Door County Day 4

Today is the 4th day here in Door County and it is New Year's Eve!

Before this trip, I made a TON of puppy chow (or muddy buddies) so that we would have a delicious snack.  This giant batch has lasted us the entire trip and we plan on taking it to my brother's friend's house for New Year's.  It is the perfect snack/dessert and everyone loves it.  Plus, this batch turned out even better than any other batch I have ever made.  I made some adjustments to the recipe on the Chex box and I am very pleased with the results.

Puppy Chow/Muddy Buddies

Ingredients:
15 cups Chex Cereal (divided in half into two bowls)
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup Natural Creamy Peanut Butter
8 tbsp margarine (or butter)
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar

Directions:
1. place about 7.5 cups of Chex in a large bowl
2. Melt 1 cup chocolate chips, 1/2 cup peanut butter, and 4 tbsp butter in a microwavable safe bowl for about 1 and a half minutes.  Stir in 1 tsp vanilla and then microwave for another 30 seconds or until mixture is smooth.
3. Pour over the Chex and mix until cereal is covered thoroughly.  Place mixture in a large ziplock bag and pour in 1 cup powdered sugar.  Shake until cereal is coated.  You may need to add some sugar.
4.  Repeat 1-3 with the other half of the ingredients.
5. Keep in freezer (Muddy Buddies are amazing when they are cold and crunchy!)
Enjoy :)

New Year's Eve started off with a nice mommy-and-me work out. After that, we all got ourselves together and returned to the Village Cafe for lunch.  I got an omelet and I swear it came with the best breakfast potatoes that I have ever had! Lunch was really nice and I think it's fair to say that the Village Cafe became our favorite place.

After lunch, we decided that it would be nice to bring a dessert over to my brother's friend's for later.  We went to this place called Sweetie Pies, but unfortunately it was closed for New Year's Weekend.  This was  bit of a bummer and the grocery store didn't have any good pies either! My parents dropped me, Brian, and my brother off at the hotel and they went off to do some shopping and search for a pie.  They found one! White Gull Inn had whole Door County Cherry Pies for sale.  Finally, we were all ready for our New Year's Eve get-together.

So many snacks!

We went over to our host's house, which was beautiful, and we brought a ton of snacks and the cherry pie.  We snacked, made our own pizzas, and played Scattegories as we waited for the New Year to approach.  The pizzas were amazing and they were made even better with home-made pesto and tomato sauce.  Everything was delicious!

Zack and his friends made a balloon drop and they had purchased a ton of fireworks and poppers earlier that day.  I love how fireworks are legal in this fabulous state.  As midnight came, we set off the balloon drop and ate dessert.  The Cherry Pie was a tad too sweet for me, but it was gorgeous and Brian loved it!  This is saying something since he is a huge cherry fan.

Then, we headed outside for a bonfire and to set off the fireworks.  This ended up being even more epic than we expected as Zack's friend's dad lit the wrong side of the firework and it started shooting towards us and the house.  We all went screaming and running inside.  After that, we read the instructions more carefully and had a great time watching the fireworks go off.

Happy New Year's!
Picture: Sparkling Cherry Juice 

Brian and I shared our third New Year's together and it was made even more special by being surrounded by family and new friends.  This was an amazing New Year's and, now that I have not been burned by fireworks, one that I will always look upon fondly.  I can't wait for all the new year has in store for me.  Any New Year's resolutions? What will I cook? Where will I go? What will I do? I am excited for it all! I hope that everyone had a great New Year's and I wish you all the best in 2012.  Enjoy :)