Crunch Bar Pumpkins

Crunch and Krackel bars are among my favorite chocolate candies, so when I saw a silicone mold for pumpkins at a few years back, I knew I had to make something with it! Enter the Crunch Bar Pumpkins! Am I legally allowed to call them that? Probably not.

Previous to this blog, I had another blog where I shared these sweet treats and I thought they turned out so well that I’m going to share them here so you guys don’t miss out! So here we go:

CRUNCH BAR PUMPKINS

INGREDIENTS

• Rice Krispies Cereal

• Ghirardelli Vanilla Flavored Melting Wafers

• Ghirardelli Dark/Milk Chocolate Flavored Melting Wafers

• Green & Purple Food Coloring

• Silicone Mold

DIRECTIONS

• Melt the vanilla flavored wafers in two separate dishes. Normally, I’d use a double boiler method to melt the wafers, but I was too excited so I just used the microwave. If you’re using the microwave, just make sure you do so on medium power. It took 3-5 minutes for mine to melt.

• Add food coloring to the melted vanilla wafers and stir quickly until you reach desired color.

• Drizzle the dyed melts into the molds. I didn’t use any anti-sticking agent like Pam because I didn’t want the drizzle to drip down and I didn’t have any issues.

• Place the mold in the freezer for at least five minutes.

• Melt your chocolate flavored wafers until they reach desired consistency.

• Remove mold from the freezer and add a thin layer of the melted chocolate wafers to each shape (this will allow the mold design to stay intact and not appear lumpy from the Rice Krispies).

• Mix Rice Krispies into the remaining melted chocolate wafers and fill each mold.

• Gently giggle or tap the mold to even out the chocolate.

• Pop your mold back into the freezer for at least 15 minutes.

• Remove your mold from the freezer, pop out the candies, and voila!

TIPS + NOTES

• The amount of ingredients you’ll need will vary based on the amount of chocolates you want to make and the Krispies to chocolate ratio you prefer.

• I thought I added a lot of Rice Krispies, but afterward felt like I could’ve used more, so don’t be afraid of them!

• I attempted to drizzle the melted vanilla wafers into each individual shape, but realized it’d be easier to drizzle over the entire mold.

• DO NOT OVERFILL YOUR MOLD or else you’ll have a blob around your candy shape.

• And on that note — before placing the mold in the freezer (both times), be sure to wipe down any chocolate that is sitting on top of the silicone mold outside of the shapes, otherwise you’ll have shapes like mine where the bottoms have extra chunks of chocolate.

• I also tried chocolate chips, but the ingredients in chocolate chips help them keep their form when baked. So when you melt them and let them reform, they take on a chalky texture, so definitely go for a chocolate bar or melting discs instead.

Enjoy the crunch!

xo,

K

Food & Beverages of San Diego

Mr. Heid took a trip with me and my family to San Diego to watch my baby bro graduate! We had a blast and I’m finally sharing the food and beverage side of our trip with you here!

THE PURPOSE | The foremost purpose of heading to San Diego was to watch my Baby Bro graduate and it was my absolute favorite moment of the trip! He looked so excited and proud, as he should be and as we all are! Congrats, Baby Bro — the best is yet to come! The second reason was to explore the City that he’s called home for the past two years.

THE DRINKS | On our first day, Baby Bro took us to a few breweries and a winery. The sours at Sourworx were sooo delicious — they had a few dark sours, which are my favorite. I really wanted one of everything there, but alas… pacing. Bolt Brewery had a super chill atmosphere and apparently Pizza Fridays! We weren’t there on Friday, though...

We hit La Mesa Wine Works next, which is actually a pour room for two wineries. They were doing a BOGO on flights, so our table looked ridiculous and we got a liiiittle goofy. One of our last stops in San Diego was Border X Brewing in Barrio Logan. They boast Mexican craft beer, and their beverages are as unique as their atmosphere! Their walls are covered in doodles by a once-local artist (I think I’m remembering that correctly), and their Blood Saison was on point with its hibiscus and agave flavors.

