The Good Old Days

Christmas in the kitchen

Was Mother’s favorite room

Where she would do her cooking

From morning, way till noon!

She was so very happy

With all the things she’d cook,

Cookies, pies and puddings

All from Grandma’s book.

Some of it for stockings,

And some for Christmas Day,

Most of it for neighbors

That she could give away.

                        Source Unknown

Pumpkin Trifle

1 pound cake (16 ounces) cut into 12 slices

6 tablespoons orange juice

1 cup (14 ounce jar) cranberry-orange relish

3 cups whipping cream

3/4 cup sifted powdered sugar

2 cups Pumpkin Pie Mix

1 cup sliced almonds toasted

            Drizzle cake slices with orange juice. Spread with relish set aside. In a large bowl, beat whipping cream and powdered sugar until stiff peaks form; fold in pumpkin pie mix.

            To assemble: In a trifle bowl, arrange 4 cake slices on bottom. Layer with 3 cups pumpkin mixture and 1/3 cup almonds, repeat layers two more times. Cover and chill several hours or overnight. Garnish as desired.

To make bar cookies look more special cut them into triangles or diamonds. For triangles, cut the pan of cookies into two-inch squares, then cut each square diagonally. For diamonds, first make straight paralled cuts one inch apart down the length of the pan. Then make diagonal cuts across the straight cuts one inch apart. These shapes work best for bars that are fairly firm, not crumbly.

For a 13X9 inch pan, you can substitute two 8X8 pans. Use the same oven temperature, but check for doneness five minutes sooner.

                        Bourbon Balls

A no bake treat. Note: You can replace alcohol with orange or apple juice.

5 honey graham cracker sheets, cut into 4 pre-marked squares

1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts

1/2 plus 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar

2 tablespoons bourbon

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

            In a food processor, crush graham crackers into fine crumbs. Stir in walnuts and 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar. Beat in bourbon and corny syrup until evenly blended. Dust hands with a little confectioners’ sugar to discourage sticking and shape dough into 1 inch balls. Roll balls in remaining 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar. Makes 15 balls.

                        Serving Bar Drinks?

Plan Ahead - Set up your drinks table away from any food you’re serving, and try to place it as far as possible from your front door. The result: A cozy atmosphere with no guest pileup.

Consider having two bars - Set up one for wine and beer, another for liquor. That way guests who need more pinot noir won’t be held up by those mixing vodka tonics.

Check Bar Essentials - If you don’t own them, borrow bottle openers, corkscrew, ice buckets, tongs or ice scoops, a shaker and strainer, a stirring spoon and a jigger. Buy plenty of napkins, bags of ice and lemon and limes to slice into wedges.

Hot Spiced Wine

1 quart water

2 cups sugar

25 whole cloves

3 cinnamon sticks

1/2 lemon, peeled

1 bottle (1.5) Zinfandel

            Combine water, sugar, spices and lemon in medium saucepan. Boil over medium-high heat until mixture is syrupy. Reduce heat to low. Add wine; simmer 5 minutes. Do not let wine boil.  

Chocolate Brittle Drops

4 squares Semi-Sweet Chocolate

1-1/2 cups (1/2 pound) coarsely crushed peanut brittle

            Melt chocolate in saucepan over very low heat., stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in peanut brittle. Drop from teaspoon onto waxed paper. Let stand until chocolate is firm.

Light or dark brown sugar? It’s a matter of taste. Dark brown sugar contains more molasses, so cookies will be slightly darker and have a hint of molasses flavor. You don’t need to change the sugar amount, baking time or baking temperature if you switch from one to the other.

Pistachio-Cream Cheese Tea Sandwiches

3 ounces low-fat cream cheese

1/4 cup shelled pistachio nuts, coarsely chopped

2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 thin slices white bread

            Combine cream cheese, nuts, mint and salt in a small bowl until well mixed. Place bread on a cutting board in two rows Spread the bottom four slices with equal parts of the cream-cheese mixture. Assemble sandwiches; trim crusts and discard. Cut each trimmed sandwiches with four triangles by slicing on the bias from corner to corner twice. Wrap each sandwiches individually in plastic wrap and refrigerate until time to serve.

Pineapple-Cranberry Salad

1 can (20 oz.) crushed pineapple, undrained

2 packages (4 serving size each) Raspberry Gelatin

1 can (16 oz.) whole berry cranberry sauce

1 apple, chopped

2/3 cup chopped walnuts

            Drain pineapple, reserving juice. Remove 1 tablespoons pineapple; set aside. Add enough cold water to juice to measure 3 cups; pour into saucepan. Bring to boil; remove from heat. Add dry gelatin mixes, stir 2 minutes. Stir in cranberry sauce. Pour into large bowl. Refrigerate 1 ½ hours or until slightly thickened. Stir in pineapple, apples and walnuts. Refrigerate 4 hours or until firm. Garnish with reserved pineapple, sliced apples and fresh mint..

