Christmas Slush

 

1 large can pineapple-grapefruit juice

1 small can frozen orange juice with 3 cans of water

Bring to boil:

3 cups sugar

1 cup water

Mix all above and freeze. 

Serve with 7-Up.

New York Style Cheesecake

Crust:

1-1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup melted butter

Cheesecake:

3 pkgs. (8 oz each) cream cheese, at room temp.

1-1/4 cups sugar

4 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

2 tsp fresh lemon juice

Topping:

1 container (16 oz.) sour cream

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Prepare crust & press evenly on bottom of springform pan & up the sides about ½ inch. Beat cream cheese & sugar until blended. Beat in eggs, vanilla & lemon juice until blended. Pour onto crust. Bake for 50 minutes or until puffed & golden. Transfer to a wire rack & let stand for 15 min. Increase oven temperature to 450. Stir together sour cream sugar & vanilla & spoon over top of cheesecake. Bake 10 min, move to cooling rack. Refrigerate overnight.

White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

 For the crust:

1-2 cup Oreo crumbs

3 tablespoons white sugar

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

Use a food processor to crush up about 1/3 of a package of Oreos nice and fine.  Then add the sugar and melted butter and mixed it all up.

Press the mixture into the bottom of a springform pan.  (*Note: use parchment paper on the bottom of the pan for easier removal of the cheesecake later.)  Set aside.

For the raspberry sauce:

1 (10-12 ounce) package frozen raspberries

2 tablespoons white sugar

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1/2 cup water

Get out the frozen raspberries(they do not have to be thawed first) and empty the package into a saucepan.  Add the sugar, cornstarch, and water.

Slowly bring to a boil, stirring every few minutes.  Allow to boil for about five minutes, or until the sauce thickens.

Use a mesh strainer to separate the seeds and the sauce. Set aside.

For the cheesecake:

2 cups white chocolate chips

1/2 cup half-and-half cream

3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup white sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees and get out your double boiler, or fashion your own with a pot of simmering water and a glass bowl on top.  Once the water is simmering(not boiling!), pour the chocolate chips and half and half in the bowl and stir every few minutes until the chocolate is melted.

In between chocolate stirs, you can work on the cheesecake.

Use a large mixing bowl and mix together cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time. Blend in vanilla and melted white chocolate.

Pour about half of the cheesecake batter into the pan. Then drizzle three tablespoons of raspberry sauce over the top. Pour the remaining cheesecake batter into pan, and again drizzle three tablespoons of raspberry sauce over the top. Swirl batter with the tip of a knife to create a marbled effect.

Bake for between 55-60 minutes.  Watch carefully, because if you cook too long, you’ll end up with a crack in your cheesecake. When the center is almost set, take it out of the oven and cool on a wire rack.  Once cooled, cover with plastic wrap while still in the pan and refrigerate for at least 8 hours.  After it has set well, you can take it out of the pan and ENJOY! 

http://tothemoonandbackblog.net/2012/03/white-chocolate-raspberry-cheesecake.html

Papa and Mimi's Suckers

2 cups sugar

2/3 cup corn Syrup

1 cup water 

1/2 teaspoon oil flavoring

1/2 teaspoon food coloring ( or a few drops) 

1/8 teaspoon citric acid powder

Prepare molds by placing them on a cookie sheet with the stick inserted and the bands around the end of molds. Arrange molds on a flat surface. Spray both molds and surface with a light coat of cooking spray. Combine sugar, water, and corn syrup in a heavy duty saucepan. Cook to hard crack stage (300 Degrees). It seems like it takes a while to heat up at first but at the end it gets from like 280ish to 300 QUICKLY. So watch the candy thermometer closely! And do not over cook. Remove from heat. Add food coloring and stir gently, for one to two minutes. Add flavoring, and citric acid ( for fruity flavors), and stir until throughly mixed. Pour into molds. When suckers have set, remove from surface and molds. 

SOUR POWER: 

Use the regular mixture of sugar, corn syrup, and water and cook to 300. Remove from heat and add flavoring and color; COOL MIXTURE DOWN to 255; then add solution of 1 teaspoon citric acid dissolved in 1 Tablespoon of water, add to COOLED mixture and pour into molds. 

BUTTERSCOTCH:

After sugar, karo syrup and water dissolve and come to a boil and 1/4 cube of butter and 1/8 teaspoon of salt. Cook to 300 and remove from heat. 

CINNAMON: 

After adding cinnamon flavoring, walk throughout the house fanning your hand over the pot to make your house smell like Christmas, Papa style:)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Baked Oatmeal

Recipe makes 9x13 but I usually half for 8x8 (and I've never had flaxseed to add)

2 cups milk
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 cup melted coconut oil or butter
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
2 over-ripe bananas
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 cups oats (quick or old fashioned will work)
1/2 cup ground flaxseed
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2/3 cup mini chocolate chips

1-Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9x13 casserole dish with cooking spray.
2-In a blender, blend the first 8 ingredients, milk through salt.
3-In a large bowl, stir together the oats, flaxseed, baking powder, and cinnamon. Pour the wet ingredients in with the dry ingredients and stir until well combined. Finally stir in the chocolate chips.
4-Pour batter into greased casserole dish. Bake for about 30-35 minutes, until the edges are set but middle is still soft to the touch. I prefer to take it out on the softer side, because it carry-over cooks even after it's out of the oven.
5-Let cool for about 5 minutes. Serve warm with a little milk on top.

Denver Egg Casserole

• 9 large eggs
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/3 cup white onion finely diced
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 cup cheddar cheese shredded
• 1 1/3 cups ham diced
• 1/2 cup green pepper or red
• salt & black pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Cook onion in butter over medium heat until softened. Cool.
3. Whisk eggs and cream. Stir in remaining ingredients.
4. Pour into a greased 9x9 casserole dish.
5. Bake 30-35 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

*Instead of an onion I added some onion powder and minced onion. I did red bell pepper.  The outside looks too done, but it needs it for the inside to be cooked!

Einstein's Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake

2 C Flour
1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1 1/4 C Sugar
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 stick Butter (room temp)
2 Eggs (room temp)
1 C Sour Cream
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 C Chocolate Chips

Topping:
4 Tblsp Butter
1/4 C Flour
1/4 C Brown Sugar
1/2 C Chocolate Chips

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan. In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a small bowl, combine 1/4 C sugar and cinnamon.
2. Beat together butter and remaining 1 C sugar until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then beat in sour cream and vanilla. Fold into the flour mixture until just combined. Add cinnamon sugar mixture and chocolate chips. Spread into pan.
3. Mix together butter, brown sugar, and flour for topping. Crumble over top of batter. Sprinkle with chocolate chips.
4. Bake 30-35 minutes.