Free Rice in Honor of Our Papaw

Our Papaw passed away at home with his loved ones around him on February 6, at 5:05 PM, having reached the fabulous age of 98. He was a wonderful man, a true gentleman. He taught us love and respect and acceptance and how to enjoy a good meal and to thank the cook properly every single time without fail.

In honor of his passing, this month I am posting a link to the charitable organization, Free Rice. Go there, look at the word, chose its correct synonym, and Voilà! they will donate 20 grains of rice -- for each word you synonymize correctly. Yes. 20 grains. It adds up, OK? Cool too that it looks like their ap tracks your vocabulary level and feeds you appropriately difficult or easy words while it keeps a running count of the grains of rice you've donated, as well.

http://www.freerice.com/

Later on, when we're all healed up a little, I hope to make a whole month of Papaw Favorites here. Maybe next February, or even January, which is his birthday month. Anyway, right now I don't quite know what else to do. I don't have the heart to send out a call to all the relatives for recipes. So here it is. Papaw loved words, and food, and was a good, solid Democrat who believed that giving up a little of what one has to make others' lives better was just the right thing to do. As a matter of fact, shortly before he died he voted (absentee) to increase the sales tax in his town so that the kids could have more funds for the city swimming pool. I know he would be all for sharing some rice by playing an educational word game.

January, Comfy Casseroles for All

Casseroles. Cheryl's idea. Perfect. Warming, comfy, traditional casseroles for January. I want to make one every day, had I only the time. But send in your favorites, boys and girls, and let's see if we can call upon the the Muse of One Dish Sublimity to help us, at least a time or two this month, comfort our loved ones and one another over the miles. Kisses to you all for the new year. --M

January Casserole Contents:

1. Our Mothers' Meat Pie -- from Margaret
2. Cindy Sends Several -- Cindy
3. Hungry Man's Linguini -- Young Frank (out of context but our first non-family post so I'm going for it!)
4. Cindy's Several More -- Baked Ziti, Good Old Tuna/Chicken Noodle Casserole, Three Cheese Pasta Bake
5. A Pennsylvania Mom's Roast Beef Casserole -- Young Frank

A Pennsylvania Mom's Roast Beef Casserole

I have another very simple casserole dish I wanted to share. This was my mother's Roast Beef Casserole that we ate for years. Just a few basic ingredients that can be combined and improvised as to one's taste.

1. Take enough rice for 6 – 8 servings, any rice, she used long grain wild rice. Set that boiling away.

2. Take (2) cups of cubed roast beef and put in a pan, with butter or oil and brown. You can add chopped onions for flavor.

3. Steam about two cups of peas, cut carrots, and corn kernels.

4. When everything is cooked, combine into a casserole dish and mix together.

5. Once mixed, top with one can of cream or celery soup or Parmesan cheese and bake for 20 minutes, then it’s ready to serve.

Hope you enjoy,

Young Frank

Cindy's Several More

Baked Ziti

1 (16 oz) box of ziti pasta
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 T olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 lb lean ground beef
1 (26 ox) jar tomato and basil pasta sauce
3/4 t salt, divided
3 T butter
3 T all purpose flour
3 cup milk
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 t pepper
1 (8 oz) package of shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Cook pasta in a large Dutch oven or pot according to packagedirections. Drain and return to Dutch oven.
2. Meanwhile, saute chopped onion in hot oil in a large skilletover medium-high heat 5 minutes or until tender.
3. Add garlic, and saute 1 minute.
4. Add beef, and cook, stirring until beef crumbles and is no longer pink.
5. Drain beef mixture, and return to pan. Stir in pasta sauce and 1/2 t salt. Set aside. [Margaret's Note: It is my opinion. and my mother's too, by the way, that any ground beef sauce is vastly improved by simmering over a low heat for an hour or two; the value of this practice cannot be overemphasized).
6. Melt butter in a heavy saucepan over low heat; whisk in flouruntil smooth. Cook, whisking constantly, 1 minute.
7. Gradually whisk in the milk; cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture is thickened and bubbles.8. Stir in the Parmesan cheese, the remaining 1/4 t salt, and the pepper.
9. Pour sauce over the pasta in your Dutch oven, stirring until the pasta is evenly coated.10. Transfer the pasta mixture to a lightly greased 13 X 9 in baking dish.
11. Top evenly with beef mixture; sprinkle evenly with mozzarella cheese.
12. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 to 25 minutes or until the mozzarella is melted.
13. Remove the casserole from the oven and let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Serves 8 - 10.

