Holiday Eggnog

I should start off this post by saying I really don't like eggnog. The stuff from the store always makes me gag after the first swallow. So why am I posting a recipe for homemade eggnog you ask? Because my husband (who randomly channels Julia Childs from time to time) decided to make eggnog late Saturday night and it was actually really good. Oh yeah - and it's easy too!

Ingredients:

8 Eggs
5 cups Milk
1 cup Cream
1 cup of sugar
1-2 tsp Nutmeg
1 Tbs Molasses
(optional 1 Frozen Banana)

Preparations:

Combine ingredients in a blender and blend on high until mixture is smooth.

Easy Sugar Cookies

Here's a recipe that Better Homes & Garden calls "Melt in Your Mouth Sugar Cookies". A word to the wise - wash these cookies down with some milk as they are SO sweet!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 3/4 cups flour

Preparations:

1. Combine butter, sugar and shortening. Beat well.
2. Add baking soda, cream of tartar and salt.
3. Add egg yolks and vanilla. Beat well.
4. Mix in flour.
5. Bake at 375 for approximately 13 minutes or until edges are brown.

I sprinkled toppings on before I put them in the oven. Keep the size of the cookie to about one inch because they tend to expand. You can also roll the dough out and use cookie cutters to make holiday cookies.

How to Roast a Turkey

Ever wonder how to roast a turkey? Turns out the answer is as easy as turning to hulu.com.

Here's a short video on how to get your turkey tasting yummy and moist this holiday season.

Easy Pillsbury Peppermint Crunch Cookies

Pressed for time and need a treat to take to the office holiday party? Well, look no further! Here's a quick recipe from Pillsbury that's festive enough to celebrate the holidays with.

Ingredients:

1 roll (16.5 oz) Pillsbury refrigerated sugar cookie dough
1 1/2 cups white vanilla baking chips or semisweet chocolate chips
8 round hard peppermint candies, crushed into pieces
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Preparations:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place dough into large bowl. Break into pieces. Knead in 1/4 cup of flour.
3. Shape dough into 36 1-inch balls. Bake 10-14 minutes or until edges are golden brown.
4. Cool cookies completely.
   
5. In small microwaveable bowl, combine vanilla chips and 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil.
6. Microwave on Medium for 2-3 minutes. Stir at halfway point. Chips should be melted.
7. Dip half of each cookie into melted chips mixture. Let excess drip off. Place on lined cookie sheet.
   
8. Sprinkle each cookie with 1/2 teaspoon crushed peppermint cane.
   

My Grandmother's Bread Stuffing

I love stuffing. Next to mashed potatoes, it's my favorite thing to eat on Thanksgiving. When I first made my grandmother's recipe, my husband was skeptical because he strongly disliked every other stuffing he'd ever had (i.e. his grandmother's :) but after eating this - he was converted. In fact, we never have enough stuffing when I host family gatherings so you might just want to double this. What doesn't fit in your bird can be baked in a CorningWare dish.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter (no margarine!)
2 large stalks of celery, chopped
1 medium sized onion, chopped
15 slices of bread torn into pieces
1 teaspoon salt (add more if need be)
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Preparations:

1. Saute onion and celery in melted butter until onions and celery are soft.
2. Add salt and pepper.
3. In large mixing bowl, combine butter/onion/celery mixture with bread. Mix well.

Here's a tip - it's better to have wet stuffing than dry stuffing so if you find that once you mix your stuffing it's a bit dry then add more butter. Place stuffing inside your very well cleaned out turkey and bake.

Martha Stewart's Pecan Pie

I used to think that making pies was the epitomy of hard work in the kitchen. Well, that was before I actually tried making a pecan pie. Turns out, it's really not that difficult (especially if you by a ready made crust :).

Here's a recipe based on Martha Stewart's Pecan Pie.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups pecan halves
• 4 large eggs
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1 cup dark corn syrup
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 ready made graham cracker pie crust

Preparations:

1. Coarsely chop 1 1/4 cups pecans; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, combine eggs granulated sugar, and brown sugar. Whisk to combine.
3. Add dark and light corn syrups, butter, vanilla, and salt. Whisk until well combined.
4. Add chopped pecans, and stir to combine. Pour into prepared crust.
5. Top with remaining pecans.

Bake at 350 for 50 - 55 minutes (or until knife comes out clean). Top with whip cream and serve.

Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes

If you're cooking a big meal for a bunch of people, one of the best things you can do is make dishes ahead of time. Make Ahead mashed potatoes are easy, tasty and will lessen stress!

