Decorating for Christmas

We are doing our Christmas decorating this weekend!!! I hope everyone has had a great long weekend, and a great holiday! I'll be working on the Anual Family picture this week :-)

Jessie's Salad Dressing Recipe's

Thousand Island, 

add (per cup of mayo) 2Tbsp chili sauce,

 2 Tbsp chopped green peppers, 

2Tbsp chopped red pepper or pimento,

 2 Tbsp chopped pickles or olives...

Old-fashioned Russian dressing, 

use 1/2 of a hard boiled egg, chopped, 

1/4 C of chili sauce

 2Tbsp chopped green pepper per cup of mayo.

RANCH DRESSING
1C Mayo
1/2 C Buttermilk
1/2 tsp each: chives, parsley, and dill weed
1/4 tsp each: garlic powder and onion powder
pinch of salt and pepper to marry the flavors.

Whisk everything together and chill at least an hour to marry the flavors. Shake or whisk before serving to redistribute the flavors.

*To make it more creamy, if your butter milk is strong.. you can substitute any amount for sour cream or plain yogurt. You can also add 1/4 C parmesan cheese to it or bacon pieces.

Jessie's Mayo Recipe's (cooked and uncooked)

My friend Jess shared these with me, she says they are yummy. I like these recipes even before starting them because I can see they have more flavor than the one I already tried.  I am going to be baking more bread this week, so I will make one of these and post pictures then :-)

Pumpkin Pie Recipe

This was my first from scratch pumpkin pie, and it turned out great! I hope you like it too! (you can find a lard pie crust in a previous entry.)

15 ozs canned pumpkin
14 ozs sweetened condensed milk (eagle brand)
2 large eggs
1 tsp ground cinnamon
12 tsp ground ginger
12 tsp ground nutmeg
12 tsp salt
1 pie crust


1 Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Whisk pumpkin, sweetened condensed milk, eggs, spices and salt in medium bowl until smooth. Pour into crust. Bake 15 minutes.
2 Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F and continue baking 35 to 40 minutes or until knife inserted 1 inch from crust comes out clean. Cool. Garnish as desired. Store leftovers covered in refrigerator.

Italian Bread Bowls

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• These seemed like they would be perfect to serve our chili in for Thanksgiving, however, I made them twice, the first time, they were too small, the second time, I made them big enough to get chili in, but, they were not as I expected (tough exterior, flaky interior), these came out rugged, but the inside was not flaky soft and yummy...  I am posting this anyway to see if anyone has suggestions? Thanks.
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• 2 (.25 ounce) 6 tsp packages active dry yeast
• 2 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 7 cups all-purpose flour
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• 1 tablespoon cornmeal
• 1 egg white
• 1 tablespoon water

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
2. Add salt, oil and 4 cups flour to the yeast mixture; beat well. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well with an electric mixer at medium speed after each addition.
3. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 6 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes.
4. Punch dough down, and divide into 8 equal portions. Shape each portion into a 4 inch round loaf. Place loaves on lightly greased baking sheets sprinkled with cornmeal. Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, until doubled in bulk, about 35 minutes.
5. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). In a small bowl, beat together egg white and 1 tablespoon water; lightly brush the loaves with half of this egg wash.
6. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Brush with remaining egg mixture, and bake 10 to 15 more minutes or until golden. Cool on wire racks.
7. To make bowls: Cut a 1/2 inch thick slice from top of each loaf; scoop out centers, leaving 3/4-inch-thick shells. Fill bread bowls with hot soup and serve immediately.

Blue Ribbon Chili

• When Harry suggested to me that we should shake up Thanksgiving this year, and do chili, we discussed doing Turkey Chili, but I thought we also needed to make a regular chili too. I found this recipe on All Recipe's and thought  we should give it a try. It turned out fantastic! It was a hit with everyone but H, who preferred the Turkey Chili. I apologize for not taking as many pictures with this recipe as I did the others, I ended up doing most of my cooking Wednesday as M was sick on Tuesday. The upside, is that this turned out so well, I intend on making a triple batch of this next weekend to store away in the freezer for those moments when chili would be handy to have in a can (since we cannot use the canned chili anymore this is great!)so I will take more pictures then!!!

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• 2 pounds ground beef
• 1/2  1 onion, chopped

4 stalks Celery Chopped Fine.

• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
• 2 1/2 cups tomato sauce   1 15.5 oz can Italian Crushed Tomatoes
• 1 (8 ounce) jar salsa
• 4 tablespoons chili seasoning mix
• 1 (15 ounce) can light red kidney beans
• 1 (15 ounce) can dark red kidney beans

1. In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine the ground beef and the onion and saute for 10 minutes, or until meat is browned and onion is tender. Drain grease, if desired.
2. Add the ground black pepper, garlic salt, tomato sauce, salsa, chili seasoning mix and kidney beans. Mix well, reduce heat to low and simmer for at least an hour

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/debdoozies-blue-ribbon-chili/detail.aspx

Pumpkin Roll

3/4 cup all-purpose flour (purpose)
1 cup white sugar
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsps pumpkin pie spice
1 cup pumpkin puree
3 eggs
1 tsp lemon juice



Cream Cheese Filling

2 tbsps sugar
8 ozs cream cheese (softened)
14 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup sugar


1 Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch jelly roll pan or cookie sheet.
2 In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, and pumpkin pie spice. Stir in pumpkin puree, eggs, and lemon juice. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Spread the mixture evenly.
3 Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 15 minutes.
4 Lay a damp linen towel on the counter, sprinkle it with confectioner's sugar, and turn the cake onto the towel. Carefully roll the towel up (lengthwise) with the cake in it. Place the cake-in-towel on a cooling rack and let it cool for 20 minutes.
5 Make the icing: In a medium bowl, blend cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and sugar with a wooden spoon or electric mixer.
6 When the cake has cooled 20 minutes, unroll it and spread icing onto it. Immediately re-roll (not in the towel this time), and wrap it with plastic wrap. Keep the cake refrigerated or freeze it for up to 2 weeks in aluminum foil. Cut the cake in slices just before serving.

So this was the FIRST time I have attempted a jelly roll type dish, and I used a cookie sheet, the cake came out a bit thick, and cracked :-(, When I do this again, I will be more careful to make this thin. I also would go with parchment paper rather than the  Tea towel, even with the towel being damp the cake tried to stick to it. I'll update when I do it again hopefully we get a better result. Taste wise though this was good!!!! Definitely will do this again!

Recipe from :http://www.yummly.com/recipe/Granny-Kat_s-Pumpkin-Roll-Allrecipes