Ok, I added that yummy looking fudge to the recipe file!

I love that Northpole website! I also love that it's up all year so you can play with the recipes when you have more time! The Holidays are always so busy! I can't believe tomorrow is Halloween! I am not ready yet!!!!

Long ago, when I was doing wedding flowers for a living, I learned the value of having several sizes of corsage bags around the house. When I do the caramel and chocolate covered pretzel rods, I stand them in regular sized Christmas coffee mugs and put them down into a med. size bag and tie up the top with a ribbon. When I fill the bigger, wide mouthed bugs with little cookies, I use the larger corsage bags and do the same things. The little bags I use for individual cookies that are large enough to just put one in a bag. They come in boxes of 100 and are just pennies for each. You can get them at your local, wholesale floral supply house. The following recipe looks really great in these bags and it tastes just like the expensive stuff from Target!!!

CAN'T RESIST CARAMEL CORN

1/3 cup unpopped regular popcorn--popped
1 cup butter or margarine
2 cups packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. vanilla
chocolate for drizzling

Adding nuts to this is optional but adds a little more to it for gift giving. Put them on top of the popped corn before pouring on the caramel.

Coat bottom and sides of 1 or 2 very large cake pans. I have 2 oversized Wilton sheet cake pans. Put popped corn in these pans.
In heavy saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add the sugar, corn syrup and salt. Bring to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil without stirring for 5 minutes. Remove from heat. and stir in baking soda and vanilla.
Gradually pour caramel over popcorn and mix well. Bake in a 300 degree oven for 40 minutes strirring every 10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool in pan or tip out on parchment paper. When cool, break apart and drizzle a thin line of chocolate on caramel corn.
You can package this in the corsage bags with a pretty bow or watch for neat glass containers at garage sales throughout the year.

In between all these wonderful rich recipes, I am going to share something light that I served twice in the last 2 weeks. The dinners were fairly rich, so I wanted something that was light and refreshing. I didn't say "no calorie" LOL, just light tasting. King Arthur flour has been showing these darling new skinny dessert glasses and I found some at the Goodwill store. I filled them with light Mousse and served little puff pastry stars with them.

MOUSSE: Make your favorite mousse recipe that you cook using sugar, eggs, cornstarch and fruit juice. I used lemon for one and my pink grapefuit juice from my Mom's trees in Texas ( i keep it frozen for the year ahead). When the mixture is cooked and thickened, you whisk in a half of 7 oz. jar of marshmallow fluff. Let that cool completely and then fold in the whipped, whipped cream.

PUFF PASTRY STARS: Thaw and unroll a sheet of puff pastry. Cut out with a 1 inch or so star cookie cutter. You can use anything you want for a cutter, but I liked the stars. Some of them I sprinkled with the flavored sanding sugars I got at TJMax---raspberry, lemon, butter pecan and cappaccino before I baked them. Some of them I baked first and when they were somewhat cooled, I brushed them with a thin powdered sugar glaze that I had thinned with flavored coffee creamer. I stuck one star in the top of the mousse filled glass and I served the rest in a dish.

These stars could be served with a dish of ice cream, etc. I just baked them according to the package directions.

I have made several versions of the candy cane cookies but I like this one from an old Midwest Living magazine the best.

MISSOURI CANDY CANE COOKIES

1/2 cup butter
12 cup shortening
1 cup sifted powdered sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 egg
1-1/2 tsp. almond or 1/2 tsp. peppermint extract
1 tp. vanilla
2-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. red food coloring
thin powdered sugar frosting

Beat the butter and shortening for 30 seconds. Add the powdered sugar and salt, and beat till combined.
Beat in the egg and flavorings till combined well.
Beat the flour into the butter mixture.
Divide the dough in half and add the red coloring to one half. Chill dough for 1 to 2 hours.
Divide each color dough into 4 portions. Using one portion of each color, roll each color into a pencil thick rope. Lay the two colors side by side and gently roll and twist to look like a straight candy cane. I cut them into 3 " lengths and leave them straight. You can shape them into a candy cane with the curve on top if you wish.
Place on ungreased or parchment lined cookie sheets. Bake at 375 for 6-8 minutes or just until the bottom is lightly browned. I don't like these to get brown edges because they are prettier if the brown edges don't show.

Cool and put icing in piping bag and drizzle over randomly or cover. The icing should be thin enought so the cookies shows through. This cookie takes a little playing around with to get the thickness of each cookies that looks good to you. Enjoy!!!

One of my favorite flavors for Christmas is cardamom. I make pizzelles with that spice and also the following cookie. These are very popular and you can make them any shape you wish. I make the tiny stars to put in coffee mugs and use as fillers. I make the larger stars to stack up , tie the stack with ribbon and put them in the corsage bags.

