Holiday Punch!

Great when entertaining, and reminiscent of a Dominican Republic vacation beverage! This is sure to be an instant crowd pleaser - so good! :)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of white sugar
2 and 1/2 cups of orange juice
2/3 cup lemon juice
1/2 jar (4oz) of maraschino cherries with juice
1 oz triple sec liqueur
1 (750 milliliter) bottle light rum
1 orange sliced into rounds
1 lemon sliced into rounds
1/2 cup of fresh pineapple chunks with 1/2 pineapple juice
1 litre of sprite
ice

Directions:

In a juice container, combine the sugar, orange juice and lemon juice - stir until sugar dissolves. Add the cherries/juice, triple sec, rum, fruit slices and pineapple chunks/juice. Refrigerate for 2 hours to allow flavours to blend.

Transfer to a punch bowl and add sprite, and ice just before serving.

Enjoy!

Snowman Cheese ball

Tis the season! :)

MS and I celebrated the upcoming holidays with some friends recently; and I saw the cutest snowman cheese ball idea on pinterest - that I just had to make! I combined two different recipes that I found and the result was absolutely delishness - I will definitely be making this again during the holidays, it was fantastic!

Ingredients:

8 oz. cream cheese
3/4 cup of shredded Cheddar cheese
3/4 cup of shredded Monterey jack cheese
1/4 cup of finely chopped fresh chives
1/4 cup chopped slivered almonds
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
dash of salt, couple dashes of pepper
1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
carrot and peppercorns to garnish

Directions:

In a mixing bowl, combine the first 8 ingredients and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Divide the mixture into 3 different sized balls - shape and kneed into smooth balls and then coat with Parmesan cheese. Arrange on a serving tray to resemble a snowman; I used toothpicks to help the stability from ball to ball.

Add your carrot piece for the nose, and peppercorns for the eyes - and voila! :)

Enjoy!

Cinnamon Buns to share

I found this recipe idea via Pioneer Woman; it's an easy recipe and a great way to share a sweet treat with friends, family or a neighbour! It makes enough for 7 tins of 5-6 buns a tin and they freeze well also. If you are making them in advance - then at the time you need an impromptu thank you or other, then you can simply pull it from the freezer and give to that special someone.
You could also find heart shaped tins and give these away at Valentine's or make a special label, add a cute ribbon etc. There are all kinds of creative ways to give this sweet treat to someone you love!
We had some family in helping us paint our home, so it was a perfect opportunity to give some of these away to them and have them at the house for snacks while they worked.




Ingredients:

1 quart Whole Milk
1 cup Vegetable Oil
1 cup Sugar
2 packages Active Dry Yeast
8 cups (Plus 1 Cup Extra, Separated) All-purpose Flour
1 teaspoon (heaping) Baking Powder
1 teaspoon (scant) Baking Soda
1 Tablespoon (heaping) Salt
Plenty Of Melted Butter
2 cups Sugar
Generous Sprinkling Of Cinnamon





MAPLE FROSTING:

1 bag Powdered Sugar
2 teaspoons Maple Flavoring
1/2 cup Milk
1/4 cup Melted Butter
1/4 cup Brewed Coffee
1/8 teaspoon Salt




Directions:

Mix together the milk, vegetable oil and sugar in a pan. Scald the mixture (heat until just before the boiling point). Turn off heat and leave to cool 45 minutes to 1 hour.

When the mixture is lukewarm to warm, but NOT hot, sprinkle in both packages of Active Dry Yeast. Let this sit for a minute.

Then add 8 cups of all-purpose flour. Stir mixture together. Cover and let rise for at least an hour.

After rising for at least an hour, add 1 more cup of flour, the baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir mixture together. (At this point, you could cover the dough and put it in the fridge until you need it – overnight or even a day or two, if necessary. Just keep your eye on it and if it starts to overflow out of the pan, just punch it down).

When you are ready to prepare the rolls, sprinkle rolling surface generously with flour. Take half the dough and form a rough rectangle. Then roll the dough thin, maintaining a general rectangular shape.

Drizzle 1/2 to 1 cup melted butter over the dough. Now sprinkle 1 cup of sugar over the butter followed by a generous sprinkling of cinnamon.

Now, starting at the opposite end, begin rolling the dough in a neat line toward you. Keep the roll relatively tight as you go. Next, pinch the seam of the roll to seal it.

Spread 1 tablespoon of melted butter in a seven inch round foil cake or pie pan. Then begin cutting the rolls approximately 1 inch thick and laying them in the buttered pans.