Good Old Tuna/Chicken Noodle Casserole

1 can (10 3/4 oz) cream of mushroom soup (you can use eitherregular or the fat free)
1/2 cup milk
1 cup frozen peas
2 cans drained canned tuna or chicken (you can always useleftover chicken or even turkey instead of the canned)
2 cup hot, cooked medium egg noodles
2 T dry bread crumbs
1 T butter, melted

1. Stir soup, milk, peas, tuna/chicken, and noodles in 1 1/2 qtcasserole dish.
2. Bake at 450 degrees F for 20 min or until hot.
3. Stir.4. Mix bread crumbs with the melted butter in a cup and sprinkle over the mixture.
5. Bake for 5 additional minutes or until golden brown.

Serves 4.

Three Cheese Pasta Bake

1 bag (16 oz) ziti (you can also use penne or rigatoni)
2 10 oz containers of refrigerated Alfredo sauce (if you areambitious enough you can always make your own)
1 (8 oz) container sour cream
1 (15 oz) container ricotta cheese
2 large eggs, lightly beaten1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese

1. Prepare pasta according to package directions, drain and returnto pot.
2. Stir together Alfredo sauce and sour cream; toss with pastauntil evenly coated.
3. Spoon half of the mixture into a lightly greased 10 X 9 in bakingdish.
4. Stir together ricotta cheese and next 3 ingredients; spreadevenly over pasta mixture in baking dish.
5. Spoon remaining pasta mixture evenly over ricotta cheese layer;sprinkle evenly with mozzarella cheese.
6. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

Serves 8 - 10.

That is it for now. You can use any, all or none of them. You dowhat is best.

Love you and hope to see you soon,
Cindy

Cindy Sends Several

Our esteemed Nashville contingent, Ms. Cindy, has sent several yummywarm casserole recipes, and they will all of course appear here as shortly as I can manage it. Which may not be as shortly as I usually do due to the insaneness of my day job at present. Anybody out there want to pay me to do this full time? I'm as available as an alley cat.

In my posting madness I shall first give Cindy's crab offering, because it sounds so good and because I find the story she provided with it highly amusing, disjointedly. See, she's sent one story for the several casseroles, not specifying which casserole the story belongs to, so I get to take my pick! I pick crab!


Best Darn Crab Casserole Ever

My best friend on the planet, my mom, made this dish during the fall and winter months in Rolla, Missouri when it was just her, Danny and I at home. We didn't have much we had each other. I have so many good memories of those days, all the good times growing up, and this casserole always takes me right into those feelings of comfort and home.

1/2 ( 6 1/2 oz) can of crabmeat, drained (don't skimp on this and don't use fake crabmeat!)
1 cup mayo
1 cup soft bread crumbs, plus 1/2 cup buttered soft bread crumbs
3/4 cup half-and-half
6 hard boiled eggs, diced
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup sliced stuffed green olives, plus extra for garnish
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
3/4 t salt
Pinch of pepper

1. Preheat over to 350 degrees F
2. In a large bowl, break the crabmeat into chunks.
3. Add the mayo,1c of the soft bread crumbs, half-and-half, eggs, onion, olives, parsley, salt and pepper; fold together.
4. Divide the mixture among greased individual ramekins or spoon itinto a 1 qt casserole dish. 5. Top with buttered crumbs
6. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
7. Garnish with olive slices.

Serves 4-6.

Hungry Man's Linguini

Ok, so here it is, our first non-family submission! Let us consider this a great advance toward fame and fortune, for it is direct evidence that someone other than ourselves is reading and -- yea, participating in our endeavor. Ok, so ya, it's someone I know and all that but, I mean, so, like, still...um, right? It's good!?! And he promises from now on to send in posts that are actually in the theme on the month. Why deny our first non-family applicant, then? When we are heartfully soliciting wildly profuse readership? We shan't. Besides, this particular imperial We is pleased that this submission comes in the form of a story -- for while the rest of Us are pretty good and getting a few recipes sent in to Us, We are still struggling with the story part, now aren't We, Dears? And so:

Hungry Man's Linguine

I would like to share with you and your readers my adventures in the kitchen with a modified version of one of the recipes you shared with me. I know that this month’s theme is casseroles, but I figured that they wouldn’t mind a little deviation in the spirit of good food. Now I must preface this by admitting that I am no expert in the art of cuisine, in fact I am quite the amateur. I also used ingredients found in my humble bachelor refrigerator. The ingredients I used could easily be substituted or improved upon by others as they felt necessary. Now that I have exhausted the excuses and disclaimers I will tell you what I’ve created.