CARDAMOM SUGAR COOKIES

3-3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp. ground cardamom
2 eggs
2 Tbs. vanilla

Spice Mixture:
1/4 cup sugar or sparkling sugar (crush the coarse sugar)
1/4 tsp. ground cardamom

Whisk dry ingredients together.
Beat 2 cups sugar, butter and 1 tsp. cardamom in large bowl at med. for 3-4 minutes. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Add flour just until blended. Place dough on counter and knead just until smooth. Divide dough into 4 flat rounds and refrigerate for up to 2 days.
To roll cookie dough put a large piece of parchment on the counter. Put the dough on this and cover with a piece of plastic wrap. Roll the dough as you normally would and lift the plastic wrap to cup out shapes. Dip the cookie cutter in plain sugar in between cuts if the cutter is sticking.
Place cutouts on parchment lined cookie sheets and place in frig. When all dough is done, start baking the coldest dough first.
Sprinkle some of the cardamom sugar mixture on the top of each cookie before baking. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until pale golden on the edges. 6-1/2 dozen 3" cookies.

I roll out all my cutout cookies in between the parchment and plastic wrap. When the parchment starts to wrinkle a little, just lift the piece of dough and put back down. This method prevents the need to add flour to roll out the dough. Additional flour is what makes cookies tough.

That's it for now. Hope you will enjoy some of these as much as I have enjoyed making your recipes.

Here's a recipe for Key Lime Fudge that I made for the first time last year at Christmas - all I can say is WOWZERS

It is absolutely delicious and I haven't found anyone yet who didn't ask for the recipe!

http://www.recipezaar.com/193285

Oh Luby, bless you for posting that... my sister is key lime crazy and this will hopefully knock her socks off!! AWESOME!!! I'll add it to the file right now!

I know this was posted awhile back but can't find it for the life of me. Does anyone have the poem that goes with the fish seeds? Also, was there a poem to go with the angel seeds.
TIA,
Still digging for recipies,lol.

Ok, here's a fun and festive roll that is perfect for Holiday breakfast, brunch, or just the heck of it.

Cinnamon Pumpkin Rolls
Dough:
2 T. dry (active) yeast
1/2 c. warm water
4 eggs
1 c. shortening
1 c. pumpkin (canned is fine)
1 c. warm milk
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
2 (4 serving) pkgs pumpkin spice instant pudding (dry) divided
1 1/2 t. salt
7+ cups AP flour

Dissolve yeast in water and allow to proof. Add eggs, shortening, pumpkin, milk, sugars, 2 /3 c of dry pudding mix, salt and 6 cups flour. Mix with dough hook attachment (or spoon!) until smooth. Slowly add additional 1 c. flour until soft dough forms, it will remain sticky at this point. Turn out onto floured surface and knead 5-8 minutes until smooth and elastic, adding more flour as needed. Lightly grease dough surface and place in metal bowl, cover with towel and place in warm spot to double in size. (Approximately 1 hour) Meanwhile, mix filling ingredients (except butter) until combined.

Filling:
1/4 c. melted butter (do not mix with dry ingredients)
1 1/2 c. brown sugar
2 t. cinnamon
2 t. (rounded) pumpkin pie spice (or 1 t. ginger 1 t. nutmeg, 1/2 t. ground cloves)
1 c. chopped pecans (optional)
remaining dry pudding mix

Punch dough down and divide in two. Roll each half into a 12â x 8â rectangle. Brush dough generously with melted butter and sprinkle heavily with sugar filling mixture leaving a ½â edge on 1 long side (to seal). Roll dough from long side, pinch edge to seal and slice off ragged ends. Equally divide roll into 12 pieces. Repeat with second half of dough. Grease 2 9â x 13â baking pans and place 12 rolls in each. Allow to rise one more time until doubled. (Approximately 30 minutes) Bake 20+ minutes until golden brown and yummy! (Do not overbake, that is the enemy of delicious cinnamon rolls)

Icing

8-ounces cream cheese, softened
3 T. butter, softened
1 t. vanilla extract
2 c. powdered sugar
cream or milk as needed

Mix glaze ingredients until smooth, using enough milk or cream to make it thin enough to smooth over rolls. Rolls are delicious warm!

I experimented with using a little of the pudding mix in the glaze, and it's good too, but I think cream cheese icing is better.

Oh man this sounds wonderful ! Thanks for sharing it with all of us!

yum yum yum yum yum, I know whose house I wanna spend Thanksgivin at!

Thanks for the recipe Mel. I will be at the party if we include a food fight.

OOOH! Sit around and eat and talk all day, thats my kind of day ! Im in too!

Looks like a really great recipe Mel!
MeeMaw! I'm shocked! Food fight?

