I made this last year and it was so, so good!

Figgy Pudding
16 oz. dried Calimyrna figs (the light brown
ones, not the black ones)
1 3/4 cup whole milk
1 1/2 cup AP flour
1 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp salt
3 eggs
1/2 cup (1 stick) melted butter
1 1/2 cups bread crumbs
1 tablespoon grated orange peel
Hard Sauce:
1 1/2 cup confectioner’s (powdered) sugar
1/2 cup butter (1 stick) softened
2 tablespoons brandy
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Grease a 2 1/12 quart bundt pan with spray or
butter.
Cut stems from figs and discard. Cut figs into
1/4″ dice
In a a medium saucepan, heat milk and figs over
medium-low heat but do NOT bring to a boil.
Cook for 10-15 minutes stirring occasionally. The
figs will perfume the milk and the milk will soften the figs.
The mixture may look curdled, but don’t worry.
In a medium bowl (not your mixer’s bowl, we’ll
use that next), mix flour, sugar, baking powder,
nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt.
In your mixers bowl, beat eggs one minute on
high. Reduce speed to low and add butter, bread
crumbs, orange peel, and warm fig mixture.
Slowly incorporate flour mixture. Beat until just
blended.
Pour/spoon the mix into the greased bundt pan.

Cover the mold with a piece of aluminum foil
greased on one side, greased side down.
Place the mold in a roasting pan and place on
oven rack. fill with hot tap water 2 inches up the
side of the mold.
Bake for 2 hours or until the pudding is firm and
it is pulling away from the side of the bundt pan.

Now, make the sauce. With a mixer, mix all the
sauce ingredients together until creamy.
Remove the pudding from the water bath.
Remove the foil and cool on a wire rack for 10
minutes before unmolding. Invert bundt pan
onto a serving plate/cake stand and remove
mold. It should come away easily.
Serve warm with sauce. The sauce is more like
frosting at room temperature, but if you heat it a
bit, it will melt. I liked it more frosting-like.

I know, I know…Fruitcake…Yuk! Well, not this one. It has been a Holiday favorite of my family and friends for years. If I don’t give these loaves away at Christmas time, everyone complains! Try it; I swear you’ll love it.

Fruitcake
Makes 3 loaves

6 cups nuts (either 2 cups walnuts & 4 pecan, or all pecans)
13 ounces pitted dates, halved and mixed with a bit of flour
2 cups whole maraschino cherries, drained
2 cups chopped dried pineapple

Batter:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons pure vanilla

Combine batter ingredients and mix in nuts, cherries & dates. Grease three 8×4x2 1/2-inch loaf pans; line bottoms with brown paper and grease. Spoon batter evenly into pans and bake at 300ºF. Cover with foil for the first 40 minutes, then uncover for 40 additional minutes. Should be a nice rich brown when done. Very rich!

Cranberry Cream Drops

1 1/8 C all purpose flour
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/3 C granulated sugar
1/3 C firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 C quick-cooking oatmeal, uncooked
1/2 C dried cranberries
1/2 C vanilla baking chips
1/2 C chopped pecans or walnuts

1/2 C butter or margarine, softened (1 stick)
1 egg
1 t vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, cream the butter, egg, and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and stir until well-mixed. Drop the dough by heaping teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet, spacing cookies about 2 inches apart. Bake for 8 – 10 minutes, or until light brown. Allow to cool 5 minutes on baking sheet. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

LIBBY’S® Pumpkin Roll

Ingredients for cake:
* 1/4 cup powdered sugar (to sprinkle on towel)
* 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 3 large eggs
* 1 cup granulated sugar
* 2/3 cup LIBBY’S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
* 1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

Ingredients for filling:
* 1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, at room temperature
* 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
* 6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* Powdered sugar (optional for decoration)

Directions:

FOR CAKE:
PREHEAT oven to 375° F. Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan; line with wax paper. Grease and flour paper. Sprinkle a thin, cotton kitchen towel with powdered sugar.

