Jello Shamrock Cookies

Original:
3 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 pkg 3 oz lime jello (mom revised to 6 oz jello)
1 cup shortening (mom revised to 1/2 cup)
3 eggs
1-2 tbsp milk

Add shortening to dry, then eggs, then roll out and cut into shapes. bake 350F for 8 minutes

Notes: better with lime extract added

3/13/2021: I made the original recipe using lard instead of shortening and 1 tbsp milk. I added a tsp of lime extract which boosted the lime flavor quite a bit and was very nice.

3/17/2024: By weight, three cups flour is not enough (i.e. 360 grams). Do cups by volume next time, or use 154 grams per cup rather than 120 grams.

Potato Latkes

http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/classic-potato-latkes-74127.aspx

Made these for our Hanukkah 2017 meal. I put 1/2 inch of canola oil into a skillet and had temperature on 6.5. I measured it with a candy thermometer too, it was close to the 360-375 range recommended for latkes. I used 6 cups of frozen shredded potatoes, that were thawed. Grated onion, got extra water out of onion and potato with towel. The latkes turned out great. I cooked 6 at a time, and it made 24 total.

Beef Brisket

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/221041/wine-braised-beef-brisket
Beef Brisket

We ate this for hanukkah in 2016. Very good!

Picnic Cake

This is copied from an email my mom sent me 7/8/2010.

FANNY'S PICNIC CAKE Nana (Fanny Miller Strand) served this cake on the 4th of July.

1. Combine and cool

• 1 cup finely chopped dates 
• 1 1/2 cups boiling water
• 1 tsp. soda

2. In mixing bowl cream together

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine

3. Add and beat well

• 2 eggs, beaten

4. Add to creamed mixture

• 1/2 tsp. vanilla

5. Combine in a separate bowl

• 1 1/2 cups plus 3 Tbsp. flour
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt (Nana deleted the salt)

6. Add cooled date mixture alternately with dry ingredients to creamed mixture.

7. Pour into a greased and floured 9 x 13-inch pan. (Nana used a 14 x 11)

8. Sprinkle over cake mixture (Nana used 1/2 cup instead of 3/4 cup of each of the following)

• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup chopped nuts

9. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes

YIELD: 1 9x13-inch cake. Cut into 20 pieces 2"x3" (255 calories per serving).

This recipe was published and distributed by Mountain Fuel Supply Company (now Questar Gas).

Maple, Orange, Chipotle Sweet Potato Crisp

Maple, Orange, Chipotle Sweet Potato Crisp. This recipe is from Primal Cravings, p 167.

David really liked this. He thinks it would be great for a side on Thanksgiving. He generally does not like sweet potatoes or yams that much, but this recipe he liked a lot because of all the interesting flavors. I made it exactly as written.

Green Bean Casserole

This is adapted from an old Betty Crocker cookbook. My family makes it at thanksgiving, though we always need a double batch in a 9x13 casserole dish. Below is a single batch for an 8x8 dish.

2 cans (1 lb each) green beans, drained
1 can (~10.5 oz) condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/4 cup slivered almonds (optional)
3.5 oz can french fried onion rings

Mix almonds, green beans, and soup together, put in ungreased 1 quart casserole dish (or 8x8 square dish). Bake uncovered for 35 minutes at 350 F. Sprinkle top with onion rings, then bake 5 more minutes until onions are browned a little.

Figgy Pudding

http://www.food.com/recipe/figgy-pudding-337148

Rated without sauce. I made this for fun this year as an experiment. We enjoyed it, but I think it does need a sauce and would do best in a setting where it can be a star, and not dwarfed by other holiday goodies.

Hanukkah Menu

Hanukkah 2012:
Appetizer: http://lrhrecipes.blogspot.com/2010/12/potato-latkes-pancakes.html (rated 4.5)
with homemade applesauce & sour cream

Main course: http://lrhrecipes.blogspot.com/2010/07/baked-chicken.html
I put a tablespoon of herbes de provance in some melted butter and coated the top of chicken pieces with it. Worked great! (Rated 4.5)

Veges: http://lrhrecipes.blogspot.com/2012/12/roast-root-vegetables.html (rated 4)

Dessert: http://lrhrecipes.blogspot.com/2012/12/doughnuts.html (rated 4)

Hanukkah 2016:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/221041/wine-braised-beef-brisket
Latkes

Amy's Almond Cake or Almond Bars

Amy's Almond Cake (or almond bars as my family calls them) is a traditional christmas and special occasion dessert for my family. It is somewhat finicky. It never baked quite right when I lived at sea level. It only seems to work at 5000 feet. (I made this later in WI at 1000 ft and it worked fine at that elevation.) It is supposed to be like a dense brownie, and not very cake-like. At sea level it was more like dense cake.

