When I think about Christmas I always remember Mom & I making cookies. Here is a recipe for my favorite cookies, and they are so easy to make.

No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

2 cups sugar
1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
1/2 cup Pet milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 tablespoons cocoa
1/2 cup peanut butter
3 cups oats
In a medium saucepan, combine all ingredients except peanut butter and oats and cook over medium heat. Let boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly
Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter and oats.
Spoon out quickly onto wax paper. Cookies will harden as they set.

Sounds good, I spent the weekend making chocolate chip, mint chocolate chip, pumpkin, sugar w/pistachios and cherries, macadamia nut, peanut butter cookies and brownies. Still not finished, but should be this week. By the time I get through baking all of this, I don't want any. Of course, I have to sample while baking. My all time favorite is key lime pie, no matter what the occasion. But the pumpkin cookies w/cranberries are really pretty tasty.

When I think of Christmas cookies, I think of my grandmother making KNOTS - roll the dough, tie the end in a knot, pull it off, and start again... I NEVER could make KNOTS... She also made CHI CHIS - little balls soaked in honey and covered in sprinkles. But my all time favorite Christmas cookies are the butter spritz cookies we made with her old hand turned cookie press. I still use the press I took to college in 1976. It still makes great spritz cookies.

Not cookies, but fudge. My mother made the best penuche. People requested it from her all the time and they'd hope to get some. She'd make several batches and hand them out for gifts. She's been gone since 1996 and I've yet to find a penuche to compare to hers. Recipes are fine, but oftentimes the technique is the key. I've never been able to duplicate it.

Yummy! I love this time of year with all the decorations, food, and excited children.

Dave, I found that most recipes are lacking a secret ingredient. There's a pinch of something that's just not in there. Much truth about having a knack for cooking though. Just because you can read music, doesn't mean you can play it.

Sonny

My favorite would be Peanut Butter Blossom cookies--those peanut butter cookies with the Hershey's kiss or chocolate star in the middle. I freeze them to avoid temptation, but it doesn't work because they taste just as good frozen!!

Nadine

My favorite is my Mom's Cherry Delight!

It is some kind of cherry and cream cheese, with a graham cracker crust pie.

Dwayne

My Fav. is sweet potatoe pie....Yummy

Spirit, that sounds good to me too!

I wanted to surprise my family and bake a nice Holiday cake to take. I decided on a rum cake, now I have 100 different recipes to decide on.

Help!

And thanks,

Dwayne

Let's see, I vote, drink the rum and buy a cake in the store. Seriously though, I love the rum balls, and the only rum cake I've ever had was the fruit cake soaked in it. Do they have a recipe for the ones they sell in the islands?

Penny, I was about to consider doing just that!

I narrowed it down to this one. It is supposed to be like an island cake, and looks easy enough that hopefully even I won't mess it up.

Dwayne

Every Christmas my wife's best friend gives us a fruit cake that is to die for. We always look forward to getting one. We've been trying to get the recipe, but she won't share her secret. Oh well, that's one of the things that makes Christmas so special.


Sonny

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Sonny V,

Yummo Dwayne, that sounds good enough for me to try to make it. Doesn't look too terribly hard, so I wouldn't mess it up too bad.

Dwayne, that recipe is very similar to the Bacardi Rum Cake that I have made for years. It is luscious! The only differences that I see is in the liquids. For the cake, mine calls for 1/2 c water; 1/4 cup oil; and 1/2 cup Bacardi Dark Rum.

The glaze has 1 cup sugar; 1/2 cup margarine; 1/4 cup water; and 1/2 cup rum.

I use pecans instead of walnuts because my husband prefers pecans.

If you don't want a strong rum taste, your recipe would probably be better. Mine packs quite a punch!! But it's good.

Enjoy.

Nadine

Thanks Nadine! I was wondering about using pecans because I saw another recipe that used them. I like them better too! So pecans it will be.

I was going to use Myer's for the rum. I have to get some though. I have some Captain Morgans but I don't guess that would work?

Dwayne

My family owns a large fruitcake company in northern Georgia but I never developed a taste for the stuff. I guess that I am still a kid in my holiday cookie cravings. I can't get enough of my mother's sugar cookies with the multicolored sprinkles on them. Some are star shaped, christmas tree shaped, etc. etc. She always bakes them for me and I sit down with a cold glass of WHOLE milk (none of that wimpy 2% stuff for these cookies) and let my mind wander back to simpler times.

The rum cake is done!

I ended up using pecans and walnuts. I used Myers's original dark rum, and the liquid measurements Nadine uses. I could not use all the glaze though, as it smelled strong! Have not tasted it yet, as we are taking it for Christmas dinner at my parent's house. It sure smells wonderful though!

The Ham is going in the oven next! I have a whole Smithfield smoked ham. It has been covered with honey, cracked pepper, and brown sugar. All this baking and cooking can be tedious, I see why Julia Childs took a nip at the sherry..Thank God she didn't have Jamaican rum on her counter!..<hiccup>

Merry Christmas everyone!

And best wishes for us all to have a Healthy and Happy New Year!

Dwayne