Kevin and I just got back from spending some time during the holidays with our family in New York. We arrived in New York on Christmas Day, and returned back to Ohio today. Christmas time with my family is always a huge production organized by my parents. They would start preparing food early in the morning, continue making more as needed throughout the day, and then rally everyone together to enjoy the fruits of their labor in the evening. There is no set time for when dinner begins. Our family and friends arrive throughout the day starting at noon and ending late into the evening. There are constantly dishes of wings, spareribs, fresh fruit, vegetables, snacks, cookies, and holiday treats placed on a buffet style layout for family and friends to enjoy whenever they please. Each year, on Christmas morning, I would prepare the dough to make a pumpkin spice gingerbread house, chill the dough, cut out the shapes, and bake the components before preparing the royal icing, and assembling the house. This year, I was short on time, and did not get a chance to continue the pumpkin spice gingerbread house tradition. Instead, I was tasked with making tons of chocolate chip cookies and holiday bark. You can read more about my holiday adventures in New York here. Holiday bark is a treat I started making last year after my colleague brought in some simple white chocolate and pretzel bark to share with our office. Her version featured pieces of crunchy pretzels sprinkled throughout the melted white chocolate. I loved the idea and made my first batch for family during the holidays in New York last year. This year, I made holiday bark again featuring dried cranberries, pistachios, and crunchy pretzels. I saved half of the batch to serve during our holiday party and reserved the rest to gift to family and friends during home visits throughout the week. I brought some over during my visit to see Xin and her baby, gifted some to Ada and Colleen when we had our get together, and saved a few pieces for my dad to share with his colleagues. Holiday bark makes for a great simple homemade gift to give to others during the holiday season. Better yet, it can be packaged and given to guests as a take home treat at the end of the evening.
For my holiday bark recipe, click here.
Takeaways: Holiday bark is easily customized with any toppings of your choice. You can crush some peppermint and add some mini chocolate chips for a peppermint bark version. You can also use dark chocolate for a dark chocolate version like the one I made here.
Read more about my holiday adventures in New York here.