COMBINE flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt in small bowl. Beat eggs and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl until thick. Beat in pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Sprinkle with nuts.

BAKE for 13 to 15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched. (If using a dark-colored pan, begin checking for doneness at 11 minutes.) Immediately loosen and turn cake onto prepared towel. Carefully peel off paper. Roll up cake and towel together, starting with narrow end. Cool on wire rack.

FOR FILLING:
BEAT cream cheese, 1 cup powdered sugar, butter and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl until smooth. Carefully unroll cake. Spread cream cheese mixture over cake. Reroll cake. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving, if desired.

COOKING TIP:
Be sure to put enough powdered sugar on the towel when rolling up the cake so it will not stick.

Mix:
1 pacjage of artificial crab
1 8oz pachage of cream cheese
1 tsp black truffle oil
1 tbsp dijion mustard
2 cups mayonaisse
1 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1 tbsp fresh dill
Fill mushroom caps (number varies based on size) and broil for 5 minutes on high.

My father was a 1st generation American with parents who came from Sweden. Every year at Christmas my mother would make Limpa, a Swedish rye bread. She used my grandmother’s recipe. I loved watching her make it, then as I grew up helping her with the baking. It was always one of my favorite parts of Christmas dinner, but was even better with the leftover turkey or roast beef the next day with butter….mmmmm, so yummy. Now I make limpa at Christmas and so do my nieces. It’s great to carry this tradition on.

1-3/4to 2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1/2cup rye flour
1package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
1tablespoon sugar
1-1/2teaspoons grated orange peel
1teaspoon salt
1/2teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed
1/2teaspoon caraway seeds, crushed
3/4cup plus 4 teaspoons water, divided
4tablespoons molasses, divided
2tablespoons margarine or butter
1/4teaspoon whole fennel seeds
1/4teaspoon

1.Combine 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour, rye flour, yeast, sugar, orange peel, salt and seeds in large bowl. Heat water, molasses and margarine in small saucepan over low heat until temperature reaches 120° to 130°F. Stir water mixture into flour mixture with rubber spatula to form soft but sticky dough. Gradually add more all-purpose flour to form rough dough.
2.Turn out dough onto lightly floured surface. Knead 2 minutes or until soft dough forms, gradually adding remaining all-purpose flour to prevent sticking, if necessary. Cover with inverted bowl; let rest 5 minutes. Continue kneading 5 to 8 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Shape dough into ball; place in large greased bowl. Turn dough over so top is greased. Loosely cover with lightly greased sheet of plastic wrap. Let rise in warm place 75 minutes or until almost doubled in bulk.
3.Punch down dough. Grease a round pan or pie tin. Form into a dome shaped loaf. Place seam-side down in prepared pan. Cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let rise in warm place 1 hour or until doubled in bulk.
4.Preheat oven to 350°F.
Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until loaf sounds hollow when tapped. Brush top with egg and water mixture halfway through baking time. Brush again about 10 minutes before removing loaf from oven. Cool in pan on wire rack 5 minutes. Remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

For 30 years this Irish gal cannot imagine the holiday season without the Scandinavian potato-laden staple of lefse. My husband’s Norwegian and Swedish roots definitely dominate our holiday treats! Unfortunately, I can’t share the family recipe or I would be excommunicated (yes it is almost a religion)!

Yulicious Pie (mincemeat and eggnog-custard pie)*

Ingredients: 1 pie shell, prebaked
Approximately 1 and ¼ cups prepared mincemeat
2 cups eggnog
3 egg yolks
3 whole eggs
½ cup sugar
1 t. rum extract (optional) or substitute rum for 2T of the eggnog
2 pinches of salt, divided
½ to 1 t. freshly grated nutmeg

To Prepare:
Preheat oven to 325˚ F, putting a shelf at the bottom third of the oven. Spoon the mincemeat into the bottom of the baked crust and pat it down firmly with the back of a spoon to make a solid layer over the bottom of the crust. Mix one egg yolk with a pinch of salt and use a pastry brush to paint the egg thinly over the mincemeat layer and the remaining sides of the crust (this seals them in to keep the crust from getting soggy and to help the mincemeat layer stay down below the liquid custard before it sets during baking). Put the crust in the oven for a few minutes to set the egg yolk and warm the crust.

