Sugar Cookies and Cream Cheese Frosting

These cookies are so soft and delicious.  I have said I am for sure not a cookie maker but these are super easy I didn't even mess them up.  I made them the first time for Kyle's Valentine's Day Party then I made them again with Lego candies on them for his birthday.

 



Cream together:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup sugar
1 cup oil
1 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Add:
5 cups flour
1 tsp cream of tarter
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda

Mix all ingredients well. Roll into golf size balls and roll in some granulated sugar. Flatten with your fingers just until there is some resistance.  Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. Bake until just starting to crack. Don't let them get brown. Cool and frost with frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting
1 block cream cheese
1 stick butter
lots of powdered sugar
vanilla flavoring


Cream together the cream cheese and butter. Whip it for a little while. Add powdered sugar and some vanilla flavoring until it tastes the way you like it. I usually do about 2 tsp vanilla and half a bag of powdered sugar.

Pumpkin Cookies With Frosting

Kyle and JD have been telling me they want a pumpkin pie.  So I thought I would be a wonderful mother and have one made for them when they got home from school.  Well I only had one pie crust and so I had to half my recipe.  This was going great until the second ingredient went into the bowl.  I halved the pumpkin but not the sugar.  So I had to find a recipe for cookies instead.  I found this one.  The boys were pretty happy to have cookies so I guess it worked out ok.

2 cups shortening

2 cups white sugar

2 cups canned pumpkin

2 eggs

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

4 cup sall-purpose flour

6 tablespoons butter

8 tablespoons milk

2 cups confectioners' sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup packed brown sugar

 

Cream shortening, white sugar and pumpkin. Add eggs and mix well. Sift together the baking soda, ground cinnamon, salt and flour. Add to pumpkin mixture and mix well.

 

Drop from spoon to cookie sheet. Bake 10 minutes at 350 degrees

 

To Make Frosting: Cook butter, milk, and brown sugar until dissolved. Cool and add confectioners' sugar and vanilla. Spread over warm cookies.

Cherry Braid

I make this every year for Christmas morning.  It is one of Matt's mom's recipes.  I made it a few days ago for a little breakfast we went too.

I use the the bread recipe that I use for everything else.  It makes enough for two loaves.  Then I let it rise.  When it has risen I take half of the dough and roll it out to about a quarter inch oval.

1 can Cherry Pie Filling
1 (8 oz) Cream Cheese (softened)
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Mix the cream cheese and sugar together until smooth then all the pie filling until it is all well mixed.  Pour half the mixture down the center of the dough and leave about three or four inches on the sides.  Use a pizza cutter to cut strips up and down both sides then braid the dough.  Seal the ends.  I usually have to cut some dough off the end so there is not to much on the ends.

Pour some icing over the top.

A little butter
A little milk
and Powder sugar

Mix together until the right taste and consistency.

Cowboy Caviar

Candy makes the best dip every year during the Celebration called Cowboy Caviar.  This is the only picture I could get of it.  It was gone before I knew it.  

Dustrie eating.  Poor girl I made her pose for the picture.

She really didn't seem to mind.

2 cans diced tomatoes

2 can black beans (drained)

2 cans corn

green onion (optional)

cilantro

4-5 avocados

packet of Italian dressing (put the amount of water the instructions have but not the oil)

garlic salt

Serve with tortilla chips.  Or just eat it with a spoon, no one will know.

Atomic Poppers

It isn't the best picture you will just have to take my word that these are worth the work!  I found a these and decided to change them up just a little.

Jalapenos
Cream Cheese (room temp)
Red Pepper Jelly (divided)
Bacon
Little Smokies

Cut the jalapenos in half and clean out seeds.  Use gloves if you have them.
Mix cream cheese and red pepper jelly together and fill the cleaned out jalapenos with as much cream cheese as it takes to make it level with the edges of the jalapeno.  If you get to the end you can skimp on some or borrow from others if you need too.
Top cream cheese with a Little Smoky.
Cut your bacon in half and wrap the whole thing and stick a toothpick through so it stays together.  I don't do that with the regular ones but you will want to with these.
Then top each popper with a small amount of red pepper jelly.
Bake for an hour at 300.  At the end you might want to turn up the oven to make sure the bacon is crispy.
I had 20 jalapenos, two boxes of cream cheese, a jar of jelly, two packages of bacon and a package of little smokies.  So it made 40 poppers.  I usually don't make that many but they were still gone super fast.