I looked around somemore on my computer and found the angle seed poems and the one for the fish seeds. Here they are:
Angel Seeds
(*use white candy*)
#1
In this packet you will find
Angel Seeds of the sweetest kind
If you eat one you will see
Your heart will be most lovingly
Eating two or three or four
Will bring you happiness and more
Angel wings and shiny halo
as into an angel you will grow

#2
God created angel seeds
To let us know He cares.
Take one seed per day
And swallow it with prayer.
#3
Angel seeds are delicate
So plant them in a spot just right
Do it with a little prayer
And love them day and night
So when you are in special need
Of the Angel's love and care
Look into your heart to see
Your Angel living there

Fish Seeds
It's known you like to fish alot,
your line dropped in the water.
But sometimes they aren't biting,
so you can't catch what you oughter!
When these times come, just grab
this pack of ready-to-grow fish seed
, then raise them til they fit the size
your best "fish stories" need!

Ok, I was just going over the recipe file and found that one of my updates did not get saved, so lily's last three recipes didn't get saved. I just added them, so if you're saving this to your computer, you'll want to re-save it now! Sorry for any inconvenience!

I added this recipe to the chocolate making thread, (they are so delicious with chocolate!!! But thought I would share it hear as well.....great with a choc. fondue or S'mores!

Here's a toasted coconut Marshmallow recipe I have..

1 Cup sweetened flaked coconut
1 Cup icing sugar for dusting
2 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup water
2 TBSP white corn syrup
4 pkgs (7g each) unflavored gelatin
2 egg whites
1/4 tsp coconut extract

Spread 3/4 cup coconut on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 oven stirring occasionally, until golden....3-5 mins. Set aside.
Grease 13x9 cake pan and line with parchment paper. Lightly grease paper and lightly dust with isome of the icing sugar. Set aside.
In saucepan,bring granulated sugar, water and corn syrup to a boil, over med-high heat, stirring just until sugar dissolves. Boil without stirring but brushing down sides of pan with pastry brush dipped in cold water, until candy thermometer reaches 260 degreesor hard ball stage...about 12 mins.
Meanwhile, in small saucepan, sprinkle gelatin over 3/4 cup cold water. Let stand for 5 mins. Heat over low heat stirring until clear, 3-5 mins.
Whisk into hot sugar syrup (mixture will bubble up.)
In stand mixer, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. With machine running, gradually pour in gelatin mixture. Beat on high until increased in volume and cool, about 12 mins. Beat in coconut extract and remaining untoasted coconut.
Immediately scrape into prepared pan.
Using greased spatula or palette knife, smooth top. Sprinkle with toasted coconut, pressing slightly. Let stand uncovered at room temp. until firm and set, about 4 hours.
Remove from pan and peel off paper. Transfer to icing sugar dusted cutting board. Using greased knife, and cleaning and greasing between cuts, cut into 40 squares.
Gently press sides and bottom of each square into icing sugar to coat. Dust off excess. Let stand on waxed paper for about an hour until set.

Will store well for a week in airtight container between sheets of waxed paper.

These are great when used to make S'mores!!


Variations:

Vanilla bean: omit coconut and coconut extract. Replace with 1/2 tsp vanilla and seeds scraped from 1 van. bean. Roll completely in PS.

Pink peppermint: Omit coconut , replace extract with 1/2 tsp peppermint extract and red liquid food coloring to desired color. Roll completely in PS.

YUM!! Those have been added!

Do any of you have a home-made eggnog recipe? I love making eggnog and it seems that every family I know has their own special recipe. Want to share????

The poems are so cute, thanks for sharing everyone

I was hoping this thread hadn't died. Have we all decided what goodies we are making for the season?

Yes way to many ! Thats what goodies Im making LOL!!
whats on your list BOB??

Oh wow....there are so many good recipes on this thread I couldn't possibly begin to print and try them all.....Here's my contribution....It's a deadly Eggnog for a crowd....

12 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 quarts cream or 1/2 cream & 1/2 milk
3 cups brandy , rum or rye or a combination of 2
1/4 tsp. salt
Nutmeg

Beat egg yolks add sugar while beating, then add cream & liquor. Let stand in fridge several hours or overnight. At serving time, beat egg whites with salt til stiff peaks form. Fold into chilled mixture. Sprinkle with a dash of nutmeg. Yum!!!! Not for the faint of heart.....it is Christmas after all, so enjoy!

Oh I see! That recipe sound like a good snack !
Well When I first start all my goodies for the Holidays I want to nibble here and there. But about half way through I dont care anything about eating it any more LOL! They can have it all !!

does anyone have a recipe for hot chocolate in a jar? reg & low cal??
tia

I made up some jars of Cranana Jam. I found the recipe on Allrecipes.
It is sooo good! Cranberries and bananas. Makes a pretty red jam. I made it in these little short round jars and tied rafia ribbon around them.

1 1/2 cups cranberries
3/4 cup water
1 cup mashed bananas
3 1/2 cups white sugar
1/4 container liquid pectin
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

In a large saucepan over medium heat combine cranberries and water; simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in mashed banana and sugar. Increase heat to medium-high; boil 1 min. Stir in pectin and lemon juice.
Seal in hot, sterilized jars.

It took me longer then 10 minutes to even get the berries popped. Also I waterbathed them for 10 minutes to seal.