Recipes

Pumpkin Cheesecake with Gingersnaps

A dollop of nutmeg-sprinkled whipped cream and a gingersnap cookie garnish this rich, moist cheesecake.

CRUST INGREDIENTS
1/3 cup crushed gingersnap cookies
1 tablespoon butter, melted
CHEESECAKE INGREDIENTS
2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
4 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
4 large eggs
1 (15-ounce) can cooked pumpkin
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
GARNISH INGREDIENTS
Sweetened whipped cream, if desired
Ground nutmeg, if desired
16 (1 1/2-inch) gingersnap cookies

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat oven to 325°F. Stir together crushed gingersnap cookies and melted butter in small bowl; sprinkle on bottom of 9-inch springform pan (will just lightly coat bottom).
2. Combine brown sugar and cream cheese in large mixer bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy (3 to 4 minutes). Continue beating, adding eggs one at a time, until creamy (1 to 2 minutes). Add all remaining cheesecake ingredients. Continue beating, scraping bowl often, until well mixed (1 to 2 minutes).
3. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour 20 minutes to 1 hour 40 minutes or until set. Turn off oven; leave cheesecake in oven for 2 hours. Loosen side of cheesecake from pan by running knife around inside of pan. Cool completely.
4. Cover; refrigerate 8 hours or overnight. Store refrigerated.
5. To serve, pipe sweetened whipped cream on each serving; sprinkle with nutmeg. Garnish with gingersnaps.

Here is one of my favorite holiday recipes- eggnog cookies! Each year Randy and I bake over 120 doz. cookies for friends and family- these go perfectly with a glass of home made eggnog - Laurie.

Eggnog Cookies

INGREDIENTS
2 1/2 C. Flour, all purpose
1 t. Baking powder
1/2 t. Cinnamon, ground
1/2 t. Nutmeg, ground
1 1/4 C. Sugar, white
3/4 C. Butter -- salted, softened
1/2 C. Eggnog
1 t. Vanilla extract
2 Egg yolks
1 T. Nutmeg, ground

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 400°F. In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg. mix well with a wire whisk and set aside.

In a large bowl cream sugar and butter with an electric mixer to form a grainy paste. Add eggnog, vanilla and egg yolks and beat at medium speed until smooth.

Add the flour mixture and beat at low speed just until combined. Do not overmix.

Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased baking sheets, 1 inch apart. Sprinkle lightly with nutmeg.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until bottoms turn light brown. Transfer to cool, flat surface immediately with spatula.

This was a winning entry at my workplace.

"Winning" chicken wings

2 cups white sugar
2 cups brown sugar
10 oz Kikomann light soy or Teriyaki sauce
2-3 family style packages of wings

mix 1st 3 ingredients together and pour over wings......bake at 350 for 2-3 hours basting and turning. That's it! Enjoy

Maple Pecan Pie

1 unbaked 9” pie shell

1 ½ cups of pecans (Walnuts can be substituted a different flavor)

¼ cup melted butter

2 tsp. vanilla extract

½ tsp. salt

2 Tbs. white flour

3 eggs, well beaten

1 cup maple syrup

1 cup of light cream or canned milk

Preheat oven to 375o

Spread the nuts evenly over the bottom of the unbaked pie shell. In a large bowl mix the

melted butter, vanilla and flour. Add the salt, eggs, maple syrup and cream and mix

thoroughly. Pour the liquid mixture carefully over the nuts in the pie shell. The nuts will float so push them down in the liquid to wet them so that they won’t burn during baking.

Bake for 50- 60 mins., until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool pie before serving. This pie is especially good with whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Corn Bread

L ½ cups yellow cornmeal

1 cup whole wheat flour

l cup unbleached white flour

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ cup of melted butter

2 cups buttermilk (or 4 Tablespoon white vinegar in 2 cups of milk and allowed to sit for 5 min.)

½ cup milk

l/2 cup maple syrup

2 eggs beaten

1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350.

Butter 9 x 13 baking pan. Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. In another large bowl combine the wet ingredients. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Pour the mixture into the baking pan. This can be a very wet mixture but don’t worry as it becomes dry as it cooks. Bake 25- 30 mins. or until the center springs back when gently touched. Allow to cool about 10 minutes. This will make 12 large pieces of cornbread. It is delicious toasted the next day.