Another Christmas thread by MrsB

[MrsB]

OK I didn't realize how close Christmas is getting! yikes! Thankfully all of the girls are done (I think. I need to pull out all the BBW stuff I bought and make sure) Anyway, Here's my plan right now.
Dad and Step-mom ~ a huge basket of homemade cookies, cakes in a mug, cocoa, peanut butter fudge, other homemade goodies

Older brothers(at dad's) ~ baskets/tins of eatable goodies. I'm thinking I may do a theme for each one

Younger brothers and sister (at dad's) ~ baskets of bath stuff. Although I may do more "dress-up" kind of things for my little sister. She's 3 and the only girl at her house

Mom, step-dad, sister and brother ~ We're drawing names and fixing stockings here with a $$ limit so I'm not sure what I'll do yet.

Uncle (drew his name) ~ a huge candy bouquet

Cousin (drew his name.. he's 4) ~ basket of bath goodies I think

My best friend ~ not totally sure yet, but something to do with frogs

DH's best friends wife (she's also a close friend of mine who is expecting) ~ Its a toss up between BBW kitchen soap, dish towels, etc or a basket of stuff to pamper herself with

Other than those listed I have 2 sets of grandparents, dh's best friend/cousin, neice (6 months old right now), nephew (newborn) to get for.


Now I just need to start finding some good Christmas treat recipes for my baskets. Anybody have any??

Thanks!

[ewokgirl]

I'm not a big baker. I prefer to cook. What sort of treats are you wanting to make for your baskets?

I have most of the nieces' gifts already. Still need to buy a gift for my oldest niece, and need a gift for DH's niece.

Not sure what I'm going to do for anyone else. I'll probably make notecards for my mom and MIL. Will probably bring my sister whatever American treats she's been missing. (She lives in London now, and we'll be spending Christmas there with her.)

No idea what I'll do for my dad, FIL, or BIL. And I don't know if we're going to participate in the gift draw with DH's family or not. We'll be gone during the holidays, so I don't know if we'll have a chance to be with his family when they all get together or not.

DH and I will probably just give each other little things this year. I think we'd both rather just have extra spending money while we're in London. Oh, and I'll need to buy gifts for my friends while we're there. They're catsitting for us, so they'll get something nice. Probably some really good chocolates and tea.

[pkellyc]

cookies
hot cocoa with chocolate spoons or candy cane stirs
fudge
nuts
spiced nuts (my mil will get some this year)
peanut butter balls, We make these and the mint patties every year.
mint patties
carmel popcorn (someone made this for my dd last year and she loved it, so I am going to try and make some for her this year)
tea
coffee
muffin mixes
breads
jams and jellies
cheese or cheese balls
crackers
smoked meat- pepperoni, sausage that type of thing
chocolate covered pretzels
chex mix or puppy chow mix
homemade granola
fresh fruit


You can buy cellophane bags at a craft store, with some ribbon to tie the top of the bags it makes everything look so festive.

If you need the recipies for some of this let me know and I will post them.

[Hollyhandi]

Snickerdoodle Coffee Mix

Makes 3 cups

1 cup sugar
1 cup powdered milk
1/2 cup vanilla-flavored non-dairy powdered coffee creamer
1/2 cup cocoa
3 T. instant coffee granules
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Combine all the ingredients together; store in airtight containers.

To serve: add 3 Tablespoon coffee mix to 3/4 cup boiling water; stir to dissolve.

Recipe Source: Just Us Girls group (Just Connie)


Got this off my board . I am doing it for friends with a couple fancy coffee cups and some cheese and crackers or tea cookies.

[sunshine]

Chocolate & peanut butter truffles
Categories: Chocolate


Ingredients:
1 c Reeses peanut butter chips
3/4 c Butter
1/2 c Hershey's cocoa
14 oz Can eagle brand sweetened Condensed milk
1 tb Vanilla

Finely chopped nuts -- Or-- Unsweetened chocolate -- Or--
Graham cracker crumbs -- Or-- Confectioner's sugar

In heavy saucepan, over low heat, melt chips with butter. Stir in
cocoa until smooth. Add sweetened condensed milk & vanilla; cook &
stir until thickened & well blended, about 4 minutes. Remove from
heat. Chill 2 hrs. or until firm enough to handle. Shape into 1 inch
balls. Roll in any of the above coatings. Chill until firm; about 1
hour. Store covered in frig.
(This makes about 3 dozen)
I put them in those cute little holiday paper candy holder-things.

