The True Reason.....

Its Christmas Eve and I wanted to remind everyone that the true reason for Christmas has nothing to do with that fat man with the white hair wearing a red suit.  The real reason for Christmas is due to the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Yesterday a co-worker told me a story.  She asked a couple of neighbor kids what Santa was going to bring them for Christmas.  Their answer was that Christmas was Jesus' birthday and there was no Santa.  So true!  There are so many kids that know Christmas as a time for Santa to visit and bring the gifts of their dreams and have no idea what the day truly stands for. They have no idea of what Jesus can give to them.  How can a Christian nation/world be carried on from generation to generation without teaching our children the true meaning of Christmas?

MERRY "CHRIST"MAS EVERYONE!!!!

A Review for Stir, Laugh, Repeat

I have to share this wonderful review for my cookbook Stir, Laugh, Repeat with everyone.  I love it!

“Stir, Laugh, Repeat” by Martha A. Cheves is not only a great cookbook, it is a fun read. The first day I received the book, I perused it to find a recipe to sample. In reading, I found these recipes, some for all meals and snacks, easy and quick. A recipe that takes only one paragraph to tell how to throw all the ingredients together for a scrumptious dish is my kind of book. Then Martha gives a little history for each recipe about how that food was used in her own cooking at home. But that’s not all. Following every recipe is a Tip for the cook. One of my favorites was:

“When my three kids were young, we would have a Mystery TV Dinner Night. Each night when I cooked dinner, before it went on the table, I would take a plastic sectioned plate and put a full serving of everything on the plate, wrap it in plastic wrap and then tightly wrap it in foil and put it into the freezer. On Mystery Night, everyone would go to the freezer and take out a dish. You couldn’t peek. Each plate would be microwaved and that was your meal for the night. You may have country fried steak, spaghetti, fish, even chili. It was fun watching the kids open their meals. They were never disappointed because I would make sure it was filled with food they liked.”

Martha Cheves knows how to feed her family and have fun too, and now shares her recipes with us. Oh yes, the recipe I chose to make first was the Strawberry Nut Crunch. I made it with Macadamia nuts. It was so delightful, I will make it again, and enough of it for about 50 people at a big celebratory potluck. I’ll also be taking this delightful book to share with others.

Cheers!
Mary
--

Mary Deal

Author, Painter, Photographer

2009 Eric Hoffer Book Award Winner

2009 Pushcart Prize Nominee

Writing site: http://www.WriteAnyGenre.com

Art Gallery: http://www.MaryDealFineArt.com

Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

1 cup peanut butter, crunchy
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 egg
24 chocolate Kisses with caramel or almonds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  With an electric mixer blend peanut butter, brown sugar and egg until smooth.  Shape into 1 1/2" balls.  Place 2" apart on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper.  Press one chocolate kiss into each cookie.  Bake 10 minutes.  Makes 24

So, good and so easy.  I made some using almonds and some using caramel filled kisses.  Both were delicious. 

Stir, Laugh, Repeat - Featured

I want to invite everyone to slip over to W. S. Gager on Writing's 12 Days of Christmas - Great Reads and Great Authors.  My cookbook Stir, Laugh, Repeat has been honored by being the feature for Day 8! 

Coconut Marshmallow Cookies

This is so simple to make.  It's nothing but a package of sugar cookie mix, 1/2 cup coconut and 3/4 cup mini-marshmallows.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix cookie mix according to package.  Add coconut and marshmallows.  Roll into 1" balls placing them 2" apart on a cookie sheet.  Bake 8 minutes.  Makes about 24 cookies.  You can decorate, as showing, with colored sugar or with chocolate sprinkles.  The recipe is kid friendly so let them use their imagination with decorating.

These cookies are soft with a chewy texture due to the marshmallows.  They may not look very pretty but they sure are delicious.   And of course, you can always change the flavor by changing the cookie flavor.  Chocolate, oatmeal, peanut butter, etc.

Christmas Goodie Bags

Every year I make up goodie bags for my "Food Testers."  This year's bag contained - starting at the top and going clockwise:

Coconut Marshmallow Cookies
Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies
Trail Mix Muffins
Coconut Macroons
Citrus Pecan Bars

I also included an assortment of "Bark Candy."

