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Christmas Cookies

christmas-11One of our favorite Christmas traditions is to take a night during December to bake and decorate Christmas cookies. Having a good dough recipe is important, but to be honest, having a variety of icings and “sprinkles” is what makes it festive and fun. There is something heart-warming about sitting around the table together with a pile of cookies to be iced and decorated and everyone creating their own masterpiece.

Christmas Cookies

Ingredients:
2 cups butter
3 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
2 eggs
5 cups flour, sifted
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp cream of tartar

Directions:
Cream butter and sugar in a mixer and add vanilla and almond extract. Add eggs one at a time. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Slowly add dry ingredients into the mixer. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper and scoop dough onto cookie sheet and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 9 minutes. Allow to cool before frosting.

Frosting

Ingredients:

3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup butter
Vanilla (if you like it in frosting)
Approximately 2 Tablespoons milk; add slowly so that you can keep the right consistency
Sprinkles for decorating

Directions:
Cream butter and sugar in a mixer and add vanilla.

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Suzy’s Blueberry Coffee Cake

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Start your morning off with some excitement! This is a wonderful recipe to make for a brunch, luncheon or even a mid-night snack! It is pure heaven!

Suzy’s Blueberry Coffee Cake

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup butter, at room temperature
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ tablespoon grated lemon rind
2 cups fresh blueberries
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift the flour with the baking powder and salt. In a large mixing bowl beat the butter with the granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, milk and vanilla. Fold in the flour mixture, mixing well until evenly blended to a batter. Mix in the lemon rind. Spread half the batter into a greased 13x9x2 inch-baking dish. Sprinkle with 1 cup of the berries. Top with the remaining batter and sprinkle with the remaining berries. Bake until golden brown, 35-45 minutes. Mix the confectioners’ sugar gradually into the lemon juice to make a smooth glaze. Drizzle the glaze over the warm coffee cake and allow it to set before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature.

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Cajun Eggs

Get your day started with this over the top dish. This is an absolute must for breakfast or brunch. You just can’t go wrong with the Holy Trinity of goodness packed in these delightful eggs. We guarantee this will be a sho nuff crowd pleaser… You can bank on it!

Cajun Eggs

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons butter, divided
1 large can petite diced tomatoes, drained
½ cup celery, diced
½ cup bell pepper, diced
½ cup onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
4 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
2 dashes hot sauce
Cajun Seasoning, to taste
10 boiled eggs
Bread crumbs and butter

Directions:
In a large skillet melt 2 tablespoons of butter. Sauté the tomatoes, celery, bell pepper, onion and garlic until the vegetables are soft. In a skillet make the cream sauce. Melt the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter, slowly add flour and stir until incorporated. Slowly add the milk and continue to stir until the milk and flour mixture is smooth. Combine tomato mixture and white sauce. Season with the Cajun Seasoning amd hot sauce. Grease 19 x 13 x 2 casserole dish. In the bottom of the dish place a layer of the eggs and then top with tomato and cream mixture. Continue until all the ingredients have been used. Top with bread crumbs and dot with butter. Bake in a 350 degree oven until thoroughly heated, about 20 – 25 minutes. Serve on top of the Sister’s Plantation Grits!

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Leesburg, Georgia Friends!

I am extremely thankful for my friends and family. I was reminded yesterday how significant old friends are. With all the demands life seems to bring us, sometimes we seem to forget those special bonds you have with childhood friends. There is nothing like it! I feel like there is no substitute! The bond that each one of us has is priceless! There have been many miles that separated us for many years but the ties we all share have kept us so close. We have shared marriages, divorces, births, deaths, college degrees, sadness and so much laughter and have remained true to each other. I am so fortunate to have some of the smartest women surrounding me in my life; there is not one of us that are a dumbass! We are all so talented in different ways. We are creative, motivated, intelligent, strong, determined women! We remain strong in our beliefs and remain respectful to each other even if we have different viewpoints. We just seem to all fit like a puzzle.

We are housewives, mothers, successful businesswomen and world travelers and we all are the best at what we do. We all are accomplished women and who would have ever thought it! Growing up in Leesburg, Georgia and being educated in a small hick town would have turned out some of the finest women that God ever created.