I call it the “hungry man’s” linguine. The portions can be varied depending upon the number of servings. I used a box of linguine noodles that can be purchased at any market and added to a large pot of water and set them it to boil; adding enough salt to the water for flavor and just a bit of olive oil to prevent sticking. While that is boiling I put two pounds of ground chicken in a pan to brown. Chicken was used because of its low oil content, and so as not to overpower the rest of the ingredients. I chopped a whole onion into very small pieces, and sautéed them. While the meat is cooking, I added salt, pepper, oregano, and garlic. Your readers could use additional spices to season as their taste’s desire, but shouldn’t over power the meat. Once the noodles have boiled, they where drained, and then put back in the pot at low heat. To them I added a pint of heavy cream, a can of cream chicken, and approximately one cup of powdered Parmesan cheese. These are mixed together until all the noodles are coated.

Once the noodles are coated, slowly add the fully cooked meat. Stir constantly until everything is coated with the cheese and sauce mixture. I let this continue to simmer for about five more minutes until the sauce was not liquid anymore. After that it is served, or in my case it was put into containers and saved for lunches and dinners for several days. This made between four to five healthy servings. I also added some string beans as a side but any green vegetable would be just as good.

The total cooking time was about 30 minutes, probably due to my inexperience. The time is probably only limited by the noodles and the cooking of the meat, everything else should be fairly quick. I really enjoyed it, and I hope that you would share this on your blog. Next time I’ll try and stay within the boundaries of the current month’s discussion. I really enjoy what I’ve read so far, and will continue to try out your recipes.

Thanks for getting me started,

Young Frank

Our Mothers' Meat Pie

+NOTE: I talked to my mother over the weekend, and she tells me that she and one of her sisters had already decided (prior to this post) to have this dish for Papaw's 98th birthday meal. I just think that's really sweet and fitting. Happy 98th birthday, Papaw! Only two more till you're 100! Hand on, I know you can do it.

This is my very favorite in all the world comfort food one dish casserole meal. This dish of my mom’s has a biscuit crust baked on top of a browned ground beef and vegetable mixture, with a little salt and pepper. That’s it. The secret is to cook the beef on the stove top for an hour or so, keeping it covered with water, to tenderize it. Over lo these many years I have tried various enhancements to the recipe, but as soon as any other ingredient is added it’s not the same dish. So I leave it alone. No tomatoes, no cheese, no mushrooms. I like a little hot pepper sauce on it after it’s on my plate. And I tell you, I love this dish so much that I can only make it when there are plenty of hands and mouths to help me eat it. Otherwise I will overeat, stuff myself, eat half the casserole in one sitting, the other half for breakfast in the morning. It tastes to me of all my wishes and dreams of a mother’s love, of the memories of my mommy holding me “like a baby,” back before I was “too big” to be help that way anymore, that feeling of being encompassed and nurtured and loved for no good reason whatsoever. Even against all odds. Maybe that’s how I’ll know when I have finally come to a fulfilled heart: I will be able to eat just one serving of My Mother’s Meat Pie, then stop. I've called this "Our" Mothers' Meat Pie, because my mother and my aunts' and uncle's mother both made it. And if you are my cousin you can tell me if your mother and father made it. I would really like to know.

Our Mother’s Meat Pie

One pound of good ground beef *
One bag of frozen mixed vegetables, rinsed in a colander and drained a bit
Water
Salt and pepper
Bisquick or your favorite short biscuit recipe

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

1. In a large Dutch oven or other heavy, deep skillet, brown the ground beef over medium heat. Make sure it stays soft – don’t let it get crispy. If the beef is too lean to get a good sizzle going add some olive oil or butter.

2. Add water to twice the depth of the meat and simmer on medium for an hour, checking frequently to make sure it doesn’t dry out. Keep a kettle of water steaming on the stove to add as you need it.

3. In the last few minutes before the beef’s cooking time is up allow the water to reduce, but leave enough to make sure that there is a nice gravy in the bottom of the dish after is comes out of the oven.

4. Add the vegetables. Cook for a few minutes, letting the vegetable thaw and warm.

5. Turn the heat to low.

6. Prepare your biscuit batter.

7. Turn off the heat under your pan.

8. Spoon the biscuit batter over the meat mixture, and spread it out a bit. Don’t worry about getting it too even, part of the charm of the dish is its peasant look.

9. Put in center of the preheated oven until the biscuits are browned. This will take longer than if you were cooking the biscuits by themselves, maybe twice as long. Just keep an eye on them.

10. Remove from the oven, let cool for 10 minutes, then serve. Mashed potatoes and a crisp lettuce salad make perfect accompaniments. A beer, or a light red wine won’t hurt, either.