Repeat this process with the other half of the dough. Let the rolls rise for 20 to 30 minutes, then bake at 375 degrees until light golden brown, about 15 to 18 minutes.




For the frosting, mix together all ingredients listed and stir well until smooth. It should be thick but pourable. Taste and adjust as needed. Generously drizzle over the warm rolls.
Enjoy!

Maple Pecan Pie Bites

I found this recipe via Tasty Kitchen and it was a ‘new’ and perfect addition to my Christmas baking this past Christmas. I love sugar, pie and shortbread is one of my favourite cookies, so I knew I’d love these – how can you go wrong? :)

Ingredients:

Shortbread crust

1 cup of flour
1/4 cup brown sugar packed
1/8 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold salted butter, cut into slices (shortbread you have to use butter)

Pecan topping

4 tablespoons salted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar packed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 tablespoon cream
1 cup of pecan pieces




Directions:

Crust: In a large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar and salt. Cut in the cold butter with your fingers until crumbs form.

Spread into a greased 9 inch pan and bake a 350 until golden brown - approx. 20 mins. Remove and set aside.

Topping: In a saucepot, melt the butter. Add brown sugar, vanilla, maple syrup and cream – whisk well. Simmer for one minute while whisking continuously. Add the pecans and pour on top of the crust.

Bake for 20 mins at 350; remove from the oven and allow to cool and harden for 30 mins before cutting. Enjoy!

Molasses Krinkles

A fun twist to the molasses krinkle cookie.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup shortening
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 whole egg
2 1/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon milk
bag of candy cane kisses




Directions:

Cream together your shortening and brown sugar. Add the molasses, egg, flour, baking soda, salt and spices - mix.

Roll dough into a ball and press with a floured bottom of a glass.

Bake at 350 for 9-11 minutes. When you remove them from the oven place the candy cane kiss in the center - allow to set and harden. Enjoy!

Candy Cane Cookies

When I was a child, my mom made cookies every Christmas just like these. Hers were covered in sugar and were a hard cookie. I had an ingenious idea to attempt these using a soft cookie recipe that I have made in the past, they turned out great. It is a basic white cookie recipe. They are incredibly cute and fun for kids. After making them it dawned on me that laying them in white chocolate and then into crushed candy canes would be even better! But, by this time, Christmas was over and the cookies were already eaten – so, this is my plan for next year’s batch – just to add some more pizazz! :)




Ingredients:

1 package of cream cheese, softened
1 cup of powdered sugar
¾ cup of butter
½ teaspoon vanilla
2 ¼ cups of flour
½ teaspoon of baking soda
½ teaspoon red food colouring




Directions:

Mix cream cheese, sugar, butter and vanilla with a mixer. Add the flour and baking soda – mix.

Separate dough into two equal portions. Add red food colouring to one half. Take a small amount of each dough roll a hand length – roll the two together and form the candy cane.

Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 325 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

After they cooked I sifted powdered sugar on top.

Oreo Cookie Balls

We got this recipe from a friend a few years back and it is definitely a family favourite at Christmas time. Every year at Christmas, MS takes a plate full of treats to work and everyone always comments how great these are!

Ingredients:

Package of Oreo cookies
6 squares of Baker’s white chocolate
1 tablespoon of cooking oil
1 package of cream cheese




Directions:

Crush the Oreo cookies up finely and mix with cream cheese. Roll into balls and place on waxed-paper lined cookie sheet; refrigerate for one hour.

Microwave the baker’s chocolate and the cooking oil.

With a toothpick, dip the balls into the white chocolate mixture – place on a lined waxed paper cookie sheet – I sprinkle the tops with crushed Oreo’s to cover the hole. Then refrigerate to set the chocolate.

Norma's Peanut Butter Balls

These are MS’s favourite at Christmas time; and a treat that we both grew up enjoying around the holidays – one of the old standards. Traditional but deliciously addictive!

Ingredients:

6 squares Baker’s chocolate (I use semi-sweet)
1 tablespoon of cooking oil
Chopped peanuts
1 cup of creamy peanut butter
1 cup of icing sugar
1 tablespoon of soft butter or margarine
1 teaspoon of vanilla



Directions:

Mix the peanut butter, icing sugar, butter and vanilla. Shape into balls and place on a waxed-paper lined baking sheet and refrigerate for a couple of hours.

Microwave chocolate and cooking oil; using a toothpick dip the balls in mixture and place on waxed baking sheet to dry. I sprinkle chopped peanuts on top to hide the toothpick hole. Refrigerate until chocolate is set.