Friday, November 14, 2008

Getting Ready for the Holidays

Just thinking about cooking for them them is fun for me. This is what I typically make - recipes to follow throughout the next couple weeks:

Cheddar Jalapeno Crackers - from my single days

Poor Girl's Turtles
This is what the kids love to make - although Seth wants to try something "real" this year. Cover a pan with mini pretzel twists. Top each with a Rollo. Put in oven for 3 minutes on 300 - watching very closely. Remove from oven and carefully press a pecan half into each one. Cool and enjoy! Make WAY more than you think you will need. Unwrapping the rollos is a highly recommended activity for kids ages 4-ish on up. Just give them a limit of how many they can eat while unwrapping.

Buckeyes - cause you know, you can take the girl out of Ohio but you can't take the Ohio out of the girl.

Sugared Walnuts - both this and the fudge are recipes my mother and I always made

Fudge - always always dedicated to my maternal grandpa Ray Wheeler

Potato Latkes
potatoes
onion
carrots
oil
egg
salt & pepper
flour

grate potatoes, onion and carrot. If you want to get all fancy, place them all in an old dish towel and squeeze the moisture out. This involves help from your husband and makes him feel all strong and macho. If you don't want to be all fancy, just add into bowl and use the technique described later. Add in egg(s) salt & pepper, and a little flour.

Heat oil. Fry one latke first to ensure the oil is hot enough. This is one for the trashcan. It never turns out right. I find that smaller latkes work the best. Fry latkes and place on an oven-proof plate in layers of paper towels. Place on low/warm in the oven. Serve with applesauce and sour cream. We like to have horseradish in our sour cream.

If you do not remove moisture from the potatoes, quite a bit will accumulate in the bowl. I tilt the bowl and try not to get too much of it in the latkes when I scoop out the potatoes.

Puppy Chow also known as Trash - a delightful combo of chex mix, peanut butter, chocolate and powdered sugar. A recent discovery and a new fav of the kids.

Seth and I are looking for cookie recipes to add to our holiday favorites. Any ideas?

2 comments:

Lisa said...

The latkes sound yummy. (Giggle on the part about the husband—so true!) I just got a CHOW newsletter that has a recipe for potato-turnip duck fat latkes. Talk about fancy!

Seedy L said...

I know a fun/easy/simple one - I've been making this for a few years now:
Christmas Cookies
red currant jelly
1/2 lb. butter, softened
1/2 c. sugar
2 c. flour
1 tsp vanilla
powdered sugar

Cream butter, add sugar, flour & vanilla, stir after each addition. Chill about 20 min. Roll into balls the size of a walnut, place on ungreased cookie sheet.
Flatten cookies with fingers, then with your pinkie, make a hole in the center of the cookie. Fill with currant jelly. Bake 350 for 10-12 min. When done, sift powdered sugar lightly over the cookies while still warm. If not eaten after 3 days, store in fridge since there's so much butter in the cookies. Red currant jelly works best since it's tart and the cookies are soo sweet.