12 Recipes Of Christmas

During the Christmas Season, I find myself spending most of my free time in the kitchen cooking & baking.  This year is no exception.  So, since cooking & baking has consumed so much of my time lately, I thought I'd share a few of the recipes I've been whipping up.  

Without further a due, I'd like to present to you the first three of my 12 Recipes Of Christmas...12 seemed fitting for some reason ;-)

Beef Cheese Ball

Ingredients:

1 (4oz.) pkg. shredded Cheddar cheese                                            1/2 tsp. garlic powder

2 (8oz.) pkg. cream cheese, room temp.                                            1 tsp. Accent flavor enhancer

2 (3 oz.) pkg. sliced beef                                                                   2 tsp. onion flakes

1/2 tsp. salt                                                                                       2 tsp. parsley flakes

Directions:  Chop beef finely. Mix all ingredients together. Serve with crackers.  

Tips:  I wash my hands good and then mix everything together with my hands in a bowl.  Don't over mix, makes for a harder cheese ball.  Line a small bowl with plastic wrap and press your cheese ball mixture into it.  Hold plate over bowl & flip bowl.  Cheese ball will come right out in a nearly perfect shape.  Take plastic wrap off cheese ball.  Let cheese ball sit out at room temperature for 1-2 hours before serving.  Enjoy!  This one is always a crowd pleaser!

Recipe Credit:  Sharon I., Dutch Delight 1, pg. 1

Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients: 
3 cans chicken broth                                                 carrots
2 cans water                                                             celery (w/leafy heads)
4 cubes chicken bouillon                                           onion
8 oz. egg noodles                                                      salt
3 cups cooked chicken cubes

Directions:  Boil broth, water & bouillon.  Add carrots, celery, onion & salt.  Simmer for 10-20 min. until veggies are done.  Take celery leafy heads out & bring to a rolling boil.  Add chicken and noodles & cook following noodle directions.

Tips:  To make this soup even tastier, boil chicken ahead of time.  I buy whatever's cheapest at Wal-Mart,  (usually leg/thigh pieces) with bone in and skin on.  Boil chicken in a large pot for 30 minutes.  Remove Skin & bones.  Put broth & chicken in fridge over night.  When ready to use, skim fat off top of chilled broth & use that for soup.  Add 3 cubes of bouillon for flavor when making soup.  Be generous with the salt when adding to the broth.  I'd guess I usually throw in a couple tablespoons.  Your soup will taste kind of bland if there is not enough salt.  This makes a lot of soup, but it freezes well & is great left over.

Recipe Credit:  Jenny F. (or Mom as I call her!)

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

This is Ryan's favorite recipe!  It took me two years to get my
hands on it, due mostly to my procrastination in
hunting it down.

 Ingredients:  
3/4 c. butter, softened                                                        1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 c. white sugar                                                               3/4 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 c. packed light brown sugar                                          1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs                                                                                2 3/4 c. rolled oats
1 tsp. vanilla extract                                                            1 c. raisins
1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour

Directions:  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Cream together butter & sugars until smooth.  Beat in eggs & vanilla until fluffy.  Stir together flour, soda, cinnamon & salt.  Gradually beat into butter mixture.  Stir in oats & raisins.  Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.

Tips:  I use my smallest cookie scoop to make my cookie size consistent.  I also press my dough balls down just a bit before baking & decrease the time to 6-8 minutes.  I feel the cookies bake through better.

Ryan was very excited to try these cookies.  He said they were just as good as he remembered!  Whew!  I was a little nervous that the two year build up had skewed his memory of these delicious cookies.

Recipe Credit:  Bekah B.

Stay tuned for more recipes!