gearing up for the weekend (and a fun recipe!).

i know. a recipe...from me??!
weird.
i'm not the greatest cook or baker, and yes, it's probably mostly because i just don't do it all that often. but honestly, i feel like i've stepped out of my comfort zone a little more lately and i try things that i normally wouldn't try (aka i've cooked...more than once!).

anyway, this isn't any big special recipe, just a small fun treat i made for my co-workers (and Jae, of course) for valentine's day. i'm sure you've seen it around, and probably even tried it. but they're pretty delish, so i thought i'd share.

(they don't even have a name...so we'll go with....)
chocolate pretzel pieces!
sure, why not.

anyway, you'll need:
-mini pretzels (i like the square/rectangle ones)
-Hershey's kisses (or hugs. i used kisses because i couldn't find the hugs i wanted. and i ended up using the kisses with caramel in them, which actually made it that much better!)
-M&M's

*heat your oven to 200 degrees. (i actually waited until after i got all my pretzels spread out and had started putting the kisses on them just because it literally only takes about 1 minute for your oven to heat to 200. but whatever you want to do.)

*start by putting a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet, and spread out your pretzels. i fit 60 pretzels on my cookie sheet, and had just exactly enough kisses for them (plus the one i ate....).

*now...unwrap all the kisses! this is where a helper is...well...helpful. it can be time consuming! plus, they might be able to stop you from eating kisses along the way.... ;) (i only ate one, thankyouverymuch, and i had no one there to stop me).  place one kiss on each pretzel.

kisses halfway done.

*once you have all your pretzels 'kissed' (bahaha i'm so hilarious), put them in the oven for about 4-5 minutes. the time obviously will vary from oven to oven. the recipe i had said 5 minutes. i left them in for about 4 minutes and they were a little too soft, if anything. then again, that might be because i used the caramel filled ones rather than the solid chocolate ones. so you figure out what works for you!

*once they're out of the oven, put an M&M on the top of each kiss, ever-so-slightly pressing it down to push down the tip of the kiss. like i said, mine might have been a bit too soft, because of the caramel inside, so they didn't end up as pretty as i had hoped they would after they settled and hardened a bit. but i assure you, they tasted wonderful :)

{i just realized this might sound a little silly - all my detailed explanations for a treat that really is so simple. so some of you are probably laughing at me. buuut that's ok.. i'm just that amateur when it comes to anything in the kitchen, that i surely would screw something up if i didn't have the extra hints. it is what it is, i guess!}


plans for the weekend? i don't know about you, but we get a long, 3-day weekend (thanks, President's, for having a day off for yourselves!). i plan to take a nap. ha! i joke. but no, really, i really want to take a nap.

we had a hot date at subway last night for lovers day, so perhaps we'll go out for a "real" date night this weekend. and on monday, we're celebrating Jae's and my birthdays with my family! yayy!! should be a good time.

happy friday. xo.