Christmas & holiday recipe roundup!

Christmas season is in full swing and we wanted to highlight a few of our favorite holiday recipes. Christmas for me is about Christ, family and friends, giving and generosity and... food! Food always seems to play a part in creating memories, traditions and comfort. So, enjoy baking and giving away yummy treats, making memories over delicious meals, celebrating with friends at a party or giving your children something to get nostalgic about when they think back about Christmases of their childhood.

Happy holidays from all of us at Boy Cheese Sandwich!!!

• For Christmas morning:

Sausage Breakfast Casserole
German Pancakes
Apple Puff Pancakes
Amish Breakfast Casserole
Chile Casserole
Kathy's Coffee Cake
French Toast Casserole

• Christmas cookies and home-baked gifts:

Nana's Caramels
Chocolate-Dipped Pretzel Rods
Hot Fudge Sauce
Mom's Sugar Cookies
Waffle Brownies
Earthquake Cookies
Mint Brownies
Meltaways
Sand Art Brownies
Peanut Butter Bars
Easy Pretzel Turtles
Thin Mint Crackers

• Non-food gift:

Christmas Potpourri

• Christmas appetizers:

Cranberry Salsa
Wassail
Artichoke Dip

• Christmas salads:

Christmas Salad
Winter Fruit Salad with Lemon Poppyseed Dressing
Pear Salad

• Christmas desserts:

Gingerbread White Chocolate Blondies
Mom's French Pear Pie
Eggnog Cupcakes
Cranberry Bundt Cake with Warm Butter Sauce
Apple Torte with Lemon Sauce

• Meals for Christmas day, after presents -or- for Christmas Eve:)  Most are make-ahead, so you can just warm it up or bake it when family is around and hungry!

Three-Bean Christmas Chili
Classic Cheese Fondue
Chocolate Fondue (pictured below)
Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
Ski Country Pasta
Mom's Minestrone Soup
Cranberry Chicken
Mimi's Cafe Corn Chowder with Ham
Mom's Lasagna

Crumb-Topped Apple Pumpkin Pie

I LOVE Thanksgiving and am so excited that it's next week! If you can't decide between making a pumpkin pie and an apple pie, this recipe is perfect for you! I like the combination of 2 of my favorite Fall foods in one unique dessert! Recipe from Taste of Home.

1 sheet refrigerated pie pastry (I used my Mom's Pie Crust recipe HERE)
2 cups thinly sliced peeled tart apples
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

PUMPKIN FILLING:
1-1/2 cups canned pumpkin
1 cup fat-free evaporated milk
1/2 cup egg substitute
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

TOPPING:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
4-1/2 teaspoons cold butter
3 tablespoons chopped walnuts (I substituted pecans)

On a lightly floured surface, unroll pastry. Transfer pastry to a 9-in. deep-dish pie plate. Trim pastry to 1/2 in. beyond edge of plate; flute edges with your thumb. In a large bowl, combine the apples, sugar, flour, lemon juice and cinnamon. Spoon into crust.

In another large bowl, whisk the pumpkin filling ingredients. Pour over apple mixture. Cover edges with foil to prevent over browning, if necessary. Bake at 375° for 30 minutes.

For topping, combine flour and sugar. Cut in butter until crumbly; stir in walnuts. Sprinkle over pie. Bake 20-25 minutes longer or until a knife inserted into pumpkin layer comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Refrigerate leftovers. Yield: 10 servings.

Easy Lite Cheesecake

1 pkg 1/3 calorie cream cheese

1/3 cup light sour cream

1/3 cup sugar

Beat together until smooth

Then beat in 1 carton lite Cool whip

Pour into a graham cracker crust and chill for several hours

Serve with canned fruit pie filling or fresh sweetened berries

Key Lime Pie

My Dad's favorite dessert is Key Lime Pie so for his Birthday last week I decided rather than stopping by Marie Calendars like I usually do I would make homemade pies instead. They turned out great!!! This recipe is definitely worth sharing. 

recipe from allrecipes.com 

1 (9 in) graham cracker pie crust 

3 c. sweetened condensed milk 

1/2 c. sour cream (I use light) 

3/4 c. key lime juice (juice from about 20-30 key limes)

1 Tablespoon grated limes zest 

   Combine all ingredients in medium bowl and pour into crust. Bake at 350 for 5-10 minutes. Watch carefully...do not brown!!! Chill pie thoroughly before serving. Top with whipped cream. 

tip: Juicing the limes can be tedious (especially if you are making more than one pie) so use a garlic press or juicer if you have one to speed up the process.