[sunshine]

Chocolate coated pretzel rods

Ingredients:

bag of large pretzel rods

Almond bark or candy coating

Colored sprinkles, finely chopped nuts, etc.


Melt almond bark or candy coating in double boiler- dip 1/3 of the pretzel rod in candy, then roll in colored sprinkels or chopped nuts.

[sunshine]

EASY CRACKERS
3 c. oatmeal
2 c. unbleached flour
1 c. wheat germ
2 Tbsp. Sugar
1/2 tsp. Salt
3/4 c. of oil
1 c. water
Mix all ingredients together. Grease a cookie sheet
and spoon some dough
onto a pan. Roll out will rolling pin to 1/8" thick.
Try to leave about 1" from
pan edges to prevent burning. Sprinkle lightly with
salt. With a pizza cutter,
cut into desired squares. Bake at 350 degrees for
about 10-13 min. As the
outer ones brown, remove and return pan to oven until
all are done. Some melted
butter may be substituted for some of the oil for a
butter flavor - maybe 3-5
Tbsp.


HOMEMADE WHEAT THINS
3/4 c Whole wheat flour
1 1/2 c White flour
1/3 c Oil emulsified in blender-with 3/4 tsp salt and
1 cup-water
Mix dry ingredients, add oil/water mixture. Knead as
little as possible. Make
smooth dough then roll as thin as possible on unoiled
cookie sheet(not more
than 1/8 inch). Mark with knife to size of crackers
desired, but do not cut
through. Prick each cracker a few times with fork.
Sprinkle lightly with salt or
onion salt as desired. Bake at 350 F until crisp and
light brown for 30-35
minutes.


CHEDDAR CRACKERS
1/2 c Butter Or Margarine
1 ts Baking Powder
1 1/2 c Unbleached Flour; Sifted
1 ds Cayenne Pepper
1/2 ts Salt
2 c Cheddar; Extra Sharp, finely grated.
Stir the dry ingredients into a bowl and then cut in
the butter to resemble
cornmeal. Blend in the cheddar cheese with a fork
until well blended. Mix in
the remaining ingredients and shape into 1 1/2 to
2-inchrolls. Chill for 30 to
40 minutes in the refrigerator and then slice each
roll into slices about
1/4-inch thick. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet at
400 degrees F for about 10
minutes. Remove from cookie sheet and let cool. Store
the cooled crackers in
airtight containers in a cool place.



OATMEAL BUTTER CRACKERS
1 1/2 c All-purpose flour
1 1/2 c Rolled oats (oatmeal)
1/2 ts Salt
1 tb Sugar
6 tb (3/4 stick) butter or-Margarine, melted
and-Cooled
1/2 c Milk
Preheat the oven to 325~ F Stir together the flour,
oats, salt, and sugar in
a large bowl or in the food processor. Cut in the
butter until the mixture
resembles coarse meal. Blend in enough of the milk to
form a dough that will hold
together in a cohesive ball. Divide the dough into 2
equal portions for
rolling. On a floured surface or pastry cloth, roll as
thin as possible, to about
1/16 inch thick. Using a spatula, rolling pin, or your
hands, transfer the
rolled dough gently onto a large baking sheet. With a
sharp knife, score the dough
into 2-inch squares without cutting all the way
through the dough. Prick each
square 2 or 3 times with the tines of a fork. Bake for
20 to 25 minutes,
turning over after 15 minutes, until crisp. Cool on a
rack. Break into individual
crackers when cool. Yield: 50-60.


SALTINES
4 c flour
1 ts baking powder
3/4 c shortening
1 1/3 c milk
salt to taste
Mix flour, baking powder and shortening; add milk an
blend well. Form a ball
of dough and cut into four pieces. Roll dough out
very thin. Cut with a
cookie cutter Or use pastry wheel with crinkled edges.
Place on cookie sheet.
Prick with a fork 4-5 times and sprinkle with salt.
Bake at 375 degrees 8 to 10
minutes or until golden (watch crackers carefully so
they don't burn).


