A delicious dark chocolate bark with toasted pecans and aromatic rosemary. It’s the perfect holiday gift!
Mr. K and I just drove 1100 miles from New York City to my hometown in Minnesota. I haven’t taken a cross-country road trip since maybe 1999. We thought it would be a nice change from dealing with the hassles of flying. The first day of driving was a long day; we made it all the way to South Bend, Indiana. To break up the monotony of driving, we listened to lots of podcasts and music, and made several coffee/bathroom stops along the way. At one point, I had my ipod on shuffle and a couple of songs came up from my high school and college days. There was a time when I couldn’t listen to certain songs without getting a knot in my stomach. If the song reminded me of a time in my life when I was unhappy, I would immediately turn it off lest I relive that time in my head. I chose to listen to the songs this time around. Hearing these songs again made me reminisce about who I was back then. I was insecure, anxious and depressed, and much less self-aware. I don’t know that anyone around me could tell my true state of mind on any given day. I think I did a pretty good job of hiding it from people, and I think I still do. In fact, I would posit that most people who suffer from depression do a decent job of hiding it from others. There is still a lot of shame surrounding this disease, and it can be difficult to talk about with others.
While listening to these songs from the 90’s, I started to think about my life then and how I foresaw my life in the future. While I always thought it would be amazing to live in NYC, I never saw myself doing anything incredible with my life or living anywhere other than Minnesota. I didn’t think I would ever get married and wasn’t sure about my future happiness in general. And just thinking about where I was back then made me so, so grateful for my life today. I snuck a peek at my husband sleeping in the passenger seat and a big smile crept over my face. How did I get so goddamn lucky? I have a wonderful husband, and we have a great life in NYC that we love. But more importantly, at that moment I felt proud of myself for everything that I had accomplished thus far: moving to NYC in my late twenties, getting my Master’s degree, starting a business, and having the courage to continue bettering myself. It’s a wonderful life isn’t it George Bailey?
We are currently staying at my dad and stepmom’s house. My stepmom does a great job of decorating the house at Christmas. Beautiful garland decorated with ribbon and clear lights lining the staircase, poinsettias throughout the house, and nutcracker men by the fireplace. You can’t help but feel festive the minute you walk in. I made this bark a few weeks ago but I wanted to be sure to post it before Christmas. I love all types of bark but I’ve never had a sweet/savory bark before this one. I swoon over rosemary and I love pecans this time of year so it sounded like a great combination for the holidays. The sea salt and dark chocolate helps unite the flavors. If you like rosemary, I guarantee you will love this bark. And it makes a beautiful holiday gift. Happy Holidays!
Pecan Rosemary Bark
Ingredients
- 20 ounces 60% or darker chocolate chips
- 1 cup pecans toasted and roughly chopped
- 4 sprigs fresh rosemary
- Flaky sea salt to taste
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Gently melt the chocolate using a double boiler or microwave method. Remove from heat.
- Pour chocolate onto parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Evenly sprinkle the pecans, rosemary and sea salt over the chocolate edge to edge.
- Using the back of a spoon, gently push the pecans down to make sure each piece has adhered to the chocolate.
- Place the baking sheet in the refrigerator for 15 minutes or until firm.
Merry Christmas! So glad you are home for the holidays!
Thanks, Mom! We had a great time. Our favorite part was lounging in our pajamas (and eating) all day on Christmas.