Christmas Bread

For eating Christmas morning with Cheese, and a variety of meats - salami, hot capicola, etc

1 cup milk
1 cup warm water
4 Tbs melted butter
4 Tbs sugar
2 Tbs Yeast
1 Tbs ground Cardommomme
1/2 c currants
flour (6 cups?)

Heat milk, water, butter, sugar in a saucepan until butter is melted and it's warm. Add the yeast and Cardomomme and mix well. put in a mixer or big bowl , add 1 cup flour and mix well. Add the currants. Add flour until it forms a ball. Knead for 5 minutes to form a smooth ball. Put in a greased bowl and cover with Saran wrap and let rise until double in bulk. punch down. Divide into 2 pieces, one with 1/3 of the dough and one with 2/3 of the dough. Divide each of the 2 pieces into a further 3 pieces. Roll each piece into a snake and braid each set of three. Place the larger braid on the bottom and the smaller braid on top and allow to rise for 30min on a parchment paper coated cookie sheet. Bake 350 degrees for 25min or until just browned.

Bak
Heat the milk

Eggnog Cheesecake

'Tis the season. Eggnog - good, cheesecake- good Eggnog cheesecake-better!

1 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 tablespoons white sugar
3 tablespoons melted butter

3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese,
softened

1 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 cup eggnog
2 eggs
2 tablespoons rum
1 pinch ground nutmeg

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl combine graham cracker crumbs, 2 tablespoons sugar and butter. Press into the bottom of a 9 inch spring form pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Place on a wire rack to cool.
4. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
5. In a food processor combine cream cheese, 1 cup sugar, flour and eggnog; process until smooth. Blend in eggs, rum and nutmeg. Pour mixture into cooled crust.
6. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes.
7. Reduce heat to 250 and bake for 45 minutes, or until center of cake is barely firm to the touch. Remove from the oven and immediately loosen cake from rim. Let cake cool completely before removing the rim.


from allrecipes.com (Eggnog Cheesecake III)

Mexican Soup

This soup is mexican in an oh-so-very-american way. It came from a Weight Watchers via a roommate and her mother (apparently 2 points/serving if you care). It is super super easy and delicious, and just as good as a cold dip as hot

1 can refried beans
1 can whole kernel corn
1 can black or kidney beans (I usually use kidney)
1 can chicken broth (or 1 can water)
1 can chicken(omit for vegtable-arians)
1 cup salsa (industrial sized mild-ish is fine)
1 cup cheese

Combine everything but the cheese and bring to a simmer. Add cheese, mix well and serve with tortilla chips. Caution- this soup WILL BURN AND STICK if you leave it on the stove, just heat and serve, or else stir every few minutes. Tastes great leftover or thrown in the microwave the next day too!

Pizelle

Pizelles are a traditional Italian cookie made in a press. Also called 'Anisette cookies' by some, the typically have both vanilla and anisette flavoring. In my continuing series 'cookies which require special equipment' these also require a press - my waffle iron doubles as one.

3 eggs
1 3/4 c flour
1/2 c butter, melted
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 c sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp anise flavoring

mix together and drop by tablespoons onto a press. When hot, they can be formed into circles or cones and then filled.

Ham Bean Soup

Ham and Bean soup
Today's variation on the old standard - drive by a desire to rid the cupboard of ziplocks with small amounts of a wide variety of dried legumes in them as well as the cold temperatures.

2 cups dry beans (I used white, red, black)
1 leftover ham bone (what do you mean you don't still have one from Easter in your freezer? I'd try substituting bacon and some chunks of ham)
1/2 c green split peas
2 cloves garlic
2 bay leaves
2 carrots
1 onion
pepper
salt
cumin?

Put the beans(not the peas!) in a pot with 1 tsp salt and water to cover and bring to a boil. Turn off and let sit for 1 hour. Drain the bean water and put beans and ham bone in crockpot/heavy bottom pot with about 5 cups water. Cook for 1 hourish. Remove ham bone, cut all the extra hammy-bits off and put in the soup. Throw out the now ham-less bone. Add everything else. Leave on the stove until you're ready to eat it. This only gets better with time so feel free to nap, etc. Serve with warm rolls (recipe to follow)

Fudge

Thanksgiving is over so the Christmas baking needing a quick-start. I decided to do a quick batch of fudge tonight. This is of the 'never-fail' variety and so simple it seems like cheating, at least until you read up on the 'could-fail' methodology.

1 lb chocolate chips (that's 2 2/3 cup for those of you with the costco sized bag)
1 can sweetened condensed milk (normal size, I don't think even costco messes with it)
1 Tbs vanilla
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
2 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped into bits
1 cup chopped walnuts

1. Mix soda, salt and chocolate well. Add milk, vanilla
2 Heat over a double boiler until just melted. Remove from heat and add walnuts
3. pour into an 8"x8" pan lined with tin foil and greased (spray oil is fine, no need to drag out the crisco)
4. cool for 2 hours
5. resist the temptation to eat now instead of saving for Christmas gifts.

Cream Cheese Spritz cookies

I started my Christmas baking with this classic cookie. You'll need a cookie press, which, if you don't have one (or one from Grandma to borrow) may be a bit pricey, but it's so much fun I think it's worth it. These cookies freeze well, but are a bit delicate, so don't put them on the bottom of the freezer.


1 cup butter
3-4 oz cream cheese (about 1/2 cup)
1 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cup flour.

Cream the cream cheese and butter, add the sugar and beat well. Add remaining ingrediants and mix well. Note- it's fun to add food coloring so you get green trees, etc. If you do, I advise buying the good food coloring (available at craft or baking stores) the colors are sooo much richer than the stuff from the grocery store.

Fill up your cookie press and go to town- press onto an ugreased cookie sheet and bake 8-9 min at 350. Allow to cool on the sheet a few minutes before removing.