Christmas Cookies Tucker Style

Gingerbread cookies, this one rocks,

cream 1/2 c butter, 1/2 c sugar. beat one egg, add 1/4 c molasses 1/4 c water. then beat in3 c flour 1 1/2 t cinnamon, 1 t soda, 1 t nutmeg,1/2 t ground cloves, 1/4 t salt. Divide doe into 2 balls wrap in wax paper and chill for an hour then roll out and cut. 375 for 5-6 min.

chocolate drop- Fam favorite.

cream 1 c butter, 1 1/2 c brown sugar, add 2 eggs, 1 t vanilla, 3 squares melted chocolate, sift together 3 1/2 c flour, 1 t soda, 1 t salt, add alternately with 1 c butter milk, I use milk if i don't have it, they turn out fine. drop by teaspoon on baking sheet, bake 375 for 8- 10 min and frost when cool.

Frosting- 3 c pd sugar, 1 t van, dash of salt, 1/4 c butter, milk for spread ability, I like to add sprinkles, red on some and green on others at Christmas, dipping them works best

Peppermint Truffle Pie

Peppermint Truffle Pie
No matter how busy the season becomes, there’s always time to whip up this ridiculously simple pie. On top of being easy, easy, easy to make, it’s also dang fancy tasting, like forking into pure indulgence. The rich, chocolate truffle pie is kissed ever so lightly with peppermint, then topped with fresh whipped cream and candy cane sprinkles. Good heck, it's Christmas. How can we not rejoice!

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For the Pie:
2 tablespoons butter, melted
¼ cup crushed candy canes
1 deep dish pie crust
7 eggs
1 cup high-quality cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 ½ teaspoons peppermint extract
Use a basting brush to spread a thin layer of butter around the edge of the pie crust. Sprinkle crushed candy canes on the buttered edge. Set aside.
Crack the eggs into a large bowl. With an electric mixer, beat in the cocoa powder, sugar, and peppermint extract until well mixed. Pour into pie crust. Bake in an oven preheated to375 degrees for 45-50 minutes, or until the center of the pie is set. Cool before serving with easy ganache drizzle, fresh whipped cream, and crushed peppermint candy.
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For the Ganache Drizzle:
1 cups heavy whipping cream
½ cup semisweet chocolate chips
Pour cream and chocolate chips into a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 60-90 seconds, then whisk together the mixture until smooth.
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For the Fresh Whipped Cream & Garnish
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 cup powdered sugar
¼ cup crushed candy canes
In a large bowl, beat the cream with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and beat just until incorporated. Serve atop cooled pie, sprinkle with crushed candy canes before serving.

favorite choc chip cookies

Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) good semi-sweet chocolate chips (like Ghirardelli)


Preheat your oven to 375.


Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl.
Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. (Please do this step. The consistency is effected by whether you beat after each egg or not.)
Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips.
Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes.

pumpkin pancakes

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons vinegar

Directions

1. In a separate bowl, mix together the milk, pumpkin, egg, oil and vinegar. Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, allspice, cinnamon, ginger and salt, stir into the pumpkin mixture just enough to combine.
2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

Pumpkin Cookies

Great Pumpkin Cookies

2 cups flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 tsp baking soda
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp.salt
1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup chocolate chips

Combine flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Set aside. Cream butter in a large bowl and gradually add sugars, beating till light and fluffy. Add egg, vanilla and mix. Add pumpkin to mix, mix well. Add flour mix. Add in chocolate chips. Drop dough onto a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned and firm. Makes 40 cookies.

Fruit dip or sopapillas

Ingredients

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Serve with chopped fruit.

Or put in crescent rolls and top with butter cinnamon and sugar and bake.

MexiCali Breakfast Burrito with Chipotle Sour Cream

MexiCali Breakfast Burrito with Chipotle Sour Cream
There are a lot of steps to this recipe, and it is rather time-consuming to make. However, the recipe yields more than enough for seconds, and you're going to want them. Double the recipe? Yep. You might even want to do that. These are, hands down, the best breakfast burritoes you'll ever eat.

