Candy is Dandy

The Christmas Season is a sweet season, including the treats of candy that we buy and make for sharing with family and friends. Christmas is the 3rd biggest candy holiday, after Halloween and Easter. There are lots of recipes for family favorites and traditional candies of the perfect fudge, peanut brittle, chocolate covered taffy, etc. I've done these in years past and like most people, struggled with the many ingredients called for, varying degrees of heat, boiling syrup, soft or hard boil stages, caramelization or crystallization. Often we found we liked Hershey's just as well!

So this year, my new favorite combines two of our favorite candies - Hershey's Hugs and M&Ms! And it couldn't be simpler. Spread mini pretzels (I especially liked it with the small square pretzels) on a foil covered baking sheet, top each with a Hug, heat in a 350 degree oven for 3 - 5 minutes. Remove when the Hugs start to look glossy. Remember chocolate melts quickly, if you wait until you think its melted, its too late! Top each with a M&M while still soft and warm. The hardest parts? Unwrapping that many Hugs without eating every other one, and waiting for the finished candies to become firm (putting them in the freezer helps speed up this process)!

Here's the finished candies - you can leave off the M&M's like those on the right if you want - but why would you?

The other favorite and quick candy that I always do at Christmas time is Peanut Clusters. It is extra easy and extra quick. I use 8 ounces (half of the 16 oz package) of chocolate almond bark or candy coating, melt in the microwave for about 1 1/2 minutes (again, remember it holds it's shape so it won't look melted), stir to completely melt. Add about 1/2 jar (8 ounces) of lightly salted peanuts and stir together. Drop by spoonfuls on foil or parchment paper to harden. You can make the full 16 ounces of each if you like, I only make a 'half recipe' at once - a form of portion control! If you want to make any more, its better to do it in batches instead of trying to melt a large quantity of chocolate at once in the microwave.

Caring with Cookies

Cookies are a universal symbol of sweetness and family customs at Christmas. Whether your tradition is sugar cut-out cookies, gingerbread men, spice cookies, or chocolate chip, cookies are always popular at a holiday gathering or on a cold winter afternoon. Sharing cookies with others is a way to show that you care.  Recently our church circle put together cookie plates (with fruit) to take to shut-ins. The warmth and love of those cookie plates is the meaning of Christmas. 


Ginger Spice Cookies are a good winter cookie, similar to Snickerdoodles (which I think are a summer cookie, good with lemonade and Independence Day parades). These Ginger Spice cookies are tasty with a cup of hot tea. Use Saigon or Vietnam cinnamon, it is sweeter with a slight spicy tang, but not bitter. 
I discovered this recipe a couple of years ago while doing a program on spices. It is a good sample of holiday tastes. 
The recipe calls for both all-purpose and whole wheat flours. I keep my flour canister filled with a blend of half all-purpose/half  whole wheat, so that's what I used - (2 cups plus about 3 Tbs.)


Ginger Spice Cookies
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup softened margarine or butter
1/4 cup mild-flavored molasses
1 egg
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground cloves


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, beat 1 cup sugar with margarine or butter, molasses and egg until light and fluffy. Add flours, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Mix well. Shape dough into 1-inch balls; dip one side in sugar. Place sugar side up two inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. 
Bake at 350 degrees for 8 - 10 minutes, until cookies are set and begin to crack. Cool one minutes; remove from cookie sheets. 

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
This is the other all-time-forever favorite at our house, one I make a couple of times a month. Again, I use the all-purpose flour/whole wheat blend. 
1 cup butter, softened (I use 1 stick butter and 1 stick margarine)
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups quick-cooking oats
1 3/4 cups flour
1 package (3/4 oz) instant vanilla pudding mix (for a variety of flavors, use other favors of pudding mix. Chocolate is especially yummy!)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips


In a large mixing bowl, cream butter/margarine and sugars. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Combine the oats, flour, pudding mix, baking soda and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. 
Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 375 degrees for 12 minute or until lightly browned. Remove to wire racks. 

