Holiday Baking
 

I am starting my list of things to bake for the holiday.
What does everyone make? I need ideas....

My new item for the yearly list is vodka chocolate covered cherries. Regular homemade chocolate covered cherries, but I pour the cherry juice out of the jar and refill it with vodka and let it sit for a week. Then make them like normal.

Regular items include:
spritz cookies-- white wreaths with candy cherries and green xmas tress.
sugar cookies with a hersey kiss
peppermint bark
chocolate chip cookies
haystacks
peanut butter cookies
sugar cookies with colored sugar

I know there are other things I normally bake- I just cant remember what those are... please give me some ideas

I just make these:

White Lace Inn Oatmeal Choc-Heath Bar Cookies

Ingredients:
2 c. Butter
2 c. White Sugar
2 c. Brown Sugar
4 Eggs
3 Tsp. Vanilla
4 1/2 c. Flour
2 Tsp. Baking Powder
2 Tsp. Baking Soda
7 c. Quaker Oats Old Fashioned Oatmeal [I use a bit less.]
1 7 oz. Hershey Milk Chocolate Candy Bar, chopped into large pieces
6 Heath Candy Bars, chopped [I use a bit more.]
1 c. Nuts, optional [I use walnuts.]

Directions:
Cream together butter, white sugar, and brown sugar. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Set aside. Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda. Fold this into butter mixture. Add to this the oatmeal, candy bars, and nuts (if using nuts).

Make large cookies and bake in a preheated 375° oven for 8-10 minutes (note: it is best to underbake a little). Also, you can use 1/2 butter/1/2 margarine. Makes 4 doz. large cookies.

One year I made "Ebony and Ivory Chocolate Truffles". But I think we'll be making sugar cookies (decorate your own) and peppermint bark this year. I don't know.

I usually make cappucino chocolate chip cookies for parties and such. I'll see what inspires me this year.

My family doesn't really bake too often nowadays, but back when I was growing up, my father's family loved to make those things called 'Hello Dollies". I'm not sure if it's a family reciepe or not, but it was basically like a layered bar with graham crust, chocolate chips, coconut shavings, and some kinda caramel or something to layer each other up and bond. It was delicious, and if you ate too many, you'd get stick. =)

I am known for my Bacardi Rum cakes and my Chocolate pecan pies :D

Well, I'm not allowed anywhere near the kitchen. But my mom makes Pumpkin Rolls that are really popular with those who like them. That, and candy glass. When my dad taught in a middle school for 3 years she made them each year for his homeroom. Making candy glass is.a.big.stucky.mess. I honestly can't eat it anymore.

I try to make

frosted sugar cookies
peanut clusters
almond bark cookies
almond poppyseed bread
buckeyes

This year I'm also attempting gingerbread men

OMG, I love those or something similar to those. My family referred them as "Chippy Dippy Bars," though I think everyone else calls them "Hello Dollies" We always put butterscotch chips in them too, in addition to the chocolate chips. We used sweetened condensed milk instead of caramel to adhere everything together. Eagle Foods actually has a 'kit' nowadays that has all the ingredients in a box in case you don't want to buy it all seperately. And now I'm craving some of those.

As far as baking, I'm planning on making some fudge this week and maybe some peanut butter balls (aka buckeyes). I also volunteered to make a huge decorated cookie for work in a jelly roll pan to give to another department, similar to what you'd get at your local cookie store. I'm attempting to recall my skills from a college job where I worked in a cookie shop and used to make those regularly.

Every year I bake at least one pumpkin pie (not from scratch- I do buy the pumpkin in a can). This year I already have made two- one for the young adult ministry Thanksgiving dinner and one for a colleague's farewell. And I'm making another one next week for my job's Christmas party.

Southern Cornbread Dressing:

1. Make basic cornbread:

4 tablespoons shortening (or bacon drippings, lard, or butter)
1 1/2 cups white self-rising cornmeal*
1/2 cup self-rising cornmeal
2 eggs
1/2-3/4 cup buttermilk, or regular milk
Preheat the oven to 425°.

Put 3 T of the shortening in a cast-iron skillet (Or baking pan) and place on medium heat or in the oven. Melt the other T of shortening. Combine the shortening, cornmeal and flour, then mix in the egg and milk. Add milk slowly, until the mixture is pourable (like thick pancake batter). Add additional milk, if needed. Take pan out of oven. Immediately pour the batter into the hot pan. Place back in the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the outer crust is golden brown.

2) Immediately crumble cornbread into a large bowl.

3) Add:

1 can of cream of chicken soup
1/2 c of cream of celery soup
1/2 of chopped onion
Sage and black pepper to taste
Turkey or chicken broth (You'll need about 1 c)

Mix all of these together until you get a moist mix. Make sure that you have added enough water. Mix should be moist and pourable, but just barely pourable. Add extra broth if needed.

Pour into casserole dish and cook at 375 for 45-55 minutes or until sides are crispy and top has golden brown color.

I MISS DO-BIZ!! :(

Awww, I love buckeyes! My supervisor back when I was an RA used to make buckeyes for us from time to time.

When I go to Florida next week, I am making gingerbread men with my crazy-ass niece and nephew. I am getting boy and girl cookie cutters. I hope they like it!

OK, I need some holiday cookie-baking advice...I want to make gingerbread cookies, but I want them to come out chewy. This is apparently very hard to do. My grandmother's gingerbread men were always hard as rocks, and my mom doesn't like to make gingerbread because she thinks it never comes out right (even though she makes great desserts!). I know I'm probably biting off more than I can chew, but I'm going to a Christmas party and I was asked to bring Christmas cookies. Any advice on how to make these things so they don't break your teeth?

Sugar cookies (made today, will frost tomorrow night)
Spritz cookies
peanut butter/hershey kiss cookies
lemon bars
buckeyes
a cookie we call "Mary Lou's cookies" because a neighbor (Mary Lou)of my mom's gave us the recipe and it had no name, but it's a layer of pastry, then a layer of chocolate chips, then a layer of walnuts/eggs/sugar stuff, baked in layers
Pistachio coffee cake
"grandpa's" fudge (which we found out recently was simply the Hershey's cocoa fudge from the old cocoa tins.. after thinking it was some secret family recipe for decades!)

I'm making a cheesecake for our work holiday potluck dessert contest.
I have to make a dessert for an alumnae club meeting and a dessert for my daughter's Girl Scout progressive party. Haven't figured out WHAT I'm making for either of those yet... I have a lot to do, and not a lot of time left here! I'm way behind with the baking this year!

I've never heard of those bars with the name "Hello Dollies", we call them Magic Cookie Bars, and the recipie came off of an Eagle brand canned milk label. I've also heard of them as 7 layer bars.

My sister and I make stained class cookies, which are sugar cookies with open areas broken up hard candy is put into, and then it melts and cools flat. We also make rosettes, which are deep fried and covered in powdered sugar (yum!).

For the work party next week I am making a cranberry cherry pie instead of my usual trite yet tasty jello salad.