Holiday Recipes

Desserts

ITALIAN CAKE

By Sheila Malone

Ingredients:

1 box Marble cake mix

1 lb. Ricotta Cheese

Sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

TOPPING

1 box instant vanilla pudding (small)

1 c. milk

8 oz Cool Whip

One 9x13 pan (grease and flour)

Directions:

Prepare the marble cake mix as directed on the box. Pour the cake mix into the pan and swirl the chocolate mixture into the cake. Mix together the ricotta cheese, sugar and vanilla. Cover the cake batter with the mixture. Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes.

Prepare topping by beating topping ingredients until firm. Spread over cooled cake.

CATHEDRAL WINDOWS

From Edna Luraas and Colleen Barnard of Saco

1 tsp. butter or crisco

2 sq. unsweetened chocolate

2 eggs, beaten

1 ½ c. powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 c. walnuts, chopped fine

1 pkg. colored marshmallows

coconut

In a double boiler, melt butter and chocolate, add beaten eggs, stirring until thick. Remove from heat. Cool.

In a large bowl, mix together chocolate mixture and powdered sugar; add vanilla and nuts. Mix well before adding marshmallows, then mix to form dough.

With hands, shape into a roll (or 2) 2 inches in diameter by 12 inches long. Roll each in coconut. Chill well before slicing ¼- to ½-inch thick.

TURTLE PUMPKIN PIE

By Jeanette Mattfeldt, Helena

¼ c. plus 2 T caramel ice cream topping, divided

1 ready-to-use graham cracker crust (6 oz.)

½ c. plus 2 T chopped pecans, divided

2 pkg. (3.4 oz. each) vanilla flavored Jell-O instant pudding

1 c. cold milk

1 c. canned pumpkin

1 tsp. ground cinnamon, ½ tsp. ground nutmeg

1 tub (8 oz.) cool whip whipped topping, thawed

Pour ¼ c. caramel topping onto bottom of pie crust; sprinkle with ½ c. nuts.

Beat next 5 ingredients in large bowl with whisk until blended. Stir in 1½ c. Cool Whip. Spoon into crust.

Refrigerate 1 hour. Top with remaining Cool Whip, caramel topping and nuts just before serving.

Apple Pie

Mary Honrud

What is a holiday around here without pie? And what could be more American than apple pie? I have a couple of recipes that I like to combine for a very delicious apple pie. You can use any tart apple for pie. Skip the red delicious as they don’t work. I like Granny Smith, Braeburn, Jonagold, Pink Lady, or a couple others the names of which escape me at the moment. If you aren’t sure, ask the produce person at the grocery store.

First off, if you feel you can’t make a decent crust, there are packaged mixes that aren’t bad, or pre-made crusts. Or you could use this easy no-roll pastry recipe:

      1 1/2 c. flour

       1 tsp. salt

       1 tbs. sugar

       1/2 c. vegetable oil

       2 tbs. milk

Mix the dry ingredients together, then pour in the oil and milk. Mix well with a fork. Press into a deep-dish pie plate, covering the bottom and up the sides. It’s now ready for the filling.

Apple pie filling:

    6 c. pared, cored, thinly sliced apple s(about 5-6 apples), mixed with 2 tbs. lime juice (or fruit fresh, to keep the apples from browning). Stir in ¾ c. sugar, ¼ c. flour, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon OR nutmeg (or 1/4 tsp. each), and 1/4 tsp. salt. Pour into your pie shell.

You won’t need a top crust if you use this recipe for a crumbly topping:

   Mix together ¼ c. super with ½ c. flour. Cut into this 1/4 c chilled butter cut into small pieces. Work it all together with a pastry blender (or two knives) till very crumbly. Sprinkle over the filling.

Bake at 350 for an hour. I would caution you to put a cookie sheet under the pie tin as this filling tends to boil over and make a mess in your oven. And if you bake with this mess in there long enough, your smoke detector may go off and wake the baby!

You can prepare the whole pie and freeze for later use. If you want, you can also prepare just the filling and freeze it. I line the pie tin with heavy tinfoil, put in the filling, and top with another sheet of foil. Seal it up and freeze. This way, when you get around to making a crust, you can unwrap the filling and pop it into place. When doing it this way, I start with the oven at 425, bake the frozen pie for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 and bake for another 45 minutes to an hour. I also use a shield on the edges of the crust for half the baking time to keep it from getting too dark.

If you’d like to do a double-crust pie, you can put this candy/caramel type topping on the top crust for the last few minutes of baking: melt ¼ c. butter in a small saucepan. Stir in ½ c. brown sugar and 2 tbs. cream (I’ve used whipping cream and I’ve used half & half. Either works). Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in ½ c. chopped pecans. Pour over the top crust of the hot pie. Return the pie to the oven for 3-4 minutes, or until bubbly. (This also tends to run over the sides unless your crust is fluted very high.)

Warm apple pie with or without ice cream (or frozen yogurt) is a great finish to your holiday feast.

Side Dish

CRAB BISQUE

By Jackie Keiner Szwarc, Personal Chef

Shaler Township, Pa.

(Crab Bisque-Great way to start a meal.) Makes 4-6 servings

1 stick butter

½ c. finely chopped onions

½ c. finely chopped green peppers

2 green onions, finely chopped

¼ fresh parsley

8 ozs. fresh mushrooms/chopped

¼ c. flour

2 c. milk

16 oz. can (2½ c.) claw crabmeat (I use pasteurized if possible)

Melt half a stick of butter in stockpot. Add onion, green pepper, green onions, parsley and mushrooms. Cook until tender. Remove vegetables from heat and set aside. In the same stockpot, add remaining half stick of butter over low heat. Add flour and stir until smooth. Add milk, stirring until thickened. Add reserved vegetables, half-and-half and crabmeat. Heat through over low heat. DO NOT BOIL

AUNT JACKIE’S MAKE AHEAD ASPARAGUS ROLLS

By Jackie Keiner Szwarc, Personal Chef

Shaler Township, Pa.

Makes 5½ dozen; can make ahead and freeze.

1 can Green Giant Asparagus (in the long spears)

2 regular loaves of white bread

1 4-oz. crumbled blue cheese

1 8-oz. pkg. cream cheese

1 T Hellman’s mayonnaise

1 egg, beaten

Melted butter

Cut all crusts off bread. Roll bread sliced out flat. Spread with mixture of cheeses, mayonnaise and egg. Top with one stalk of asparagus per slice of bread. Roll up and cut into three pieces. Dip each piece into melted butter and place on a ungreased cookie sheet.

*To bake for a party, put in fridge and then heat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 15 minutes until toasted light golden brown.

*To freeze, after dipping in butter, place on cookie sheets and put them in freezer about 15 minutes and then place in plastic bags and seal. Return to freezer. To cook frozen asparagus rolls, place in oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes until toasted and then add about 10 minutes if need be; watch these so as not to over-brown. Sometimes I put on a large tray with cherry tomatoes and parsley for garnish.

Drinks

CHOCOLATE COVERED STRAWBERRY

From J.R.’s Party Store

Equal parts of Tequila Rose and Double Chocolate Vodka.

JACK DANIELS

WHITE CIDER

From J.R.’s Party Store

4 oz. Winter Jack

1 oz. caramel sauce

4 oz. half & half

Stir ingredients together in a microwave-safe glass. Heat and enjoy!