Egg Nog French Toast (sixsistersstuff.com)

Thank you sixsistersstuff.com for this amazing recipe! I altered the amounts of egg and eggnog, since theirs seemed way to thin, but both ways tasted amazing (and I don't even like eggnog)! We ate this on Christmas morning.

~12 slices white bread or Texas Toast
4 eggs
1½ c eggnog
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
Nonstick cooking spray

Spray pancake griddle with cooking oil, and heat to 300°. In a shallow dish, whisk together eggs, eggnog, cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar. Dip each side of the bread into the mixture and cook in skillet for about 3 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Serve with maple syrup.

For Christmas, slice the French toast diagonally, and add sausage links at the bottom for the tree trunk with an orange slice sun. (You can also slice one sausage link in half for the trunk.)

Egg Nog Bread (Recipegirl.com)

This bread is tasty! The glaze is the best part. I've never seen eggnog extract, but I'd like to try that since it would surely lend a stronger egg nog flavor.

Makes one 9x5 loaf or 3 mini loaves.

2¼ c all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp nutmeg, freshly ground

2 eggs

1 c sugar

1 c eggnog

½ c butter, melted

1 tsp vanilla (or eggnog extract)

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease bottom of 9x5 bread pan or 3 mini loaf pans. In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, eggnog, melted butter and vanilla. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir just until moistened (batter will be lumpy). Pour into greased pan. Bake at 350° for 45-50 min for large loaf or for about 20-25 min for mini loaves. Bread will be golden brown and toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool 10 min. Remove from pan. Cool bread completely.

Glaze

½ c powdered sugar

¼ tsp vanilla

Dash nutmeg, freshly ground

Eggnog

Combine sugar, vanilla and nutmeg. Stir in enough eggnog to reach a drizzling consistency. Drizzle over cooled loaves. Grate a little bit of fresh nutmeg over the icing. Let glaze set completely before wrapping loaf.

Chicken á La King (Sisters Café)

I think I've just found our new traditional meal for Christmas Eve. This recipe and tradition comes from the Sisters Café family. I tried it for the first time this year and loved it! Besides the yummy meal and the coolest-ever bread crowns, I loved that it only took me 30 minutes to make! Click HERE for their original recipe. Serves 8-10 adults.

photo credit: Sisters Café

½ c butter

½ c red bell pepper, diced
½ c green pepper, diced (these red and green peppers are so festive!)
½ c onions, diced



½ c flour
3 c chicken broth

1 c cream

5 c Rotisserie chicken, shredded
Salt and pepper

¼ c milk

Shred chicken, and dice peppers and onions. Heat butter over medium-low heat. Sauté peppers and onions just until soft. Then add flour. Mix well to make a roux. Let it bubble. Add mushrooms and broth; bring to a boil to thicken. Stir in cream and chicken. Add salt and pepper to taste. Don’t boil after adding cream. Add milk to thin if needed.


Photo credit: Sisters Café

Photo credit: Sisters Café

To make the crowns: Buy wheat bread at the store – not whole wheat, just the cheapo wheat kind. (Or you can use white if you prefer.) Get out your muffin tin. Place a slice of bread over a muffin hole. Push in on the four sides and push down into the muffin hole. Don’t squash the bread, but use enough force so that it stays down in the muffin hole. The four corners should be sticking up. Bake at about 250° until toasted and dry 20-30 min. Keep checking every 5 minutes. When done, the bread will be like toast, and you will be able to lift the crowns out of the muffin tin and they will hold their crown shape.

*New in 2013: Use Cheri Yorgason's sandwich roll recipe to make the crowns. These are much tastier and moist than the above method:

½ c warm water
2 Tbsp yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 c warm water
½ c sugar
½ c butter, softened (microwave hard butter 15 sec)
3 beaten eggs
4½ c white flour
1 tsp salt

In a mixer, dissolve the first 3 ingredients and let sit for 3-5 min. Add 1 c water and ½ c sugar and mix. Mix in the butter and eggs. Add in 2 c flour and mix. Add 2½ c more flour and salt. Mix. This mixture will be sticky. Cover with a towel and let rise for 1 hour.