To make the custard layer, heat the eggnog until it just begins to simmer. Whisk the remaining egg yolks, the eggs, the sugar, rum/extract (if desired) and pinch of salt in a large bowl until just thoroughly combined. When the milk is hot, pour it slowly into the egg mixture, whisking constantly. The custard mixture may not yet appear thickened (that’s fine). Then pour the custard slowly over the back of a spoon onto the mincemeat (to avoid forcing loose any pieces of the mincemeat layer) until the crust is full. Grate or sprinkle nutmeg (to your taste) over the top of the pie. Carefully place the pie pan in the oven and bake for 25-45 minutes, until the custard is set but still quivers slightly (like Jello) in the center when the pan is nudged. Allow the pie to cool completely and then cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least three hours.

Serve with coffee or wassail.

*Adapted by Julie Sikkink from a custard pie recipe in The Joy of Cooking. I recommend its mincemeat recipe too! But the combination is my own invention or else dredged up from the depths of my memory. I also apologize for the name.

These melt-in-your-mouth shortbread cookies were a Christmas tradition in my childhood home in El Paso, Texas. Brought to the New World by the Spaniards, they are a little piece of my Chicano heritage that survives in the Pacific Northwest. They are traditional at Southwestern family celebrations of all sorts, perhaps explaining their English name, Mexican wedding cookies. // You can substitute vegetable shortening, but the real thing tastes mmm-much better. My mom didn’t flavor them with the common Spanish cookie spice, anise, but many recipes do. Enjoy!–LR

***Biscochitos / Biscochos***
pronounced: “bees-ko-CHEE-tohs” and “bees-KO-chohs”

1 lb. lard (room temperature)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup orange juice or red wine
7 cups flour
2 Tbsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. ground cloves

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

In mixing bowl, beat lard till it’s fluffy. Gradually blend in sugar, then the OJ or red wine. Mix well.
In a separate bowl, stir together the flour and spices.
With mixer at low speed, beat flour mixture 1-2 cups at a time into the lard-sugar mix. (Careful, or you’ll have flour all over the kitchen!)
Blend each addition in well before the next one. You might have to mix the last few cups of flour in by hand, because the dough gets very stiff, and all but the most powerful electric mixers balk.

Using your hands, form the dough into a big ball. Tear off a grapefruit-sized piece of dough, and roll it out to about 1/4 inch thick with a rolling pin. Use small cookie cutters (~2-3 inch width) to cut pretty shapes from the dough. The traditional non-holiday shape is a diamond.
NOTE: Be sure to lightly dust the surface & the rolling pin with flour as needed, to prevent dough from sticking.

Use a spatula to place cookies on an ungreased baking sheet (1/2 inch apart is fine) & bake for 10 to 12 minutes at 300 degrees F. The cookies will darken only slightly in color during baking; if there’s a faint brown around the edges, they’ve probably been in the oven too long. Texture of a cooled cookie should be like shortbread, not crisp.

As one batch bakes, prepare the next one. Gather up the bits of leftover dough from the previous batch and incorporate them into the next dough ball you roll out. Expect to bake several batches.

Remove baked cookies from oven and, very carefully, use a thin metal spatula to move them onto a rack to cool slightly. While still warm, dip them into a small bowl of sugar and cinnamon (add anise if you want) to cover surface completely. Some will break because they’re delicate — perfect for taste testing!

Store completely cooled cookies in airtight container(s) or cookie tins, at room temperature.