THE FOOD | Three words. The. Taco. Stand. Baby Bro took us here for our first meal and it was insta-love. You guys know my passion for tacos. I could eat them morning, noon, and night — every meal. Throughout the trip, everyone kept saying, “The taco stand was so good,” “We should go back to the taco stand,” “Remember the churros at the taco stand?” We decided that this restaurant earned a second visit despite our being in a new place with many untried options. So as we were walking down the street, I said, “What is the name of this place anyway?” And everyone simultaneously says, “The Taco Stand!” The whole time we’d been talking about it on the trip, I thought they were just referring to it as a taco stand, not realizing that they were calling it by its actual name.

Their North Park location is so tiny, but everything about it is awesome — corrugated metal menu, the fading painted words on the wall over a line of hot sauce bottles, the little window where you can watch tortillas being made and pork turn on a spit… The food comes out so hot and fresh. And the churros?! They’re melt-in-your-mouth good. UGH! I need a location close to me STAT!

For our first dinner we stopped at Cross Street Chicken & Beer because the reviews were great and the photos were mouth-watering, but we were all a little disappointed. It’s probably my bad for ordering on the assumption that the spice would be spicy-hot versus spicy-literal (meaning the chicken was just covered in some spices of sorts). The good news is that we also stopped into Bing Haus for something to stay warm while we waited to be seated. I got a beautiful Chai tea, while Baby Bro got a Mexican hot chocolate.

The next morning, Mr. Heid and I got up super early to try Rose Donuts and were quite pleased. The donuts were airy, but full of sugary flavor… they reminded me of a little place in my hometown called Daylight Donuts that we frequented when I was a kid. Once everyone else greeted the day, we met up with our parents at Breakfast Republic. I honestly can’t remember what all we ate because everyone took a nibble of what everyone else was having, but I can say that it was all on point! I do remember that my parents ordered a pancake flight and I sipped on a margarita with blanco tequila, ancho verde, lime juice, and some grapefruit Stiegl Radler. It was incredibly refreshing and I should definitely attempt to make my own on our next taco night.

Before Baby Bro’s graduation, the fam went to Cafe 222 where I enjoyed their huevos rancheros. Their restaurant is tiny, so we were lucky to get a seat and not have to wait. After graduation, we celebrated in Little Italy at Buon Appetito Restaurant. The owner seemed to be living his best life, and their food was decadent; thinking about it now has me craving some really good Italian. That same evening, we had a dinner at Cafe Coyote in Old Town San Diego to celebrate my birthday — the food was really flavorful, the carnitas were crispy, the taco was covered in melted cheese, the tamale was legit, the prickly pear margarita was perfect, and the venue was huge, like a colorful maze of classic Mexican decor.

And last, but not least, we hit 85C Bakery Cafe. Serving up Asian and European pastries, their options were different than what I’m used to, but they’re each between $1 and $3, making our visit there an affordable exploration of new things.

NEXT TIME | I’d love to check out Little Italy Food Hall next time I’m in San Diego. Food halls are always fun because you can try a nibble here and there or get a full meal. I’m also willing to eat all of the tacos anyone will give me, and I wouldn’t mind checking out a few more seafood places.

Stay tuned for my next post where I detail our sights and scenes from San Diego!

xoxo,
K

Snow Days, Gingerbread Houses, and Small Bites — Oh My!

We went to bed super late on Saturday to a dusting of snow and woke up Sunday to about three or four inches of snow (which is saying something in this area). Keiko was unsure about going out in it this year, but once she trotted a little ways, she was soon zooming and frolicking around and didn’t seem keen on coming in.

We also woke up to no power, so Mr. Heid and I ventured out into the world where most things were closed (because the South is never ready for winter weather), ate brunch at Cracker Barrel (thank you for being open for those of us without power), went to Academy for rain boots and socks (I was loooong overdue for new rain boots and this was the perfect excuse), ran into Publix (for cookies, not water and canned goods), and then picked up Keiko to head to my sister’s house where she had power.

