Oreo Truffles

Well, ya'll already know how to make these, but I'll put them up anyways.

I had a really good sunday school teacher when I was 17 and she brought us oreo truffles one week, because we were such a great class. Then I planned a laurels activity for us to go to her house and learn how to make them. They are so easy, but sooooo good....but sooo bad for you.

Then I made them when we went to Denver for Thanksgiving one year, and Aunt Paulene decided to learn how to make them and sell them in her candy business.

Now I have to make them every Thanksgiving and Christmas. I have pictures of Jesse shoving them in his mouth, and Sammy would get frustrated because after he had them, he thought thats what was in the the little white eggs in the carton and got really mad when amy would boil an egg and there wasn't a chocolaty oreo filling inside.

You need:
One package of Oreos
One package of Cream Cheese, softened
Almond Bark or White chocolate- if you're really good with it, one package is enough
Chocolate Chips

A food processor makes this whole process much, much easier. The oreos need to be crushed really finely. Then you mix in the cream cheese. Then you make 1 inch round balls, or as big as you want the truffle. They are pretty rich, so not too big. I usually fill up two cookies sheets. Then you chill them for a couple minutes so they don't fall apart. Roll them in the melted almond bark, if you're really good, you can make them look pretty too. Then after they chill again, you heat up the chocolate chips, put them it in a plastic zip-lock, cut the little corner and swirl chocolate over the top.

There ya go. They are easy, but they do take some time and almond bark can be awfully frustrating sometimes.

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Holiday Fare - Christmas Wreath Cookies

This is a variation of rice krispie treats. The rice krispies are replaced with plain cornflakes and then formed into wreath shapes. This recipe makes about 20 wreaths.1 cup butter6 cups miniature marshmallows1 tsp vanilla extractGreen food coloring8 cups corn flakes cerealRed hot candies (red cinnamon balls)licorice whipsThis can be made on the stove or in the microwave (I prefer micro myself)

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Holiday Fare - Buckeyes

This is a homemade peanut butter cup but in the shape of a ball. The kids love to help roll the I get request for these every year. They make a great homemade gift. This recipe makes a lot.1 lb butter2 18oz jars peanut butter3 lbs powdered sugar (also known as confectionery or 10X)2 12 oz bags of semi sweet chocolate chips1 bar of paraffin (found with the canning supplies)Cream together butter

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Holiday Fare - Melting Moments Cookies

These are one of my all time favorite cookies. They're crispy to bite into and immediately melt in your mouth. And who can resist buttery goodness? I tried to make a mega batch of these in the past and the cookies didn't come out well. So I tend to make a bunch of batches of these. The trick is to make more before you finish the previous batch so there's cookies to serve holiday company! :o)

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Fudgey Oatmeal Bars

These are really easy and one of my favorites from my in-laws.

Mix:

2 cups brown sugar
1 cup butter
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups of instant oats

Press half of the mixture into 13 x 9 pan.

Melt:
12 oz chocolate chips
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt

After melted, spread on the mixture in 13 x 9.
Put the other half of the oatmeal mixture on top of the chocolate spread.

Bake on 350 for 27 minutes. Let cool completely before serving.

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Tamales

That's right, suddenly I can make tamales. Here's the story first.

My co-worker was laid off, and I am stuck running the classroom by myself. We had planned to make tamales for a parent participation day, and I was scrambling to put together the project. I found a recipe online, I asked my boss to pick up the ingredients, and she told me that she already knew how to make them, so she would pick up the ingredients and show me. Then she brought me the ingredients for her tamales (different ingredients than for the recipe I found) and told me that she wished she could come to our fun activity, but she was at a conference for the rest of the week. Thanks alot. So I frantically searched online for a recipe that seemed to use her ingredients, but to no avail. The morning of the Tamale Day came, and I drove to work in a snowstorm, still wondering how to face the great tamale dilemma.

Here are the ingredients I had:
Corn Oil
Chicken Broth
Olives
One whole Chicken (plucked, not cut or de-boned. Emma HELP!!!!)
Masa
Corn Shucks
Chili powder
Can of fajita sauce
assorted spices from the kitchen
Shortening

Here is what I did:
Boiled the chicken in a pot of Fajita sauce and water.
Made the class of four-year olds wash their hands and "pull the yummy bits of chicken off and put them in the blue bowl. Put the yucky pieces in the Black bowl."
Voila. One shredded chicken. And 16 traumatized children.
Save the fajita sauce/boiled chicken juice. Pour it into the bowl of masa.
add some spices, some shortening, some corn oil, and some chicken broth, until it is about the consistency of cookie dough. All things can be likened unto cookie dough.
Soak the corn shucks in water this entire time (about 2 hours), and hand corn shucks out to the kids. Let them smear the masa dough onto the top half of the corn shuck, stick a handful of traumatically shredded chicken in the middle with an olive.
Fold it like a tamale.
Put it in a pan with a steamer in the bottom.
Once the pan is all full, fill the bottom of it with the rest of the broth and some water.
Steam them until they are done. We made about 30, and it took an hour to steam them. One parent said that 5 take abot 20 minutes. If they are taking a long time, you have to make sure that the pan doesn't steam itself dry. Just keep adding water/broth.

Here's the kicker people. They were a hit. The kids LOVED making them (talk about a sensory experience) and they were really good. I ate two. They were tasty. Parents took them home for dinner.

All I'm sayin is, if you ever need a fun (messy) FHE activity, this is it. You can simplify it in obvious places. No need to force your children to de-bone a chicken, just buy boneless skinless chicken. Or ground beef, or pork. Whatever meat works. I probably won't make them on my own, not without small children to enslave. Plus, it makes a lot of food.