*I like to use a combination of very lean and medium lean cuts; if it’s too lean the dish will be too dry** The basic ones: peas, carrots, potatoes, green beans, maybe lima beans in there, but stay away from broccoli or any of the more exotic mixes.

Mamaw, says my Mom, served these with the mashed potatoes, as did she. This is a great combination, and you’ll love the meat and gravy mixed in with your potatoes, as you’ll love the sticky bottoms of the biscuits and how they combine with the gravy to make this really sublime combination of flavors -- even though all this is going a bit heavy on the starches, obviously, given the already wondrous presence of the biscuit topping, but it’s worth it, just as having foi gras and caviar on top of your steak is worth it, so just keep a stiff upper lip and dig in. Eat fruit and fish for a few says after if you want to counteract the effects.


Further notes on the etymology of “casserole.”

Is My Mother’s Meat Pie a true casserole? I found myself wondering. Which lead me to wonder: what is a casserole? Really?

So off I went to the web – finding what Wikipedia says (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casserole):

Casserole
In cooking a casserole, from the French for "sauce pan,"[1] is a large, deep pot or dish used both in the oven and as a serving dish.

The word casserole is also used for the food cooked and served in such a dish. These foods usually consist of meat and/or vegetables and sometimes bulked with pasta, potato, rice or other grains cooked slowly in sauce or other liquid, and may be served as a main course or a side dish.

What I like about this is the Frenchness of the whole thing. And of course, mon amis, casserole is a French word. What is French for “duh?”

Casseroles originate from the ancient practice of stewing meat slowly in earthenware containers. Types of casserole include ragout, hotpot, cassoulet and carbonnade. A distinction may be made between casseroles and stews: stewing is a cooking process whereby heat is applied to the bottom of the cooking vessel (typically over a fire or on a hob), whereas casseroling in done in an oven where heat circulates all round the cooking vessel.

One could argue in either direction the continental flavor or none of this really simple, really Anglo-Americanized dish. In reality, I suppose, if it’s not Native American or Asian or African or Aboriginal or a hybrid this by default is European, right? I mean, where did we get our recipes, from Space Aliens?

Bon Appettite.

December Contents: Cookies, Hot Toddies, Syllabub!

1. Cookies, Hot Toddies, Syllabub! -- Margaret
2. The History of the Syllabub, and a Tudor Recipe -- Margaret
3. Hot Toddie from Lisa: Minted Mocha Hot Chocolate for Grown-Ups -- Cousin Lisa
4. Sugar Cookies That Work, With Four Variations -- Aunt Janey, Aunt Nancy, Margaret
5. London Fog -- The Wilbois' Traditional Christmas Eve Party Drink -- Kristy
6. Evelyn's Honey Bars & An Excellent Hot Chocolate Mix -- Aunt Janey
7. "The Recipe" from Our Mamaw, and Jam Thumbprints -- Margaret and Nancy
8. Updated Magic Bars with Ginger and Dark Chocolate -- Margaret
9. Cheryl's Hot Mulled Wine -- Cheryl

Cheryl's Sugar Cookie Icing (Plus)

Nothing says the holidays more than taking three evenings to make one type of cookie, but I like to spread the work out so I'm not standing all night. This iced sugar cookie and recipe is everyone's favorite. I make other kinds, but this is the one I'm demanded to make by family and friends, especially by Kyle who won't let me make anything else for his class and parties. I have lots of cookie cutter shapes for the each of the holidays, because a I think variety on the plate looks festive. And although there's an extra step in this cookie method (freezing the dough over night), it all goes fast once you get the hang of it.

Here's how I do it:

Day 1. I make I make Mamaw's sugar cookie dough and freeze it overnight (freezing makes it less sticky and much easier to roll it out really thin, tomorrow).

Day 2. The next night, I roll the cookies very, very thinly and wafery and bake them so they're still dough-colored, barely browned (so watch them carefully).

Day 3. I ice the cookies.

Cheryl's Sugar Cookie Icing
3 cups confectioners sugar
3 tablespoons butter (melted and hot)
1 1/2 tsps flavoring extract (vanilla, lemon, orange, etc.)
Food coloring as directed below
Approximately 6-7 tsps of milk

1. In large bowl, sift confectioner's sugar.
2. Mix in very hot melted butter.
3. Stir in the extract.
4. Add food coloring.*
5. Add the milk 1-2 tsps at a time while stirring with a spoon, and mix until it's thick enough to coat a cookie, excess can drip off, but not run off like water!

NOTE: Extract and food coloring will thin the icing, so for every few drops, you need one less tsp. of milk to thin it. Too thin and the icing will turn speckle-y when it cools.

