Fluffy Cranberry Salad

This salad looks so pretty on the side of any Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner not to mention it tastes so good. It is the perfect combination of sweet and tart. Don't limit yourself to just holidays though...it's so good anytime! The leftovers make a great breakfast or lunch or in-between-meals-snack or all of the above...did I just type that? I love this salad.
This recipe is from my friend Sue

Ingredients:

• 2 cups ground raw cranberries
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 pint cream whipped
• 1/2 bag (3 cups) mini marshmallows
• 1 20 oz can crushed pineapple -drained

Directions:

1. Process cranberries in a food processor. In a small bowl, combine sugar and ground cranberries. set aside for at least 3 hours.
2. Then whip the cream. Fold in the whipped cream, marshmallows and pineapple.
3. Chill 8 hours to overnight before serving.

Holiday Sugar Cookies

I love any excuse to make these.
For me, it is a three day project. I make the dough one day, roll and cut and bake the second day, and then frost and decorate them the night before I'm going to serve them. I for sure make these every Christmas and Easter.
This is my mom's recipe for "Pie Crust Cookies". I remember helping her decorate these into the wee hours. I always have my eye out for new cute cookie cutters and fun decorator sugars and candies. The way I decorate these is just simple because sometimes I think "less is more". My favorites are angels with coconut wings(not pictured) at Christmas and snowflakes with edible glitter or Rudolph with a red hot for a nose but they are all cute in their own way.  Since Christmas 2001, I've been decorating my Christmas star cookies to look like American flags as a way to commemorate 9/11. I've made the American flag stars for 4th of July or Memorial Day too and hearts of course for Valentines Day. I do several different pastel colors of icing for butterflies, crosses, flowers and bunnies and coconut for the lambs with raw (brown) sugar for the face and legs for Easter.They are just so fun and taste as good as they look...which sadly isn't always the case for sugar cookies.

Cookies:
Ingredients and Directions:

• 3 cups flour
• 1 cup butter flavored crisco
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

Mix above ingredients together with a pastry blender

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3 eggs beaten
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

With an electric mixer, mix the sugar, eggs, vanilla and salt into the above mixture until ball of dough forms. Refrigerate several hours to overnight before rolling.
For best results, roll out on a lightly floured pastry cloth or silicone mat. Cut out with your favorite cookie cutters and bake similar sized cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet for 4-5 minutes* in a preheated 350 degree oven. Cool on pan for 1 minute before removing to cool on wire racks.

*the time will vary based on the size of the cookies and how thin you roll the dough. remove when the edges are set but not brown.

Frost with powdered sugar icing (recipe follows) and decorate immediately with sugars and candies 

Powdered sugar icing:

• powdered sugar
• scalded milk (heated to just before boiling)
• vanilla extract

I never measure these ingredients. I just add a teaspoon at a time of the milk with the vanilla to 1 - 2 cups of powdered sugar until it's the right consistency. It should be pretty thin. I use a small spoon to frost the cookies. Sprinkle with decorator sugar etc. immediately.
Unfrosted cookies can be frozen. These are best if you frost them the night before you plan to serve them to give the frosting time to set but not too long for them to get stale.  Store frosted cookies in an airtight container with wax paper between single layers of cookies.

• all the appropriate decorator sugars and candies to decorate the cookies

Nut Goodie Bars

These taste so much more wonderful and sophisticated than their name. When I was young, my Grandma made these and we called them Bun Bars. In my opinion, niether name is sufficient. I'm tempted to call them fudge because they're that good but then that would maybe be an insult to fudge because they're not as complicated to make. The fact is the recipe is based on a candy bar made by a Minneapolis-based company called Pearson's. They've been callin' 'em Nut Goodie (and Bun Bars)since 1909 so I guess I can't really argue with that. All I know for sure is that they are amazing and I love to make them around Christmas time when nobody's counting calories anyways because it's really hard to not consume 3 days worth in one sitting with these around.

Ingredients:

• 1 (12-oz.) pkg. (2 cups) semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 (11-oz.) pkg. (about 2 cups)butterscotch chips
• 2 cups butter
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1 (12-oz.) can (2 1/2 cups) cocktail peanuts
• 1/2 cup evaporated milk
• 1 (3-oz.) pkg. vanilla pudding and pie filling mix (not instant)
• 1 (2-lb.) pkg. (7 1/2 cups) powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons maple flavor

Directions:

1. Line 15x10x1-inch baking pan with foil. Butter or spray foil with nonstick cooking spray. In large saucepan, melt chocolate chips and 1 cup of the margarine over low heat, stirring frequently. Remove saucepan from heat. Add peanut butter; mix well. Spread half of mixture in buttered foil-lined pan. Freeze 10 minutes or until set. Place pan in refrigerator.                   

2. Meanwhile, stir peanuts into remaining chocolate mixture. Set aside.                   

3. Melt remaining 1 cup margarine in large saucepan over low heat. Gradually stir in evaporated milk. Stir in pudding mix. Cook until mixture is slightly thickened, stirring constantly. DO NOT BOIL. Remove saucepan from heat. Add powdered sugar and maple flavor; mix well. Cool about 10 minutes or until slightly cooled.                   

4. Carefully spread pudding mixture over chilled chocolate layer. Refrigerate 30 minutes.
5. Stir reserved chocolate-peanut mixture. Drop by spoonfuls onto chilled pudding layer; spread to cover. Refrigerate at least 3 hours or until firm. Cut into bars. Store in refrigerator.

