Candy Cane Cookies

I saw this recipe on the Food Network recently. Tonight we tried it out. Abe had fun rolling the dough into ropes/snakes. It was a pretty simple recipe that I didn't even mess up. And that's AMAZING!

Candy Cane Cookies by Sandra Lee

Ingredients

1 box sugar cookie mix
1/2 stick butter, melted
1 egg
1/3 cup softened cream cheese
1/2 cup all-purpose flour, plus additional for surface
Red food coloring
1 1/2 teaspoons peppermint extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

In a bowl, combine sugar cookie mix, melted butter, egg, cream cheese, and flour; mix together to form dough.

Separate dough into 2 equal portions and place in 2 different bowls. Add red food coloring gradually to 1 bowl of dough, kneading together until desired shade of red is created. To second bowl of uncolored dough, add peppermint extract and knead together.

On a floured work surface, shape each dough into balls and then roll each ball into 1/4-inch-wide ropes, each about 6 inches long. For each cookie, carefully twist some of the red and white ropes of dough together and shape into a candy cane.

Spread candy canes out on cookie sheets and bake on the top shelf of the oven for about 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool before serving.

Saltine Toffee

Quick, before holiday cooking is done! Last week Trevor and I made a yummy batch of this--it's a funny version of toffee, maybe less rich, certainly less fine.

1 1/2 packages of saltines (not boxes)

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 cube butter (or margarine, some recipes say)

2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line a cookie sheet with foil then lightly coat with cooking spray.

Lay out saltines neatly (1-2 packages) with no spaces between.

Bring sugar and butter to a boil while stirring over med-high heat. Quickly pour over saltines, covering as many as possible.

Bake for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and cool for a minute. Sprinkle with chocolate chips, spreading evenly after melting.

Put in fridge for 15 minutes or so to set, then break into pieces.

Cranberry Pudding

This is my favorite holiday dessert. I make it at Thanksgiving and usually at Christmas and, in attempts to keep it special, pretty much don't make it the rest of the year. But it is delicious and really can be made anytime and it is really easy.

Cranberry Pudding

1 1/2 Tbsp butter
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. milk
1 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 c. raw cranberries (truthfully I'm not really sure what "raw" means, I just use fresh and/or frozen cranberries)

Cream butter and sugar. Add milk and mix. Add dry ingredients and mix. Add cranberries and mix. Pour into a buttered and floured dish and bake at 375* for 30 minutes.

Vanilla Cream Sauce
1 stick butter
1c. sugar
vanilla
1/2 c. cream

In a double boiler cook all ingredients except cream until sugar dissolves. Add cream and spoon over individual servings.

Melt-in-your-Mouth Caramels

2 cups white sugar
1 1/2 cups corn syrup
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup margarine/butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
pinch salt

1. Butter 9 x 13 dish.

2. In a heavy saucepan, combine sugar, corn syrup, 1 cup cream, margarine/butter, and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring often. Slowly stir in remaining 1 cup cream while mixture continues to boil. (At this point I turn the heat down to medium low.) Heat to 230 degrees (the recipe says to heat to 242 degrees, but in high altitude, heat to 230 degrees), or until a small amount of syrup dropped into cold water forms a firm but pliable ball. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla. Pour into prepared dish. Refrigerate.

3. When cool, return candies to room temperature then cut into 1-inch squares and wrap in waxed paper.

Roasted Turkey Breast

This is the turkey recipe that we've used the last two years. We think it is delicious. The turkey turns out extremely juicy. Who doesn't like turkey juice? Okay, that makes it sound gross and it's not. It really isn't. Just try it and you'll see. Also, don't be scared off by the maple syrup thing. It doesn't taste like you are trying to make pancakes out of turkey. I promise!! Am I selling this or what?

For the Brine-
Dissolve:
1/2 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 cups hot water

Stir in:
2 cups apple juice
4 cups ice

For the Turkey-
Trim; Submerge in Brine:
1 turkey breast (6-8 pounds), bone in

Roast; Baste with:
1/4 cup maple syrup (the real deal, no fake stuff PLEASE)
1/4 cup butter, melted

Dissolve salt and brown sugar in hot water in a 2-gallon resealable plastic bag.

Stir in apple juice and ice.

Trim excess rib and wing sections from the breast (save for making turkey stock for the gravy if you so desire). For easy carving, remove the wishbone (we didn't this year and it was fine). Submerge the breast in the brine and refrigerate until ready to roast, about 2 hours. Preheat oven to 375.

Roast turkey breast side up on a rack over a shallow roasting pan. After one hour, baste breast with the maple-butter mixture. Baste every 15 minutes until the temperature of the breast reaches 165. Remove the breast from the oven, tent with foil, and let rest 15-20 minutes before slicing. (Plan on 1 1/2 - 2 hours roasting time)