If you make it in a 10x15 cookie sheet, do 1x the recipe for the right thickness. If you make it in 12x17in. sheet, do 1.25x the recipe. If you make it 1x in a 9x13 casserole dish, it will be too thick.  Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, either way.

Here is the original recipe (perfect in 10x15 inch pan)
8 oz (2 cubes) melted butter
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 tbsp almond extract

2 cups all purpose flour

mix. put into greased cookie sheet. Garnish with sliced almonds.

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes until golden.

Let cool and cut in triangles. (cut squares first, then run knife diagonally through corners)

Anecdote: One year at christmas my dad squashed a piece of this into the red tablecloth. Really hard. There was a big dark grease mark, to say the least.

Candied White Fruit Cake

Candied White Fruit Cake

6 cups sifted all purpose flour  (mom never sifted it)

6 teaspoons baking powder

1 ½ teaspoons salt

2 ½ cups (1 lb.) coarsely chopped candied pineapple

2 cups (1 lb.) whole candied cherries

3 ½ cups (1 ¼ lb.) pitted dates. Cut coarsely.

12 eggs

1 ounce of rum extract or 1 ounce of vanilla (2 Tablespoons)

3 cups sugar of 2 ½ cups granulated fructose

8 cups (2 lbs.) Pecan halves or chopped

Sift flour with baking powder and salt. (Mom just mixed)

Add fruits and mix well with hands to coat thoroughly each piece of fruit

Beat eggs until frothy (keep separate)

Gradually beat in sugar into eggs

With hands, mix nuts into egg mixture.

Pour egg mixture over floured fruit. Mix with hands. (Reach down and turn from the bottom up. All flour needs to be contacting egg mixture.)

Grease 2   10 inch angel foodcake pans. Or 2   9inch springform pans.

 Line with unglazed brown paper and grease again. (Mom didn’t do this. She wants a crust.)

Divide dough between pans. Press mixture down firmly with fingers.

Bake in preheated slow oven 275 degrees F. For 1 ¼ hours. (Mom says she baked it 1 ½ hours at Canyon Park.) Poke in toothpick to check if cooked.

Let stand in pans for five minutes. Take a sharp knife, run it around the sides. Flip upside down on cooling rack. Take sides off. Leave cone in until cooled, if desired.

Wrap with ceran wrap tightly with two or more layers. Put in cool place. (Mom put in storage room outside)

Makes 11  2 ¼ by 5 inch loaves. Or 7 one pound loaves baked 55 -60 minutes.

Side Note: You can use dried pineapple. Put one cup water over it in a pan. Bring it to a boil and turn it off.

Soak dried papaya in 1 cup of water for a couple of hours. 

Mom’s Cheesecake Bar Cookies

Mom’s Cheesecake  Bar Cookies

1/3 cup butter

1/3 cup brown sugar packed

1 cup flour

1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts

Cream butter with brown sugar.  Add flour and walnuts to make a crumb mixture. Reserve 1 cup for toppings and press the remainder into the bottom of an 8 inch square pan. Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes until lightly browned.

¼ cup sugar

8 oz cream cheese

1 egg

2 T milk

1 T lemon juice

½ teaspoon vanilla

Blend sugar and cream cheese until smooth. Add egg, milk, lemon juice, and vanilla. Beat well. Spread over baked crust. Sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture. Bake 350 for 25 minutes. Cool and cut into squares.

Mom’s Christmas Raspberry Bars

Mom’s Christmas Raspberry Bars

½ cup butter softened

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 ½ cup all purposed flour

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 ½ cups quick cooking rolled oats

1 teaspoon lemon juice

2/3 cup raspberry jam

        *          *                *

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy

Stir together flour, salt, and soda.

Add to creamed mixture.

Add oats and ¼ cup water.

Mix till crumbly

Firmly pat half of the crumbly mixture into a 13x9x2 inch baking pan.

Stir lemon juice into the jam and spread over the base.

Sprinkle with remaining crumb mixture.

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

Mom's Lemon Bars

Lemon Bars 

1 Cup all purpose flour (mom uses unbleached flour)

¼ cup sifted powdered sugar (mom never sifted it)

½ cup butter

2 eggs

¾ cup granulated sugar

4 Tablespoons lemon juice

2 Tablespoons all purpose flour

¼ teaspoon baking powder

Powdered sugar

Stir flour and ¼ cup powdered sugar together. Cut in butter until mixture clings together. Pat into an ungreased 8x8x2 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Beat eggs. Add granulated sugar and lemon juice. Beat until slightly thick and smooth.

Stir together 2 T flour and baking powder. Add to egg mixture. Blend until all is moistened. Pour over baked layer. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Sift powdered sugar over the top. Cool and cut into bars.