Place on a generously floured surface. You don’t have to knead this dough, but it will need to be placed on the flour, rolled over 1-2 times to make it easier to work with. Flatten it out on the flour about ½ inch thick and cut into small circles (use a small cup). Roll into balls and place inside 2 greased muffin tins. (Make regular muffins on cookie sheets with leftover dough.)

Using kitchen scissors, snip rolls into quarters, cutting almost to the bottom, making 4 peaks. Pinch edges to make them pointier, if needed. Cover with towels and let rise for 1 hour. Bake at 375° for ~9 min. Remove from oven, brush tops with water (to preserve moisture), and enjoy!

Peppermint Bark (skiptomylou.org)

This was the fastest, easiest candy-type recipe I've tried. So easy and so delicious!

1-24 oz package almond bark (vanilla candy coating)

~8 oz hard peppermint candies (40 mints or 1 c finely ground)

Melt the almond bark in the microwave until it is completely melted, smooth and creamy. Stir often while melting and check the package for more details. Unwrap the mints and place in a blender or food processor. Chop mints until they are like a fine saw dust. Add crushed mints to the melted candy coating. Place about 2.5 feet of aluminum foil out on a hard surface. Pour candy mixture onto the foil and spread out so it is about 1/8" and less thick. Once the candy is hard (about 20 minutes) break it into pieces.

Sparkling Cider ("Mormon Champagne")

2 quarts apple cider

2 c cranberry juice (or a mixture of fruit juice including cranberry)

2 quarts ginger ale

Mix, chill and serve.

Wassail (Martha Gourley)

This is by far my favorite Wassail recipe. It's a winner every time!

Mix and boil for 15 minutes:

5 quarts water

4 c sugar

3 cinnamon sticks

1 tsp whole cloves

Add:

1-46 fl oz can pineapple juice

6 oz can orange juice concentrate (don’t add water)

1 c + 2 Tbsp lemon juice (fresh or from jar)

Serve hot ...yummy!

Brownies (Debra Garry)

$3.12 (including tax - When comparing with store-bought don't forget to include the price of eggs and oil.)

Updated 8/4/14.



1 c butter, softened in microwave
2 c sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla (real)
1½ c flour
½ c cocoa (heaping)
¾ tsp salt (her original recipe uses 1 tsp)
½-1 c miniature chocolate chips or semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)
Heat oven to 350°. Grease bottom and sides of 13x9x2” pan. Cream softened butter and sugar. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Add flour, cocoa and salt. Mix. Fold in chocolate chips. Spread in pan. Bake 32 min. Cool before cutting.

For Valentine's Day, crush candy canes. Immediately after removing brownies from oven, sprinkle candy canes over the top. After brownies have cooled, use a cookie cutter to make heart shapes.



For Christmas, crush candy canes. Immediately after removing brownies from oven, sprinkle candy canes over the top.

Sugar Cookies (Betty Crocker)

Makes about 28 cookies. $1.40 with tax; $0.05 per cookie; $0.60 per dozen
½ c shortening
¼ c butter or margarine, softened
1 c sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla 
2 ½ c white flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt 

Mix thoroughly shortening, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Blend in dry ingredients. Cover and chill at least 1 hour. Heat oven to 400°. Roll dough 1/8” thick (the thicker the better) on a lightly floured cloth-covered board. Cut into desired shapes. Place on ungreased baking sheet. Bake 6 min or until very light brown around edges.

Make jack-o-lanterns for Halloween. 

Cran-Raspberry Butter (Stacy King Hoyt)

1 c canned whole-berry cranberry sauce
½ c raspberry preserves
2 c butter, softened
1 Tbsp powdered sugar

Combine all ingredient in a mixing bowl, beat on high for 5 min. Mixture should be creamy. Spoon into a dish; cover and refrigerate 24 hours. Makes 3½ cups.