Grandma Bonnie's Jello Popcorn Balls

Grandma Bonnie always made these for Halloween. She must have spent hours making them because she always had a ton of them for all the Trick-or-Treaters. And she always gave me more than just one in my bag. Then we would eat them every time we went up to her house for days. I always love to make one of Grandma's recipes, I talk to her while I am cooking and ask what I am supposed to do next, or tell her she needs to help me make it right. When I made these it was no different but what caught me off guard was the next morning when I was getting out the toaster and I caught a whiff of the popcorn and jello. I couldn't believe how fast it took me back to Grandma and Grandpa's kitchen.
A few years ago I asked if anyone had this recipe and Mandy sent it to me. I am so happy someone was smart enough to get it from Grandma because I'm sure it wasn't something she had written down. And most of the time when you say "I'm looking for a recipe for Jello Popcorn Balls because my Grandma made popcorn balls with jello and they are the best" people look at you like you are crazy. I decided to make them for JD's Valentine's Day Party.

1 big raspberry jello box (not sugar free)(I used strawberry because I didn't have raspberry)

1 cup sugar

1 cup Karo

2 bags popcorn

Bring everything but popcorn to boil over medium heat, stirring often. By the time it comes to a boil it shouldn't be super grainy. Take off heat and pour over popped popcorn in a large bowl. Stir and stir until it is well coated.

Grandma must have started making balls very soon after she poured the mixture over the popcorn but it is very hot. We ate dinner and got it cleaned up before I made mine and it was kind of hard to make sick together. When I was making them I was thinking how Grandma did it when they were so hot. But then I remember her and Grandpa pulling taffy when it was super hot too. She must have just been used to it.

Gina's Rich, Yummy Chocolate Cake

Gina said this was her first ever real homemade from scratch nice cake. It looks great to me. Maybe Valentine's Day??
She said she got it off of all recipes.com.

Cake:
2 1/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 (1 oz) squares unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 1/2 cups dark brown sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 Tablespoons vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream
1 cup water

Frosting:
6 (1 oz) squares unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 egg yolk
4 cups confectioners' sugar
2 Tablespoons vanilla extract
2 Tablespoons heavy cream
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened

Ganache:
2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips
1 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour 2 (9 inch) pans. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In the top of a double boiler, heat 6 ounces chocolate, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove from heat and allow to cool to lukewarm.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Stir in the melted chocolate. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the sour cream. Stir in boiling water (batter with be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.
Bake in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
Make the Chocolate Buttercream Frosting: In the top of a double boiler, heat 6 ounces chocolate, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove from heat and allow to cool to lukewarm. In a large bowl, whip the butter for about 10 minutes until it is super fluffy, beat in egg yolk. Gradually blend in the confectioners' sugar, alternating with 2 Tablespoons vanilla and 2 Tablespoons cream, then blend in the melted chocolate. Beat in the softened cream cheese.
Make the Ganache: In a large saucepan, combine chocolate chips and 1 cup heavy cream. Heat, stirring constantly, until chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove form heat and set aside.
Assemble the cake: When the cake is completely cooled, cover the bottom cake layer with as much ganache as desired. Refrigerate for 5 minutes, or until ganache has set. Spread frosting over the ganache. Cover with top layer of cake. Frost top and sides with buttercream, and garnish with more ganache.

Cherry Chocolates

Last year I went to Aunt Karma's and we made these and I wanted to try to do it this year. I thought it would be fun and not take to long. I found out it is a lot funner to do with someone else. These are very good but they take time. I used one of Grandma's fondant recipes, there is a page in the cook book that has four different ones she used number 4. I had a hard time finding big jars of cherries so if you plan on making these I think it is better to get the cherries not so close to Christmas. I also had a hard time finding chocolate to melt so I ended up using Almond Bark.
Fondant:
3 lbs powdered sugar
1 can Eagle Brand Milk
2 cubes butter (softened)
vanilla
Mix all together until it is a smooth ball. Then form into desired pieces.

Wrap the cherries with a small piece of fondant then dip in melted chocolate then let cool on wax paper. I move the cherries to a gift box lined with paper towel. Keep in a cool place to let age. I don't know how long they need to age for, I guess until the fondant starts to turn liquid.
This makes a whole bunch. When I made them I got about 175. Mom, Aunt Karma, and Robyn made them and got about 150.