Each one of my friends has given me a beautiful journey through their eyes. I just want to tell each and every one of you how grateful I am to have you in my life and thank you for giving me the time of my life. Although I have never flown on an airplane I have traveled all over the world with my friends. Through them I was able to see some of the wonders of this world. I have traveled the world through the eyes of my brilliant minded friend Kim. I was able to see foreign lands through all her escapades in the Peace Corp. With Claire my other brilliant minded friend, I was able to travel to Germany and see all the beautiful countries that she visited when she and her family moved there. Through my other girlfriend we made many travels together and it has been unbelievable. All our beach trips, concerts, country cooling, driving back roads and some I want mention! We have had such a tremendous ride!

We are all truly blessed; thank you for always being my friend! My life has been so complete having each and every one of you to share it with!
Happy Thanksgiving my beautiful friends!

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Beef Soup in a Bread Bowl

We are just going to go ahead and tell you, your family is going to love this recipe. I made this last night and Andy loved it. This is one of Suzette’s recipes and it is out of sight. It is great on a cold winter night. It leaves you feeling warm and all good inside. This recipe can be easily adapted for the Crock pot. Don’t be afraid to change up this recipe and add some different vegetables to it. I added 2 parsnips and turnip roots and left out the potatoes.

Beef Soup in Bread Bowl

Items you will need-
2 ½ pounds beef stew meat
½ cup all purpose flour
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons oil
1 medium onion, sliced
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
5 cloves garlic, minced
5 red potatoes, diced
1 16 ounce package of baby carrots
1 large eggplant, peeled and diced
1 cup red wine
1 can beef broth
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 Bay leaves
2 tablespoons dried parsley
1 beef bouillon
4 sour dough bread rounds

Let’s get this soup on-
Get you a large Dutch oven out or a large black skillet with a lid. Get you some oil and heat it over medium heat. While your oil is heating, season your beef with salt and pepper. Don’t be stingy with the salt and pepper, season it up good. Next you want to dredge the meat in the flour. Your oil should be good and hot by now. Add your meat to the pot. You’re gonna want to cook the meat until it is golden brown. Remove the meat and add your onions, mushrooms and garlic and cook for about 5 minutes. When you start smelling the garlic it is time to add the potatoes, carrots, and eggplant. Stir those vegetables good. You want the vegetable to be coated with all that goodness from the pot. Keep on cooking for about 5-7 minutes. Doesn’t that smell savory? Throw that meat back into the pot. Go on and increase your heat to medium high and slowly stir in the red wine. Don’t be getting you a nip off of the wine, just add it to the pot. Next add the beef broth, Worcestershire sauce and bay leaves, continue to stir until it your gravy thickens up. Man, this going to be some srumdidilyumptious. Reduce heat to low and add the bouillon cube. Now it is time to get you a piece of lite bread and sop up some of that broth and taste it. You got to know if it needs anything. Does it need anything? If so add it. If not cover that pot and cook until meat is fork tender, that could take anywhere from 1 ½ – 3 hours. Right before the soup is ready cut the top off of the bread rounds and remove the inside of the bread. Cube the bread and toss it with olive oil and garlic salt. You are going to want to brush the bread rounds too. We don’t want to make them jealous. Bake in a 350 degree oven until toasted. Once the stew is ready; remove bay leaves and garnish with the parsley. Get ready for some fine eating folks. Ladle that hot and tasty soup into the bread bowls, add the toasted bread to the top of soup and savor each and every bite.

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Succotash with Bacon and Sour Dough Croutons

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This is a nice change from your ordinary succotash. The bacon adds a lot of flavor and goodness to the vegetables. We love the croutons on top for that extra crunch.

Succotash with Bacon

Get-
½ pound bacon
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small Vidalia onion
1 clove garlic chopped
2 cups diced roma tomatoes, drained
1 pound fresh or frozen Butter peas (cooked according to directions and drained)
1 11 oz can mexicorn
1 11 oz white shoe peg corn
¼ cup basil
2 tablespoons butter
Salt and pepper to taste
½ teaspoon sugar (optional)

Let’s do it-
Get your large black skillet out fry that bacon over medium heat until crisp. Drain bacon on paper towels and crumble. Pour off all of the drippings but about 1½ tablespoon bacon fat. Add oil to bacon fat and cook onions over medium heat, stirring, until softened. Add your garlic and tomatoes; cook until tomatoes are heated and garlic is fragrant. It should be smelling pretty darn good right about now. Add bacon, peas, corn and basil. Stir around making sure that all of the vegetables are coated in that goodness. Cook until veggies are warm. Taste mixture and season with salt, pepper and sugar. Toss with sour dough croutons and serve immediately.

