Holiday Baking Time!
I generally wait until after Thanksgiving to start on my Christmas cookie baking, but this year I am hard at it. I want an assortment of cookies for my Mom’s 100th birthday celebration on December 5th. I also bake cookies for the Lakeview Health Care Auxiliary Cookie/Candy Walk fund raiser, which will be held on December 8th. The auxiliary is always looking for cookie/candy bakers, so if you can find it in your hearts to help, whip up a batch of your favorite cookies and donate them. Cookies can be delivered to the activities department on Monday, December 7th or the morning of the sale before 11:00 am. I made these Reese’s peanut butter cups this week. They are relatively easy and fast to make (my kind of recipe). If I remember right, Mary Segar shared this recipe with me many years ago and she received it from her daughter-in-law, Naomi. Reese’s Butter Cups: 1/2 cup butter 1/2 cup peanut butter 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup brown sugar 1 egg 1/2 tsp vanilla 1 1/2 cups flour 3/4 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp. salt 1 pkg. small bite size Reese’s Peanut butter cups Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix above ingredients EXCEPT the candy in the order given. Form small 1 inch balls and drop into miniature baking (muffin) tins. No need to grease tins or shape dough; just drop the ball in as made. Bake 8-10 minutes, when they are done, the dough sort of dips in the middle. Press one Reese’s into the center of cookie;let cool 10 minutes, then remove from pan, giving them a gentle nudge with a table knife. Let cool on wire rack. This recipe made four dozen for me. I had a call regarding last week’s pumpkin dessert. Yes, you use the dry butterscotch pudding mix in the crust. Have a great week and a very Happy Thanksgiving! It’s my favorite holiday of the year - just family and good food and no worrying about gifts or much decorating!
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Holiday time is just around the corner!
Every year the holidays sort of sneak up on me! I have found that as I have gotten older, time seems to fly by. Even though there are some weeks I don’t do a heck of a lot, suddenly there aren’t enough hours in my day! Sometimes it’s nice to have some time savers, especially in the kitchen. Not every tasty dish has to take a long time to prepare to be good! Even though I like pie and I do make it for special occasions there are desserts that are just as good and take less time to prepare. This is the case for the pumpkin dessert I am going to share with you today. I like to take it to potlucks during the holidays. It serves more than a pie and is just as good! Pumpkin Pie Squares: Crust: 3/4 cup flour 3/4 cup quick oatmeal 1-3 oz. size cook and serve butterscotch pudding mix 1/2 cup butter, softened 1/2 cup chopped nuts ( optional) Mix together, press into the bottom and part way up the sides of a greased 9x13 inch pan Filling: 1-16 oz. can pumpkin 2 eggs 1 15 oz. can sweetened condensed milk 1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice 1 cup flaked coconut Beat eggs, mix in remaining ingredients, pour over crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool then serve with ice cream or whipped topping. Have a great week! Time to think about the Holidays!
It doesn’t seem possible that Thanksgiving is just around the corner and then Christmas will be here in no time! Time to think about the holiday baking. My Mother will be celebrating her 100th birthday in December so I will really be burning the midnight oil in the kitchen! I do love to plan a party!! It sort of gets my creative side in high gear. I will keep you posted on my party plans. My friend Sue Barnes shared a recipe with me for cranberry cheesecake bars. I thought they would be great for the holidays. You could cut the pieces a little larger and put a dollop of whipped topping on them for dessert. Thanks Sue for sharing! Cranberry Cheesecake Bars: Crust and topping: 2 cups flour 1 1/4 cups quick oatmeal 3/4 cup packed brown sugar 1 cup butter, softened Mix flour, oatmeal and brown sugar, cut in butter; reserve 1 1/2 cups of mixture for topping. Press remaining crumbs in the bottom of a 9x13 greased pan, bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, cool. Filling: 12 oz cream cheese, softened 1/2 cup granulated sugar 2 eggs 2 tsp lemon juice 1 tsp vanilla Topping: 1-16 oz can whole cranberry sauce 2 tsp cornstarch Beat cream cheese and granulated sugar until light and fluffy; add beaten eggs, lemon juice and vanilla. Spread over crust. Stir together cranberry sauce and cornstarch, spoon over cream cheese layer carefully. Sprinkle the reserved crumbs over top. Bake for 40 minutes more at 350 degrees til set. Cool, cover and chill for at least 3 hours, cut into 36 bars. I hope all of the deer hunters stay safe! Have a great week! Another Halloween past!
We survived another Halloween on Woodland Ave! We have set boundaries: we buy 720 treats and when they are gone, we are done. It’s nice that people help us on our street, donating extra treats, but for us at our age we only have stamina for so long! The little ghosts and goblins started coming at 3:30 pm and by 6:40 pm we were done. When we first moved to our home we would have a break in between our little visitors but nowadays we have to stay outdoors all the time to keep up with the crowds! We do enjoy seeing everyone’s costumes. So many parents come with the children and dress in costume too. All are very polite and all say “ thank you!“ It’s a real family affair that’s nice to see! I have never been crazy about Jello but I have a few jello salad recipes I do enjoy. Today’s recipe is one of my favorites, you can put it in a mold. If I do that, l like to fill the center with fresh strawberries or it works in a bowl, too. I hope you enjoy this one! Tart Lemon Ring Mold: 1 envelope unflavored gelatin 1 cup cold water 1- 6 oz. package lemon jello 2 cups boiling water 1 can (12 oz.) frozen limeade concentrate, thawed 2 cups whipping cream 3 Tbsp powdered sugar In small saucepan sprinkle unflavored gelatin over cold water, let stand one minute, bring to boil, stir until dissolved. In a large bowl dissolve lemon jello in boiling water, stir in unflavored gelatin and limeade, chill until syrupy. Whip cream, adding 1 Tbsp powdered sugar at a time until holds shape. Beat jello until it’s foamy, then fold in whipped cream. Pour into a bowl or greased 8 cup mold, chill until set. What a beautiful Fall week! |
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February 2021
AuthorI'm Kathy Lloyd. I grew up on a farm near Elmore, MN and have lived in Fairmont for over 44 years. I have always loved to cook, even when I was very young. I loved to stay with my Aunt Dorothy during my childhood. She was a great cook and used to give me freedom in the kitchen, teaching me along the way. She made recipes from our Norwegian heritage, along with pies, homemade doughnuts, yeast bread and cinnamon rolls. Categories
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