No-Bake Cheesecake with Raspberry Sauce

This would be a perfect dessert to make for VALENTINE'S DAY! Our family has been making this No-Bake Cheesecake for years. It's much lighter and fluffier than other cheesecakes and this crust is divine! 

The recipe for the Raspberry Sauce is my creation. We've also used it on french toast, pancakes, crêpes, and angel food cake...

GRAHAM CRACKER CRUST:

     9 full rectangular graham crackers, finely crushed (1 1/2 cups)

     6 Tbs. butter, melted

     1/3 cup sugar

     1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Spray an 8 or 9" pie plate with non-stick cooking spray and set aside. (I use a springform pan.) Mix all ingredients together and press firmly into pie plate. Chill until cheesecake filling is ready.*

* Can bake at 375° F. for 7 minutes for other recipes, but for this recipe, it's best chilled.

           

CHEESECAKE:

     8 oz. light cream cheese, softened

     1/3 cup sugar
     1/3 cup light sour cream

     1/2 tsp. vanilla

     1 (8 oz.) container frozen whipped topping (such as Cool Whip), thawed in refrigerator

With an electric mixer, beat cream cheese, sugar, sour cream and vanilla together until smooth. Stir in Cool Whip until smooth. Carefully pour into unbaked graham cracker crust and chill at least 4 hours until serving. Top individual slices with chilled raspberry sauce.

RASPBERRY SAUCE:

     2 cups frozen raspberries (can also use fresh)

     2/3 cup sugar

     2 Tbs. cornstarch

     3/4 cup water

     1/2 tsp. vanilla

     1/4 tsp. almond extract

Place frozen raspberries in a saucepan with sugar and cornstarch. Pour water over raspberries and stir with a whisk until cornstarch is dissolved. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until sauce thickens. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and almond extracts. Chill until serving. Can heat to serve with pancakes or french toast. Store leftovers in refrigerator for up to a week.

Mom's French Pear Pie

This pie gets my vote for being both elegant and unique! Recipe from Nancy Miller...

Picture (above) is before pie was baked. The finished pie should be golden brown. Yum!

Mom's Pie Crust (click here for recipe)

Filling:

     4-5 (somewhat firm) pears, peeled sliced

     3 Tbs. frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed

Drizzle orange juice concentrate over sliced pears in a bowl.  Pile pears into a non-baked pie crust. Sprinkle with topping.

Topping:

     1 1/2 cup sugar

     1/3 cup butter, softened 

     3/4 cup flour

     pinch salt

I use a crust shield or wrap a thin band of tin foil around the exposed edge of the crust to prevent burning. Bake at 400° F. for 38-40 minutes, or until crust and topping are slightly browned. Serve warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Pictured above: Pear Pie with orange juice drizzle. 

Mom's Chocolate Cream Pie

We love this pie.... It is always the first to get eaten at our parties.

Pie crust (can use for any flavor pie)
4 c. flour
1 Tbs. sugar
2 tsp. salt
1 3/4 c. Crisco

Combine and beat for 2 minutes with wire wisk on mixer.

In seperate bowl beat together...
1/2 c. cold water
1 egg
1 Tbs. vinegar

Mix with flour mixture and let sit 15 minutes before rolling out. Roll out and form to greased pie dish. Bake at 425 for 20 minutes, cool completely, then fill with desired filling.

Chocolate Cream filling:
1 small package chocolate pudding (we use sugar free and it tastes great)
2 cups milk
1 carton cool whip
 top with whipped cream

Simple as that... Enjoy  :)