Pork & Sauerkraut

1 pork roast (1/3 lb. per person)

1 bag (or jar) sauerkraut, drained

garlic salt

4 t. black pepper

Crockpot: In a skillet, melt 2 tablespoons of butter and brown the roast. Place roast in crockpot. Sprinkle with garlic salt and pepper. Add sauerkraut around the sides. Add 1-2 cups of water and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Oven: Preheat oven to 425. Place pork roast in a roaster. Sprinkle with garlic salt and pepper. Brown uncovered in oven for 15 minutes. Remove roaster from oven and lower temperature to 350. Place drained sauerkraut around the roast in the pan. Add 1-2 cups of water. Bake 40 minutes per pound.

This is our traditional New Year's Day dinner for good luck for the new year. I always do the crockpot method, but the oven baking instructions could come in handy so I'm including them. We love this so much that I try to make it a couple other times each year and homemade mashed potatoes are a must to go along with the pork and sauerkraut.

Mashed Potatoes with Bacon and Cheddar

Ingredients:

2 bags frozen mashed potatoes
10 slices of bacon
8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 c. butter, melted
1 c. sour cream
2 1/2 c. cheddar cheese, shredded
salt & pepper

Cook potatoes according to package directions and set aside. Fry bacon till crispy, allow to cool and crumble/break into small pieces. Using a fork, mash the potatoes until light and fluffy. Add the cream cheese, butter and sour cream and stir till well mixed and smooth. Add 2 cups of the cheddar cheese, half of the bacon pieces, salt and pepper to taste. Stir until well mixed. Put potato mixture into large casserole dish and top with the remaining cheddar cheese. Bake at 350 until slightly golden brown, about 30 minutes. Garnish with remaining bacon and serve.

I discovered this dish on Pinterest. It had all the ingredients I love - mashed potatoes, bacon and cheddar. The original recipe had you making the mashed potatoes from scratch. I cheated and used the frozen kind that you cook in their bag in the microwave. This takes all the hard work out of it as far as I'm concerned. The combination is delicious - I like it better than my old potluck recipe for hash brown cheesy potatoes. I'm making this to go with our ham this weekend for our family Easter dinner. I hope everyone likes it as much as we did.

Easy Peanut Brittle

Ingredients:

1 c. sugar
1/2 c. light corn syrup
1 c. unsalted peanuts
1/8 tsp. salt
1 Tblsp. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda

Grease a cookie sheet and set it aside. Combine sugar, corn syrup, peanuts and salt in microwave-safe mixing bowl. Microwave on high for 4 minutes, stir, microwave on high an additional 3-3 1/2 minutes. Add butter. Microwave on high another 1 minute. Brittle should not get too brown. Stir in vanilla and soda until light and foamy. Spread on the buttered baking sheet as thinly as possible. Cool. Break into pieces.

Sometime in the past couple of years I discovered that my husband really likes peanut brittle. I wanted to try making it for him but I didn't want anything too complicated. I searched and found directions for a microwave version online. I tested and tweaked it. I even threw out a couple batches because the cook time was too long and the brittle turned dark and tasted burnt. I learned not to use a rubber spatula for the stirring - it will melt (duh), and don't put wax paper on the cookie sheet to try to make it easier to get the brittle up after it cools - the wax melts (duh again)! Finally success. This is the recipe I used this year and my husband said it was better than any other brittle he had this holiday season. Also, when I made it and broke it apart I saved all the little scraps and sprinkled them on top of ice cream!

Magic Wands

Ingredients:

10 pretzel rods
3 oz. chocolate chips

In tall microwave-safe cup, microwave chocolate chips 1-2 minutes or until chocolate is softened enough to stir smooth. Dip pretzel rods down into chocolate and around sides of cup till all but 1-2" of the end of the pretzel are covered. Place on wax paper. Sprinkle with decorative candies and sugars. Repeat with remaining rods. Let stand about 1 hour at room temperature until chocolate is firm.

We love making these, especially during the holidays. My daughters decorated a couple of bags of pretzel rods this year and added them to the goodie bags they gave to their friends. Luckily there are still some left - I love the salt and chocolate combination.

Giant Candy Kiss

Ingredients:

6 oz. chocolate chips
1 chocolate kiss
Tupperware funnel

Place large funnel in a cup. Unwrap chocolate kiss and place so tip blocks the small opening of the funnel. Melt chocolate chips in the microwave. Chocolate will retain shape in microwave but will be soft to stir. Fill funnel with melted chocolate. Place in freezer for at least 45 minutes. To remove chocolate from funnel after it has hardened, smack funnel on counter. Remove giant kiss. Wrap in foil with a paper strip tag.

My girls like to give these as gifts to some of their friends at Christmas time. They're fun to give - you can write your own personal message on the strip; and kids love getting them and eating them too!

Christmas Mice Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 c. margarine, softened
1 c. creamy peanut butter
1/2 c. brown sugar, packed
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
peanuts
cinnamon candies
licorice shoelaces, cut in 3" pieces

Preheat oven to 350. Beat margarine and peanut butter at medium speed in mixing bowl. Slowly add sugars, beat well. Add egg and vanilla, beat well. Mix flour and soda together; slowly add to creamed mixture, mix well. Cover and chill 2 hours. Shape into 1" balls. Taper end of each ball to form tear-drop. Press one side flat and place flat side down onto ungreased cookie sheet 2" apart. Press sides of dough to raise backs of mice. Place nut halves for ears. Make a hole at the tail with a toothpick. Bake 9 minutes. Put red candy eyes, bake 1-2 minutes more. Insert tails. Cool.

