Mistletoe Cookies

A few years ago a dear neighbor brought me these green cookies shaped as a wreath with red hots as the ornaments.  I loved them.  Over a year ago, another friend brought these same cookies to a church activity, and I remembered that I loved them.

So this year, the girls and I decided to make them on Christmas Eve.  Only .... the wreath part didn't happen (the circle part).  It just was too messy to make them into circles.  So we just plopped them down on the wax paper ... and I called them Christmas Blobs.

When we took the cookies to a dinner on Christmas at a friend's house, one of the husbands said "hey, these look like mistletoes!" so we renamed them Mistletoe Cookies!

We love them!  Here is the recipe (I got it from allrecipes)

• 1/2 cup butter
• 4 cups miniature marshmallows
• 1 tsp green food coloring
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 cups cornflake cereal
• 1 package cinnamon red hot candies

1. Microwave marshmallows and butter on High for 2 minutes. Stir, then microwave on High for 2 minutes more. Stir. 
2. Add and mix quickly the coloring, extracts, then cornflakes. Drop by spoonfuls in clumps on greased wax paper and decorate with 3 red hots each.                
3. Once cool, transfer to lightly greased serving/storage tray with lightly greased fingers.

Sierra Nuggets (aka ... full of spices chocolate chip cookies)

Many many years ago when I was a little girl, my aunt made these cookies.  I fell in love.  Their spices just created an amazing explosion in my mouth.  I make these every December for Christmas == but are good anytime of the year!  The ingredients are out of this world -- but I promise, they are extremely good!

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

CREAM TOGETHER:

1 c butter      1 c brown sugar     1 1/2 c sugar

ADD:

1 Tbsp milk    1 1/2 tsp vanilla

BEAT & ADD:

2 eggs

STIR IN:

1 c corn flakes (dry & crumbled)      3 c oats

SIFT TOGETHER THEN ADD:

1 1/2 c flour

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp mace

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp ground cloves

STIR IN:

4 oz coconut     1 pkg chocolate chips

Drop by well rounded teaspoons onto greased cookie sheet (or parchment paper).  Bake 10 minutes or until done.  Yields 8 dozen.

AMY'S NOTES:  I did not sift all those dry ingredients... I added them to the mixture and they turned out fine.  I also always bake w/ parchment paper -- I never have to grease the cookie sheet or anything, and my cookies always turn out perfect!  It always states that it yields 8 dozen... but w/ my cookie scooper, it yields maybe 5 1/2 dozen?  If you make them smaller, then for sure it will make that many.  I also found that my time needed 11 minutes -- wait until it gets a little bit golden before you take them out.

Another side note:  Since I didn't want to make the entire batch of cookies in one time, I used my cookie scooper and dropped them into a mini muffin pan and placed it in the freezer.  When they froze completely, I took them out with a spoon, and put in a freezer bag.  Now I'm able to make a few cookies at a time whenever I want!

pepper jelly + canning!!

I had an opportunity a few weeks ago to host a Ball Canning party by House Party. They gave me EVERYTHING I needed to start canning... everything but the food. So while my mom was here in town, I made her teach me how to can. And can we did!!

First we started out washing our cans, lids & bands. Some people put it on the sanitize cycle on their dishwasher, but I don't have that cycle on mine. So we placed the jars inside a simmering hot pan of water (first time we submerged, the second time I did not submerge the jars). Set the lids in their own little pan and we started making the jelly!!

Ingredients:

4 1/2 c finely chopped green bell pepper (about 4 large)
1/2 c finely chopped jalapeno pepper (about 4 small)
1 1/4 c apple cider vinegar
1 pkg (1.75 oz) Ball No Sugar Needed Fruit Pectin
2 c sugar
1 c honey
12 Ball (4 0z) jelly jars w/ lids & bands

1) Prepare canner & jars as directed.

2) Combine green bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, & vinegar in a large saucepan. Gradually stir in pectin. Bring mixture to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down over high heat, stirring constantly.

3) Add sugar & honey. Return mixture to a full rolling boil. Boil hard for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam if necessary.


4) Ladle hot jelly into hot jars, leaving 1/4 headspace. Wipe rim and center lid on jar. Screw band on until fingertip-tight.

5) Process filled jars in boiling water for 10 minutes. Leave sitting on counter for 12-24 hours.


Amy's Notes: OK.... get a chopper if you've got one. I have a Pampered Chef chopper, and that literally saved my life! My hands too! For the jalapeno peppers, I wanted it a little hot, but not so hot that kids can't eat it, so I left two of them w/ the veins & seeds, and seeded/deveined the other two peppers. Another note to myself: start the pan w/ hot water quite a while before it's needed. The first time I canned, it took FOREVER and a day to get it boiling (always put the lid on it, which I didn't). The second time I canned, I added the lid and started the heat about half an hour before I needed to start.

If you have any leftover or run out of jars to place into, put the rest in a sealable container and eat over cream cheese with crackers!!

This is a perfectly little gift to take someone... like a hostess gift!
Or a little Christmas present for that someone!!
Make a whole bunch NOW so you're ready for whenever!
Seriously, the easiest recipe ever!

Many thanks to the Ball company for supplying this recipe! It's a winner!

the most beautiful gingerbread cookies ever

my friend kristen is amazing. she came in carting these type of cookies at church one sunday for the young women. i was jealous. they were too beautiful to eat! then one day, katie babysat for kristen, and came home with a bag of these babies! they were the best gingerbread cookies i have ever eaten! i took several pictures because they were simply a work of art.... and i begged kristen for the recipe. she was so sweet, and she gave me the recipe! i have a few other recipes of hers to share later on as well! she said she got it from her husband's aunt, who got it from possibly the mormon essentials cookbook. Enjoy!

Cast of Characters
aka ingredients

5 to 5 1/2 c flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp b soda
2 tsp ginger
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cloves
1 c shortening
1 c sugar
1 1/4 c unsulphered molasses
(Kristen prefers Brer Rabbit Full Flavor, but couldn't find it, so used Grandma's)
2 eggs, beaten

Melt shortening in large saucepan until just melted, not hot. Add in order: sugar, molasses and eggs; mix well. Cool slightly, then add four cups dry ingredients and mix well. Turn mixture onto lightly floured surface. Knead in remaining dry ingredients by hand. Add a little more flour, if necessary, to make a firm dough.

Roll out dough- bake @ 350 for 10-12 minutes

i will post the royal icing recipe she used shortly!

holiday pretzel treat

A few years ago, I found this recipe, and it was so incredibly easy, that I put my then little kids to work on helping me make these yummy treats. Since then, my girls have made these every year. It's a family favorite (OK, it's a favorite b/c I don't have to bake or slave over a stove... they can do it all!).

Preheat oven to 170 degrees.

Place a bunch of square pretzels on a cookie sheet. Line then up as close as possible.

(note to myself: comb Maddie's hair before pictures are taken! EEKS!)

This is where your kids come in handy! Make them unwrap a bunch of Hershey kisses. It'll take a while. Trust me. Oh, and buy a few bags of kisses b/c chances are, they all won't make it to the cookie sheet.

Place the Hershey kisses on top of the pretzel.

Place in the oven and leave for 4-6 minutes. I had to leave for 7 minutes b/c my chocolate was still too hard by 6 minutes.

Dump some M&M's on the table.

When you pull out the cookie sheet, immediately have your kids put one M&M on top of each kiss, squooshing it down.

Tada! Place in fridge for about 10 minutes to harden up!

You could also use a Rolo candy with a nut squishing it down! A turtle!