BASIC WHITE CRACKERS
2 c All-purpose flour
1/4 ts Salt
2 tb (1/4 stick) butter or Margarine, softened
1 c Milk
Salt for the tops (opt.)
Preheat oven to 325~ F.
In a large bowl or in the food processor, combine the
flour and salt. Cut the
butter into the flour until the mixture resembles
coarse meal. Slowly mix in
enough of the milk to form a dough that will hold
together in a cohesive ball.
If necessary, add up to 1 additional tablespoon of
milk. Divide the dough
into 3 equal portions for rolling. On a floured
surface or pastry cloth, roll the
crackers paper thin. They will look almost
translucent. If desired, lightly
sprinkle the tops with salt and gently roll over the
dough with your rolling
pin. With a sharp knife, carefully cut the crackers
into 2-inch squares.
Handling them gently, transfer them to an ungreased
baking sheet.
Prick each cracker in 2 or 3 places with the tines of
a fork.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until lightly browned.
Cool on a rack. Yield: 95-100.


WHITE CRACKERS
2 Cups flour
2 Tbsp. cold butter
1 Tbsp. Sugar
2/3 Cup milk
2 tsp. salt
Preheat oven to 425. Use ungreased cookie sheets. Mix
flour, sugar and salt,
blend well. Cut butter into small pieces add to dry
mix. Using your fingertips
or a pastry cutter until mixture resembles fine
crumbs. Slowly stir in milk
until dough just pulls away from the sides of the
bowl. Add sprinkles of milk
if the dough is to dry. Dough should be soft not wet
and sticky. Divide into
two pieces. Roll each half on a lightly floured
surface, till it is approx.
13"by13" and about 1/18th of an inch thin. Trim edges.
Roll onto rolling pin and
place onto cookie sheet. Use a sharp knife to score
dough into 2 in squares.
Bake for 6-8 min. or until the edges are golden.
Remove from oven and gently
lift off pan and turn them over. Return to oven and
bake for another 5-6 min.
until edges are nicely browned. Break crackers apart
AFTER they have cooled and
store in an airtight container. Makes about 5 dozen.


SODA CRACKERS
3 c Wheat pastry flour
1/2 ts Salt
2 ts Baking powder
1 c Less 3 tb. Water
1/4 c Melted butter
Into a medium bowl measure the flour, salt and baking
powder. In a small
bowl, emulsify with a fork, the water and melted
butter. Combine the liquid and
dry ingredients well with a fork, then let the dough
rest to absorb moisture.
Proceed as for Whole Wheat Sesame Thins.


QUICK SODA CRACKERS
4 c All-purpose flour
4 ts Salt
1 tb Baking powder
1/4 c Plus 2 Tablespoons-Shortening
1 1/2 c Water
Salt for the tops (opt.)"
These crackers cannot truly duplicate the lightness of
traditional soda
crackers, but they take a fraction of the time to
make, and they are delicious in
their own right. Plain, slightly biscuity crackers,
they go well with soups or
stews. 350~ F 25 to 30 minutes Preheat the oven to
350~ F. In the food
processor or a large bowl, combine the flour, salt,
and baking powder. Cut the
shortening into the flour until the mixture resembles
coarse meal. Add the water,
little by little, and blend to form a dough that will
hold together in a
cohesive ball. Divide the dough into 3 equal portions
for rolling. On a floured
surface or pastry cloth, roll out to a rectangle
approximately 1/4 inch thick and
position so the long edge runs horizontally in front
of you. Fold the left
third of the dough over the center third. Likewise,
fold the right third over the
center. The dough is now in 3 layers with the seam
running vertically. Give
the dough a quarter turn so the seam now runs
horizontally. Roll out again to a
rectangle about 1/4 inch thick. Fold and turn the
dough again as in the first
step. You are now ready for the final rolling. Roll
the dough out somewhat
thinner this time, about 1/8inch thick. If desired,
sprinkle the top lightly and
evenly with salt and roll over it lightly with the
rolling pin. With a sharp
knife, cut into2-inch squares and place them on an
ungreased baking sheet.
Prick each square 2 or 3 times with the tines of a
fork. Bake for 25 to 30minutes,
or until lightly browned. Cool on a rack. Yield:
80-85.