Pour yourself a cup of tea, or better yet, have a friend in to share tea and cookies with you. Or (as my family hopes) send a couple dozen to family members in another state to share the warmth and love of the holiday season.

Tis the Season to Party!

This month our calendars are filled with pot luck dinners, finger food snacks, and other holiday cooking and sharing events. The first one last week was the quilting/sewing group I belong to. There was a good variety of mini-sandwiches, veggie pizza, cookies, breads, and even fruit.

I took Vegetable Mousse - a family favorite from my sister-in-law. The original recipe is named "Tomato Soup Salad", but that doesn't sound very classy, so we've renamed it! We like it served with Ritz toasted chips.

Vegetable Mousse

1 can tomato soup

¼ cup water

3 oz. package lemon jello

8 oz cream cheese

2 Tbs. chopped onion

¼ cup diced green pepper

1 cup diced celery

1 cup mayonnaise

1 small jar chopped pimiento

Heat tomato soup and water. Pour in jello and stir. Cool. Add softened cream cheese, onion, and stir to dissolve. Add other ingredients and mix well. Mold. To serve turn out on serving dish and serve with crackers. 

One of the things I like about this recipe, besides it's taste, is that I usually have the ingredients on hand! But, this night I had to serve it with Ritz Holiday crackers, not the yummy toasted chips, but still good. 

Mini Thanksgiving Dinner

After the big, traditional Thanksgiving dinner with my husband's brothers and families we were missing our own adult kids who didn't make it back to Kansas for the Turkey Dinner Day. So, we traveled to Texas to spend the weekend with our daughter and son-in-law in their new home. The kitchen wasn't quite put together yet, and there were lots of things to do besides cook, so we chose a simple Mini Thanksgiving dinner.

The recipe for turkey meatballs included many Thanksgiving favorites - turkey, cranberries, and stuffing/croutons. It was from Good Morning America and quick and easy to make. We added fresh green beans with scallions, sweet potato casserole, tossed salad, and pumpkin bread dinner rolls to the menu.


Oh, and pie - more on the pie later.

Gobble Gobble Turkey Meatballs

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 pounds ground turkey

2 cups garlic croutons or stuffing cubes

1 cup dried cranberries

2 large eggs

¼ cup breadcrumbs

2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage

2 teaspoons salt

Pinch of ground cinnamon

For the garlic croutons:

1 large loaf stale country bread, crusts removed

1 garlic clove, minced

1 cup fresh oregano, finely chopped

¼ cup olive oil

salt

Directions for croutons: Tear bread into bite sized pieces and place in a large bowl. Add garlic and oregano and drizzle with olive oil. Toss gently and season with salt.

Place croutons in a large rimmed baking pan, bake for 20 minutes. Stir and bake until brown and crunchy. 

Directions for Turkey balls: Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Drizzle the olive oil into a 9x13-inch baking dish and use your hand to evenly coat the entire surface. Set aside. Combine the ground turkey, croutons, cranberries, eggs, bread crumbs, sage, salt, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl and mix by hand until thoroughly incorporated.

 Roll the mixture into round, golf ball-size meatballs (about 1 ½ inches), making sure to pack the meat firmly. Place the balls in the prepared baking dish, being careful to line them up snugly and in even rows vertically and horizontally to form a grid. The meatballs should be touching one another. Roast for 20 minutes, or until the meatballs are firm and cooked through. The temperature should be 165 degrees on a meat thermometer. Allow the meatballs to cool for 5 minutes before serving. 

And the pie - a friend shared a wonderfully rich pie recipe with me and I found it was similar to a recipe I'd had for years and been wanting to try. Its surprisingly easy also, and just as easy to eat (and will add many yummy calories to the day!)


KENTUCKY DERBY PIE

1 cup sugar

½ cup flour

1 stick oleo, melted

2 eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup English walnuts

6 ounces chocolate chips

2 Tablespoons bourbon (optional)

1 unbaked pie shell

    Mix all with a spoon. Put into pie shell and bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until firm on top. Serve plain or with whipped topping or ice cream.

It was a great Thanksgiving. We were grateful to spend it with family and friends.