HINTS –
(1) Watch the oven carefully to know the right amount of baking time – these burn easily. Adjust the time based on results with the first batch. Texture should be like shortbread, not crisp.
(2) It’s best to have several baking sheets, so you can put each new batch of unbaked cookies onto a COOL cookie sheet. You want them to bake in the oven, not melt on a warm pan.
(3) Biscochitos work best as a group effort, because you can have an “assembly line.” The dough produces a lot of cookies — several dozen at least.
(4) Toward the end, you might wonder if there’s a Christmas miracle at work — there’s always more dough to roll out. Exhausted, I usually end throwing some away.

After Thanksgiving one year we found some extra fresh cranberries in the back of the fridge and wondered what to do with them. This recipe became a family favorite for any brunch. It works with frozen cranberries too or with a mix of frozen raspberries and dried cranberries in a pinch.

Cranberry Streusel Coffeecake
(from Joy of Cooking 1997 edition)

Have all ingredients at room temperature.
Preheat oven to 350oF. Grease 9 x 13 inch pan.
12-16 servings

Prepare streusel and set aside:
Blend with fork or pulse in food processor until mixture resembles coarse crumbs:
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt

Whisk together thoroughly:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Combine in another bowl:
1 1/4 cups sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla

In a large bowl, beat on high speed until lightened in color and texture, 3 to 4 minutes:
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cup sugar

Beat in 1 at a time:
2 large eggs

Add the flour mixture in 3 parts, alternating with the sour cream mixture in 2 parts, beating on low speed or stirring until smooth.

Scrape the batter into the greased pan and spread evenly.

Sprinkle 2 1/2 cups cranberries over the batter.

Sprinkle the streusel over the fruit.

Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes.

Let cool briefly in the pan on a rack. Serve warm.

Mom’s Yummy Mushroom, Water Chestnut & Sage Sausage Stuffing

This is the best stuffing you’ll ever eat, everyone who tries it flips!
Don’t even bother to stuff it into anything—besides your mouth!

1/4-1/2 lb Sage Pork Breakfast Sausage (w/o casings)
1 large Brown Onion, small dice
3 Celery Stalks w/ leaves, small dice
1/2 lb Cremini Mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup good White Wine
1-lb Loaf of Sourdough bread, cubed and dried in the oven at 250
2 cans sliced Water Chestnuts
1 cup Chicken Stock
4-8 Tablespoons butter
Fresh Sage leaves, finely chopped
Fresh Thyme leaves, stripped from the branch and chopped
Kosher Salt & Fresh Cracked Pepper

Place cubed bread on baking sheets, place in a 250 degree oven for 30 minutes. Remove and set aside for at least an hour and up to a day.

Heat a large skillet and add the sausage, breaking it up with a wooden spoon and cooking it over medium heat until it browns nicely and the fat is rendered out.
With a slotted spoon remove the crumbled sausage into a very large bowl
and place the skillet back on the stove. Add 2-4 Tablespoons of butter to the pan; as it melts and begins to sizzle add the onions, celery, and a teaspoon of kosher salt; cook over medium heat until the vegetables soften and release their aromas; add the celery & onions to the sausage in the bowl.
Return the pan to the stove, add 4 tablespoons of butter and turn the heat to medium-high. When the butter is sizzling and just beginning to brown, add the sliced mushrooms, give them a quick stir to coat with the butter and leave them be until they begin to develop a nice brown hue. Stir again, leave them be. When they look tasty and smell even better, de-glaze the pan with white wine, add a good size pinch of kosher salt, toss the mushrooms about a bit and then let the liquid reduce, cooking off the alcohol. While the mushrooms are still moist pour them and their juices into the giant bowl with the veggies and the sausage. Add the two cans of water chestnuts, the fresh herbs, a good helping of fresh pepper, and the bread cubes. Stir it all together until well mixed and taste for seasoning. If a touch more salt is need, add and stir.
Transfer the dressing/stuffing into an 11×13 buttered baking dish. You’ll have enough for another 9×9 dish or to stuff a bird. You can cover with foil and store overnight in the fridge—the next steps happen when you’re ready to bake.
Drizzle 1/2 cup of chicken stock over the stuffing in the larger pan; use a bit less for the smaller pan, maybe 1/3 cup. Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 45 minutes, or until the top is brown and crispy, the center is moist, and it’s impossible for you to stop spooning it into your smiling face!
Enjoy!!!
Merry New Year.

