their tea or coffee, or hot chocolate, but its just not something I crave every day.  I used to own my own coffee shop when my kids were small,  and I confess . . . . I did drink a lot of coffee back then.

 

But vanity caused me to stop drinking it about 30 years or so ago.  I didn't like the way it stained the teeth, tea as well, and I couldn't afford to go to the Dentist very often, and so I just stopped drinking it. Then of course I joined the Church of Jesus Christ in the year 1999, and we have a health law called the Word of Wisdom and we don't drink tea or coffee as a part of that anyways.   

 

  

Latter Day Saints do love their hot chocolate however, but as a person who has never liked chocolate milk or hot chocolate, that doesn't do it for me either!  I have the occasional one, but its not something I go out of my way for.

   

Long about this time of year however, I start craving this Strawberry Hot Cocoa.  It is a homemade mix .  I got the recipe from a Gooseberry Patch book quite a number of years ago now called Autumn in the Country and is attributed to Tammy Moody from Thomasville, GA.  

 

I just love the Gooseberry Patch Recipe books. Each one is like sitting down with an old friend.  All the recipes in them are pretty good. I've never tried one I didn't fall in love with and this is one of those!  

 

Its very easy to make and so delicious, using only 4 basic ingredients.  Non-dairy coffee creamer, strawberry drink mix, powdered milk and sugar.  It does make quite a bit, but that's no problem as we gobble it up during these colder months.

 

I like it so much more than not cocoa, firstly because its not chocolate, and secondly because it melts instantly into the boiling water in your mug. It doesn't clump or leave any powdery residue.  In short its perfection!

 

Of course sometimes as an additional treat, and when I need an extra pick me up, I will top each serving with a small handful of pink and white mini marshmallows.

 

So lovely and indulgent  . . .  so simple . . .  perfect for biscuit dunking!

 

I really do love it.  It has a nice mild strawberry flavour and beautiful consistency.

 

It is also perfect for this time of year to make as gifts for friends and family.  You can mix it up pronto and divide it into clean jars for giving.

 

Always adding of course a tag which give instructions on how to use it.  You can make it a gift on it's own or you can pop it into a basket with a few other goodies for giving.

  

Perhaps a really festive Christmas mug, filled with a bag of marsh mallows, a cute tin of shortbread biscuits, a nice plaque that they can hang on the wall, etc.  Anything festive goes.  You can let your gift-giving imagination go wild here!

 

Oh I do so love this time of year when I can begin digging out all of my festive dishes and decorations!!  Don't you?  I confess to being especially fond of festive salt and pepper shakers!  I have about 4 different sets!!

 

I discovered a totally amazing cooking page a while back called Feeding a Loon. Kris and Wesley are a really sweet pair of guys who love to cook together in their kitchen. I find them incredibly entertaining and could watch their You Tube videos for hours. (I would love to have their kitchen instead of my 12 in-square space to work in!)

 

They posted this incredible sounding pumpkin bread a week or so ago and as soon as I saw it, I knew I wanted to bake it myself.  The Loon just made it sound so incredibly good with his oohs and aahs.  If you have never watched one of their videos you need to.  Why these guys don't have their own cooking show is a mystery to me!

 

The recipe uses Butterscotch chips, which are not an easy ingredient to find here in the UK, but I did have a few precious bags in my freezer and I cracked one open just for this.  I hoard North American ingredients such as this like gold because they are so hard to come by.  If I ever end up using them, it's because I am baking something that I think will be totally amazing.

 

I would be so mad at myself if I wasted this precious commodity on something blah.  I am ever so glad I took a chance and baked these however.  They ended up being totally amazing! I was so pleased.  Look at the scrumminess of those butterscotch chips!

 

I buy my Butterscotch chips here.  When you see the cost of them, you will understand why I treat them like gold.  Other than that I rely on the good nature of friends to send them to me.  With the price of postage these days you can bet that doesn't happen very often, but I am very grateful when it does!  I do think that fudge baking bits that are readily available here in the UK would work just as well.

 

Tinned pumpkin is much more readily available here in the UK now.  I got mine at Ocado, but you will find it in a lot of grocery stores these days.  When I first moved over here to the UK it was as scarce as Hen's teeth!!

 

I did make some changes to the recipe which I felt improved it somewhat.  I used Vanilla paste instead of vanilla extract. I wanted a real vanilla oomph to go along with that butterscotch flavour of the chips.

 

Kris and Wesley use only nutmeg in their loaves.  I decided to add some other spices.  I cut down the amount of nutmeg and added cinnamon, cloves, allspice and ginger.  Oh boy  . . .

 

You should have smelled this when it was baking.  I was sitting on the sofa oohing and aahing about how delicious it was smelling!  My house smelled like a little bit of heaven on earth if I don't say so myself.

 

Mine took slightly longer to bake than theirs did.  About a quarter of an hour longer.  I also thought it was browning a bit too quickly in my oven so I threw a sheet of tin foil loosely over top. Everyone's oven is slightly different.

 

That's why it pays to keep an eye on things when they are baking.  Don't be afraid to test and if you don't think something is done, pop it back in for a bit longer.  Rather that than have a loaf that is partially raw in the middle.  Been there, done that  . . . not good. 

 

Just look at those little tunnels of butterscotch . . .

 

Don't they look amazing?  Mmmm . . .  Mmmm . . .  Mmmm . . .

 

I'm with the Loon on this one.  It is amazingly tasty.

  

The hardest part of this is waiting for it to cool enough to glaze, and then waiting for the glaze to set!  Oh I am sure you are going to absolutely fall in love with this!

 

This would make the perfect Neighbour gift for Christmas.  In fact I gave the second loaf that I baked to my next door neighbour on the day.  She fell in love also.