12 Days of Holiday Recipes - How the Wheels Fell Off

I don't know what I was thinking. Lately every plan I've made has fallen apart. I think it's just the season of life I'm in. Our days got super busy, the baby became super needy, and lots of things succumbed to neglect. I had purposed to make some goodie baskets for our neighbors and then some for my kiddos to give to my siblings for Christmas. I figured the best way to attack this was to just do it all on one day. One LONG, stressful, messy day, and then it would be done. I should have known better.

My first clue should have been when I turned on the oven to preheat. After a few minutes I smelled a horribly familiar smell and opened the door to find this:

 

When my brother was little he used to stick all kinds of things in the oven too, like my Dad's tape measure. So while this was a frustrating start, the memory of childhood made me smile.... and we trudged forward.

 

See... everyone was so happy... er...uh...well, almost everyone. See Black-Eyed Bart there? It was nap time. Shortly after I took this he went down and things went much smoother. 

We used some of this....

And some of this....

to make our goodies. 

The girls helped make some dark chocolate and peppermint cake balls and some peanut butter thumb print cookies for the baskets.

 

We also made a batch of butterscotch goodness to take to Grandy's house for our celebration with them.

 

I love Izzie's face here. Totally captures her little goof-ball personality.

I had mixed up the hot chocolate mix a few days before so we bagged everything up in cute holiday sacks. And while we were baking away we enjoyed a wonderful holiday fragrance filling the air from this... A simmer pot recipe I got on Pinterest. My mom made it a few days before and it made her house smell so welcoming for our church's Mother/Daughter Christmas Party. So simple, it was just an orange, quartered, a few sticks of cinnamon, a few whole cloves, and a good handful of cranberries. Cover it with water and simmer on low making sure not to burst the berries. You can leave this on your stove for a week or two. Seriously. Just add a little water to it occasionally. You'll know when it's time to throw it out because everything starts to look extra mushy and turns the same brownish/gray color. It smells AMAZING! In fact, I have a few cranberries left in the fridge so I picked up an orange at the store to make one last batch of this. 

 

 

So I didn't complete the full 12 days. I'm not going to sweat it. Heck, I just took my Christmas decorations down today.... almost 2 weeks later. I'm not going to lose sleep over it. Memories were made and lessons were learned (i.e. check the oven before turning it on). Maybe we'll try again next year. :)

12 Days of Holiday Recipes - Day 6 - Party Potatoes

It has to be good if it has 'party' in the name, right? I think the first time I had these I was a teenager and we were eating at a friends house. I love potatoes and this was so delicious I could have eaten the entire casserole dish full. It has made an appearance at most of our family holiday dinners since then only absent in the presence of gouda potatoes :) 

My mom is making these on Christmas so I opted not to and snagged this photo from Simply Potatoes

Party Potatoes

1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup shredded cheese
1 cup sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 lbs. Ore-Ida frozen cubed hash browns - sometimes I use shredded hashbrowns like Cracker Barrel's hashbrown casserole. 

Mix first 4 items together with salt and pepper, combine with frozen potatoes, put in greased 9x13 pan. Top with 2 cups of corn flakes and 1/3 cup melted butter together.Bake at 350°F for 1 hour.

You can add some chopped onions if you like. These are also good with crushed Ritz crackers instead of the corn flakes, in fact, next time I make these I may use some French's Fried Onions on top :)

12 Days of Holiday Recipes - Day 5 - Cranberry Punch

We went to a holiday potluck Friday night and one of the items I signed up to bring was a drink.... I debated back and forth between apple cider or picking up a 2 liter of soda but after our Ladies Christmas fellowship at church I settled on this. Quick and easy (are you seeing a theme here?) with just 2 ingredients it was a perfectly festive choice.

Cranberry Punch

• 1 Lg bottle of cranberry juice - This can be regular cranberry, cran-raspberry, cran-whatever, I'll be using my favorite - Cranberry - Pomegranate
• 1 2 liter of Ginger Ale

Don't add the ginger ale until you're ready to serve. To make it pretty you can add a skewer of sugared cranberries or place some cranberries in ginger ale and freeze it to make ice cubes or an ice ring. Simple. And sparkling :)

Now, mine did not look quite as pretty as the photo above (courtesy of myrecipes.com) because I just served it in a clear pitcher. I also attempted an ice ring of sorts by using a washed can and filling it about an inch with the punch and some cranberries and letting it freeze, then adding another layer of punch and cranberries to make a cylindrical ice ring. I started it too late and add a 15 min car ride to the mix and the 'ring' was mush by the time we arrived.... at least it tasted good.

12 Days of Holiday Recipes - Day 4 - Hot Cocoa Mix

Now we all know I'm a coffee gal through and through but when the weather starts to get colder I do find myself craving a snuggly cup of hot cocoa. This recipe makes a VERY LARGE amount. So grab your biggest mixing bowl (or even like a big roasting pan) and make you a batch :)

Hot Cocoa Mix


1 box dry milk - 8 qts.
16 - 20 oz jar powdered coffee creamer
2 lb box instant Nestle's chocolate
1 lb powdered sugar
1-2 TBSP Cocoa - to taste

Mix all ingredients together in a LARGE mixing bowl. Store in airtight containers - 2 coffee cans work well, or Ziplock gallon sized bags. To serve fill a mug 1/3 to 1/2 way full with the mix and add boiling water.

