Whole cranberry sauce

4 cups water
3 cups sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup
4 tbsp vanilla extract
4 tsp salt
2 tsp coriander
1 tbsp cinnamon
2 tsp almond extract
1 bag cranberries (12 cups)

Bring water and sugar to a boil. Some people like up to 4 cups sugar, but I like it more tart. Add other spices to create a "swich licour." You can leave out whatever spices you want, it's just to make the flavor more interesting. Add the berries to the boiling water. Pull out any that look freakish. Bring it to a boil again and cook it for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. The cranberries have their own thickening agent (pectin, I think) to turn it into jelly as it cools. Makes something like 8 cups of sauce, enough for a really big party. It also makes the house smell really nice when you're cooking it.

Pumpkin Roll

A favorite of the Hall household at Christmas time. Stores well in the freezer.

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup pumpkin

3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
Chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 375. Mix 3 eggs on high until frothy with volume. Slowly mix in sugar then the pumpkin. Add flour, baking powder, spices, and salt.  Heavily grease and flour a cookie sheet. Pour mixture into pan and sprinkle with chopped nuts (optional). Bake at 375 for 15 minutes. Put powdered sugar on towel, nuts side up. Roll up in the towel. Cool. Unroll carefully. Fill with cream cheese frosting and re-roll.


Cream cheese Frosting

4 oz cream cheese, softened
4 oz butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
2 2/3-3 cups powdered sugar

Blend the cream cheese and butter.  Add vanilla.  Slowly add powdered sugar until you reach a spreadable consistency.

Cheesecake

The basic cheesecake recipe I use. Nothin fancy.

Crust:
A package of Oreos. Off-brand cheap Oreos will work just fine.
1/2 stick of margarine or butter.
2 tbs water.

Filling
24 oz. of cream cheese. It needs to be the kind in the cardboard
boxes, not the tub. I'm pretty sure that that's 3 of the little boxes.
It has to sit out for at least 30 minutes before it starts to bake.

break and beat briefly
add



2 eggs
8 oz. sour cream (half a normal-size package)
1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla



The equivalent of a bag of fun-size Snickers. It can be whatever
flavor you want, really.

Glaze. This is optional. It's good, but you don't have to have it.
Totally your call.
1 cup of chocolate chips
2 tbsp. butter
5 oz. whipping cream.

350 degrees for 1 hour

Spicy Molasses Cookies

My new favorite Christmas cookie exchange standby

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/12/spicy-molasses-cookies-seriously-delicious/

Ingredients
•1 cup Sugar
•¾ cups Crisco (vegetable Shortening)
•¼ cups Molasses
•1 whole Egg
•2 cups Flour
•2-½ teaspoons Baking Soda
•1 teaspoon Cinnamon
•1 teaspoon Ground Ginger
•½ teaspoons Ground Cloves
•¼ teaspoons Ground Cardamom
•¼ teaspoons Salt
Preparation Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix sugar, shortening, molasses, and egg together until well combined. Dump in dry ingredients, stirring dry ingredients together lightly. Mix together until dough is combined.

In your hands roll dough into walnut-sized balls, then generously coat each ball with sugar. Place balls on a baking sheet and bake for 9 to 11 minutes, allowing to bake for about a minute after cookies begin to crack.

Remove cookies from baking sheet and allow to cool…though these are delicious while still warm.

Fun variation: drizzle melted white chocolate in decorative stripes over the top of each cookie. Allow to harden before serving. Or: dip half of each cookie in melted white chocolate. Yum.

Another fun variation: make sandwiches using two cookies and a scoop of cinnamon ice cream. Yikes.

Another really fun variation: eat all the cookies yourself, then hide all the evidence.

Rodgers' Belgian Waffle Cookies

I wrote down this recipe in the yellow book in December of 1979. I usually make only 1/2 recipe as it is rather time-consuming to cook them 4 at a time on a waffle iron! Remember to UNDERCOOK them: just barely golden. They will store in an airtight container for weeks.

1 lb. butter
2 cups white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
6 eggs
2 tsp real vanilla
1 full tsp salt

Cream all of this together and then gradually add 6 cups of sifted flour.
Use about 1 to 1 1/2 tsp of dough for each cookie.

Brownie Truffles

One box of brownie mix- the kind with the extra fudge/syrup packet
2 Tbsp of light corn syrup
1/4 c of water

Mix brownie mix, fudge/syrup packet, corn syrup, and water together to form a dough. Roll in to bite size balls and then in to any coating that you please such as nuts, sprinkles, sugar, etc. Store in the refrigerator (or in the freezer if it is longer than a week).

Sam and I had these at a wedding reception we went to last weekend. We really liked them and asked for the recipe. On our way home we brainstormed more ways to make these.

TOPPINGS
cocoa powder
cinnamon sugar
crushed candy canes
chopped candy
chopped chocolate chips
toffee bits
fruit drizzle
powdered sugar

ADD TO MIX
peanut butter
mint extract
almond extract and chopped cherries
mint extract

Easy Oreo Truffles

These are so yummy. A lady at work made them last Christmas and I devoured most of them. She had a great idea and made them with mint Oreos too. I can't wait till Christmas!

Prep Time:
30 min

Total Time:
1 hr 30 min

Makes:
3-1/2 doz. or 42 servings, one truffle each

1 pkg. (1 lb. 2 oz.) OREO Cookies, finely crushed, divided

1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

2 pkg. (8 squares each) BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, melted

MIX 3 cups of the cookie crumbs and the cream cheese until well blended. Shape into 42 (1-inch) balls.

DIP balls in melted chocolate; place on waxed paper-covered baking sheet. (Any leftover melted chocolate can be stored in tightly covered container at room temperature and saved for another use.) Sprinkle with remaining cookie crumbs.

REFRIGERATE 1 hour or until firm. Store any leftover truffles in tightly covered container in refrigerator.

from Kraft

Spritz Cookies

1 tsp baking powder
4 C flour,sifted
1 C sugar
1 1/2 C butter
2 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1/2 tsp almond extract

bake at 400 for approx 8 min or until bottom of cookie is golden

Toffee

1 C butter
1 C sugar
1/4 C water

Stir everything together over medium to med/high heat with a wooden spoon. Stir constantly, scraping bottom of pan. If candy starts to brown more quickly than you can stir, turn down the temperature. Once the candy starts to get frothy and the right color, pour onto a greased marble slab (or marble counter top) to cool.

I've never made this using a thermometer. I just judge it by the color. The lighter the color, the softer the toffee. I tend to like mine on the softer and crumbly side, but if you just cook it longer, you can get it much darker/harder without burning it.