SODA CRACKERS
4 c flour
1 ts baking powder
3/4 c shortening
1 1/3 c milk
salt to taste
Mix flour, baking powder and shortening; add milk and
blend well. Form a ball
of dough and cut into four pieces. Roll dough out very
thin. Cut with a
cookie cutter or the top of a glass (wet the glass
first). Place on cookie sheet.
Prick with a fork 4-5 times and sprinkle with salt.
Bake at 375 degrees 8 to 10
minutes or until golden (watch crackers carefully so
they don't burn).


AUGUSTA GRILL CORN CRACKERS OR CORN DODGERS
Source: John Malik, Executive Chef - Augusta Grill -
Greenville, South
Carolina
1 C. corn meal
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. sugar
2 grinds fresh black pepper
2 T. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 C. boiling water
1 whole egg, beaten
2 T. whole butter
2 T. finely grated Parmesan cheese
In a large bowl, mix first 6 ingredients together.
Pour boiling water over
this; mix well then incorporate egg, butter and
cheese. Drop a tablespoon of
corn batter on a parchment lined baking pan, spread
thin with a flat knife and
bake at 325ºF for 20-25 minutes. Allow to cool for at
least 30 minutes.
Serve crackers with goat cheese with Vidalia spring
onions. Servings: 16


VEGETABLE SNACK CRACKERS
2 C. flour
2 tsp. mixed herbs: chives, oregano,
parsley, savory, tarragon, thyme
1/4 C. dried minced celery
1/4 C. dried minced onion
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 C. shortening
1 T. oil
3/4 C. warm water
Stir dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Add
remaining ingredients
except the water, then stir again. Slowly add the
water, stirring well, until a
smooth dough forms. Divide the dough in half, cover,
and let it stand at room
temperature for 10 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400ºF.
Place half the dough on a lightly oiled baking sheet,
flatten with a rolling
pin and roll dough out to the edges of the pan. Use
extra flour if needed on
the pin and the rolling surface to keep dough from
sticking. Cut dough into
1-inch squares and prick dough all over with a fork.
Bake for 10 minutes until
crisp, but not brown. Remove to racks to cool. Repeat
with remaining dough.
Makes about 60 crackers.


OATMEAL CRACKERS
1 1/2 C. oatmeal
1 C. whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 C. water
5 T. oil
1 T. honey
Grind oatmeal to a coarse flour in electric blender.
Combine with the whole
wheat flour and salt. Mix together the water, oil and
honey.
Sift the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and
blend. Roll out to 1/8
inch thickness. Score with a knife into cracker
shapes. Place on oiled cookie
sheet and bake at 350ºF for 12 minutes.
Cool 5 minutes before removing crackers from sheet.
Makes 4 dozen.


BLEU CHEESE CRACKERS
Yields about 2 dozen crackers
2 C. all-purpose flour
3/4 C. crumbled bleu cheese
1/4 C. butter
1 egg
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 to 2 T. water
Mix the flour and pepper together and cut in the bleu
cheese and butter until
the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the egg and
one tablespoon water and
knead by hand until the dough comes together. Add more
water if needed.
Divide the dough in half and roll into two logs about
the diameter of a quarter.
Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours or
overnight.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Slice the logs into
coins 1/4-inch wide
and place on a well-oiled sheet pan. Bake for 8 to 10
minutes until golden brown.


CHEESE CRACKERS
1/2 pound Cheddar, shredded
16 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 cup Splenda (or sugar)
3 cups soy flour
Combine cheese and butter. Stir in remaining
ingredients; shape into a roll
and chill until ready to bake .Preheat oven to
375°F.Slice roll very thinly;
place on cookie sheets and bake about 10 minutes.
Makes 6 to 8 dozen.


