New Year's Eve

We went to the Clifford's home this year for New Year's Eve. They had invited a number of couples from our ward asking each to bring their favorite munchies. After everyone got there, we took turns telling our life "sketch" (as many of the couples were newer to the ward). It was fun to get to know more about the Thompson's, Creagh's, Clifford's (and daughters too), Vermillion's and Fosburg's. What we did find out was almost everyone has lived in some place very interesting and/or exotic. It was interesting to learn more about everyone there. Games were supposed to be on the docket, but we spent so much time talking and visiting and sharing that we never got to the games. For our munchies we brought chips & salsa and then super-easy crock pot mini-wieners:

COCKTAIL WIENERS
1 – 16oz package little smoky sausages
1 – 8oz jar cocktail sauce
1 – 8oz jar grape jelly
In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the cocktail sauce and grape jelly. Mix in the little smoky sausages. Cook 5 minutes or until the sausages are hot. Can also prepare, cook & serve in a crock pot.

Dinner...and snow

I'm forever stopping to take pictures of our dinner so I can post the recipe later. So the other day we ordered pizza take-out. We were just getting ready to eat and John says "Wait!" and runs into my office. He comes back out and takes a picture. Then said, "You'd better blog that!!" And here is the view I had today on my drive home. Isn't my street lovely? And peaceful?

Cranberry Mousse Salad

We had this on Christmas Day. Made a lot! Very good and could easily be a dessert too. Use the strawberry gelatin for a more mello flavor.


CRANBERRY MOUSSE SALAD
20oz can pineapple - drained, reserve juice
6oz strawberry or raspberry gelatin
1 cup water
3 tablespoons lemon juice
11oz whole berry cranberry sauce
1 tsp fresh grated lemon peel
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
2 cups sour cream
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Drain pineapple, reserve juice. Set pineapple aside. Combine gelatin, water and pineapple juice. Bring to a boil. Blend in lemon juice and cranberry sauce. Add lemon peel and nutmeg. Chill until mixture thickens slightly. Add cour cream. Blend well. Finally add pineapple pieces and pecans. Mix. Pour into a pretty dish. Chill.

Quick Fluffy Dinner Rolls

I don't make rolls. But I love bread. So I was intrigued when I saw this recipe that said from start to finish (including baking time) you could make rolls in about 1 hour. I tried them on Christmas Day. They were easy to make and the taste was good, but I did not take into account baking them in the oven with the ham and the yams and not getting all the heat they needed. So we sat down to eat and bit into one of the rolls and put them back into the oven to finish baking. I guess for my 2nd attempt ever at baking a bread product, I did "ok" and will be happy to try this again. Also, I had just read an article saying sometimes too much flour is added and the flour used for kneading is not accounted for. So I backed off on the flour, but then realized that there was no kneading involved, so should have kept the original amount called for in the recipe.

FLUFFY DINNER ROLLS
3/4 cup milk
4 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup hot water
4 tablespoon sugar
1 tsp salt
4 to 4 & 1/2 cups flour
1 heaping tablespoon yeast

Pour milk into a microwave safe container. Add butter to the milk and put it in the microwave for 1 & 1/2 minutes. While the milk warms preheat your oven to 170 degrees. Turn on the tap to get your water hot. Put your hand in the water to test it. Should be just on the edge of unpleasant. Put milk/butter and hot water in the stand mixer. Add sugar and salt. Add 2 cups of flour. Let mix for 1 minute. Add yeast. Turn the mixer on and add the rest of the flour, 1 cup at a time. You have enough flour when the dough scrapes the side of the bowl clean. Mix on medium speed for 5 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap (tightly) and let sit for 5 minutes. Coat the inside of a 9x13 pan with butter. Spray a large cutting board with cooking spray. Lay your dough on top of it. Take a sharp knife, spray it with cooking spray and cut your dough into 12 pieces. Make them as equal as you can. Gently round them into balls and put them in your buttered 9x13 pan. Put the pan into your warm 170 degree oven. Let them rise for about 20 minutes or until they have risen about 1 inch above the rim of the pan. Leave your pan in the oven and turn the heat up to 350 degrees. Bake for 15 minutes. Bake until golden brown. Brush with a little softened butter and serve warm.

Sweet Potatoes / Yams

I was trying to replicate a sweet potato recipe I had at Thanksgiving one year. Did not quite make it (too dry) but think the changes included below might be the winner. I'll keep trying each year until I find it!

SWEET POTATOES / YAMS
2 (16oz) cans sweet potatoes, drained (do you like chunks or mashed?)
1 (oz) can crushed pineapple (says to drain, but maybe not?)
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1 cup miniature marshmallows
1/2 c. brown sugar
2 Tb butter, melted
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Layer sweet potatoes, pineapple, pecans into a baking dish. Sprinkle brown sugar over all. Pour the melted butter into dish. Sprinkle with the cinnamon and nutmeg. Bake in oven until warmed through. Sprinkle with marshmallows and place back into oven until marshmallows just start to melt/spread.

Honey Glazed Ham

HONEY GLAZED HAM
1 small, spiral cut, ham
1 cup honey
2/3 cup butter
1/4 cup brown sugar

In a small saucepan combine honey, butter and brown sugar. Bring to a simmer, let brown sugar dissolve, reduce to low. Place ham in baking dish and brush sauce liberally over ham. Reserve some sauce for later. Place ham in 325 degree oven. Baste every 15 minutes for 1-1.5 hours (depending on size of ham). After ham is cooked, turn on broiler until crust is crunchy - about 3-4 minutes.

Cheese Mashed Potatoes

Another "non recipe" recipe. We always had cheese mashed potatoes with ham for Christmas dinner when I was growing up. John started adding crushed garlic a few years back and we've like that addition.

CHEESE MASHED POTATOES
Potatoes
Grated cheese
Butter
Milk
** New: clove garlic

Wash & peel potatoes. Boil in large pot of water until cooked through. Drain water. Mash potatoes. Add butter & milk and mash until creamy. Add a few handfuls grated cheese, the more the merrier. Optional: Add crushed garlic if you want to make garlic cheese mashed potatoes.