Raspberry Gelatin

Raspberry Gelatin or Jello (from scratch, sweetened with fruit juice)

I made this for thanksgiving this year. It is my mothers recipe (via juliana. hi!).

2 12-oz cans frozen apple-raspberry 100% juice concentrate
5 envelopes Knox gelatin
1 juice-can of water
10 oz package frozen raspberries (unsweetened)
20 oz can crushed pineapple in own juice

Thaw juice concentrate. Soak gelatin in cool, thawed juice for 1 minute. Then dissolve by heating on stove and stirring gently for 5 minutes. Check if dissolved by quickly dipping finger and thumb into mixture and rubbing together to see if it’s smooth - careful, it's hot. Remove from heat. Add can of water, frozen berries, and entire can of pineapple including juice. Chill until set in 9 x 13 pan.

Notes:

I was already using the 9x13 pan for yams, so had put the jello in a 2.5 quart casserole dish (a white oval one with a glass lid). It fit with probably 1 or 2 cm to spare. I topped it with 1/2 pint of whipping cream whipped with 3 tablespoons of sugar and a little vanilla.

This turned out well. It was definitely very gelatinous, sort of jiggler-like. And it was very sweet. I think putting 2 T sugar in the topping would be fine. I might try using only 4 envelopes of gelatin next time.

Rugelach (cream cheese cookies)

This is from Joan Nathan's Jewish Holiday Cookbook.

THE DOUGH:

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Confectioners' sugar

APRICOT FILLING:

1 cup thick apricot preserves

3/4 cup walnuts, roughly chopped

CHOCOLATE FILLING:

1 cup (about 8 ounces) shaved bittersweet chocolate, preferably imported

1/4 cup sugar

CINNAMON-SUGAR FILLING:

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1. To make the dough, place the cream cheese and the butter in an electric mixer fitted with the paddle. Cream at a low speed until combined, about 2 minutes. Add the flour and mix until a very soft dough is formed, about 2 more minutes.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line 2 cookie sheets with baking parchment.

3. Mix the ingredients for the apricot or chocolate filling and divide the dough into 4 balls. Roll the balls out into 4 circles about 1/8 inch thick and 9 inches in diameter. Spread the apricot or chocolate filling over the dough. If using the cinnamon-sugar filling, brush the melted butter on first, then the combined cinnamon and sugar.

4. Using a dull knife, cut each circle of dough into 16 pie-shaped pieces about 2 inches wide at the circumference. Roll up from the wide side to the center. Place the rugelach on the parchment-lined cookie sheets. Bake in the oven on the middle and lower racks, switching after 12 minutes, also switching back to front. Continue baking about 13 more minutes, or until golden brown. Remove the rugelach to racks to cool. Sprinkle the apricot and chocolate rugelach with confectioners' sugar just before serving.

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DH and I made 1/4 this recipe and used the apricot filling. It was yummy, but the jam oozed out during baking and turned black and gummy, which gave it a burnt flavor. Next year we'll do the chocolate filling instead.

Potato Latkes (pancakes)

This is from Joan Nathan's Jewish Holiday Cookbook.

10 medium russet or baking potatoes

2 medium onions

2 large or 3 medium eggs

1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour, bread crumbs, or matzah meal

Salt and white pepper

Vegetable oil

1.

Peel the potatoes if the skin is coarse; otherwise, just clean them well. Keep them in cold water until ready to prepare the latkes.

2.

Starting with the onions, alternately grate some of the onions on the large holes of the grater and some of the potatoes on the smallest holes. This will keep the potato mixture from blackening. Press out as much liquid as possible and reserve the starchy sediment at the bottom of the bowl. Return the sediment to the mixture. (or use a food processor)

3.

Blend the potato mixture with the eggs, flour, and salt and pepper to taste.

4.

Heat 1 inch of oil in a frying pan. Drop about 1 tablespoon of mixture for each latke into the skillet and fry, turning once. When golden and crisp on both sides, drain on paper towels. Serve with yogurt, sour cream, sugar, or applesauce.

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When I made this for DH and me, I used 4 potatoes (did not peel), 1 egg, 1 onion, and 2 T matzah meal. We ate it all in one sitting.
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Update 12/2012:
I made this with 2 peeled potatoes, big long ones. Like 8 oz each or so. Plus 1 egg and 1 egg white, and 3 T matzah meal. I think I forgot the onion, but it was good still. I didn't realize I'd forgotten it until just now. It was an appetizer for 4 people, with some extra left. I served with sour cream and homemade applesauce (6 peeled chopped gala apples, cooked in heavy pot, added 1/2 tsp chinese 5-spice powder and 1 T lemon juice).