Christmas yummies

My friend Jackie posted a blog about 7 foods she totally loves during the Christmas season. She challenged all of us fellow bloggers to make a list of our 7 faves and post for all to see. So here is my list of 7 (or so) Christmas yummy foods.

1. Cookies I totally love cookies and I seem to go through a lot more this time of the year. My personal favorite is oatmeal chocolate chip. I have a great recipe that I got from a cookbook my mother in law gave me some years ago. I have also found through trial and error that going half butter and half Crisco seems to produce the best results. When I'm not doing oatmeal chocolate chip I do peanut butter, chocolate chip, snickerdoodle, or sugar.

2. Green bean casserole Is there any more perfect food than this?? I prefer the french sliced in my casserole but the regular cut works ok too. My version has me using extra mushrooms, less milk for the cream soup (makes it richer and creamier) and those lovely crunchy onions in the middle and on top. I actually had the chef prepare this version for the buffet at my wedding.

3. Mashed potatoes I'm a spud lover. I love just about anything that comes from a potato, lefse (for those that are not of the Scandinavian heritage it is a flat bread made from potatoes), potato chips, french fries, potato oles, buttered new potatoes..and the list goes on and on. Over the years I have been able to cut down on the need for gravy. Of course, the more butter the better. Yes, I can tell the difference between box and real but if the box version is flavored that's ok. However, if you wanna do Christmas dinner right then boil and mash and don't forget the milk and butter.

4. People puppy chow I used to not really like this when I was younger. However, once I came upon a recipe that worked for me and with a few tweaks, well lets just say I have changed my ways. I usually make this for hubby's co-workers and the bowl always comes back empty. I also like to give it as a gift to others and it seems to be well received. My puppy chow involves using the Hy-Vee brand of Crispix cereal and milk chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet and I use extra powdered sugar to coat everything. Don't forget to use creamy peanut butter since it melts so much smoother that chunky.

5. Chocolate Well actually, I could do a 7 list of just chocolate things but I'll just lump them all in this entry. Hersey's Kisses top my list of seasonal chocolate. They taste the same in December as they do in October or March but it's the pretty red and green wrapping foil that does it. Same for the red an green M&M's. Also on the list are those wonderful Advent Calenders they sell that have 24 or 25 little windows that you open up each day in order to count the days till Christmas. Chocolate every day, now that's what I'm talking about.

6. Pizza Yes, this is one of my stranger items but it does have a nice story to it. For quite a few years my family would go out for pizza on Christmas Eve after church. Great tradition, except for the year almost everyone got sick from the pizza but even that is a special (tragic but still special) memory. I still like to do pizza on Christmas Eve whenever I can, even if the loving husband likes to do the traditional oyster stew.

7. Candy canes Oh wonder of all wonders the candy cane. I look forward to these lovely sweet happy treats. I know they are the same thing as those little round peppermint candies you can buy but it's just not the same. There is something about hanging them on a tree or putting one on a package as a decoration or even wrapping a brown pipe cleaner on it and gluing eyes and a nose to make Rudolph that brings out the kid in me. I don't put them on my tree since they would be gone in a matter of minutes, eaten by the kids. They also serve a very useful purpose...you use it as a stir stick for the hot cocoa.

Honorable mentions

My oatmeal scotchie bars A few years ago I accidentally bought a package of butterscotch chips. Hubby is not all that fond of butterscotch and neither am I but I was not about to waste a perfectly good package of chips so I just made the bar recipe on the back of the bag. It turns out that the rest of my extended family are HUGE butterscotch lovers and these bars disappear whenever I make them

Coca Cola Cold I do a post without mentioning this wonderful drink? Now admit it, you were singing "I'd like to teach the world to sing... I'd like to buy the world the Coke and keep it company..." in your head weren't you? If that one is a little too old then think polar bears or the Santa trucks. Either way, nothing says Merry Christmas like a nice cold Coca Cola.

There you have it, my list of 7 or so foods that I love this time of the year. If you have any questions or want a recipe then let me know. I love sharing.