Christmas Wassail

Kristin Reese shared this with us at a Relief Society holiday function. It tastes so good and it really makes the house smell good when it is warming on the stove.

1 gallon apple cider
1 t each-cloves, allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon
1-16 oz. can frozen lemonade
1/2 C brown sugar

Mix 2 C apple cider w/ spices and bring to boil. Add rest of ingredients and warm.

Can you smell it? Are you ready for the holidays?

Mexican Shrimp Cocktail

I have only seen this served in the Imperial Valley where Lance is from. The people there eat Mexican food whether they are Mexican or not. But down there the food is good. When you are away from it, you start to crave it. This recipe was given to me by my sister in law, Stephanie. It is great served as an appetizer or a light meal with tortilla chips.

Mix together in a big bowl:

2 cucumbers, diced
1 chopped onion-I use less and I chop small
2-3 avocados, diced
2 tomatoes seeded and diced
3 celery ribs, diced
1/4 bunch of cilantro, chopped
juice of 4 lemons-to taste
2 T horseradish
jalapenos-optional

Pour over:
1/2 jar of Clamato

Just before serving, add 50-70 count precooked shrimp from Costco or the like. If you add too early, the shrimp gets tough because the acid in the juices start to cook it.

This is so good, I am craving some right now!

Cinnamon Rolls

Jonathan helping to spread the filling-brown sugar and cinnamon.

The rolls before the last rise.

The boys love to make a mess!

Price was covered in flour.

Sethie cleaning up the flour mess.

Lance loves Cinnabon cinnamon rolls, so I was on a quest to find a recipe for them that I could make at home. Well of course the actual recipe is safely guarded somewhere, so I had to go with a clone recipe that I found online. There is a family in Texas that has done tons of research and testing and came up with this recipe that is very delicious. I am sure if you did all of the steps that they require and use all of the special ingredients that they call for, the rolls would taste very similar to Cinnabon, but I have altered the recipe a bit to fit my bread maker and took out some ingredients that I don't have in my pantry. They still come out absolutely to die for and we love them. We have made it a tradition to make them every General Conference weekend. It gives the boys something to look forward to! For the actual recipe click here.

Here is the version that fits in my 1 1/2 lb. bread maker and makes about 10 rolls:

Put in bread machine:

3/16 C water

3/4 C whole milk

3/8 C butter, melted, then cooled

1 beaten egg

3/4 t vanilla

3/8 t salt

3/8 C sugar

3 1/3 C bread flour

2 t rapid rise yeast

Run machine on dough cycle. Mine goes for about 1 hour 20 minutes. When dough is finished, roll out into a rectangle about 18x20 inches. It's a little tricky because the dough wants to go back to its original size, but just keep working at it, it will come.

Then spread on the following:

6 T margarine-room temp so it is spreadable

Mix together and sprinkle over margarine:

3/4 C brown sugar

4 T cinnamon

Roll up the 20" side very tightly to make a long roll. Cut off ends and then cut into 10 even sized rolls. Place rolls into 8" square baking pans 1" apart-one roll in each corner and one in the center.

Cover and let rise until doubled-about an hour. Bake at 335 degrees for 20 minutes, one pan at a time.

Frosting

Mix together:

6 T margarine

3 oz. cream cheese

1 1/8 C powdered sugar

3/4 t vanilla

Spread on top of warm or cooled cinnamon rolls and devour!

Sugar Cookies

This recipe is from Cindy Himes. I love it! Thanks for sharing, Cindy!

Cream together-

1 C shortening
1 cube butter
2 C sugar

Then add one at a time-

4 eggs

Mix in-

2t vanilla
2 t baking powder
2 t salt

Then add 1 cup at a time-

5 C flour

I use a wooden spoon to mix this together. It is ready when the dough becomes one big blob and all sticks together. Chill for at least 1 hour in refrigerator. Roll dough to 1/4-5/16 thick and cut into desired shapes. Bake at 400 degrees for 6-9 minutes. 6 minutes for small cookies and 9 minutes for bigger cookies. You do not want the edges to brown, so keep an eye on them. The cookies are fine if they are brown, but sooooo good if they are not because they stay softer.

Frosting for sugar cookies

I got this recipe from Cindy Himes, a girl who used to be in our ward. She has got cookie making down to a science and I just loved how her cookies tasted, so this is the best recipe I have found to date.

2/3 C butter
1 lb. bag of powdered sugar
2 t vanilla
3 T Milk-more or less

Butter should be at room temp. so it is easier to work with. Use electric mixer to mix butter & vanilla. Then add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time and beat. Add milk a tablespoon at a time to determine how much you need. Beat to desired consistency and then add food coloring.

I double this recipe for one batch of sugar cookies.