                        Better Baking

Read through your recipe completely before starting.

Assemble and measure out all necessary ingredients prior to baking this helps eliminate  a trip to the store in the middle of y0our project to pick up ingredients you don’t have on hand.

Use butter at room temperature unless your recipe indicates otherwise.

Proper measuring is critical. Often when cooking we tend to add an extra dash of this and an extra pinch of that.. It is very important to always properly measure out baking soda, baking powder, salt and flour.

When measuring flour, use a nesting measuring cup. Stir the container of four with a spoon lightly spoon flour into the measuring cup until it forms a nice heap over the rim. Use a spatula, knife or other straight edge and sweep across the top of your measuring cup to level out the flour.

When measuring liquids, use a glass or plastic measuring container with a pour spout. Liquids find their own level, so simply pour the liquid up to the appropriate mark.

Unless indicated otherwise, mix the flour with moist ingredients just until blended. Over mixing or beating your cookie dough may result in tough cookies.

When choosing a baking sheet, pick a light-colored heavy-gauge option because it holds it shape and conducts heat better, producing the best cookies. However, many other types of baking sheets are available, so it all depends on your particular preference.

                        Christmas Punch

5 cups Pineapple Juice

1 bottle (24 oz.)  sparkling apple juice or champagne

Ice Mold:

1 can (20 oz.) pineapple chunks

1 orange, sliced, quartered

1 pint strawberries or bottle maraschino cherries

Mint sprigs

            Chill punch ingredients. Combine in punch bowl. Float ice cold when ready to serve.

Ice Mold: Combine undrained pineapple, fruit and mint in 6 cup mold. Add enough water or juice to fill. Freeze.

Are the cookie sheets in your cupboard warped or dark with baked on grease? Then it’s time to shop for new pans. Look for shiny, heavy-gauge cookie sheets with very low or no sides. Avoid dark ones, which may cause cookie bottoms to over brown. Use jelly-roll pans for bar cookies only. Other types of cookies will not brown evenly in pans with edges.

If cookies fall apart when you take them off the cookie sheet even though they’re fully baked. Let them cool on the cookie sheet for one minute to firm up a bit before removing them. This is also the solution for cookie that fold together in ridges when you slide the spatula under them.

You can replace up to half of the butter or shortening in a cookie recipe with applesauce or a fruit puree. Your cookies will turn out moist and cake like, because fruit absorbs more moisture then butter or shortening. This substation works best with drop or bar cookie recipes and not as well with cut-out or slice and bake cookies.

                        Chocolate Truffles

3 (6 ounce) packages semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 (14 ounce) can Sweetened Condensed Milk-not evaporated milk

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Finely chopped nuts, flaked coconut, chocolate sprinkles, colored sprinkles, unsweetened cocoa or colored sugar

            In heavy saucepan, over low heat, melt chips with sweetened condensed milk. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. Chill at least 2 hours or until firm. Shape into 1 inch balls, roll in any of the above coatings. Chill 1 hour or until firm. Store covered at room temperature.

Suggestions:

Amaretto: Omit vanilla. Add 3 tablespoons amaretto or other almond-flavored liqueur and 1/2 teaspoon almond extract. Roll in finely chopped toasted almonds.

Orange-Omit vanilla. Add 3 tablespoons orange flavored liqueur. Roll in finely chopped toasted almonds mixed with finely grated orange rind.

Rum-Omit vanilla. Add 1/4 cup dark rum. Roll in flaked coconut.

Bourbon-Omit vanilla. Add 3 tablespoons bourbon. Roll in finely chopped toasted nuts.

Tea Sandwiches

8 thin slices whole-wheat brad

4 slices roast turkey breast

1/4 cup cranberry relish

            Place bread on a cutting board in two rows. Top the bottom four slices with the turkey breast. Spread the top four slices with equal amounts of cranberry relish. Assemble sandwiches; thin crust and discard. Cut each trimmed sandwich into four triangles by slicing on the bias from corner to corner twice. These are best made just before serving.

Mary Hoff worked at the Platteville Journal  before she got married.  After a few years, she started a column at the Tri-County Press and also covered Cole Acres Notes. When the Tri-County Press was sold to Bill Hale in Lancaster,  he asked to carry the column in the Grant County Independent.  Mary says she writes, "just to keep my mind from getting rusty." 

mjandmjh@pcii.net

"Be sure to send me your comments, recipes, or helpful tips."