My favorite holiday recipe is to get invited to dinner and let them do the cooking. I’ll bring flowers.

My favorite holiday recipe was given to me by my dear friend Nikki who used to live in Mt. Tabor. She has been living in Idaho for 20 years now. I think she gave me this recipe for “Cranberry Jewels” her first year in the Idaho panhandle.
CRANBERRY “JEWELS”
This is the best cranberry condiment I have ever tasted or looked at! They really do sparkle like jewels.

Ingredients:
2C. sugar
1C. water or orange juice
2 cinnamon sticks
12 whole cloves you could tie this in a muslin bag
zest of one lemon
2 Tbl. fresh lemon juice
4 C. cranberries(frozen or fresh)
Directions:
1)Put all the ingredients in a non reactive saucepan.
2) Bring mixture to a boil till most of the berries have popped.
3) Allow mixture to cool.
4)Using a tweezers or long spoon, fish out the 12 cloves and cinnamon sticks.
*Optional: Add a tsp. of chopped candied ginger for an extra kick.
Keeps at least a month, covered, in the fridge.
Delish with pork, ham, or poultry.
Also you can mix it with a little Dijon mustard as an awesome condiment on a roast pork or turkey sandwich.

MOCK ALMOND ROCA

1 package unsalted soda crackers (use enough to cover 1 layer of cookie sheet)
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter
1 package semi sweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts (almond, walnuts, or pecans)

Line large cookie sheet with foil and spray with oil. Lay out crackers evenly. In sauce pan mix brown sugar and butter. Boil for 3 minutes. Pour over crackers and bake at 400 degrees for 5 minutes. Crackers will float and bubble. Remove from oven and sprinkle with chocolate chips. Spread evenly with spatula when chips melt. Sprinkle with chopped nuts. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes then cut into desired sizes.

Easy and very yummy! Makes a great Holiday gift.

These are really hard to resist – great and even elegant comfort food.

Scalloped Potatoes with Leeks and Cream

¼ Cup butter
4 cups sliced leeks white and pale green parts only
salt and pepper
1 Tbl butter
2 Cups whipping cream
3 large cloves garlic, minced
4 lbs russet potatoes, thinly sliced
2 Cups grated white cheddar or gruyere
1/3 Cup freshly grated parmesan.

Melt ¼ C butter and sauté leeks until coated. Cover and cook until tender, until almost all liquid is absorbed. Season with salt and pepper, set aside. Preheat oven to 375, rub a 9 X 13” pan with 1 Tbl butter. Mix cream and garlic in small bowl. Arrange half of potatoes in dish. Cover with leeks. Sprinkle half of cheddar over potatoes. Ladle half of cream mixture over potatoes and leeks. Add remaining potatoes, other half of cheddar, other half of cream mixture and sprinkle with parmesan. Can be prepared ahead. If you do, let stand one hour before baking. Bake until potatoes are tender and top is golden brown, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Let stand for 15 minutes before serving.

STEAMED CRANBERRY PUDDING
This is an alternative to the traditional steamed plum pudding.

1/2 C dark molasses
1/2 C boiling water
2 t baking soda – combine these three ingredients

2 C cranberries – add to molasses mixture

1 1/3 C flour – add and mix
pinch of salt – add

Pour into well-greased mould or pan. Steam 1 1/2 hours in steamer, or put in top of 2 quart double boiler, well buttered. Put cloth stretched over top of double boiler or steamer to absorb steam. Serve hot with sauce.

