Coated Cookie Drops

I've got one more cookie we make at Christmastime, but it could be made at any other time of the year.

Coated Cookie Drops

Ingredients: 

 1 pkg (20 oz) oreos (1 pkg, plus another 1/3)
1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
2 bags of candy coating, coarsely chopped for dipping
1 bag of candy coating, coarsely chopped for drizzle

 Place the cookies in a food processor; cover and process until finely crushed. In a small bowl, beat cream cheese and crushed cookies until blended. Roll into 3/4-in. balls. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. In a small saucepan over low heat, melt candy coating for dipping, stirring until smooth; dip the balls to completely coat. Place on waxed paper until hardened. Melt and drizzle remainder candy coating over balls. Store in the refrigerator.

Servings: about 7-1/2 dozen.

Recipe Given By: Taste of Home

These are the first to be eaten!

Snowmen Cookies

Here's a highlight of Christmas baking day 2012.

The gang is working on Snowmen cookies, probably their favorite creative "dish" of the season.

Why do you ask?

Because over the years our snowmen have morphed into aliens, cartoon characters and even Ipods.  There's rarely a snowman among the creations. I think the snowman 2nd from right bottom row was Grandma's.  The clown (center) was a new idea this year. Thank you, Rhett.

This recipe is basically candy-coated Nutter Butters. How can you go wrong with that! It's snowman season for the next couple of months; these would make a fun treat.

Snowmen Cookies 

Ingredients:

(16 ounces) Nutter Butter cookies
1-1/4 pounds white candy coating, melted
Miniature chocolate chips M & M's
minis Pretzel sticks, halved
Orange and red decorating gel

Using tongs, dip cookies in candy coating; allow excess to drip off. Place on waxed paper. Place two chocolate chips on one end of cookies for eyes. Place M & M's down middle for buttons. For arms, dip ends of two pretzel stick halves into coating; attach one to each side. Let stand until set. Pipe nose and scarf with gel or frosting.

Servings: 32 cookies
Recipe by: Taste of Home

Asian Pork & Noodles

I had not purchased Top Ramen in many years, but when I saw this recipe I wanted to give it a try. I'm sure glad I did; it's a big hit at our house. It's like tasty Asian comfort food. Do they have that? I'm sure they do.  I've made it twice in the last month and the leftovers don't last very long.

Asian Pork & Noodle Skillet

Ingredients:

2 medium carrots, peeled

1 medium red bell pepper

5-6 green onions with tops (about 1 ¼ C. sliced), divided

2 pork tenderloins (about 1 lb. each)

2 T. toasted sesame oil

2 T. Asian Seasoning Mix (used an Asian stir fry sauce)

4 pkgs. (3 oz. each) oriental-flavor ramen noodles

1 T. vegetable oil

4 C. water

Cut carrots into julienne strips. Cut bell pepper lengthwise into ¼ in. strips. Slice green onions; set aside tops for garnish.

Trim fat and silver skin from pork tenderloins. Slice pork lengthwise into four strips. Thinly slice strips crosswise. Combine pork, sesame oil, seasoning mix or sauce and two of the ramen seasoning packets. Mix well.

Add vegetable oil to skillet, heat over medium-high heat 1-3 minutes or until shimmering.  Add half of the pork. Cook and stir 2-3 minutes or until browned; remove pork from skillet and keep warm. Repeat with remaining pork.

Add carrots and bell pepper to skillet. Cook 1-2 minutes or until crisp-tender. Add water and remaining ramen seasoning packets; stir to loosen browned bits from bottom of skillet. Add ramen noodles and white parts of green onions to skillet. Cover; bring to a boil and cook 4-5 minutes or until noodles are softened. Add pork; stir to break apart noodles. Remove skillet from heat; let stand, covered, 3-4 minutes or until pork is heated through. Garnish with reserved green onion tops.

Serving: 4-5

Recipe Given By:  The Pampered Chef

Chocolate Trifle

This is a basic Chocolate Truffle. It only tastes better the longer it melds. Enjoy!

Chocolate Trifle

Ingredients:

1 pkg. (18 ¼ oz.) chocolate fudge cake mix

1 pkg. (6 oz.) instant chocolate pudding mix

½ C. strong coffee

1 carton (12 oz.) frozen whipped topping, thawed

6 Heath candy bars (1.4 oz each), crushed

Bake cake according to package directions. Cool. Prepare pudding according to package directions; set aside.

Crumble cake; reserve ½ cup. Place half of the remaining cake crumbs in the bottom of a 4 ½ or 5 quart trifle dish or decorative glass bowl.

Layer with half of the coffee, half of the pudding, half of the whipped topping and half of the crushed candy bars. Repeat the whipped topping and half of the crushed candy bars. Repeat the layers of cake, coffee, pudding and whipped topping.

Combine remaining crushed candy bars with reserved cake crumbs; sprinkle over top. Refrigerate 4-5 hours before serving.

Serves: 8-10
Recipe: Taste of Home

Homemade Caramel Sauce

A friend gave me a can of Sweetened Condensed Milk that she had boiled in the can for a couple of hours on the stovetop.

This was the purest tasting caramel dip that I've tasted, much better than the containers you buy in the produce section. No preservatives!

When talking about this idea to others I've heard horror stories of the banging of the can in the pot and even worse of the explosion of the can.  So doing a little research I found these safer preparations for Sweetened Condensed Milk Caramel sauce.  Just follow this link to learn more.

We're still enjoying the first can, but I look forward to trying one of these alternative preparations soon.