6. Place cookies one at a time upside down in bowl on top of icing. Remove and let excess drip off.
7. Place icing side up on cookie sheet and refrigerate overnight. Once hardened, transfer to air-tight tin.

*If making multiple colors of icing, separate the icing into equal amounts into wide bowls. Add the different food colorings to each bowl and blend until you have the color you want.

The icing isn't only for Christmas. Depending on the holiday, I use different food coloring and flavoring:
Easter = Lemon extract and an assortment of light pastels (just 2-3 drops of yellow/green/blue/red)
Thanksgiving & Halloween = Orange extract and orange food black, browns and purples.
Valentine's day = red and vanilla; I've even made purple hearts for Memorial Day.
Christmas = Vanilla with 3 colors: red, green and white.

To make the colors darker and richer, I mix them like this:
Green = 2 drops of red for every 6 drops of green to make a rich forest green
Red = 2 drops of green for every 6 drops of red makes cranberry
White = The vanilla extract colors it a rich ivory color

Cheryl's Hot Mulled Wine

Here is a drink that makes me feel warm and cozy inside, and always reminds me of Christmas. A friend of mine introduced me to this, oh, about 10 years ago at a Christmas party. She's from England and apparently this is a yuletide staple there. Later this friend gave me a spice mix to add to the warmed wine, but after some experimentation I came up with this version, my very own Mulled Spiced Wine. Funny thing is, after all those years, she and I went through our separations and divorces at the same time. Now we have become great friends. As have our exes.

In a pot on the stove, or in a crock pot, pour a magnum of merlot or cabernet, and warm on med/low.

Add:
1/4 tsp. nutmeg*
1 tsp cinnamon*
1/4 tsp cloves* (or more or less to your taste)Orange or clementine rinds (optional)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Warm (remember, don't boil it or you'll lose the kick when the alcohol evaporates out) and serve with a ladle. Mmmm....

*Spices may be loose or put it in a tea strainer [or cheese clothe]. If you put them in loose be sure to strain the liquid before serving.

21st Century Magic Bars, with Ginger and Dark Chocolate

The gingeriness of these irresistible bars makes them taste really Christmasy to me!

I love Magic Bars but I always feel like I’ve overdone it after eating them. I don’t remember, even, anyone in the family ever making them. Maybe that’s why. Maybe they are a little over the top for the Methodist sensibility (though anyone who knows me knows that I don't suffer much from that malady, myself). But with the recipe below I think I’ve managed to bring the traditional Magic Bars into the 21st century, and it came about through my effort to do something with those failed butter/sugar cookies (from the random recipe) that turned out like rocks. I mean really, how can one just through away the 2 ½ sticks of butter it took to make them? In a nutshell (so to speak), I crumbed the cookies in the blender and used them to replace the graham crackers in the traditional recipe. This version is not nearly so cloyingly sweet as the original, and the bite of the ginger takes it yet further to the side of decadence without toothache.

Magic Bars with Candied Ginger and Dark Chocolate

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups cookie crumbs (you can use graham crackers here, or crumb some butter/sugar cookies)
1 Tablespoon ground ginger
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
1 1/3 cups sweetened flaked coconut, halved
1/3 cup candied ginger bits
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk (NOT evaporated milk)
1 cup chopped pecans

For Ganache
1 pound dark chocolate, broken up into chunks (the better the chocolate, the better the dish)
¾ cup heavy cream

Method
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1. With a whisk, combine the ground ginger with the crumbs.
2. Add the candied ginger.
3. Add half of the coconut.
4. Pour the melted butter over the crumb mixture, and toss.
5. Press firmly into a square brownie pan.
6. Pour the sweetened condensed milk over the pressed crumbs.
7. Top with the remaining coconut and press down with fork to compact.
8. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until lightly browned.

Ganache:
9. While the baked part is cooling slightly, put the chocolate chunks in a heat-proof bowl.
10. Boil the cream.
11. Pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and let it sit, undisturbed, for five minutes.
12. Whisk the warm mixture until it is homogeneous.
13. Pour it over the baked crumb part.
14. Chill in the refrigerator for an hour, then remove and cut into squares.

Yum! Yum! Yum! Yum! Yum! Yum! Yum! Yum! Yum! Yum! Yum! Yum! Yum! Yum!