SAUCE
1/2 C powdered sugar
1/2 C butter
1/2 C milk
vanilla

Dissolve all over hot water and serve hot

Roasted Beets for a rich, red festive table!

So many people think they hate beets! Gone are the days of the cold canned stuff. Make this luscious and healthy snack or side dish. It’s so easy.

6 large beets, scrubbed, tops and tips sliced off
2 TBSP olive oil
1 TBSP FRESH thyme or parsley
2 TBSP goat cheese

Quarter beets, place in glass baking dish, brush or drizzle with high quality olive oil, sprinkle with herbs, cover with glass lid, and bake on 375 for 30 minutes. Remove and allow to cool uncovered 5-10 minutes. Sprinkle cheese over slightly warm beets. Cover and serve immediately. (Looks and tastes terrific next to a glass of champagne.)

My Mother’s Persimmon Pudding
A simple and delicious alternative to Figgy (or other holiday) Pudding, great when served warm with a sweet brandy sauce.

1 cup Hichiya persimmon pulp
1 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. melted butter
1 egg, beaten
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp cinnamon
1 cup flour
2 tsp baking soda
½ cup milk
½ cup chopped nuts
Mix in order given. Place in covered mold and steam 2 hours.
Hichiya persimmons are the acorn shaped variety which needs to be very ripe
to use.

In our family, “A Christmas Carol” has always shared the “soft glow of electric sex” from the Leg Lamp out of Jean Shepherd’s “A Christmas Story.” (Yes, we DO have a leg lamp in our front-room window.) So years ago, we wondered how to combine the warmth of Scrooge’s transformation with the simplicity of Chinese takeaway. The answer:

Dickens Dim Sum
(Sally Lunn rolls with sausage filling)

This lightly sweet, egg-rich dough is a wonderful wrapper for these savory meat-filled buns.

Sally Lunn Dough
1/2 cup warm water
2 packages dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar, plus 1/4 cup
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 stick (1/4 cup) butter, melted
4 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

Sprinkle yeast in the warm water; add 1 teaspoon sugar and let stand for 5 minutes to dissolve.

Add cream, butter and eggs to the yeast/water/sugar mix. Add salt, remaining 1/4 cup sugar, and 2 cups flour. Beat vigorously until smooth (use an electric mixer if available), continuing to add remaining flour. Gather the dough into a ball, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise until double in bulk (about two hours).

Sausage filling
You can use commercially available sausage but I love to season my own from locally-sourced ground pork. If you go this route, make up the sausage on the 22nd and let it cure in the refrigetaror, tightly covered, for two days before cooking. This lets all the flavors permeate the meat for best results.

Homemade sausage:
1 pound fresh ground pork
1 tablespoon Kosher salt
Approximately 1/2 teaspoon each ground (or rubbed) dried sage, dried thyme, garlic powder, ground cumin, mild chile pepper (optional), and ground black pepper, or to taste (see Notes)

In a medium bowl, mix all ingredients thoroughly. Pinch a small piece of sausage from the mixing bowl and cook in a pan or skillet. When cool, taste the sausage. Adjust seasonings as required.

Note: the flavorings will become slightly richer over the two days resting in the refrigerator, but pre-cooking the sausage is a great way to get immediate feedback on whether you want it spicier, saltier, etc. And remember, it’s easy to add more seasonings at this point — it’s really hard to take them out.

When sausage has rested in refrigerator (at least overnight, up to three days), heat a skillet over medium-high heat and cook the sausage, crumbling it with the edge of a spatula. When the sausage is fully cooked and nicely browned, sprinkle about two tablespoons of all-purpose flour over the meat and stir to coat the sausage. This will help it hold together in the buns.

Allow the sausage to cool before assembling the buns.

To assemble:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Pinch or cut a 3″ ball of dough. Pat or roll into circle about 1/2″ thick. Place a spoonful of cooled sausage into the center of the dough and pinch closed. Place pinched-side down on a baking sheet.

