There's no place quite like the kitchen during the holidays.
Whether you're baking pumpkin pie, basting the turkey, snitching a few cookies before dinner, or just running in quick to grab a carrot for your snowman, life seems to revolve around your kitchen.

So come on in and relax!
Post recipes, grab some hot cocoa, and warm your toes by the stove. I promise not to turn away a hungry tummy.

Rules

- Follow site T.O.S. at all times.
- Be kind to your fellow chefs, and never criticize the recipes posted.
- No posting of Tollhouse or Campbell's recipes. That ain't the same as home cooking, and you know it! Try as hard as you can to stay away from mass marketed, common recipes that we can all look up on the web.
- All recipes must be posted in quotes. If you break this rule twice, your posts will be completely deleted.
- If Grandma doesn't want her magical secret bunt cake recipe posted on the web, you'd best listen to her.
- Wash your own dishes.

Knerd's Recipe Book

An Index of All Recipes Posted:

Appetizers

Spinach Dip
Marmalade Sandwich
Spiced Pumpkin Soup
Spanakopitas
Four Cheese Mexican Torillas


Desserts

Cowboy Cookies
Puppy Chow
Unbaked Cookies
Peppermint Cocoa
Black Bottom Special

Now to start us off, I hope you're all hungry for some good ol' fashioned hot from the oven cookies!

Cowboy Cookies, just like my Grandmother and I made this afternoon.

Ingredients: 2 Cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 cup butter OR Crisco
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 cups rolled oats
6 oz. chocolate bits
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder.

In separate bowl, cream together sugar, brown sugar, and butter. Add in eggs. Beat together.

Add in flour mixture and stir until smooth.

Add in oats, vanilla, and chocolate. Stir together until smooth.

Use a teaspoon to put small drops of dough on a lightly greased pan, at least 2 inches apart. You may need 2 or 3 pans.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Mmm, I'm hungry just thinking about it.

Speaking of food I'm actually quite hungry. I like the recipe exchange idea since recipes that aren't in famous cook books [ie. betty crocker] are sometimes are to come by.

^ I firmly believe that once you turn 18, your parents or grandparents (if possible) should present you with a cookbook full of family recipes. As you learn to cook, you'll add in your own, and generations later everyone will thank you for it.

I've got a folder full of notecards and pages from both sides of my family, so I guess I'm a little spoiled in that respect. =)

OMFG, AN EYELESS GINGERBREAD MAN!!!

-Dies-

Ever heard how vegetarians refuse to eat anything with a face?

Yeah, well, my gingerbread is vegetarian friendly.

They'd eat a faceless cow? D8

Wouldn't that just be a hamburger? =)

Time for recipe Number Two!

Spinach Dip, an Appetizer.

Ingredients: 1 cup mayonnaise
1 (16 ounce) container sour cream
1 (1.8 ounce) package dry leek soup mix
1 (4 ounce) can water chestnuts, drained and chopped
1/2 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 (1 pound) loaf round sourdough bread


Mix together mayonnaise, sour cream, dry leek soup mix, water chestnuts and chopped spinach. Chill in the refrigerator 6 hours, or overnight.

Remove top and interior of sourdough bread, turning it into a bowl. Fill it with the mayonnaise mixture. Tear the leftover bread chunks into pieces for dipping.

Originally Posted by Knerd

Ever heard how vegetarians refuse to eat anything with a face?

Yeah, well, my gingerbread is vegetarian friendly.

That's awesome. X3 *chomps on the cookies* Nomnomnom.

Here's one of my favorite holiday snacks that my mom used to make:

Originally Posted by Puppy Chow

3/4 cup peanut butter
1 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup butter
8 cups Crispix cereal
2 cups powdered sugar


Melt the peanut butter, chocolate chips, and butter together. Pour over the cereal in a large kettle or bowl and stir well. Pour the powdered sugar into a large brown paper bag and add the cereal. Fold the bag to seal and shake well to coat evenly.

Ha, I love the name of it! It sounds like something you would give to little kids during the holidays. I might just have to whip up some for my cousins.

{________x x | | ` R i k u says:

-raids kitchen- MMM YUMMM.

It's really tasty - if not a little messy. ^-^ If you made it I'm sure they'd love it. <3

Your faceless gingerbread man gives me the heebiejeebies if I stare at him too long. x3

I wonder if I can find any of our family recipes... Some of them are secret... Most of them are from the back of a box. xP

This is a brilliant idea! I shall make sure to come back and post some of my family's recipes....if they can be disclosed to the general public. xP

Hehehe, faceless gingerbread men.^ ^

Mmmm, I'd like some cookies. *-*

Foooood?

Anna waaaants. o.o

That recipe for Puppy Chow sounds like it might be something around here that is referred to as trash. I've tried it a couple of times, and it's pretty good from what I remember.
LOL, Puppy Chow sounds alot better than 'trash'

Very Nice Ingredients Girls and Guys!

But this is a strange yet original Christmas Sandwich that me and my friends made for fun! Enjoy!

Originally Posted by Marmalade Sandwich

Ingredients:
1 piece cut of bread (any)
2 teaspoons of Orange Marmalade
1 teaspoon of butter
1 tablespoon of Ice Cream
1 bowl of milk
Small amount of Cereal

First, Spread 1 teaspoon butter in one piece of bread, then toast the 2 pieces of cut bread (trust me, Toasted Butter is a great start) After that, Spread 1 teaspoon of orange marmalade in each bread. Wait for 2 or more minutes or let the toast cool down. Then place the buns together. Then place the tablespoon of Ice Cream on top of the bread. This may sound wierd but you could put the bread inside the bowl of milk its optional. After that place the Cereal all around the bread and serves up!

Food? OvO This is new... I think I might have a recipe for cookies somewhere. Let me go look for them! ^-^

{________x x | | ` R i k u says:

omg. neat username.

Me? ^-^ Thank you!

I'm glad you guys are getting into the spirit! Just don't forget to come back and divulge all your secret recipes.

And why is everyone picking on my gingerbread man?! He's awesome, and you all know it.

And now:
Time for Spiced Pumpkin Soup!

Ingredients:
4 Tbsp. of unsalted butter
2 medium chopped yellow onions
2 tsp. of minced garlic
1/4 tsp. of crushed red pepper
2 tsp. of curry powder
1/2 tsp. of ground coriander
3 15-oz. cans of pumpkin
5 cups of chicken broth
2 cups of milk
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
Roasted pumpkin seeds

Melt the butter in a 4-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onions and garlic. Cook, stirring often, until softened, for about 4 minutes. Add the spices and stir for a minute more.

Add pumpkin and 5 cups of chicken broth, blending well. Bring the mixture to a boil and reduce heat. Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.

Transfer the soup, in batches, to a blender or food processor. Cover tightly and blend until smooth. Return the soup to saucepan.

With the soup on low heat, add the brown sugar and mix. Next, slowly add the milk while stirring. Add the cream and adjust the seasonings to taste. If it tastes a little too spicy, simply add more cream to cool it down. You can also add a teaspoon of salt if you think it needs it.

Serve in soup bowls and sprinkle the top of each with toasted pumpkin seeds.