"The Recipe" from Our Mamaw, and Jam Thumbprints

I'll get to the cookies on the right in a sec. First, "The Recipe." This is the coolest story, and we totally have to have this as a "syllabub" option this holiday. Here's how my mom tells it: Aunt Janey was cleaning out the downstairs freezer at the Smith Estate (smile), and in it she ran across a peanut butter jar labled, in masking tape, with the simple moniker: "The Recipe." Apparenlty all three sisters were in attendence at the house, and with a little reflection it hit them what this was.

Mamaw, "Mother" to them, had when she was living of course belonged to the Desk & Derrek Club, an organization for women who work in the oil industry. The Club had conventions, as clubs tend to do, and Mamaw's friend Ola Chapman every year brought "The Recipe" as her contribution to the refreshment table. Mamaw brought frozen strawberry daquiries. Sounds like rather a lively convention of ladies, no?

At any rate, of course, Mamaw has been gone a while, and my own mother says that the best they could figure it was at least 10 years before her death that she'd attended a Desk & Derrek convention, as she had natuarally been retired for some time. Nonetheless, the sisters opened the peanut butter jar with its Masonic-secret sounding label and toasted their departed mother with its contents, "The Recipe." It was quite fine. They could not, however, find the recipe for The Recipe.

But not to despair. Ola Chapman is still living, and quite present in my mother's weekly bridge club. Ola filled my mother's request for the recipe, and so we have it here. I think you'll agree, The Recipe sounds fantastic. As a holiday syllubub I can't see that it can miss. I beleive that we should honor Mamaw, her long working life, and the little-seen fun loving side of her that would, according, again, to my mother, most years bring home a jar such as this filled with this drink and in the evening walk a few steps through the kitchen while prepairing dinner for "just a spoonful" of The Recipe. Cheers, Mamaw.

The Recipe

1 12 oz. can frozen lemonaide
1 12 oz. can frozen limeaide
2 10 oz. bottles of Squirt
1 quart ginger ale
1 quart whiskey

Mix in an air tight container, then transfer to the freezer. Don't thaw -- just serve it directly from the freezer.

____________________

On another subject, just a quick note about these delicious little jam thumbprint cookies. I've adapted Ina Garten's recipe for the ones pictured. Essentially, it's the same. But I added an egg (this might not be necessary, but I was having trouble that day getting the dough to come together), made them smaller than hers, and used lingonberry jam. I love the little sheen and very, very slight crispness the egg wash gives them. Making them small like this means that each one is a single bite, and so each bite has jam in it! The lingonberries of course are a nod to Scandinavia, which is forever in my mind as the most beautiful place to spend Christmas in the entire world (besides, other than grape it was the only jam or jelly I had on hand!).


Jam Thumbprints
adapted from Ina Garten

3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (I use the preserved vanilla bean paste)
3 1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 large egg
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash
7 ounces sweetened flaked coconut
Lingonberry jam

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Cream together the butter and sugar until just combined, and then add the vanilla.
3. Separately, sift together the flour and salt.
4. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the creamed butter and sugar.
5. Add the egg. Mix until the dough starts to come together.
6. Dump on a floured board and roll together into a flat disk.
7. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
8. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls (I used a teaspoon to measure them out).
9. Dip each ball into the egg wash and then roll it in coconut.
10. Place the balls on an parchment lined cookie sheet and press a light indentation into the top of each with your finger.
11. Drop just enough jam into each indentation to fill it.
12. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the coconut is a golden brown.
13. Cool and serve.

Evelyn's Honey Bars & A Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix

Long time friends of ours, Evelyn and Paul Bostick, had a B & B in a small town outside of Waco, Texas, Clifton,in the central Texas hill country. She is an excellent cook and this was one of her very quick and unusual cookie recipes. Clifton is the Norwegian Capital of Texas - they have great annual festivals there. Clifton also has been recognized as one of the top 100 small art communities in the nation on several occasions. Think you would like it, Margaret. Small college town.

No, John and I didn't make it to their B& B. They both were corporate or medical people - wanted to get out of the hustle and bustle of the DFW area so bought the B& B. However, they found it tied them down and so sold it. Paul had continued to work for the health insurance, etc. Back to the recipe. Paul and Evelyn are Methodist, we became friends, enjoyed going to a Cowboys game or two and exchanging recipes. They live several hours from us so we don't get to see them too much. Just good folks. She would often bring these cookies to potlucks (we Methodists love to do potlucks, of course), and this is her most requested recipe. I truly don't know where it came from originally, but sure is good. I just pulled a batch out of the oven. A quick 15 minute or less preparation -- and it bakes in 20.

Evelyn's Honey Bars

Mix together:

1 cup sugar
3/4 cup cooking oil
1/4 cup honey

Mix together and add to oil mixture:

3 cups sifted flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon

Add:

1 egg, beaten
1 cup chopped nuts (walnuts seem to be the best)
Press dough into a cookie sheet with sides.