Croutons:
What you need-
2 cups of sour dough bread, cut in cubes
2 tablespoons olive oil
Garlic salt to taste

How to-
Brush bread with oil and season with garlic salt. Lightly oil a frying pan and heat over medium high heat until hot but not smoking. Grill bread until golden brown and toasted on both sides.

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Roasted Squash and Eggplant

Roasted Squash and Eggplant

Ingredients:

4–6 yellow squash, cubed
1 large eggplant, cubed
1 large onion, chopped
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons basil
¼ cup olive oil

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil. Toss vegetables with seasoning and olive oil. Bake for 25 -30 minutes, or until vegetables reach desired tenderness.

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Roasted Root Vegetables with Pine Nut Pesto

Roasted Root Vegetables with Pine Nut Pesto

Gather these ingredients-

½ pound carrots cut into 1 inch pieces
½ pound turnip roots, peeled and quartered
½ pound sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 pound parsnips cut into 1 inch pieces
1 pound Brussels sprouts, halved lengthwise
1 large eggplant, peeled and cut in 1 ½ inch pieces
2 large shallots cut in half
4 thyme sprigs
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
¼ cup pine nuts
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon butter
¼ cup of parmesan cheese

Let’s make it-

Turn your oven to 475 degrees and let it preheat. Get you a large bowl and toss vegetables, shallots, thyme and ¼ cup of olive oil. Season it up good with plenty of salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for about 35 – 40 minutes, or until vegetables are fork tender. While the veggies are roasting lets make the pesto. Get you a small skillet and heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Add the pine nuts and cook over low heat. Don’t burn them, you must stir constantly for about 2 – 3 minutes. Add you some butter and garlic and cook, stirring, until the pine nuts are browned and the garlic is golden, about 2 minutes. The smell will be unbelievably good. You need to let the pine nuts cool, then transfer to a small processor. Add the parmesan cheese and the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil and pulse. Taste and season the pine nut pesto, with salt and pepper, to your likings. Toss the roasted vegetables with the pesto and serve on a large platter. Garnish with Parmesan slivers.

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Little Sissy’s French Toast Casserole

We know how it is when you have a house full of hungry people wanting something good to eat and the hostess of the mostess has limited time to prepare breakfast. Your wanting to impress those guests but you got so much else to be doing. That’s why the sisters love breakfast casseroles so much. Our stepmother Sandi always has some sort of breakfast casserole when we go to visit. It makes life so much easier and it makes your guests think you have worked so hard. This French toast casserole is a great recipe for the holiday’s. We love this because it is inexpensive to make, you can make it ahead of time and it is get in my belly good. Need we say more? Hope your family enjoys this recipe as much as ours does. Happy holidays friends!

Little Sister’s French Toast Casserole

Round up the first seven ingredients-
1 loaf, French bread, cubed
8 eggs, lightly beaten
3 cups half and half
¼ cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt

TOPPING:
1 stick butter (room temperature)
3 tablespoons sugar
¾ cup brown sugar
1 cup pecans, chopped
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Extra Goodness (optional)
1 cup of maple syrup
3 tablespoons butter

Let’s make this casserole-
Go on and grease up your 13 x 9 baking dish. Get you a big ol bowl out and whisk the eggs, half and half, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and salt. Next, your going to want to pour that yumminess egg mixture over the cubed French bread. Now wasn’t that easy. Now cover and pop it in the fridge and let it soak up all that goodness for about 8 hours. Now the 8 hours are up and you are ready to feed that demanding family of yours. Before you pop this in the oven your gonna want to take it out the fridge and let it sit for about an hour. While you are taking the chill off of the casserole you can make the topping. The sisters love them some toppings. Get you 1 stick of butter, this is sounding some kind of good already. Back to the list- sugar, brown sugar, nuts and cinnamon. Use a fork and work these ingredients together, let them get to know one another. Sprinkle the topping over the bread. Go on and preheat your oven to 350 degrees. You gonna want to bake the casserole for 45 minutes to an hour or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Take it out of the oven and smell it. Don’t that smell good? This is going to kill you but you need to let it sit for about 5 minutes or so. You don’t want to burn your mouth up. While that’s cooling make that extra goodness. Now when we listed the ingredients for the extra goodness, we said it was optional. Well your nuts if you don’t make it. So go on and do it- In a small pot warm syrup and butter. That’s it! Let your guest pour this over the top of the casserole. The sisters bet you and your family liked this one.

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