I like mine nice and rich so I use a very healthy heap. I purchased a 3 lb container of Nestle's at Costco and just kind of eyeballed it all. You can totally tweak this by adding, removing, adjusting amounts based on your personal tastes. I love that it's not an exact science. I tend to not fail at those kinds of recipes :) This recipe makes SO much we plan on packaging it up in some cello bags and including them in some gift baskets we are making for neighbors and some family members. A bow and a candy cane and these are fabulous!

12 Days of Holiday Recipes - Day 3 - Butterscotch Party Mix

Mackenzie was drooling just over the photo. Courtesy of VeryBestBaking.com*

Each year during the holidays we extend an open invitation to our friends who might not have family in the area and are unable to make it home. They become honorary 'Dunninites' and are treasured guests at our table. I love this tradition.

Last year our dear friend Russell was able to join us and with him came this MAGNIFICENT treat. Now, I don't like butterscotch or caramel very much but this snack has been renamed "Crack" by our friend Coy because of it's addictive qualities. And as always it is so easy to make...

Butterscotch Party Mix

• 2 cups cereal squares - like Chex
• 2 cups small pretzel twists
• 1 cup dry roasted peanuts
• 1 cup caramels, unwrapped, coarsely chopped
• 1 2/3 cups (11-oz. pkg.) Butterscotch Flavored Morsels

COAT 13 x 9-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.

COMBINE cereal, pretzels, peanuts and caramels in large bowl. Place morsels in medium, microwave-safe bowl. Microwave uncovered on MEDIUM-HIGH (70%) power for 1 minute; STIR. The morsels may retain some of their original shape. If necessary, microwave at additional 10 to 15-second intervals, stirring just until morsels are melted. Pour over cereal mixture; stir to coat evenly.

SPREAD mixture into prepared baking pan ( or just some wax paper spread out on the counter); let stand for 20 to 30 minutes or until firm. Break into small pieces.

Note: I was able to find these little caramel pellet looking things at Target when I made it, taking out the caramel unwrapping/chopping step. You can also throw some white chocolate chips in there too.

Seriously good stuff. 

*Hopefully tomorrow I'll have a camera and after a trip to the store I can actually make and take pics of the recipes :)

12 Days of Holiday Recipes - Day 2 - White Chocolate Popcorn

photo from Taste of Home

When the holidays roll around there is never a shortage of munchies around. This one has become a favorite in recent years. It's quick, easy, and tasty. :) I made it for our Mother/Daughter Christmas party last week.


Here is the recipe:

White Chocolate Popcorn
(Originally published as White Chocolate Popcorn Deluxe in Healthy Cooking December/January 2010)

• 8 cups air-popped popcorn
• 2 ounces white baking chocolate, chopped
• 1 teaspoon butter
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 3/4 teaspoon salt

Place popcorn in a large bowl. In a microwave, melt white chocolate and butter; stir until smooth. Pour over popcorn mixture and toss to coat. Add the cranberries, nuts and salt. Spread onto waxed paper. Cool until set. Store in an airtight container. Makes 2 quarts.

Now.... This is what I do: 

Pop some popcorn in the microwave. Plain popcorn, no butter. This last time I actually used regular popcorn that you'd use in an air popper and popped in the 'wave in a brown paper bag like they explain here. Put it in a large mixing bowl. Then you take a couple squares of white almond bark and microwave it in a glass measuring cup, 30 seconds at a time, until it's just melted. Pour over popcorn and stir. It will clump together as the chocolate hardens which isn't a big deal unless you want it to look pretty. If so, then spread it out on wax paper to 'dry'. If you want to be festive you can add some dried cranberries, red & green m&ms, or for non holiday occasions you can add a few drops of food coloring to the chocolate. For Kenzie's last birthday I added some red to make 'PINK' corn. No need for the butter or salt...unless you just want it. Store in an airtight container and it keeps for a while.

Yum! 

12 Days of Holiday Recipes - Day 1 - Potato Chowder

My friend Sarah has an awesome blog and during the month of December she always does something fun. Last year it was 25 Days of Cookies. Each day she and her boys, she has 5, would make a batch of cookies and then deliver them to someone. This year she's doing Crafty, Salty, & Sweet where they make something and she shares the recipe or the craft tutorial. It's always lots of fun to read. It also encourages me to seize these moments with my own kiddos and take the opportunity to make memories.It also makes me a little jealous, I mean, she's got time to blog regularly and she's so smart to think of this stuff ahead of time, instead of like me when it's almost halfway through the month and I'm trying to squeeze stuff in.

Anyway... I thought it would be fun to share some of the wintery goodness that I like to fill my tummy with this time of year. Today it's Potato Chowder. The weather is cold, sort of, and while I'm not a 'soup' person I totally dig a steamy bowl of this chowder with some dipping bread. Mackenzie was my kitchen helper and we got to try out my new Cuisinart can opener that I got for free by collecting stamps from my shopping trips to Albertson's over the past few months.This gem is from the Calvary Bible Church cookbook courtesy of Emily Scheffler.

Elise's Potato Chowder

Sauté:
1 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
& link sausage cut into bite size pieces

Add:
2 cans Campbell's Potato Soup
1 can cream corn
1 can corn
1 can diced green chilies
2 cans milk

Heat thoroughly. Garnish with shredded cheese.


That's the recipe, which I think is how I made it the very first time except I used diced ham instead of the sausage. I do it a little different every time. Today I just did the 'cans' part. No onion, pepper, or meat. I wasn't sure how well rice milk would taste in it and I only had some powdered milk on hand so I used that and it worked fine. You could also skip the potato soup and use diced potatoes and make your own 'soup' by making a roux with a little butter, flour, and milk.

I served mine with a little cheese and some crescent rolls. Quick, easy, and totally hit the spot.