Holiday Recipes from our Treat Tray

Holiday recipes from our Treat Tray! This year we spent a night making a bunch of holiday treats together. We had never done this before and thought it was a great family activity! We then loaded some trays up with these yummy treats and took to friends and neighbors. It was a lot of fun! Here are the recipes from our Treat Tray so you can make them too!

Crab Cheese Ball

8 oz cream cheese, softened

8 oz cheddar cheese, grated

3 green onions, chopped

1 cup shredded crabmeat

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/8 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 tsp lemon juice

Combine all ingredients (except cheese). Form into a ball. Roll in grated cheese. 

Chill several hours, serve with crackers.

Candy Cane Blossoms

1 bag Hersheys Kisses brand Candy Cane Kisses

1/2 cup butter,softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg

2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

2 TBSP milk

red and green colored sugar

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove wrappers from candies.

Beat butter, sugar, vanilla and egg in large bowl until well blended. Stir together flour, baking soda, and salt; add alternatively with milk to butter mixture, beating until well blended.

Shaped dough into 1 inch balls. Roll in red or green sugar colored sugar. Place on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 8 - 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned and cookies are set. Remove from oven; cool 2 - 3 minutes. Press candy kiss into center of each cookie. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool Completely. Yields 35 cookies.

Homemade Fudge

5 oz can evaporated milk
12 oz choc. chips
2 TBSP butter
1 3/4 cups real sugar
1 cup small marshmallows, heaping cup

Combine sugar, evaporated milk and butter in medium, heavy duty saucepan.

Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Once boiling, stir constantly for 4 minutes. Remove from heat.

Add morsels and marshmallows all at once. Stir vigorously until morsels and marshmallows are melted.

Immediately pour the mixture into an 8 x 8 inch pan, smooth top. Refrigerate for 2 hours or until firm.

Cut into pieces and serve or cover and refrigerate.

*TIP* We added a few drops of an extract, such as: rootbeer, raspberry, mint, etc. to give it a unique flavor.

Rice Bag Gift

Last year I found a tutorial on how to make a rice bag. I had wanted to make a rice bag for my husband's birthday. I was looking for the PERFECT rice bag tutorial. There are many, many versions that just don't hold a candle to this one (in my opinion).

After I gave him the rice bag, other family requested I make one for them too. I have made quite a few this year. I made one for a friend, for the two ladies I visit teach, two for a trade gift for a christmas party and six for family. They are soo easy to make and I think its really fun!

I added my own twist to this tutorial though. I make a cover or a "sleeve" as I like to call it. It prevents the rice bag from becoming yucky in the microwave and you can wash the sleeve! Of course, if you don't want to, you don't have to make one for yours.

rice bag and sleeve

Here's the tutorial: http://www.thegreenwife.com/2010/04/02/heating-pad-tutorial/
                                                          Have at it!

To make the sleeve:
1. Cut one 17" x 14 1/2" piece of fabric.
2. Fold and pin the short sides under by approximately 1/4" and sew.
3. Take it and put right sides together (lengthwise) and pin and sew.
4. Iron seam flat and turn inside right. You're done!
5. Slide rice bag into sleeve.

Christmas Pecan Balls

                                                                                                 Christmas Pecan Balls

We made these Christmas cookies when my husband's family came over the other day. The recipe is my husband's grandma's recipe. I think they'd be great to make for neighbors, friends or family and they are very easy to make!

1 cup butter
4 TBSP sugar
1 TBSP vanilla
2 cups finely chopped pecans
2 cups flour
powdered sugar

Mix butter and sugar. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Form into balls. Bake 15-20 mins at 375 degrees. Roll in powdered sugar - cool slightly and roll in powdered sugar again.

Felt Food

Last year for Christmas we got my daughter some plastic play food. It was a package of fruit pieces and a package of vegetables. Throughout this year, I've realized what a bad decision it was on my part. These are the problems I have with them:
1. She has no clue what to do with any of it because its just a bunch of fruit and vegetables and certainly nothing you could put together in a dish that would make any sense.

2. We had got her menus to go with it, but the menus have meal choices that she doesn't even have. So when you "order" a milkshake. She brings you a bowl that consists of a mushroom, a lemon and an eggplant. Yummy!

3. They're plastic! She has figured out that she likes to bend them in with her teeth and then brings them to us to fix them. Ha ha. Ya like thats going to happen.

So... when I had to come up with Christmas present ideas, different fake food was first on my list! I decided on making felt food. I'm also considering crocheted food, but I haven't messed with that yet. I have made quite a bit for her Christmas and am planning on adding to it for her birthday and making her new menus with what she will have. Here's what I have made:

pancakes, eggs, bacon, cinnamon rolls and blueberry muffins

Chips and chip bag with sandwhich bread, lettuce, cheese, bologna and tomato

oranges, apples, green beans, strawberries, popcorn, banana slices, crackers with cheese and PB and J sandwhich

chocolate cookies, chocolate pie, Neapolitan ice cream scoops, waffle cone, brownies, sugar cookies, donut

Anyways...
I'd like to share the tutorials that I used to make these awesome felt treats! Sometimes I didn't follow the tutorial completely and did my own thing from looking at pictures.

crackers
strawberries
pancakes, eggs, bacon, apples, oranges
cinnamon rolls
ice cream
 donut
brownie and cookies
popcornsandwich and chips with chip bag