Christmas Cookies

The unbaked Kiss Pies.

Today we're delivering our Christmas cookies.  We didn't bake as many this year as in the past.  Well, Jordy probably did if you count all the ones she took to school.  I tried some new recipes this year & saw LOTS more that I wanted to try so I'm making this post to keep up with all of them so I can come back & try them later.  Hopefully before next Christmas!

These are the ones I made:
Kiss Pies from Picky Palete  (Pretty & easy, but more time consuming than I thought.)
Toffee Bars from The Pioneer Woman (These were soooooo fast & easy.  And delicious.)

These are the ones I want to try:
Candy Dipped Peanut Butter Ritz Sandwiches, kevin & amanda {blog} (Made these before, but used chocolate.)
Brownie Covered Oreos, Picky Palate (Think I'll try these with Candy Cane Jo-Jos!)
Pine Bark, Paula Deen (a girl at work makes this for us every year. Mmmmmmm....)

Unbaked candy recipes:
Layered Peppermint Crunch Bark, Recipe Girl
Easy Chocolate Pretzel Bits, Recipe Shoebox (Angie makes these.... sooooooo good!!!)

Other goodies to try:
Candied Pecans, kevin & amanda {blog}
Lots of last minute recipes here, Picky Palate

I'm running out of time now but I'll be adding to this list!  I may even mark it on the side column so I can find it easily.  Then I'm making a directory of cupcakes that we want to try!

Muffins!!!

Jordi tempted us with her muffins tonight. She made them for her aerobics class & only had enough to take to them. NONE for us. :-( And she used all the flour so we couldn't make more. How sad.... We're almost out of Mexican vanilla, too. I wonder if any of the Mexican markets around here have it? Anyway, you've got to try these muffins. They're our very favorites!!! Lauren also won a ribbon (either 2nd or 3rd) at the San Antonio Fair for these.

Chocolate Chip Cappuccino Muffins

2 c flour

3/4 c sugar

2 1/2 t baking powder

1 t cinnamon

1/2 t salt

1 cup buttermilk

2 T instant coffee

1/2 cup canola oil

1 t vanilla

1 egg

3/4 cup miniature chocolate chips

In mixer bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. In large measuring cup mix buttermilk with instant coffee until coffee is dissolved. Add oil, vanilla, and egg. Stir into muffin mix until just moistened. Fold in chips.

Bake in greased pans or muffin cups at 375 degrees for 15-17 minutes. (10 minutes for mini-muffins)

Meatball Minestrone

My sister made minestrone this week in her new kitchen so I thought I'd share my minestrone recipe, too.  My family doesn't really like the vegetarian recipe -- they love meatballs!  This is one of my easy "Canned Soup" recipes, you use a lot of cans to make it.  Very easy.

olive oil

1 onion, diced

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 can white beans, drained

1 can kidney beans, drained

1 can green beans, drained

2 cans diced tomatoes 

1 qt chicken stock 

24 meatballs 

1/2 c diced carrots

1-2 t Italian seasoning (I use less if I use a can of tomatoes with Italian seasoning or seasoned meatballs.)

1 zucchini, chopped

1 yellow squash, chopped

2 c small pasta

Parmesan cheese

Saute onion & celery in olive oil.  Add the beans, tomatoes, chicken stock, carrots, Italian seasoning, & meatballs.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes.  Add zucchini, squash, & pasta.  Simmer another 10-15 minutes.  Serve with grated Parmesan on top and some crusty French bread.  This is one of my family's FAVORITE meals in the winter!  

What's for dinner?

I realized that I'd been bugging Lauren about adding photos to her blog and I hadn't added any to mine this week.   So, here's one I took last week.  I make this pasta salad a lot and never do it exactly the same twice.  Whenever I cook pasta I cook the whole box.  What we don't eat at the first meal may return as mac & cheese or pasta salad.  Here's my "recipe":

leftover cold pasta, any shape

vegetables, whatever is left in the fridge.  This one had roasted asparagus, some leftover broccoli/cauliflower/carrot mix, and some of my fresh tomatoes.  I also have added raw carrots, red onion, green onion, raw broccoli, red bell peppers, lettuce, raw spinach,  probably some other veggies I don't remember right now.  

dressing - I have made a pasta salad dressing from a recipe before but here lately I've been mixing salad dressings that are already in the fridge - much quicker.  I used Caesar vinegrette & ranch for this one.  Never measure.

Parmesan cheese, optional

Guess what we're having for dinner tonight?  Leftover pasta!

Cough... cough... cough....

I have never seen the air quality be so bad anywhere!  We can't even see Mt. Diablo from our house.  Driving home this afternoon (around 1:30) looked like twilight or driving through the fog.  Lauren wrote about the fires on her blog today.  

So, we're staying in tonight.  J had fun Shrinky-Dinking today.  Wait 'til you see what she made!

For dinner I made some really good mac & cheese that I saw on the Food Network last night.  Different than we usually make.  Reminds me of Luby's.  :-)

Chocolate Chip Cappuccino Muffin Recipe

For those of you who asked. Now you can make your own muffins!

4 cups flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

5 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups buttermilk

1/4 cup instant coffee

1 cup canola oil

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 eggs

1 1/2 cup miniature chocolate chips (1 bag)

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in large bowl. Mix.

In large measuring cup mix buttermilk with instant coffee until it dissolves. Add oil, vanilla, and egg. Mix.

Stir wet mixture into dry ingredients until just moistened. Fold in chips.

Bake in greased pans or use muffin liners at 375 for 15-17 minutes.

This recipe appeared in its original form in Tast of Home. Arlene in NJ sent it to me several years ago. We adjusted it and increased it to fit our family. This makes about 42 muffins. They can be frozen IF you have any leftovers.