When each sheet is filled, let the buns rise until doubled in size. Bake at 350 degrees F for approximately 25 minutes, or until golden brown.

Photo:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sfisher71/3136112726

Our tradition: we make these Christmas Eve. On Christmas Day, we warm them quickly and bring out plates of them for the kids to nibble while waiting their turn to open presents. Our children, bless their hearts, used to take hours and hours to open gifts, because they’d play together with whatever each one had opened. When the middle kid was in her early teens, she told us in no uncertain terms, “It’s just Not Christmas without those sausage buns!”

If there are any left for dinner, serve them with roast duck (we buy ours at Uwajimaya in Beaverton), while dreaming of getting off spectacular hip shots with our Legendary Official Red Ryder 200-shot Carbine Action Range Model Air Rifle.

This is a super simple, yet delicious and festive appetizer.

Boozy cranberries (recipe to follow) spooned over a block of cream cheese and served with sliced French bread (baguette preferably).

To a sturdy sauce pan add:

1 cup of water
1 cup of sugar
1 package of cranberries (washed and picked over)
3 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
orange zest of a medium orange

Bring to a boil and cook for about 5 minutes (until the cranberries start to pop). Pour in about a cup of rum and a 1/3 cup of Triple Sec liquor (I actually have never measured how much liquor I add).

Cook for a few minutes longer to let some of the alcohol evaporate. Let cool before spooning over cream cheese (it’s a good idea to fish out the cinnamon stick and the cloves).

Emjoy!

My Dad found this Apple Sausage Stuffing recipe in one of his gourmet cooking magazines one year when we were little and has made it every year that I can remember. I have made it for my friends and family now every year for the last eleven years. I usually serve it with a bird that’s been brined and herbed the night before with garlic and sage. It’s always a huge hit!

Ingredients
•2 tablespoons vegetable oil
•1 pound spicy pork bulk sausage
•1 cup diced celery
•1 cup diced onion
•1 cup diced peeled cored apple
•2 garlic cloves, minced
•1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
•2 teaspoons minced fresh sage
•1 bay leaf
•8 cups 1-inch cubes French bread with crusts (from 1-pound loaf)
•1 cup whole milk
•1 cup low-salt chicken broth
•2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter, melted
•3 large eggs, beaten to blend

Preparation
Heat oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add sausage; sauté until cooked through and brown, breaking into pieces with spoon, about 8 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer sausage to large bowl. Add celery and next 6 ingredients to drippings in skillet. Sauté over medium heat until vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Discard bay leaf. Add mixture to sausage. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; chill. Reheat to lukewarm before continuing.)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 13×9x2-inch glass baking dish. Add bread to sausage mixture. Whisk milk, broth, and butter in bowl to blend. Mix into stuffing; season stuffing with salt and pepper. Mix in eggs; transfer to prepared dish. Bake uncovered until cooked through and brown, about 50 minutes.

Crab Bisque

Great time to make use of Oregon Bumper Crab Crop this year!

TBL minced shallot
2 TBL butter
2 TBL all purpose flour
2 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup tomato paste
2 cups half and half
1 pound crab meat
2 TBL sour cream
1 TBL chopped fresh parsley

In stock pot over medium heat, saute the shallot in the butter for 2 to 3 minutes…until
soft.
Remove from heat and stir in the flour until well blended. Return to hear, and cook until
the mixture is bubbly (1 – 2 minutes) gradually add the chicken broth and then the tomato
paste. whisk until smooth.
Next, add the half and half and crab. bring to a boil , then reduce heat to simmer…cook
for 3 to 4 minutes.
Serve hot, with a teaspoon of sour cream and a sprinkling of parsley.

Enjoy!
the original recipe actually calls for whipping cream, not half and half, but that was
too rich for me, so I changed it to half and half. sometimes I even thinned it with some
3% milk, too..it depends on your taste,