Oreo Truffles

Aren't these pretty?  Our four-year-old granddaughter is coming over to "help" me with a bit of Christmas baking.  I think she is going to like these!  I mean, what could be better than Oreos AND cream cheese?

Ingredients
1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 pkg. (16.6 oz.) OREO Cookies
(If you can find a box of Oreo crumbs, you will need about 41/4 cups.)
16 oz. semi-sweet baking chocolate squares (or a comparable amt. of semi-sweet chips), melted

What to Do
Crush 9 cookies and set aside. Crush the remaining cookies. You can use a food processor, or put them in a closed plastic bag and roll with rolling pin. Mix cream cheese and cookie crumbs (except for the nine you sat aside) until well blended.  Roll into 1 inch balls (makes about 42).  Dip into melted chocolate.  You can use two forks to gently roll the balls and remove them.   Place on baking sheet covered with waxed paper.  Sprinkle with reserved cookie crumbs.  Refrigerate until firm (about an hour).  Store tightly covered in refridgerater.  Or outside in the garage if you live in a cold winter climate like we do!

Note:  You can melt the chocolate in the microwave if you watch carefully and stir several times.  It will take about 2 minutes.  Or you can use a double boiler or a metal bowl over a pan of boiling water.

Cranberries in the Snow

I found this holiday recipe at Twirl and Taste.  Sounds so fun, and anything with cranberries and cream cheese in the same recipe sounds great to me! Now the question: Is this a salad?  Or is this a dessert?  Ah, I'll file it in both places.

Ingredients
1 package raw cranberries
3/4 cup water
1 (6-ounce) box cherry flavored gelatin
2 cups sugar
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup crushed pineapple, well drained
Chopped pecans
1 (7-ounce) jar marshmallow creme
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 pint whipping cream, whipped

What to Do
Cook raw cranberries in water until tender. Add gelatin and 2 cups sugar; stir well and cool. Then add celery, pineapple and pecans. Put into a 13 x 9-inch pan (glass looks pretty and shows the colors) and refrigerate until jelled.

Combine marshmallow creme, cream cheese and whipping cream; spread on top of jelled cranberry mixture.

Mountain Man Breakfast

This is our favorite crowd-pleasing breakfast when camping, made over coals in a cast-iron dutch oven. Today I am chopping the veggies in preparation for making it tomorrow a.m. for my church. We will cook three large batches in roasters. My kitchen smells amazing--a mix of Jimmy Dean sausage (my favorite), onions and peppers. Yum!

You can make it at home by layering ingredients in a large covered casserole dish.

The original recipe is from Lodge Cast Iron Cookware, but we added to it. The original version has hash brown style potatoes, meat, eggs and cheese. You can omit all the additional ingredients and with just those it will taste good. Just not ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS! ;-)

Layer the following in a dutch oven or casserole dish. If cooking in an oven, preheat to 350 degrees F.

1 lb. bag tater tots (or hash browns) deep fried or baked according to package directions
(If cooking in a dutch oven, cook potatoes in oil and then continue the recipe)
1 lb. cooked chopped bacon, ham or sausage (I like sausage best.)

Add some or all of the following:

one chopped onion
some chopped mushrooms
about 1 cup or more of chopped green pepper (we use a mix of green, red and yellow ones)
1 can of water chestnuts, chopped
about 1 cup sliced olives.

All of this is very approximate and we do cook the peppers and onions a bit beforehand.

Slightly beat 1 dozen eggs (or more if needed, depending on how many you are serving), and pour over the top of the potatoes and vegetables. Cover and cook till eggs are almost done. Add about 3 cups shredded cheese. (Lodge calls for 1 lb. cheese, but I think that's overkill.)

Cook till cheese is melted and eggs are done.

Serve with salsa if desired. I'm labeling this "make ahead" because you can cook everything except the eggs, tater tots and cheese beforehand and then layer it together the day you want to eat it.

Orange Marmalade French Toast Casserole

Ingredients

3 tablespoons butter, softened
1 (16-ounce) sourdough French bread loaf, or other fairly heavy white bread, cut into 1/2-inch slices (enough slices to cover the pan twice)
Cooking spray
1 (12-ounce) jar orange marmalade (I use sugar free or lite)
2 3/4 cups milk (low fat is fine)
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
6 large eggs
1/2 cup chopped pecans

What to Do:

Coat a 13 x 9 inch baking pan with cooking spray. Butter half the bread slices and arrange, buttered side down in a single layer in the pan. Spread marmalade evenly over bread. Butter remaining bread slices and arrange another layer, buttered side up.

Whisk together the milk, sugar, vanilla, spices and eggs. Pour this over bread, pushing top slices down into egg mixture if needed. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Sprinkle casserole with pecans. Bake at 350° (preheated) for about 45 minutes or until golden. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Notes:

It is fairly sweet if you do not use sugar free marmalade, but if you like you can serve with honey or pancake syrup to which you have added one teaspoon rind and two tablespoons juice per 1/2 cup.