Over the next few days I'll post recipes for each item.

Breakfast Muffins

I seem to always be in a hurry in the mornings and don't have time for breakfast.  My Breakfast Muffins are so easy to make and perfect to take along for a to-go-breakfast.

4 eggs
6 sausage patties, cooked
1 cup shredded cheese
salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix together eggs, cheese, salt & pepper.  Place muffin papers in 6 muffin tins.  Place 1 piece of sausage in each cup.  Divide egg mixture between 6 muffins.  Bake 20-25 minutes or until eggs are set and done.

Changes - You can use bacon, link sausage cut into pieces or add sauted onions and green peppers. 

Marsha's Chess Pie

My dear friend from the past Marsha, tells me she reads me every day.  Well, she sent me a recipe to try.  She says this was her Mother's recipe for Chess Pie but she uses it to make pecan pie.  Well, here it is and I must say it's wonderful!

1 1/2 cups brown sugar (3/4 cup Splenda for diabetics)
2 Tbsp. melted butter
2 eggs
2 Tbsp. cream (Marsha uses sour cream, I used evaporated milk)
vanilla (I used 1 tsp.)
1/2 to 3/4 cups chopped pecans
unbaked pie shell

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Melt butter in microwave, add all ingredients, mix thoroughly (Marsha uses a spoon or whisk)  Pour into pie shell.  Bake 30-40 minutes.  Marsha tops her pie with cool whip or ice cream.

This pie makes one of the quickest, easiest Pecan Pies I've ever made.  The texture is a little different and the top does form a slight crust but this will be my one and only way of making Pecan Pies from now on.  I also want to give this a try with chunky coconut or maybe add a few chocolate chips.  The possibilities are only as far as your taste buds and imagination.

Creamy Pasta with Italian Sausage

This is a delicious dish that will feed a crowd of at least 8.  I chose Rotini due to it's shape which allows the sauce to stick to its crevices but you can use any pasta you want with this, even spaghetti.  Spice it up some by adding a cup of Parmesan, half inside the dish and the other half sprinkled on top.  Change the pasta sauce flavors.  Add sauted onions and bell peppers.  Think with your taste buds on this one. 

I served this dish with my "Crescent Knots."  They are made by spreading a thin layer of garlic butter over crescent rolls before rolling and baking.

For the full recipe go to Martha's Recipe Cabinet

Corn Dip

One of the men at work made this dish and brought it in today.  I’ll be posting it to my site but thought I would send it out to you just in case you miss it.  This is simple, delicious and a little hot.

 

1 pkg (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened

1 stick butter, softened

1 pkg. frozen white corn  (the kind that comes in a bag and the pieces are loose.  Not the box type.)

1 jar hot peppers, drained (unless you want this to be super hot, make sure you drain and don’t include any of the seeds)

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix cream cheese, butter and corn.  Spoon into a shallow dish (pie pan works great).  Bake 30 minutes, stirring every 10.  After 20 minutes, layer peppers on top (as many as you want.  Of course, the more the hotter).  Serve hot or cold with “scoping” type chips.  If you want it hotter, use seeds and juice in cream cheese mix.

 

Chocolate Snickerdoodles

These cookies are just in time for holiday baking and they are kid friendly.  

Bottom center - press a thumb print into the cookie ball before baking.  Fill hole with English Toffee Bits.  Place a pecan half on top of toffee.  Bottom Left - press candies into unbaked cookie balls.  Top Left - Press a large chocolate candy into unbaked cookie ball.  Top Right - Roll in cinnamon sugar before baking.  Bottom Right - Roll in cinnamon sugar with chocolate sprinkles.  Center - Roll in cinnamon sugar and press a pecan into the center of unbaked cookie ball. (makes 4 dozen)

These are just a few ideas.  Get the kids in the kitchen and come up with other ideas.

Find the full recipe by going to Martha's Recipe Cabinet

Consuming Fruit Correctly

EATING FRUIT...
This was sent to me by a friend and I found it quite informative, even though it is long.

We all think eating fruits means just buying fruits, cutting it and just popping it into our mouths.  It's not as easy as you think.  It's important to know how and when to eat. What is the correct way of eating fruits? 
 