Ingredients:

• 5lbs peeled potatoes
• 1 cup sour cream (I used low fat for less calories)
• 1 8 oz package of cream cheese
• 1 stick of butter, divided
  

Preparations:

1. Boil potatoes on medium heat for approximately 45 minutes or until they fall apart.

2. Drain potatoes.

3. Mash potatoes and add half of your stick of butter. (I used my Kitchen Aid to do the mashing which is a huge time saver)

4. Add sour cream, cream cheese and remaining butter. Mix well.

5. Salt and pepper to taste.

6. Store in refrigerator

7. Heat at 400 for 30 minutes before serving

Graham Cracker Crust

It's that time of year where it seems like all I do is bake pies. Yesterday I needed to make one for Ken's Air Force Christmas party and I didn't feel like running to the store to buy a pre-made pie crust.

Here's an easy recipe if you're crunched for time:

Ingredients:

1/3 cup butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups crushed graham crackers (about 15 crackers)

Preparations:

Melt butter. Combine butter, sugar and crushed graham crackers. Mix well. Press evenly into the bottom of pie dish.

Berry Pie

Here's a recipe that I took from AllRecipes and modified.

Ingredients:

1 Package of Pillsbury Pie crusts (why spend the time making pie crusts when you can by good ones?)
2 cups frozen strawberries
2 cups frozen raspberries
1 cup frozen cherries
1/2 cup of flour
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch

Preparations:

Mix flour, cornstarch and sugar. Add all the berries and mix well. Pour into pie tin lined with one pie crust. Cover mixture with second pie crust and pinch edges together.

Bake at 375 for 60 minutes (approximately)

Martha Stewart's Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars

This recipe comes with a story. It's a story of how even though it was late, I still got my butt to the gym only to return home to find that my husband did not take the brownies out of the oven as directed. As a result, they were in for AN HOUR past the correct time. So, no picture of my yummy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip BRICKS. :)

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon pumpkin-pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1/4 cups brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 package (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

Preparations:

Mix the wet stuff - pumpkin puree, sugar, vanilla, egg, butter. Separately mix flour, pumpkin-pie spice, salt and baking soda. Mix well. Combine both sets of ingredients and add chocolate chips.

Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes (AND NOT AN HOUR AND 35 MINUTES -not that I'm bitter or anything. :)

Pumpkin Pie

This is another recipe from Better Homes and Garden. I have made pie crust from scratch one time and it convinced me that it wasn't worth the time or effort that went into making it. So if you buy a pie crust pre-made, you can make this pie in about ten minutes. My husband must have thought it was really good as he ate the entire thing. :)

Ingredients:

1 graham cracker crust
15 ounces of pumpkin
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 slightly beaten eggs
3/4 cup half-and-half

Preparations:

Mix pumpkin, sugar, and eggs. Then add cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and half-and-half. Beat really well (on high if you have a mixer). Pour mixture into pie crust.

Bake at 375 for 50 minutes. Buy this cookbook from Amazon.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

'Tis the season for pumpkin y'all!

Okay, that's about as much enthusiasm as you'll ever see me muster for the holidays. When it comes to a holiday that requires decorating, I'm totally the Scrooge-ette of my block. Chalk it up to childhood trauma and you've got one gal who hates crafts and never decorates the Christmas tree. (I hand Ken the box and say - Have at it, pal)

But alas, times are changing and I'm trying to be less "Scroogy" about Halloween and Christmas. In an effort to be more festive, here's my first recipe of the pumpkin season. I took the recipe for pumpkin bread from Better Homes and Garden and added a bag of Nestle chocolate chips.

Ingredients:

3 cups sugar

1 cup cooking oil

4 eggs

3 1/2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2/cup water

15 ounces of canned pumpkin

Preparations:

Combine oil, sugar, eggs, water and pumpkin. Mix well. Separately, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Mix well. Combine both sets of ingredients and mix thoroughly. Add chocolate chips.

Bake at 350 for 55-60 minutes.

Servings: 3 loaves

Green Bean Casserole

The holidays are just around the corner and who doesn't love a good green bean casserole?

Here's my take on the casserole without the casserole dish.

Ingredients:

1 can cream of mushroom soup
2 cans of green beans (drained)
1/4 cup crushed Lay's potato chips
1/4 shredded mozzarella cheese
1 tsp salt

Preparation:

Mix cream of mushroom soup with half a can of water. Add drained green beans and salt. Cook on medium for about ten minutes. Top with potato chips and mozzarella cheese.

It's yummy!