So in true Southern fashion, schools and many businesses are closed today, which means I have a snow day (and power again)! So I’m checking some things off my personal to-do list and decided I’d pop onto GSD to share with you guys! Let the sharing commence!

The other week, I invited some of the girls over to assemble and decorate gingerbread houses. I don’t know about you guys, but one bite of gingerbread can tide me over for the whole year, so I thought this would be less detrimental to my health than decorating sugar cookies. Not that my health was truly considered because I also created a big small bites spread…

My mom had given me a few cheeses that she wanted to try, but ended up not liking. I loved them, and decided to incorporate them into this spread. So I looked around to see what else I had that could go in the spread, made a list of what I wanted to include but needed from the store, and assembled this mock of where everything would go.

Let’s be real here, we didn’t need this much food, but I’d never put together a large spread before and really wanted to do it! So what wasn’t eaten, I sent home with the girls or saved for the following week’s meals.

It’s super easy and you can do it too! This spread includes (left to right): Ritz Vegetable Crackers, From the Ground Up Cauliflower Crackers, Boars Head Pepperoni, Boars Head Salami, Girl Scouts Honey Roasted Peanuts, Lance Wheat Crackers, Townhouse Sea Salt Pita Crackers, smoked gouda, Super Seedz Spicy Pepitas, Fudge Dipped Oreo Thins Bites, chocolate covered and plain peanut butter pretzels, yogurt covered pretzels, pepper jack cheese, Beemster aged gouda, aged cheddar, cranberry cheddar, Townhouse Italian Flatbread Crackers, pork rinds, bell peppers, ranch dip, more peanuts, Smuckers Cherry Preserves, goat cheese, cucumbers, leftover squares of Mr. Heid’s pies, carrots, broccoli, more pepitas, and Pawley’s Island Palmetto Cheese.

It was so good! I shared what I used above, but you can use any small bites items you want. Just remember to have a good balance of sweet and salty!

Did you know there are like a bajillion gingerbread house kits? After perusing my options, I grabbed two kits with the most candy selections, bought some Christmas M&Ms, and we teamed up to make these beauties (if I do say so myself).

Turns out there’s a fair amount of waiting in the gingerbread building game. You have to assemble the sides and let them set for 15 minutes before assembling the roof. And then you’re supposed to let that set for another 15 minutes before you decorate it, buuuut we were impatient and started decorating anyway. One of the houses collapsed (oops!), but we rebuilt and continued on.

None of us liked the idea of eating them, but I also couldn’t just toss them. So they now adorn our dining room table for the holidays. I only wish I had a cake stand so I could cover them and place them somewhere else in the house (and it’d look fancier haha).

Alright, off to finish the rest of my tasks! Hope you’re having a great Monday!

xoxo,

K

Hello

Hello and welcome to Gather Savor Dwell. I’m Keira, a South Carolinian enjoying life with my fiancé Mr. Heid and our pup Keiko in the Upstate. By day, I plan arts and cultural events for a small city. By night, I relish in gathering people together, dining on new foods and beverages, and making our house a home. Which brings me to Gather Savor Dwell.

Gather + Savor + Dwell — Each of these invokes a sense of space in which we can honor and create memories. A place where we can cultivate and curate experiences with intention. I’ve created GSD to share how I practice those notions — of course there will be plenty more goodies along the way. Take a deeper look at what Gather Savor Dwell means to me here.

So I guess a bit more about me —

I could consume sour beers, tacos, and chai tea every day. I love the act of handwriting and have been known to embrace snail mail. I love stories — I’ve just finished re-reading the Harry Potter series and am in the process of reading three other books. I have a hashtag for my dog (#keikokitch) and for my From Where I Stand posts (#fromwhereistandkk) that are mostly populated by my private Instagram, but will definitely be used on @gathersavordwell when I start posting more.

That’s it for now! I hope to learn who you are as we go along!

xoxo,
K

Coming Soon

Hang in there — post is coming soon!