Bake at 325 for 20 minutes and glaze while hot.

Glaze:

Thoroughly mix:

1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 Tablespoon mayonnaise (not Miracle Whip)
1 Tablespoon water


And there is an good hot chocolate mix that can be made up and kept on hand:

3 Cups powdered milk
3/4 Cup good cocoa
3/4 cup fine sugar

Stir thoroughly.

Mix 4 Tablespoons with 8 oz.. of hot water and enjoy.

London Fog -- The Wilbois' Traditional Christmas Eve Party Drink

London Fog

Ingredients:
1 gallon of vanilla ice cream
2 cups of gin
½ cup of cream of sherry

Blend all the ingredients thoroughly with mixer or immersion blender, then put it in an air tight container and back into the freezer for at least an hour. Remove it from the freezer 40 minutes before serving to let it soften up.

You can always mix in more ice cream if it is too strong for your taste (or visa versa).

Kristy's Story: This drink has been the house drink every year at my mother’s annual Christmas Eve open house party. It was always a big hit and people would look forward to having it each year. It packs a powerful punch, so be careful! One year my sister was in town from Minnesota. It was Christmas Eve and we would make an enormous amount of London Fog to accommodate all of the guests. We would put the buckets of it out on the back porch to keep them cold because we wouldn’t have enough room in the freezer. This particular Christmas my sister’s schnauzer, Ashley, was let outside to do her business. She evidently, however, got into our business!

Somehow, apparently, she got the lid off of one of the containers of London Fog, and, unbeknownst to us, decided to help herself to the holiday cheer! When we let her in later, we noticed she was behaving very oddly. She was running into things and acting quite “out of it.” She tried to go down some stairs but her front paws were glued to the floor and she lifted her back legs up in the air trying to move-- she was doing a hand-stand (or paw-stand)! When we went to get the London Fog from the porch we saw that over a cup was missing, explaining the dog’s behavior. Most of us thought it was hysterical, but my sister didn’t see it that way. She thought Bill and I intentionally got her dog drunk! Poor dog, the whole next day she didn’t even move!

The sad part of it is that my sister and her family moved to Florida and Ashley was eaten by an Alligator. It lived in the pond very close to their house. I guess Ashely is one of those dogs who would have been better off staying inside.

Sugar Cookies That Work, with Four Variations

Here is my mom's favorite sugar cookie recipe. If it's the one I think it is (and I'll tell you on Monday), it will make perfect cookie-cutter cookies. I needed this recipe badly, since my efforts have been less than stellar on the decorated Christmas sugar cookie front.

Yes, of course there is lots of Christmas cookie baking going on at the Waverly Place residence -- at least as much as the mandatory 60 hour work week I'm operating under in my day job allows (sorry, just had to add a little whine). I cannot say that I'm yet an expert cookie baker, but I'm learning. Last night a metrosexual man friend (and yes, I mean friend) came over and we played with making fun cookie glaze colors, painting the sugar cookies in all sorts of child-like, crazy ways, and generally discovering that our lack of talent was not a detriment to cookie decorating enjoyment. I'll take some pictures! I love most, I think, the red-headed angel I made for my red-headed daughter (see the picture? isn't it pretty?). Or, from my friend, the purple mane and tail he painted on my sky-blue pony.

But the trouble is finding exactly the right sugar cookie recipe. I've tried two in the last two days. One just wouldn't come together, so I added a whole egg to the one yolk it called for, and still the dough would not roll out, so I made little balls that I then pressed with a cookie form. They taste like rocks. The batch I made last night rolled great, tastes great, but the cookies puffed up upon baking a lot more than my mother's or Mamaw's ever did. I know this beyond a doubt, because I am using the cookie cutters that my mother used when we were growing up, and her angels and Santas and bells and stars and odd Celtic cross thingy were always quite well formed, almost identical to the mold, and mine came out looking like cloud forms that one, with enough leisure to stare at the sky, might imagine were angels and Santas and bells and stars and odd Celtic crosses.

Nicely, though, this morning I received an email from Aunt Janey sending me, at her request, my mother's favorite sugar cookie recipe. Thanks, Mom. You heard my plea. I thought at first this was the recipe from our childhood cookies, but here's what Aunt Janey says about it: "I believe the recipe came from the Midwest Living Magazine. I made them for the first time two years ago, took Christmas cut-out cookies to Salem, that was when your Mother first tasted them and said she liked them better. I don't decorate them at all - just don't take the time. Guess the cream cheese takes some of the sweet out and may be the reason I like them over the traditional sugar cookie. Mother's sugar cookies were always so delicious - sometimes my stuff doesn't turn out like hers."