These are labor-intensive but lots of fun for the kids to help with. They love seeing them on the cookie plate, and they love eating them too of course! We tried using M&M candies for the noses and the kids decided to use black sprinkles placed for the eyes instead of the cinnamon candies. They turned out very cute!

Butter Pecan Squares

Ingredients:

1/2 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 c. flour
2 c. chocolate chips
3/4 c. pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 350. In mixing bowl, cream butter, sugar, egg and vanilla till light and fluffy. Blend in the flour. Stir in 1 cup of the chocolate chips and 1/2 cup of pecans. Pour into greased 8" square baking dish. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle with remaining 1 cup of chocolate chips. When the chips melt, spread evenly over top with knife. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup of pecans. Allow to cool and cut into squares. Makes 16 bars.

This was an untested recipe I had collected. We made these bars as part of our holiday baking. A good nutty, chocolaty treat.

Pretzel Kisses

Ingredients:

1 package chocolate kiss candy
1 package pretzel square/waffles
1 package plain M&M candy

Preheat oven to 170. Line the pretzels up on a cookie sheet. Unwrap kisses and place one kiss on the center of each pretzel square. Put them in the preheated oven for 4-6 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately press an M&M in the center of each melted kiss.

Delicious salty/sweet treat, and super easy. Use holiday colored M&M to make them extra festive, or certain colors for particular themed parties. You could use the mint flavor of the crispy M&Ms too. I like how they add that extra pop of color on our goodie trays, so much fun!

Brownie Candy Cups

Ingredients:

1 fudge brownie mix (family size, 9"x13" pan size)
2 eggs
1/3 c. water
1/4 c. vegetable oil
about 30 mini peanut butter cups

Preheat oven to 350. Place cupcake liners in muffin pans. In mixing bowl, combine brownie mix, eggs, water and oil. Stir with spoon until well blended, about 50 strokes. Place 2 level tablespoons of batter into each cupcake liner. Bake 10 minutes. While baking, remove the wrappers from the peanut butter cups. Remove the brownie cups from the oven and push 1 peanut butter cup candy into the center of each cupcake until even with the surface of the brownie. Bake 5-7 minutes longer. Cool completely.

This is a great way to pump up a regular brownie mix. I made these as part of our holiday goodie trays. Also it would be a fun thing to make for an OSU tailgate party.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Snacks

Ingredients:

1/2 c. corn syrup
1/2 c. chocolate chips
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. creamy peanut butter
3 cups corn cereal (Cap'n Crunch type)

Line cookie sheet with wax paper. Combine corn syrup, chocolate chips and sugar in microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high 2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds. Stir in peanut butter. Microwave on high 30 seconds more or until peanut butter is melted; stir until smooth. Stir in cereal until all pieces are evenly coated. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto prepared cookie sheet. Chill 30 minutes or until firm. Store in airtight container in refrigerator. Makes about 4 dozen.

These remind me of a crunchy caramel peanut butter cup. These are so quick and easy, and no baking required! Great anytime of year, also a great addition to the holiday goodie trays.

Crockpot Turkey Breast

Ingredients:

1 small to medium turkey breast
1 stick of butter
salt

Wash and pat dry turkey breast. Season lightly with salt. Place in crockpot with 1 stick of butter. Turn on low and cook for 10-12 hours.

Heat up a jar of turkey gravy and make some stuffing or potatoes and you have a delicious meal, any day of the week.

Perfectly Luscious Pecan Pie

Ingredients:

3 eggs, slightly beaten
1 c. light corn syrup
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. sugar
2 Tblsp. margarine, melted
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 c. pecan halves
1 frozen deep dish pie crust, unbaked

Preheat oven to 350. In large bowl, stir together eggs, margarine, corn syrup, vanilla, brown sugar and sugar until well blended. Stir in pecans. Pour into pastry shell. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cool.

On one of our trips to visit Jim's family I went through his mom's recipe file and found this. I've made it a couple times and it really is perfectly luscious (and really simple!).

Holiday Rolls

Ingredients:

1 loaf frozen white bread dough
1 egg
milk
poppy seeds (optional)
sesame seeds (optional)

Thaw bread dough according to package directions. Grease cookie sheet with butter. Cut loaf into 12 golfball-sized pieces. Roll each piece into 6" long rope. Twist or tie in knot and place flat on cookie sheet, sides touching. Leave to rise under damp dishtowel about 1 hour in a warm oven. Remove from oven and preheat oven to 400. Mix together the egg and a little milk. Brush egg mixture on tops of rolls. Sprinkle with seed of choice (if desired). Bake for about 15 minutes, till golden brown.

My family had a "tradition" of baking crescent rolls amidst all the chaos of the holiday dinner preparation and they always ended up burnt because we'd forget them. Jim's mom makes these easy rolls and I volunteered to make them and bring them to my family's dinner one time. Now I bring the rolls to all the holiday dinners - a new holiday tradition with no burned rolls! I bake them the night before. Usually I do some with sesame seeds, some with poppy seeds and some without. The egg wash gives them a golden shine and they are soft and perfect inside.