Garlic Grilled Chicken
1 chicken breast, cut in half lengthwise
2 T. melted butter
1 T. worchestschire sauce
1 T. minced garlic (the bottled sort)
½ tsp. cumin
Salt
Pepper
Place chicken in a shallow baking dish. Mix together remaining ingredients and pour over the top of the chicken. Allow to marinate for 10 minutes (or up to overnight). Grill marinated chicken on a hot grill until cooked through. Allow to cool. Dice into bite-size pieces.
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Fluffy Cheddar Scrambled Eggs
6 scrambled eggs
1 T. pancake mix
2 T. milk
½ tsp. onion powder
¼ tsp. garlic salt
½ c. sharp grated cheddar
Beat eggs, milk, onion powder, and garlic salt together until well mixed. Pour into a non-stick cooking pan. Cook, scrambled-egg style over medium heat. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese, turn off heat, allowing cheese to melt over eggs.
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Green Chili Rice
1 c. prepared brown basmati rice, warmed
¼ c. green chili’s
Juice of 1 lime
Pinch salt

Stir together all ingredients in a large bowl.
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Fresh Pico de Gallo
1/3 c. tomatoes, diced
¼ c. purple onions, diced
¼ c. cilantro, diced
Mix all ingredients together in a medium bowl. Add Salt & fresh ground pepper to taste.

*Chipotle Sour Cream

2-4 Tbsp. chopped chipotles in adobo sauce

1 c. sour cream

Mix together in a small bowl.
Spoon ample amounts of each ingredient onto a large, good-quality tortilla. Roll tortilla up. Serve immediately.

Grandma W's Goulash

- 2/3 box or bag Shell pasta (medium or large- not small)

- 28 oz can diced tomatoes

- smallest can of tomato paste (even just a couple of scoops)

-1 small white onion chopped

- 1lb of ground meat ( I use 1/2 lb)

-2-3 medium carrots grated

- italian seasoning

-chili powder

- chopped fresh garlic

- salt and sugar to taste

Sautee onion and garlic in oil or butter till soft, throw in grated carrots and stir till slightly softened. Add ground beef to the same pan and brown. Pour in tomatoes and tomato paste. Add seasonings, salt and sugar to taste. Add sauce to cooked pasta and let simmer for any desired amount of time. Simmering not necessary but grandma does it so I do too.

Serve with buttered sourdough and carrots and grated cheddar cheese.

white chocolate chip oat cookies

makes 36

ingredients

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 2 cups white chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease cookie sheets.
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar until smooth. Stir in the egg and vanilla. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, stir into the creamed mixture. Finally, stir in the rolled oats, white chocolate chips and pecans. Drop by tablespoons onto the prepared cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove from baking sheets to cool on wire racks.

Asparagus melt with pesto

Asparagus melt with pesto

Ingredients

• 16 asparagus spears
• 3 tablespoons fat-free mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon commercial pesto
• 2 (2-ounce) slices sourdough bread, toasted
• 2 (1-ounce) thin slices ham
• 4 (1/4-inch-thick) slices tomato
• 2 (1-ounce) slices part-skim mozzarella cheese
• Freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

Snap off tough ends of asparagus. Steam, covered, 2 minutes or until crisp-tender.

Preheat broiler.

Combine mayonnaise and pesto in a bowl, and stir with a whisk. Spread 2 tablespoons pesto mixture onto 1 side of each bread slice. Layer each slice with 8 asparagus spears, 1 ham slice, 2 tomato slices, and 1 cheese slice. Place on a baking sheet; broil 3 minutes or until cheese melts. Sprinkle with pepper.

raspberry pretzle salad

RASPBERRY PRETZEL SALAD

2 c. crushed pretzels 3/4 c. melted butter 2 tbsp. powdered sugar 1 (8 oz.) cream cheese 8 oz. Cool Whip 1 c. powdered sugar 1 lg. box raspberry Jello 2 pkg. frozen raspberries Mix together pretzels, melted butter and the 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar. Then press in 9 x 13 inch pan. Bake 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool. Mix cream cheese, Cool Whip and 1 cup of powdered sugar; pour over pretzel crust. Dissolve large package of raspberry Jello in 2 cups boiling water. Add 2 packages of frozen raspberries not drained. Mix well and let cool for 1-2 hours. Pour over cream cheese. Chill for a couple hours.

