Bohemian Kolockies

2 cups sifted flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 3oz packages cream cheese
2 eggs (beaten)
1 cup butter
Jam (your favorite flavor)

Sift together dry ingredients. Cream together butter and cream cheese until fluffy. Add eggs. Blend in dry ingredients. Chill 2 hours. Roll into a tube about 2 inches in diameter. Slice into about 1/4 inch pieces. Place on uncreased cookie sheet. Make a small indentation in the center and fill with jam. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes.

Recipe from Jan Dougherty

Granola

This recipe is from David's uncle Jon. I love a good granola!

2 1/2 cups rolled oats

1 cup shredded coconut

1/2 cup chopped almonds

1/2 cup sesame seeds

1/2 cup shelled sunflower seeds

1/2 cup wheat germ, unsweetened

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup oil (unrefined peanut)

1/2 cup dried apricots, raisins, or chopped dates (optional)

Combine all dry ingredients and mix. Combine honey and oil and add to the dry mixture. Spread out in a 13 x 9 x 2 pan and bake 45-50 minutes in a 300 degree oven until light golden brown, stirring every 15 minutes. Remove from oven; add apricots/raisins/dates. Put in another pan to cool, stir occasionally while cooling. Stir in an air-tight container. This also freezes well!

Sopapillias

3 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup hot water

Mix together and let rest in a warm area for half an hour. Put vegetable oil in a frier and heat to 425 degrees or higher. Roll into circles, cut in half. Put in hot oil, dunking immediately after the dough blows up, cook until golden brown. Fill with chili, stew, etc.

For desert: After taken out of the fryer, cover with confectioners sugar.

Rice with Sour Cream and Green Chilis

1 cup rice, uncooked
1 4 oz can green chilis - drained and chopped
1/2 lb Monterey jack or cheddar cheese-grated
1 1/4 cups sour cream
2 tbsp butter
Salt and pepper to taste

Set aside 1/4 of the cheese. Mix remaining ingredients gently but thoroughly. Place in a 2 quart casserole dish. Sprinkle top with remaining cheese. Dot with butter. Bake uncovered in 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes or until golden brown. Goes great with empanadas.

Yorkshire Pudding

I remember the first time I had this-it was my first Christmas with David and his family. This went perfectly with the Christmas prime rib. I'm drooling just thinking about it!

Sift 1 cup of bread flour with 1/3 tsp salt in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the center and gradually add 1 cup of cold milk for form a smooth, heavy batter. Then add 2 eggs, slightly beaten. Beat steadily for two minutes with a rotary beater.

Pour batter into 1/4 - 1/2 inch sizzling hot fat and bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Decrease heat to 350 and bake 5-8 minutes longer until done.

Mom's Chocolate Cake

This comes from David's mom, and it is my FAVORITE chocolate cake.

Mix together by hand:
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa (Hershey's regular cocoa mix)

Dissolve 1 level tsp baking soda in 1 cup boiling water. Add to dry mix and beat until smooth. Add:
3 tbsp melted butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg

Beat again and pour into greased pan 8 x 8 square. This recipe can be doubled and baked in a 9 x 13 or for two layers. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Russian Lepeshki (Russian Wedding Cake)

1 cup butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups pastry flour (cake flour), sifted twice (I don't actually do this because I'm lazy)

Cream the butter, sugar and salt. Then add vanilla, mixing well. Work in the pastry flour adding a little bit at a time and working well after each addition. Chill the dough. Roll into balls or bullet shapes, flatten a little and arrange on a greased cookie sheet. Bake in 325 degree oven for 18-20 minutes, or until browned. While still warm roll or sprinkle with more powdered sugar. (I'll coat them a second time after they have cooled)

I will roll my dough into two tubes and chill them. When they are hard, I'll pull them out of the fridge and slice them (you can play with how thick or thin you like them). It makes it super easy to bake and I think you can get more cookies out of the batch if you do it that way. I think I had two tubes about an inch in diameter, not even 12 inches long-it was maybe 8-9 inches long.

Enjoy!

Recipe from Jan Dougherty

Christmas Plum Pudding

For the Pudding:
2 eggs (slightly beaten)
1 cup light brown sugar
2 cups (3-4 slices) soft bread crumbs (diced)
1 cup milk
1 cup finely ground white suet
1/4 - 1/2 cup bourbon
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup sifted flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon mace
2 cups golden raisins
1 cup chopped dates
3/4 cup chopped candied fruit (red/green cherries and pineapple only, NO cardamon!)
1/2 - 3/4 cup chopped pecans

Blend eggs and brown sugar; add bread crumbs, milk, suet, bourbon, and vanilla.  Sift dry ingredients and spices together and then sift over fruit and nuts.  Mix well.  Fold into bread crumb mixture.  Pour into well greased bowls (as many as the size of pudding you wish to make).  Fill containers 2/3 full, leaving room for expansion.  Steam for 2 1/2 - 3 hours.  (Pudding should have raised and look nice and brown)  Serve with hard sauce.  Keep refrigerated or frozen.

For the Hard Sauce:
Steam pudding at least 1 hour.

Cook in a double boiler about 20 minutes:
3 egg yolks (beaten)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
3 tablespoons heavy cream

When ready to serve, fold in
3 egg whites beaten stiff
1/2 cup of brandy or bourbon

Serve generously over pudding

Pumpkin Pie

(makes enough for two pies, or one nice big deep dish pie)

Ingredients:
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1 lb. can (2 cups) pumpkin (plain pumpkin)
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. cloves
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 1/3 cup evaporated milk
1/4 cup molasses
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Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Roll out pie crust.  You only need a bottom crust, you can make pretty decorations with remaining crust.

In a large mixing bowl combine eggs and pumpkin.  Add sugar, salt and spices to pumpkin mixture.  Stir in evaporated milk.  Add molasses and blend.  Pour into pie crust.

Bake 40-45 minutes or until knife inserted 2 inches from the edge comes out clean.  Cool and garnish with whipped cream.

Notes:  I like to make pretty cut outs with the extra pie dough to cover the cracks in the pie after it cools. Just bake them separately and put on the cooled pie over the cracks.  Enjoy!

Frozen Fruit Salad

2 large packages of cream cheese
1 cup mayonnaise
1 no. 2 can pineapple chunks (well drained)
2 cans mandarin oranges (well drained)
1 cup pecans, chopped
2 cups seedless grapes (well drained) (if you can't find these pears are a good substitute)
1 cup double cream
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Cream together the cream cheese and mayonnaise.  Add fruit and nuts to cream cheese mixture.

Whip the double cream until almost stiff.  Add 4 tblsp sugar and finish whipping (stiff peaks).  Fold into the cream cheese and fruit mix.  Pour into a wet mold or pan lined with foil.  Freeze.  To serve, remove from the freezer about 30 minutes before the meal so it is not too hard to cut and plate.