Nana's Spritz Cookies

These are the best tasting Spritz Cookies you will ever have.  However, using a cookie press takes a little getting used to.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream together (use a mixer)
1 cup Butter or Shortening at room temperature
1  3 Ounce package of Cream cheese

Add gradually
1 cup of Sugar

Beat in
1 Egg yolk
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 teaspoon finely grated orange rind

Sift together
2 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix dry ingredients a little at a time into wet ingredients.  Once completely mixed together,  fill your cookie press. ( you can divide dough and color it if wanted) Form cookies on ungreased cookie sheets.  They will not spread while baking.  Decorate with sugar, cinnamon-sugar, or chopped almonds.

Bake 12- 15 minutes, just until brown on bottom edges.  Remove at once from cookie sheets.

Cornish Hen Halves

Here's a Cornish Hen recipe for the grill, not the oven.

Take 4 cornish hens and half them lengthwise
2 small onions minced
2 tablespoons orange juice concentrate
1/2 cup red currant jelly
3 tablespoon Dijon Mustard
Salt and pepper

season hen halves with salt and pepper.  place cut side down on a grill with medium-low heat. combine all other ingredients well. Cook hens 10 minutes on each side. brush with well blended sauce  and cook 10 more minutes per side, basting with sauce.

Grilled Lemon Herb Chicken

Ingredients for lemon herb marinade:
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
grated rind of one lemon
2 tsp salt
1 tsp paprika
1 and 1/2 tsp onion powder
1 and 1/2 tsp crushed sweet basil
1/2 tsp crushed thyme
2 cloves crushed garlic
1 cup oil

Combine all ingredients and put in a freezer bag or container for marinating.
Add 1 frying chicken cut up in parts and marinate for 6-8 hours.
place on grill skin side up over medium heat. cook for 20 to 25 minutes basting often with marinade.
Turn over, cook for 20 minutes later. Serve once juices run clear.

Sauerbraten Style Meatballs

Ingredients
A package of Freezer meatballs, or 24 1 inch meatballs of your own recipe
2 cups water
1 cup unsweetened pineapple juice
2 cubes of beef bouillion
8 ginger snaps
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup raisins
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Hot cooked rice or noodles

In a medium saucepan bring water, pineapple juice, bouillon to boiling. coarsely crush gingersnaps, then add those along with brown sugar, raisins and lemon juice to the pot. Stir, cooking until gingersnap crumbs are dissolved. Add meatballs and simmer about 20 minutes or until meatballs are cooked through, stirring occasionally. Serve over hot cooked rice or noodles.

Hollandaise Sauce

I often shied away from making Hollandaise Sauce. After all, I kept hearing about how it 'breaks' easy and that it often doesn't work out and then you have to try again from the beginning. So I often used a package mix when it came to Hollandaise, it seemed delicious and was very easy to put together. No chance of breaking either.

One day I started some chicken and rice to suddenly discover there wasn't a package of Hollandaise handy. I did have plenty of butter, lemon juice, and farm fresh eggs on hand, but no Hollandaise mix. Out came the cookbooks, and in Get Saucy by Grace Parisi, I found a recipe to try.  The big key about Hollandaise sauce is heat. the temperature needs to be low enough so the eggs don't cook solid, but you still need to cook the eggs with the butter. I used a double boiler and was very cautious about the heat.

All the effort was well worth it. This Hollandaise sauce recipe is extremely rich, unlike a package mix.

Ingredients
2 extra large egg yolks (mine were smaller so I used three)
1 Tablespoon cold water
A pinch of salt
3/4 cup (1 & 1/2 sticks) of  cold unsalted butter cut into 1 inch cubes
1 & 1/2 Tablespoons lemon juice.
Cayenne pepper

Use a double boiler  or a steel bowl over a pan. Put 2 inches of water in the bottom pan and bring to a simmer. A simmer means the water hasn't boiled yet, but is almost hot enough to boil. Keep the water just below a boil for this whole process.

Put the egg yolks, water, salt in the top pan and whisk until it is warm to the touch.  Add a few (I used four) cubes of the butter, and whisk until the butter is almost completely integrated. Whisking constantly, continue to add a few pieces of the butter at a time, each time waiting until all the butter is added before adding more.   As you add the butter, this should be getting slightly thicker. If not, your heat might need to be a touch hotter. Whisk in the lemon juice. Then add cayenne pepper to taste.  Transfer this whole thing to a pitcher (I used a gravy boat) and serve immediately. If  you need to wait, keep warm by putting the pitcher into simmering water. If it gets too thick, thin with a tablespoon of simmering water.

Marbled Orange Fudge

Ingredients:
2-1/2 cups sugar
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup butter, cubed
1 pkg. (10 to 12 oz.) white
baking chips
1 jar (7 oz.) marshmallow creme
3 tsp. orange extract
12 drops yellow food coloring
9 drops red food coloring

1. Line a 13-in. x 9-in. pan with foil and coat with cooking spray; set aside. In a small heavy saucepan, combine the sugar, evaporated milk and butter. Cook and stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 4 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in chips and marshmallow creme until smooth.

2. Remove 1 cup and set aside. Add extract and food coloring to the remaining mixture; stir until blended. Pour into prepared pan. Pour reserved marshmallow mixture over the top; cut through mixture with a knife to swirl. Cover and refrigerate until set.

3. Using foil, lift fudge out of pan. Discard foil; cut fudge into 1-in. squares. Store in an airtight container in fridge.

Byron's Buttermilk Scones

Mix dry ingredients:

3 cups Flour
1/2 cup sugar
2&1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
3/4 teaspoon Salt

Then cut into the dry ingredients 3/4 cup cold butter until mixture is in crumbs the size of small peas.

Add 1 teaspoon grated lemon or orange zest & 3/4 cup berries.

Stir briefly and then add 1 cup Buttermilk.

Stir until soft dough hold together. You may need to add liquid as necessary but don't over mix. Dough will be fairly soft. Form into 2 circles 6-8 inches wide and 2-3 inches high. cut them into wedges. Bake on ungreased  cookie sheet at 425 degrees for about 12-15 minutes until lightly browned.

Mom's Key Lime Pie

Ingredients
1 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk
4 egg yolks
3 or 4 ounces of Key Lime Juice
1 9' graham cracker shell

Instructions
Combine milk and egg yolks at a low speed. Slowly add juice mixing until well blended. Pour into a 9' graham cracker pie shell. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. cool. Top with whipped cream or meringue and enjoy.

Citrus Slice an Bake Cookies

Something a little different to mix in with the Christmas cookies:

To make the cookies:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
l 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup Butter,
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon grated orange peel
1 egg
2 teaspoons lemon extract

To make the rind:
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted
4 drops yellow food coloring
2 drops red food coloring

For cookies, in large mixer bowl combine all cookie ingredients. Beat at low speed, scraping bowl often, until well nixed, 2 to 3 minutes. Mold dough into 2 rolls each 6 inches long. Make longer rolls if you want smaller  slices, but you may need to make more rind if you shrink the size of the cookie. Wrap in waxed paper; refrigerate at least 2 hours.

For rind, in medium jar combine granulated sugar and yellow food coloring;cover. Shake until well blended, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove half colored sugar; add red food coloring to remaining sugar. Cover; shake until well
blended, 1 to 2 minutes. Heat oven to 375°. Cut each roll in half lengthwise; brush with 2 tablespoons melted butter. Roll 2 halves in yellow sugar and 2 halves in orange sugar. Cut rolls into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.