Cracker Party Mixture

If you like a heavy garlic flavor, you might want to add more garlic to this – this was just right for us. Easy, fun snack

Cracker Party mix

1 package oyster crackers

1 package Hidden Valley Ranch Buttermilk dressing mix (dry)

1/4 tsp. lemon pepper

1/2 to 1 tsp dill weed

1/4 tsp garlic powder

3/4 to 1 cup olive oi

I added cracker/pretzel mixture; fish crackers, etc.

Preheat oven 250

Mix the ranch mix with oil. Add rest of ingredients. Pour over crackers, which I had spread out on a cookie sheet and toss to coat. I mix on a large cookie sheet by using a large spatula to toss the mixture, and scrape and scoop ingredients off the bottom of the pan.

Bake 15-20 minutes

This has a light garlic taste -if you like heavy taste of garlic, you will want to add more.

This was perfect for us for snacking and it would also be good added to a bowl of tomato soup.

Play with the quantities based on how much of the cracker mixture you add to the pan.


I filled the cookie sheet to the rim – large cookie sheet; I was considering adding another 1/2 cup oil/herb mixture, but my husband and son are snacking on them right now saying they are perfect

Lemon Butter Ball Chiffon Cookies

from TOH 2009 Holiday Magazine

These have a slight taste of lemon. Delicious. Made a lot. I freeze the balls for later baking. I’ve been making these for the past several years. They are great filler for the cookie platters. I use my smallest cookie scoop, because we like the ease of just popping one in to your mouth

Peppermint Meltaways with a twist

Have you ever made a cookie you weren’t sue if you were going to include on the gifted cookie platters, because you want to keep them for yourself?

This is the one for me. I went a step past the Taste of Home cookie. I made these last year and really enjoyed them. So, this year, I decided to add half of a piece of Andes Peppermint chocolate to the center. Oh My!

I will do it this way from now on.

Peppermint Meltaways

These melt in your mouth. Make sure you cream the butter well with the confectioners’ sugar or the cookies will melt. I put the dough in the fridge between baking batches, and I believe that helped a lot; if the butter is too soft, the cookies will melt.

These are also delicious without the frosting.

1 cup butter, softened

½ cup confectioners’ sugar

½ teaspoon peppermint extract

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

½ cup cornstarch

Frosting:

2 tablespoons butter, softened

1 ½ cups confectioners’ sugar

2 tablespoons milk

¼ teaspoon peppermint extract

2 to 3 drops red food coloring, optional

½ cup crushed peppermint soft candies

In a small bowl, cream butter and confectioners’ sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in extract. Combine flour and cornstarch; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Shape into 1-in. balls. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool.

You must cool them completely before adding frosting or they will fall apart. In a small bowl, beat butter until fluffy. Add the confectioners’ sugar, milk, extract and food coloring if desired; beat until smooth. Spread over the cooled cookies; sprinkle with the crushed candies. Store in an airtight container. Yield: 3 ½ dozen I used peppermint chips for frosting on some, soft candy cane pieces for others

Good without frosting TOH best Holiday recipes 2009

Peppermint Cookie Bars

I got my peppermint fix for the holidays! YUM! 2019 Hoffman Holiday Baking magazine. These will be festive on the platters. This made a lot of glaze; the rest of the glaze is in the fridge tempting me to create something else. I also chopped up some Andes peppermint candy to sprinkle over the top of the crushed soft peppermints. I’ll include a photo of the chopped Andes peppermint candy to give you a visual of what I mentioned.

Vermont Maple Cookies

Vermont Maple Cookies

20 minutes – makes 5 dozen

1 cup butter – softened

¾ cup of sugar

¾ cup packed brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp maple flavoring

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 cups white baking chips

1 cup chopped pecans

Maple Glaze

½ cup butter, cubed

1 ¾ cups confectioners’ sugar

1/3 cup maple syrup

¼ tsp maple flavoring

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and maple flavoring. In another bowl, whisk flour, baking soda and salt; gradually beat in to creamed mixture. Stir in baking chips and pecans. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on pans 2 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

For glaze, in a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Remove from heat. Gradually beat in the confectioners’ sugar, maple syrup and maple flavoring until smooth. Drizzle over cookies, let dry completely. Store between pieces of waxed paper in airtight containers.

Tip from my kitchen: On a mat – these baked in 12 minutes; on parchment paper – I left them in another 3 to get a darker brown. This makes a lot – I froze half the batter, in balls, for adding to cookie gift trays. I stored the maple glaze in a jar in the fridge, and used some of it on the pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, and maple biscotti. These are delicious. I’ll also share a photo of how different the glaze can look based on the manufacturer. The Kroger extract was clear, making the glaze almost white. The Meijer extract was a dark brown, making the glaze more brown.

These are delicious.

I found this recipe in a Taste of Home baking magazine.

Peanut Butter Fudge cookies

3 ingredients (not counting your choice of toppings)

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup sugar

1 egg

350 temp; 17 minutes here in Indiana – your area might be 15 minutes; watch at 15

I let sit on cookie tray for 1 minute, out of the oven, and then transferred to rack; I drizzled melted Nutella (because I thought it would be easier and handier than chocolate chips) and instead of peanuts (this time), I crushed pretzels ( I like the hint of salt)

Tastes like peanut butter fudge with hint of chocolate and salt – easy and quick to prepare

I also added chocolate stars to a few, because I had a few left from another project.

IP Creamy Tortellini, Spinach And Chicken Soup

IP Creamy Tortellini, Spinach And Chicken Soup

I made cheese tortellini with mushrooms and sausage, two days ago for the guys, after a long day of taking down a large tree on our property.

I made a lot, so there was plenty of leftover. I remembered this recipe I had made last year, and everyone had enjoyed it. There was a large pot of leftover, I just poured the whole bag of tortellini, as a what the heck moment.

I used this exact recipe with the leftovers, so this one had chicken and sausage, as well as mushrooms. I was out of half and half, so I added 1/3 cup of heavy cream to 2/3 cup of 2% milk.

This recipe was a life saver! They devoured it! I made a lot of it, and I’m glad I did. The guys spent the day, coming in and out of the cold, from working on the tree, to scooping bowls of this. Jim said, “add this to your recipe file!”

I recommend you try this, and make it your own. In the future, I’ll continue to add mushrooms to this; oh, and I used canned tomatoes yesterday, I use what I have on hand.

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