Angel Hair Cole Slaw

When we were living in Ukraine...and then Poland...it didn't take long to recognize the fact that cabbage is abundant and cheap in that part of the world. That reminds me of the day I got off the subway in Ukraine and there was a little vegetable stand at our stop that we frequented. This particular day I needed cabbage so I bought a head. By the way, in Russian it's called 'kapoosta'. That right there is reason enough to buy cabbage... Just so I can say "mozhna kapoosta pazhalusta" [cabbage please, may I?]. So anyway, as I was walking home with a head of cabbage [no bag] under my arm, it hit me that the only person who thought it the least bit strange that I was walking down the sidewalk, carrying a head of cabbage, under my arm...was me. And then I couldn't stop thinking about how strange it was that no one else thought it was strange, but by then I was already home making cole slaw. Pardon my massive digression! It was actually in Poland that I was inspired to perfect my cole slaw. I feel kinda bad for cole slaw. It's so much better than it's reputation. It's so often the forgotten tiny portion in a plastic cup on the side of the plate and rarely better than mediocre. Let's be honest. It's usually either not sweet enough or too sweet but not tangy enough or just a creamy pile of blandness. I suppose by now you are thinking "I've never put this much thought into cole slaw". Well, I'm here to tell you that I have. and I do. What is it with me and cole slaw? Cole slaw and me? Really. Long. Story. Short. Here's what I came up with. The perfect balance of sweet, tangy, and creamy with the just-right touch of celery salt...not to be confused with celery seed which in my opinion is too overpowering.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium head of cabbage sliced very thin to make angel hair cole slaw (or 2 bags of fine shred cabbage such as Fresh Express Angel Hair Cole Slaw)
• 1-2 carrots peeled and finely shredded (optional)
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon celery salt
• lots of fresh ground black pepper (optional) 

Directions:

Put cabbage into a large bowl. In a small bowl mix the carrots (if using), mayo, sugar, vinegar and celery salt. whisk until smooth. Pour over cabbage and toss to coat well. Add about 20 cranks of fresh pepper or to taste...or not at all...it's up to you. Refrigerate several hours and toss occasionally. Toss to coat well and move salad to another bowl before serving. The cabbage shrinks quite a bit as it sits and as a result there's a lot of excess dressing. You can discard the excess  or add more cabbage.

Cole slaw is such a great easy salad/side because it's good all year round. I always make this when I make sloppy joes or barbequed pulled pork sliders and in the summer when we grill out so much.

Christmas Cranberry Salsa

I have a cleaning business called 'B Clean'. I know you are wondering what that has to do with Christmas Salsa. Well, I found this recipe while I was cleaning for one of my clients. Can't you just picture me with a can of Pledge in one hand and a cookbook in the other? Well, I was actually dusting the shelf in the kitchen and a printout of this recipe was just laying there and it caught my eye, so I quickly jotted it down. It sounded so good and so fun for this time of year. It's not the first time I've found a recipe whilst cleaning and I'm sure it won't be the last. Thank you, Julie! Oh, and in case you're questioning my work ethic, I charge by the job [not hourly] so I could sit and read cookbooks all day...er, half the day at least and then clean the other half...and I would still make the same amount. Whew! now that we got that straight. Here's a really great recipe that I found in a really beautiful, superclean kitchen.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 of a 12 oz. bag of whole fresh cranberries, washed
• 1/3 cup green onions chopped
• 1 jalapeno seeded and finely chopped, optional (skip this if you can't take the heat)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 tablespoons grated, peeled fresh ginger root
• 1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 8 oz. block of cream cheese

Directions:
Process cranberries in a food processor to coarsely chop. Stir in remaining ingredients. Refrigerate at least 4 hours before serving.

To serve, pour over a block of cream cheese and serve with crackers on a pretty Christmas platter with a pretty Christmas spreader...you know, just make sure it's pretty. I tried this with cracked pepper and olive oil Triscuits and it was really good, but I especially liked it with the Keebler Club Crackers.

Cranberry Cake with Warm Caramel Sauce

My mom makes cranberry cake for dessert every Christmas, and it has been one of my all time favorites since I was old enough to eat solid food. It is the consummate winter dessert. My birthday is in February, and many years I requested cranberry cake for my birthday cake. I love to serve this to guests or bring it along to holiday parties. I have yet to meet someone who doesn't love it. The best part: It is so much easier than it tastes.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons butter very soft
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 egg beaten
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup whole cranberries (fresh or frozen), cut in half

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. With a wooden spoon, cream together butter and sugar. add the milk, egg and vanilla and mix well. then add the dry ingredients and mix well.
3. Cut the cranberries in half leaving the smallest ones whole (because it looks prettier to have some left whole). fold the cranberries into the cake batter last.
4. Put into an 8 inch round cake pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

6 servings.
Serve with warm carmel sauce. Recipe follows:
Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup heavy cream (do not substitute with half and half)

Directions:
Mix together in a medium saucepan over medium/high heat and cook until thickened and bubbly cook for 1 minute more. Ladle over individual pieces of cranberry cake and serve immediately.

You will want to swim in this stuff but you should probably just let the cake do that... I'd be lying if I said I've never eaten this with a spoon.
Warning: High Calories