I hope to make these this coming Sunday. Can you believe I have something booked every single night from now until Saturday? My God. Here's the cookie recipe. If you try it before I do I know we'd all love to hear and see your results!

4-in-One Cookie Dough

The cream cheese adds richness and flavor to this simple, versatile recipe.

1 pkg (8 oz) Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened
3/4 cup butter(1 1/2 sticks)
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda

1. Beat cream cheese, butter, sugar and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended.
2. Add flour and baking soda, mix well.
3. Wrap and refrigerate for half an hour.

Proceed below to the variation of your choice. They look great on their own or together on a tray.

Pinwheel Cookies

1. Divide above dough in half.
2. Add 2 sq. melted Bakers Semi-sweet Baking Chocolate to one half of dough, mix until well blended.
3. Divide each half into 2 equal parts (you should have 2 white and 2 chocolate pieces).
4. Roll 1 of the white and 1 of the chocolate dough pieces each into a 10 x 8 inch rectangle on floured surface.
5. Place rolled out chocolate dough onto rolled out white dough and press gently to form even layer.
6. Starting from the short side, roll up dough tightly to form a log; wrap in plastic wrap. Repeat with remaining dough.
7. Refrigerate 1 hour.
8. Preheat oven to 350 F.
9. Cut dough into 1/4 inch thick slices; place on ungreased baking sheets.
10. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned.

Makes about 5 dozen cookies.

Thumbprint Cookies

1. To the basic dough recipe above, add 1 cup finely chopped pecans.
2. Refrigerate 30 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 350.
4. Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Place on ungreased baking sheets.
5. Indent centers.
6. Bake 10 minutes.
7. Fill each cookie with about 1 tsp. of your favorite preserves.
8. Continue baking 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown.

Sugar Cookie Cut-Outs

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Roll basic dough recipe above to 1/8 inch thickness on lightly floured surface.
3. Cut into assorted shapes and place on greased baking sheets.
4. Bake 10 to 12 minutes until edges begin to brown.
5. Transfer cookies to wire tack.

You can frost these when they cool, or sprinkle with colored sugars before baking - use your imagination!

Pecan Bars

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Press dough firmly onto bottom of ungreased 15 x 10 x 1 inch baking pan (cookie sheet).
3. Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.
4. Meanwhile, combine until well blended:

2 eggs
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2/3 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter
1 tsp. vanilla

5. Stir in 3 cups chopped pecans.
6. Spread the egg/nut mixture evenly onto the warm crust.
7. Bake an additional 20 to 25 minutes or until the topping is firm around the edges and slightly soft in the center.
8. Cool and cut into 60 bars.

All this from one recipe! No wonder it's my mommy's favorite!

Hot Toddie from Lisa: Minted Mocha Hot Chocolate for Grown-Ups

Lisa says: This is a delish spiked hot chocolate. Doesn't get any easier. You can make hot choc from scratch, or just heat milk and add Hersheys syrup, or buy the envelopes [see Margaret's recipe below]. A candy cane stirrer looks festive, too.

Ingredients:
1 oz. peppermint schnapps
Hot chocolate
Whipped cream

Mixing instructions:
Add the schnapps to the hot chocolate and stir. Top with whipped cream.
Option: Sprinkle with chocolate

Lisa's story: This comforting hot chocolate was served to me by my freelance writer friend, Carol. It was a chilly (for FL), very windy evening last December. It was already dark out when I got to her house, and the kettle was whistling invitingly. Expecting a hot cup of tea, I was pleasantly surprised when she set down this fragrant mug in front of me. It smelled like a peppermint patty, a favorite candy of mine. She winked and lifted her cup, "Cheers, dear!"

We took a long drawn out sip and in unison, sighed, "AAAhhhhhhhh."

That warm break from routine was special, unexpected, and made our quick hello a festive little visit. I have made it since, and it always leaves me feeling like it's holiday time!

Margaret's Note: Here's my favorite way to make hot chocolate (adapted from Ina Garten), which I think would work fabulously with Lisa's Minted:

2 1/2 cups whole milk
2 cups half-and-half
4 ounces chopped bittersweet chocolate
4 ounces chopped milk chocolate
1 tablespoon sugar

Heat the milk and half-and-half in a saucepan on medium heat to just below the simmering point. Remove the pan from the heat and add both chocolates. When the chocolates are melted, add the sugar and vanilla extract and whisk vigorously. Reheat gently and serve immediately.