IT MEANS NOT EATING FRUITS AFTER YOUR MEALS!  FRUITS SHOULD BE EATEN ON AN EMPTY STOMACH.
 
If you eat fruit like that, it will play a major role to detoxify your system, supplying you with a great deal of energy for weight loss and other life activities.
 
FRUIT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FOOD. 
Let's say you eat two slices of bread and then a slice of fruit.  The slice of fruit is ready to go straight through the stomach into the intestines, but it is prevented from doing so.  In the meantime the whole meal rots and ferments and turns to acid. The minute the fruit comes into contact with the food in the stomach and digestive juices, the entire mass of food begins to spoil.....
 
So please eat your fruits on an empty stomach or before your meals!  You have heard people complaining "every time I eat watermelon I burp, when I eat during my stomach bloats up, when I eat a banana I feel like running to the toilet, etc" actually all this will not arise if you eat the fruit on an empty stomach.  The fruit mixes with the putrefying other food and produces gas and hence you will bloat!

When you need to drink fruit juice - drink only fresh fruit juice, NOT
from the cans.  Don't even drink juice that has been heated up.  Don't eat
cooked fruits because you don't get the nutrients at all.  You only get
to taste.  Cooking destroys all the vitamins.

But eating a whole fruit is better than drinking the juice.  If you
should drink the juice, drink it mouthful by mouthful slowly, because
you must let it mix with your saliva before swallowing it.  You can go on
a 3-day fruit fast to cleanse your body.  Just eat fruits and drink fruit
juice throughout the 3 days and you will be surprised when your friends
tell you how radiant you look!
 
KIWI: Tiny but mighty.  This is a good source of potassium, magnesium,
vitamin E & fiber.  Its vitamin C content is twice that of an orange.

APPLE: An apple a day keeps the doctor away? Although an apple has a low vitamin C content, it has antioxidants & flavonoids which enhances the activity of vitamin C thereby helping to lower the risks of colon
cancer, heart attack & stroke.

STRAWBERRY: Protective Fruit. Strawberries have the highest total
antioxidant power among major fruits & protect the body from
cancer-causing, blood vessel-clogging free radicals.

ORANGE : Sweetest medicine.  Taking 2-4 oranges a day may help keep colds away, lower cholesterol, prevent & dissolve kidney stones as well as
lessens the risk of colon cancer.

WATERMELON: Coolest thirst quencher. Composed of 92% water, it is also  packed with a giant dose of glutathione, which helps boost our immune system.  They are also a key source of lycopene * the cancer fighting oxidant.  Other nutrients found in watermelon are vitamin C & Potassium.

GUAVA & PAPAYA: Top awards for vitamin C. They are the clear winners for their high vitamin C content.  Guava is also rich in fiber, which
helps prevent constipation.  Papaya is rich in carotene; this is good for
your eyes.
 

Turkey Burritos

When I review a book for an Author, I request they submit one of their favorite recipes.  I post the review and their recipe to my site A Book and A Dish.  Mary is the Author of Down to the Needle and when I asked that she send her recipe, she sent 2.  I posted her recipe for Nut Stuffed Acorn Squash with my review and decided, due to the holidays, I would share her leftover turkey recipe with everyone.  This is a good one!

Turkey Burritos

Sprinkle 1 large flat flour tortilla with a Hand full of Shredded Cheese (4-Cheese Mexican adds to the flavor.)
Liberally crumble left over Stuffing all over
Dot liberally with left over mashed potatoes (can also use steamed rice instead)
Layer small chunks of leftover turkey all over the top of this
Dot with butter or margarine.

(Do not include Yams. They will ruin the taste. Serve them on the side, if your wish.)

Roll into a burrito shape. Roll up in a paper towel.

Heat in microwave 1 minute, 1 1/2 minutes if you've made yourself a super burrito.

Serve with, of course, left over Cranberry Sauce.

This is the next best way to eating all the ingredients other than fresh from the oven. This is delicious, too, because you get a mouthful of all the flavors at once.

Cheers!

Mary Deal

Author, Painter, Photographer

2009 Eric Hoffer Book Award Winner

2009 Pushcart Prize Nominee

Writing site: http://www.WriteAnyGenre.com

Art Gallery: http://www.MaryDealFineArt.com