Holiday Bark

I just got back from a lady's night out to the Joffrey Ballet Nutcracker.  After my family medicine final this morning, dinner and a ballet seemed like the perfect prescription shake off 24 long (but great) weeks of non-stop medicine and start my two week holiday vacation.  Oh arabesques, how I miss being able to move like that.

Alright everyone, it's time to get serious.  The holidays are about catching up with family and friends, indulging in great food, and treating the ones we love to special gifts, like this homemade bark.  Bark, incase you didn't know, is usually melted chocolate with stuff sprinkled on top, then broken apart when hard.  Simple, but everyone thinks it's so sophisticated and classy.  We'll fool them.

I decided to make my bark this year with graham crackers as a base.  I like crispy things, and this turned out to be a great idea.  There is no real recipe for this; literally, open your pantry and see what you have.  Chocolate chips? We're on the right track.  Pretzels, sprinkles, cookies, marshmallows, white chocolate, almond bark (you can find colored almond bark in the craft/baking department at Walmart), you name it.

I lined a big rimmed cookie sheet with graham crackers, breaking them to fit.  Then I melted green almond bark (it just tastes sweet, kinda like white chocolate), semi-sweet chocolate, and white chocolate and spread it on as I saw fit.  Then I sprinkled on Andes candies on the green, and marshmallows/M&Ms on the dark chocolate.  For the white chocolate, I thought I'd class it up a bit and add walnuts and cranberries. I couldn't resist some green sprinkles.

Be sure to gently press your toppings into the melted chocolate so they stick when you break it apart when it's hard.  Voila!  An impressive hostess gift, appetizer, treat plate filler, teacher gift, or midnight snack.  It keeps great in the freezer so you can make it ahead of time.  Go get creative people, it's Christmas after all.