CRACKERS
2 Cups flour
2 Tbsp. cold butter
1 Tbsp. Sugar
2/3 Cup milk
2 tsp. salt
Preheat oven to 425. Use ungreased cookie sheets. Mix
flour, sugar and salt,
blend well. Cut butter into small pieces add to dry
mix. Using your fingertips
or a pastry cutter until mixture resembles fine
crumbs. Slowly stir in milk
until dough just pulls away from the sides of the
bowl. Add sprinkles of milk
if the dough is to dry. Dough should be soft not wet
and sticky. Divide into
two pieces. Roll each half on a lightly floured
surface, till it is approx.
13"by13" and about 1/18th of an inch thin. Trim edges.
Roll onto rolling pin and
place onto cookie sheet. Use a sharp knife to score
dough into 2 in squares.
Bake for 6-8 min. or until the edges are golden.
Remove from oven and gently
lift off pan and turn them over. Return to oven and
bake for another 5-6 min.
until edges are nicely browned. Break crackers apart
AFTER they have cooled and
store in an airtight container. Makes about 5 dozen.


PARMESAN PEPPER CHEESE CRACKERS
Source: Detroit News 4/19/01
2 T. butter, at room temperature
1/2 C. grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp. coarsely ground black pepper
6 T. flour
1 to 2 T. milk, optional
Preheat oven to 375°F.
In medium bowl, blend butter and cheese. Add pepper.
Add flour, 1 tablespoon
at a time. If dough doesn't hold together, stir in
milk, 1 tablespoon at a
time. Gather mixture into dough that holds together.
Shape into cylinder 1 inch
in diameter. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill 30
minutes. Slice dough 1/4-inch
thick. Place on ungreased baking sheet. Bake until
firm, lightly browned and
cooked through, about 15 minutes.
Remove from baking sheet and cool on wire rack. Makes
12 crackers.


SAVANNA GRILL CRACKER SPOONS
Source: The Savanna Grill, Corte Madera CA
2 C. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. black pepper
2 T. olive oil
2/3 C. water
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. chopped green onion
Mix all ingredients together until well blended. Wrap
in plastic and allow to
set in a refrigerator for at least one hour.
Portion the cracker dough into marble size balls and
roll through a pasta
machine on a number 3 setting, then again through a
number 6 setting. trace spoon
pattern with a knife. Place cut out shapes on a cookie
sheet and bake in a
preheated oven at 400 degrees for 5-6 minutes or until
cracker has set. Remove
from oven and cool. Serve with soups or dips


BUTTERY CRACKERS
4 cups flour
1 cup butter (or margarine)
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vinegar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Work the butter into the flour with a pastry cutter or
fork. Next, stir the
vinegar, baking soda, and salt into the milk, and add
this to the butter-flour
mixture. Form the dough into a ball. Roll out to a
thickness of about1/5
inch...very thin. Lightly score the dough in the size
of the cracker you desire.
I've come up with an easy way to do this. I roll out
the dough directly onto a
flat baking sheet. Next, placing a ruler on the dough,
I perforate the dough
along the side of the ruler with a fork. I think you
could cut out the crackers
with cookie cutters for special occasions, but you
will have a lot of waste
unless you gather up the fragments and re-roll and
re-cut them. Now bake the
crackers at 375* for about 20 minutes or until crisp.
The crackers should not get
too brown, just a sprinkling of brown on top.

[sunshine]

Oreo Truffles

Ingredients:

1 pkg Oreo cookies
1 8 oz. package cream cheese
12 oz. chocolate chips


Crush the Oreo cookies in a blender until fine crumbs. Mix in the cream cheese and roll into balls.

Melt the chocolate chips in a double boiler- dip the cookie balls into the chocolate.

Store in the refrigerator.

[MrsB]

Wow! Thanks for all the recipes! They look yummy!
Holly, I'm doing Snickerdoodle cookies so this will go perfect!

ewokgirl, So far I plan on doing Chex Mix, cookies, rice krispie treats. So anything really.

[ewokgirl]

My cousin's wife gave us this really yummy treat at Christmas last year. It was pretzels, chex cereal, and marshmallows tossed together with melted white chocolate. I made some later on and brought it to a youth group Superbowl party, and the kids inhaled it. I can't remember exact amounts, but do a search on the internet. You can probably do it by taste/eyeballing anyway. I just used almond bark, which is cheaper than white chocolate.

[pkellyc]

If you need to dip anything into chocolate instead of buying wafers just melt 1 bag of semi sweet chocolate chips with 2 tablespoons of shortening, over low heat in a double boiler. It works just as well and tastes just as good.

[DixieJ]

Thanks for the cracker receipes. My mother used to make home-made crackers. They were so good with soups or stew....or just to eat plain.

Dixie Jean