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Candy Cane Cake

This is actually really easy. But it's a hit every time I do it, so keep it in the back of your mind for the next Christmas party...

Chocolate Cake Mix (and all the stuff to make it)
Chocolate Frosting
Box of Standard red-striped peppermint candy canes

Smoosh the entire box of candy canes into crumbly pieces. Small enough to sprinkle, big enough to see some red and white.

Mix up a chocolate cake, pour into two round pans. Sprinkle a handful of candy cane pieces into each half.

Do the usual stuff for a two layer cake, but on top of the frosting layer in the middle, add some more candy cane (I use a fould sifter, to make sure that thi layer gets just the powder stuff.

After frosting the entire thing, sprinkle the remaining candy cane pieces on top. See how pretty!

I just made one this weekend, but yesterday I had requests for two more. I don't tell people how easy it is. If they can't figure it out, they don't deserve to know.

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Holiday Cooking Prepping

I never did my report on how my Thanksgiving planning chart worked out. I am happy to say it worked great, but not perfectly. Problem is, some of my helpers ended up getting up late which pushed us behind. Then a guest called and said they would be late. Then another individual who we thought wouldn't show up called and said they would. And...Bottom line, it was great having a timeline, but

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Ethiopian Beef Jerky and Split Lentils Stew (Quwanta-Miser Wot)

This was my grandgather's favorite dish. It is a delicious dish with Injera (Ethiopian flat bread).

Ingredients:

1 cup split red lentils
1 cup small pieces of Beef Jerky (Quwanta)*
2 tablespoon chili pepper (Berbere)
1 red onion or shallot (thinly chopped)
2 tablespoon extra-virgin or vegetable oil
2 tablespoon purified/clarified butter (Nitir kebe) **
4 glove garlic (diced) or 1 teaspoon garlic powder
¼ cardamom powder (korerima) if available ***
Black pepper and salt to taste

Preparation:

1st Step: Boil the beef jerkey in three cups of water till tender;

2nd Step: Sauté the onion with ½ cup of water and two tablespoons of oil for 5 minutes or until tender;

3rd Step: To the cooked onion add half cup of water, chili powder (berbere), butter, garlic and black pepper. Stir for 10 minutes;

4th Step: To the boiling sauce, add half cup of water, beef jerky and cook for 10 minutes;

5th Step: Meanwhile, bring to boil 4 cups of water in a medium pot. Rinse the lentils with fresh water and add to it. Cook for 5 minutes;

6th Step: Remove the foam with spoon from the lentils and discard . Lightly drain the extra water in a container or a cup;

7th Step: Combine the lentils and the beef jerky sauce. Mix well. If more water is needed, use the set-aside water. Cook the stew for 20 minutes or until it simmers;

8th Step: Add false cardamom and salt to taste. Remove from heat. Serve it warm with Injera, pita bread etc.

6 Servings

P.S. If Ethiopian Beef Jerky (Quwanta) is not available, fried beef without any grease will be tasty too.

*Click here to prepare Ethiopian Beef Jerky (Quwanta)
** Click here to prepare Purified/Clarified Butter (Nitir Kebe)
*** You will find these spices in Ethiopian or Indian shops/groceries
For nutritional facts of this recipe please visit http://www.recipezaar.com/348191. For vitamin content please click on "Print Recipe" on aforementioned site.

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Hey Aaron-

Emma needs an invite to be an author on this blog.

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Candy Cane popcorn

I just found this recipe, and it is SO good.

28 cups of popped popcorn
1 lb white chocolate almond bark
1 1/2 cups crushed candy canes
Chocolate chips

Melt the almond bark. Toss the popcorn with the almond bark until evenly coated. Mix in the candy canes. Spread it out on wax paper to harden. Melt the chocolate chips and drizzle over the popcorn. Allow it all to harden. Break it into pieces. Yum!

I did this with a chocolate fountain, and skipped the chocolate chips.

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Cranberry Nutbread

This is my absolute favorite nutbread! Over Thanksgiving I discovered a sweetened cranberry relish in the deli section of the local grocery store. It has whole cranberries, pineapple & walnuts. It was too sweet to eat as a side dish, but when used instead of the fresh cranberries in my nutbread it was AMAZING! This recipe is for standard cranberry orange nutbread, but I will note the

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Pumpkin bread

Pumpkin (nut) Bread is a favorite at my house. All three of my sons LOVE pumpkin, so just about anything pumpkin will be devoured. A while back I saw a post on Cooking with Anne about preparing fresh pumpkin for use in recipes. I knew I had to try it. I used my mixer to puree it rather than dragging out the food processor or the blender. It worked really well.Ingredients2 cups pumpkin puree (

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Sausage Dip Stuff

Since neither Aaron or Stefany have had a chance to post this, I thought I'd step up. But the credit goes to Stefany's family, I believe.

1 tube of ground sausage
8 oz cream cheese
1 can rotel (drained)

Fry the sausage. In crockpot (or this can be done on the stove if you watch it carefully) combine sausage, cream cheese and rotel. Let it get all melty and stir it. Serve with corn chips.

This is Matt's favorite for tail gaiting. Or at least our version, where we sit on our couch at home and watch the game, rather than paying 20+ dollars for bad seats at a BYU game.

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Banana Nut Bread

Now that it is December, it is time to start thinking about holiday baking. Banana's are very popular in my house, but just about every time I buy a bunch the last 2 or 3 don't get eaten. They get "too ripe" & the kids won't touch them. So, into the freezer they go. Frozen bananas work well in any recipe calling for fresh banana. Mini loaves wrapped in foil are also perfect for gift giving. The

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