honey brown sugar ham glaze

Ingredients

• 1 (5 pound) fully cooked sliced ham
• 1/4 cup whole cloves
• 1 cup pineapple juice/ or crushed pineapple
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup honey
• 2 oranges, juiced

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Place the ham in a roasting pan and dot with cloves. In a saucepan combine the pineapple juice, brown sugar, honey and orange juice. Stir and simmer over medium-low heat until thickened, about 10 minutes. Pour the glaze over the ham.
3. Bake the ham uncovered for 1 hour in the preheated oven.

Strawberry lemonade bars

Strawberry Lemonade Bars
Crust
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt

Filling
1 cup fresh lemon juice
2-3 tsp lemon zest
1/2 cup pureed strawberries (about 3/4 cup berries)
1 1/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking pan (or use the Baker’s Edge pan, if you have one).
Begin by making the crust.
In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter, until smooth and fluffy. Working at a low speed, gradually beat in flour and salt until mixture is crumbly. Pour into prepared pan and press into an even layer. Bake for about 17 minutes, until set at the edges.
While the crust bakes, prepare the filling.
In the bowl of a food processor, combine lemon juice, lemon zest, strawberry puree, sugar and eggs and process until smooth. Add in flour, baking powder and salt, then pulse until smooth.
Gently pour the filling over the hot crust when it has finished baking. Return pan to oven and bake for 23-26 minutes, until the filling is set (There will be a light colored “crust” on top from the sugar in the custard - nothing to worry about).
Cool completely before slicing and use a damp knife to ensure clean slices.
Store bars in the refrigerator, especially on a hot day.
Makes 24 bars.

Grandma T's crepes

• Grandmas Crepes (makes 8)
• 
  
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 pinch salt
• 2 Tablespoons of sugar
• 2 Tablespoons butter

Directions

1. Combine eggs, milk, flour,sugar, and salt. Process until smooth.
2. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and butter till melted. Mix melted butter into batter. Pour 1/4 cup of crepe batter into pan, tilting to completely coat the surface of the pan. Cook 2 to 5 minutes, turning once, until golden. Repeat with remaining batter.

chocolate scotcharoos

Ingredients

• 1 cup Karo® Light Corn Syrup
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 6 cups crispy rice cereal
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup butterscotch chips

Directions

1. Cook corn syrup and sugar together in a large pan over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Bring mixture to a boil. Remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter; mix well. Add cereal; stir until evenly coated.
2. Pour into greased 13x9-inch pan and pat into place.
3. Melt chocolate and butterscotch chips together in saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly. Spread over cereal.
4. Cool at least 45 minutes, or until firm. Cut into bars.

chocolate chocolate chip muffins

makes 12-15

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 4 tablespoons white sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.
2. In medium bowl, Sift together flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In large bowl stir in milk, egg, oil and vanilla. Mix dry ingredients to large bowl; beat well. Add chocolate chips and, stir well.
3. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full. Sprinkle muffins with sugar.
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

au gratin potatoes

Ingredients

• 4 russet potatoes, sliced into 1/4 inch slices
• 1 onion, sliced into rings or diced
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups milk
• 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Butter a 1 quart casserole dish.
2. Layer 1/2 of the potatoes into bottom of the prepared casserole dish. Top with the onion slices, and add the remaining potatoes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. In a medium-size saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Mix in the flour and salt, and stir constantly with a whisk for one minute. Stir in milk. Cook until mixture has thickened. Stir in cheese all at once, and continue stirring until melted, about 30 to 60 seconds. Pour cheese over the potatoes, and cover the dish with aluminum foil.
4. Bake 1 1/2 hours in the preheated oven.