Christmas Cut-Outs Icing

1/2 cup butter softened
3 cups confectioner's 10x powdered sugar
3 tablespoons of milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla
food coloring

Cream butter. Add remaining ingredients and continue creaming until mixture is well blended and light and fluffy.

Split into bowls and add food coloring.

Will cover about 70-90 cut-outs depending on the shapes.

Christmas Cut-Outs

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar

4 eggs
3 tsp water
1 tsp vanilla

6 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp nutmeg

You will need 3 bowls. In the largest bowl, cream butter well. Then add white sugar and brown sugar slowly to the butter and cream well. I usually do this one in the mixer.

In the second bowl, beat eggs and add water and vanilla.

In the third bowl, mix and sift the remaining dry ingredients.

Add alternately the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients to the creamed butter and sugar.

At the end you will have to use your hands to shape the dough into a large ball. Chill dough at least 1 hour before rolling it out.

Roll on floured surface and cut with cookie cutters.

Bake about 7-8 minutes on 350.

Cool and icing. See Cut-Out Icing for recipe.

Meltaway Cookies

1 cup soft butter
1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cup sifted flour
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 400. Mix thoroughly: butter, powdered sugar and vanilla. Sift flour and salt and then stir into first mixture. Roll into tsp size balls and drop onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake about 8-12 minutes until set but not too brown. While still warm, roll them in more powdered sugar!

Glazed Toffee Bonbons

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 bars (1.4 oz each) chocolate-covered English toffee candy finely chopped (I used Heath bars)

Glaze:
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 1/3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup white vanilla baking chips

Heat oven to 325 degrees. In large bowl, beat 1/2 cup butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar, the vanilla and egg with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. On low speed, beat in four, baking soda and salt. Reserve 1/3 of the chopped candy for garnish. Stir remaining chopped candy into dough. Shape dough into 1 inch balls. On ungreased cookie sheets, place balls 1 inch apart.

Bake 11 to 14 minutes or until edges start to brown and tops of cookies feel set when tapped. Place cooling racks on waxed paper. Immediately remove cookies from cookie sheets to cooling racks.

Meanwhile in 1-quart saucepan, heat 1/4 cup butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar and 2 tablespoons of milk over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until mixture just comes to a boil and sugar is dissolved. Stir in powdered sugar; beat with wire whisk if necessary to remove lumps. Immediately dip tops of cookies into glaze, or spread glaze on tops of cookies. (Cookies don't need to be completely cooled, just firm and set.) Place on rack; let stand about 10 minutes until glaze is set. If glaze starts to set in saucepan, reheat over medium-low heat and beat with whisk until softened.

Place chocolate chips and vanilla chips in separate small microwavable bowls. Microwave each on High 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds, until melted and smooth. Using tip of spoon, drizzle each flavor generously over cookies. Sprinkle with remaining candy. Refrigerate 20 minutes to set quickly.

Caramel Pecan Pretzels

Ingredients:
40 tree- and star-shaped pretzels (I substituted Snyder's Snaps Pretzels)
20 caramels, unwrapped, each cut in half horizontally into 2 thin squares
40 pecan halves
½ cup dark chocolate chips
½ cup white chocolate chips

Heat oven to 250. On a large cookie sheet, place pretzels in a single layer. Place caramel piece on center of each pretzel. Bake 6 to 8 minutes or until caramels have softened. Remove from oven. Press pecan half into each caramel piece. Place close together on sheet of waxed paper.
In separate 1-quart resealable freezer plastic bags, place chocolate chips and vanilla chips; seal bags. Microwave each on High 35 to 50 seconds, until chips are melted and smooth.
Cut small tip from bottom corner of each bag. Drizzle melted chocolate over pretzels. Carefully drizzle melted vanilla chips over chocolate. (If careful when drizzling, there is no need to let the chocolate set before drizzling the vanilla chips.) Refrigerate about 20 minutes or until chocolate is set.

Bacon Crisps

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan (found in deli section of Kroger)
1 sleeve buttery rectangular crackers (I use Keebler Club crackers)
1 pound sliced bacon, cut in 1/2

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place 1 teaspoon of the cheese on each cracker and wrap tightly with a strip of bacon. Place the wrapped crackers on a broiler rack on a baking sheet and put the baking sheets on the oven rack. 

Bake for 40 minutes, or until the bacon is done. Do not turn. Drain on paper towels. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Recipe from Paula Deen.

Easy Potato Soup

Rinse 4 cans of diced potatoes and put on the stove in a pot. Cover with 1 1/2 cans of chicken broth and boil for at least 10 minutes.


Meanwhile, in a crock pot, heat the following ingredients until blended together:
1 can cheddar soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup

Add potatoes and chicken broth mixture to the soup mixture in the crock pot. Add 1 pint of half and half and stir together. Keep on low heat. Stir occasionally so that the soup does not stick.

Serve with bacon bits and cheddar cheese.

Chicken Salad

1 12.5 oz. can chicken (rinsed, drained & shredded)
1/2 white onion, finely chopped
Sweet relish or finely chopped gerkin pickles
Miracle whip (at least 1/2 cup)

Mix all of the above. Add chopped pecans or walnuts. Add cut grapes. Add more miracle whip if necessary. Add pepper to taste. Serve with crackers or on bread/rolls.

For a large crowd, I use 3 cans of chicken and 1 onion. Then I just increase the rest of the ingredients as necessary.

I use Hormel premium chicken in water, Miracle Whip light, sweet relish, pecans and red grapes.