My Texan cousin and her husband have a unique flair for sending us goodie packages that make our eyes go wide with excitement one minute, and run with tears of laughter the next. The box they sent us at Christmas this year was certainly no exception, and we have been enjoying every bit of it; from A&W Jelly Beans to the Frosty-the-Snowman-boxer-shorts!

Included in this fantastic box of surprises was a ‘little’ something that they sent us once before: an enormous box of Ghirardelli white baking chocolate. We had used up most of the last box having an amazing fondue with some friends, and this time I wanted to try something different. I’ve discovered that this brand of chocolate (OK, white chocolate isn’t technically chocolate, but it tastes just as good!) melts beautifully, and is surprisingly forgiving of my culinary ineptitude. So, over a double boiler of online recipes and imagination, I stirred in a bag of yummy dried cranberries that came from Nathan’s parents, then added a package of cute foil candy cups that a friend gave to us, tossed in a few ingredients from the store, and came up with three wonderfully sweet treats that we can share!

Individual white chocolate cups with cranberries or toasted almonds go great with a cup of tea:

white chocolate cups white chocolate cups and tea

White chocolate and cranberry ‘bark’ is seriously addicting, and the steamed pudding technique of baking on the stovetop works pretty well with Blondies (brownies with white chocolate instead of cocoa).

cranberry bark blondies

We would love to invite you over for tea and white chocolate goodies, but (*lick*) I don’t think they will be around much longer!