Christmas Wassail

This is the wassail we always had around Christmas time growing up.  I love to make it now for my own kids during the holiday season.  


1 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups water
4 cinnamon sticks
1 1/2 gallon of orange juice
64 oz (2 qt) cranberry juice
24 cloves
Cook SLOWLY 

Mini Cheesecake Tarts

One of my daughters requested cheesecake for a Christmas Eve get together at a friend's house this year.  I thought a mini version would be cute and easy to serve.  I found this recipe but changed it to make 30 mini muffin size cheesecakes instead of 12 standard size muffin cheesecakes.

Tomato Sauce with Butter and Onion

How good could a pasta sauce be that only includes three ingredients?  AMAZING!!  Just three ingredients but somehow tomatoes, butter, and onion simmered together transform into something truly delectable.  While some may discount it right away because of it's simplicity, I was hooked by this recipe for that very reason.  Cheap, fast, easy, ingredients that I always have around?  Sold!  It really is so good.  It tastes as fresh and uncluttered as a lazy summer day.  This sauce over pasta is the kind of simple and yummy meal that my kids really go for.

Banana Blueberry Muffins

Call me crazy but it never occurred to me to combine bananas and blueberries in a muffin.  So, when I saw this recipe I knew I had to try it.  They were moist and delicious!  I did reduce the amount of sugar in the muffins by 1/4 c. and they were plenty sweet.  I also think you could reduce the amount of brown sugar in the streusel topping but I haven't tried that yet.  I love the multiplydelicious.com website for lots of yummy muffin ideas. 

Chocolate Mint Puddle Cookies

This was a find from Tastespotting (I think) last year around Christmas time.  They are so yummy!  It's great to find a recipe that is perfect as-is with no tweaking and that I want to add to my "regulars".  The cookie is chewy and fudgy with a frosting of melted Andes mint.  Definitely a keeper and perfect for Christmas.

Chocolate Mint Puddle Cookies
Yield:  35-40 cookies

6 T. butter
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 T. water
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 egg
1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
heaping 1/2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
about 2 pkgs. (4.5 oz.) Andes mints

In a saucepan, over medium heat, cook the sugar, butter and water, stirring occasionally until melted.  Remove from heat, stir in chocolate chips until melted, set aside to cool for 10 minutes.  Pour chocolate mixture into a large bowl and beat in egg.  Combine the flour, baking soda and salt.  Sitr into the chocolate mixture.  Cover and refrigerate dough for at least 1 hour.  Preheat oven to 350 F.  Grease cookie sheets.  Roll cookie dough into walnut sized balls and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheets.  Bake 8-10 minutes, careful not to over bake.  When cookies come out of the oven, press one mint into the top of each cookie, let sit for 1 minutes, when softened swirl with the back of a spoon to make a pattern with the green filling of the mint wafer.

Turkey (or Chicken) Noodle Soup

I love soup this time of year.  It is so warm and homey and perfect on a chilly fall day.  I tried this recipe a year or so ago and loved the homemade chicken soup flavor in a very short amount of time without the fuss of making a homemade stock!  When I don't have leftover turkey and chicken around I buy a rotisserie chicken and shred it.  It saves me time and adds big flavor.  I usually 1 1/2 x the recipe for our family. 

Roasted Butternut Squash and Bacon Pasta

This was awesome!