Holiday Heat Relief

The heat is on, the people have gathered and it is time to keep things cool this holiday weekend. Here is a last minute idea that is fun, quick and plays a double role; beverage and dessert. Plus it is easy enough to leave you free to join in on the fun.

Happy Memorial Day!

7-UP Fruit Freeze - It's a dessert, it's a cocktail, it's a punch, it's a Blast!

1- 6 ounce can of orange juice concentrate

1- 1/2 cups of water

1 cup of sugar

1/4 cup of lemon juice

2 pkgs. of. Frozen strawberries, using the juice as well
1 can crushed pineapple with juice
6 bananas, diced

Combine all ingredients. Pour into 9 x 13 inch pan. Freeze. Take out 30 minutes to 1 hour before serving. Put a scoop of the fruit ice into glass of your choice and fill remainder of glass with 7-UP. It's just fruity, fizzy fun on a hot summer day.

Share The Sweets

It's that time of year when the candy and cookie making bug hits. I know every year I have these great delusions of all the varieties of candies and cookies that I am going to make to share with family and friends. I would love to actually do that and there have been times that I actually have but extra time is a rare commodity these days and so are the extra dollars to spend on the rising cost of ingredients.
That is why I am always happy to find recipes that don't take a lot of time and give you a great deal for very little money. It's nice to know that we can still have the pleasure of making and sharing homemade goodies with our family and friends. It is recipes like these that always seem to make the holidays that much sweeter!

Easy Butter Cream Candy

1 pkg. (3 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. butter, softened
4 c. confectioners' sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
12 oz. chocolate chips, for coating candy

Beat cream cheese and butter in bowl until smooth. Blend in sugar and vanilla. Chill 1 hour - shape into 1 inch balls and chill overnight.

Melt chocolate in a double boiler or use your microwave and dip each ball using fork or toothpick. Dip each ball in chocolate until completely coated. Place on wax paper, parchment or silicone sheets to set.

Place candy in an airtight container and keep refrigerated.

Farfelletti Dolce

I can almost get by merely writing; "Fried Cookies", what more does anyone really need to know beyond that. Fried cookies pretty much tells us that these are delicious, addictive and yes got to have them right now! I grew up with these during the holidays even on my mother's side of the family they did a Polish version called;" Krusciki or Chrusciki they always were divided on the spelling so I am not sure which is actually correct.

The best way to describe these cookies to all of you would be those fried waffles that you would find at an amusement park or carnival. These cookies are crispy, a little greasy (in a good way) and pleasantly sweet without going overboard.

Italian Fried Cookies

6 eggs
3 tbsp. granulated sugar
3 c. flour
1/2 tsp. orange extract
Frying oil
1 tsp. almond extract
1/2 c. confectioners sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. butter, softened

Cut the butter into the flour as though you were making pie pastry or biscuits. In a separate medium-size bowl, beat together the eggs, sugar, extracts, and salt. Combine all and knead until you have a smooth ball. If the dough is too sticky, gradually add in a little flour.

Divide the dough into 4 or 5 sections and work with a small bit at a time, leaving the remainder covered. Roll each piece out on a lightly floured board to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut with a wavy edged pastry cutter into 6 inch by 1 inch strips. Tie each one into a bow shaped loose knot.

Deep-fry bows until lightly golden brown, drain on paper towels. Sprinkle well with confectioner's sugar.

It's Crunch Time

Between Halloween and Christmas there was always a tremendous amount of candy making taking place among our family. Each family member seemed to have that one particular candy that was theirs and theirs alone. Aunt Mimi was famous for her chocolate covered almonds, Aunt Elsie, it was her honey fudge and for Aunt Jay it was always her peanut brittle. There was only one candy that it seemed everybody made, my Mother and Grandmother included and that was chocolate haystacks. You know the ones with the Chinese noodles stirred into melted chocolate then mounded by spoonfuls onto wax paper to look like little haystacks. We all loved those mainly for the texture more than anything else because the noodles remained crisp. Well here is the exact same recipe but instead of the Chinese noodles this one uses Grape-Nuts cereal. These give the candy a tremendous crunch which goes quite nicely with the smooth creamy chocolate.

Grape-Nuts Chocolate Drops

2 pkg. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 (14 or 15 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1 c. Grape-Nuts
1 tsp. vanilla

Melt chocolate over boiling water, remove from heat. Stir until smooth; add milk and blend some more. Now add your Grape-Nuts and vanilla, drop from teaspoons onto waxed paper, cool until firm.

Yield: 5 dozen candies.

I wish you all a very happy, healthy and safe holiday season.

As Paula Deen would say: " Love and Best Dishes, Y'all! (I just love that)