Christmas Candy Recipes: Bourbon Peanut Butter Cups

They say (they = everyone but you because they are more intelligent and wittier than you are) inspiration can come from anywhere.  Considering this is a food and relationship advice blog, and not a website about intergalactic space travel (i.e. JPL) it really is true what “they” say.  Inspiration can come from anywhere.  This quote, appeared on Twitter November 29th, 2010: “Alcohol-infused Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. A man can dream, can’t he?”  It was tweeted by none other than Denis Leary (yes, that Denis Leary-or maybe I should say that @denisleary).

I thought that his tweet was quite amusing, given my proclivity for alcohol laced food items, and well…my booze posts on Friday’s.  So I re-tweeted the post to see if it would get more acceptance.  I, being of eastern European Catholic descent, much like Mr. Leary…see only an upside to adding booze bourbon to one’s favorite treats.  But, for once I thought I would err to the majority side if I could find more lush’s like ourselves.  And….I did. (Thank you @PolitoSara – yes, I only needed one more to consider it a landslide victory.)

So, you’ve got one of the the world’s most famous, and favorite, candies (Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups) coming up against one of America’s favorite libations – bourbon.  All rolled into, what I considered,  a dare by one of America’s best comedians/actors.  And yes, I am COM-PLETE-LY biased, as I also think Denis Leary is totally sexy. (If you know my husband, you know I’ve got a thing for a gap tooth man.)  And if you’ve seen Rescue Me (on FX) well, I don’t think I need to say anything more.  Again, I remind you, I grew up in an eastern European Catholic family…the alcohol was an integral part of everything.

So you’re all familiar with the Reese’s peanut butter cup recipe and you’re probably somewhat familiar with the bourbon ball recipe (if not think rum ball, minus the rum and plus bourbon).  This homemade peanut butter cup recipe is what you get when Reese’s peanut butter cups, becomes Miley Cyrus and smokes a bong full of salvia rebellious and drinks in some bourbon to become a spiked peanut butter cup.

Last year, I made a battalion of peanut butter snowmen.  Oh they were cute, but people wouldn’t eat them because they were too cute or because they had faces on them.  UGH!  What happened to gluttonous barbarians?  This year, I had already decided that there would be no treats with a face, so Makers Mark Bourbon and homemade peanut butter cups, boozified, made perfect sense.  Besides, most of our friends were hedonist alcohol loving people like us.  So it was a win-win situation.  Thank-you-Denis-Leary for that fine suggestion!

I like to use Makers Mark bourbon when I’m cooking or doing any of my infused bourbon spirits.  It’s a really nice, well-rounded bourbon that plays nicely with other flavors.  For straight up drinking purposes, I tend to use different bourbons, depending on what drink I’m mixing.  But the Makers Mark bourbon is a great all around spirit that won’t break the bank and is readily available.

Relationship Advice

I wish I knew then what I know now.  You 20 somethings may not agree with my choice in men (fine by me…less competition) but as you get older, your idea of sexy changes and you get smarter.  (Getting older is not all about wrinkled skin and wearing Spanx.)  And being that is the season of giving and all, I thought that I would share some of my hard earned knowledge with you.

If a guy rejects you, it most likely has nothing to do with you, it’s all them.  Trust me on this.  Guys in there 20′s don’t know anything.  They’ll figure it out at some point, but by then you’ll be long gone.
Leopard print pants don’t look good on anyone – ever.  Don’t kid yourself.
You may be able to eat or drink anything now, but that will change.  Eat as healthfully as you can, you will be rewarded handsomely later.
Don’t spend more than you make.  You may think you’ll find a rich guy to take care of your debt, but you probably won’t and then you’ll both be in debt.  And that sucks!
You are a lot hotter than you think you are.  Don’t compare yourself to what you see in the magazines (that’s the only place you’ll see people that look like that).  I live in LA, and I still don’t see people on the street quite as hot as they are in the pages of magazines.
You will survive if you stop seeing a guy, quit a job or drop a friend that is sucking the life out of you.  In fact, you’ll thrive after you do it.
Have a good attitude.  It will help you to gain friends and have a better time doing anything you want to do.
Screw ups don’t go down on your permanent record.  Don’t be afraid to take chances.  When you’re young is the only time to really do this.
Always use double protection.  He may seem like a dream now, but he’ll be a forever nightmare if he gives you an STD or a baby.
You are the only one who can control your destiny.  Stop whining and complaining and do something about your situation if you’re not happy.

Tags: bourbon ball recipe, bourbon balls, Christmas Candy Recipes, denis leary, homemade peanut butter cup recipe, homemade peanut butter cups, makers mark bourbon, peanut butter cup, peanut butter cup recipe, peanut butter cups, Relationship Advice