Holiday Favorites

Lion House Pie Dough
Submitted by Kristen Howlett

(This recipe rolls out like a sugar cookie dough and can be re-rolled – you can't ruin it! And it tastes great!)

1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup lard
1/4 cup margarine
1/3 cup shortening
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon nonfat dry milk
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon cold water
(Do not substitute any of the fats – this will give it a flaky crust and best flavor)

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a mixer, cream together butter, lard, margarine and shortening. In a separate bowl, whisk together sugar, baking powder, salt, and dry milk powder; add to creamed butter mixture and mix briefly. Add ½ of the flour and beat until blended. Add remaining flour and mix slightly. Pour in water and beat again just until water is blended.
Divide dough into two or three balls. For recipes that call for baked pie crusts, prick holes in bottom with fork. Bake empty pie shell at 375 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes, or until light golden brown. Otherwise, fill unbaked pie shell and bake according to recipe. Makes two to three 9-inch pie shells.

Tips:
To seal a double crust pie – brush edges with water just before placing the top crust.
For a golden crust – brush the pie crust with milk and sprinkle with sugar
To keep pie shells from shrinking (cream, pudding and fresh fruit pies that just need a baked shell) – prick dough with a fork many times. Before baking a shell, line the dough with aluminum foil and pour 2-3 cups of dried beans or rice onto the foil. Bake for ½ the baking time, then lift the foil and beans out. Continue baking for remainder of baking time. OR bake your pie shell upside down on an inverted pie tin.
If pie edges are getting too brown during baking - line the edges with aluminum foil or use a pie shield
Pies can be made early and frozen – bake pies according to directions then place in a gallon freezer bag and freeze. When needed, take the pre-baked pie out of the plastic bag and bake at 325 for 35-40 min.
This dough works well for any pie, including meat and veggie pies.

 Hot Candy Apple Cider

Submitted by Kathy Karren

apple cider

1 bag red hots

cinnamon sticks

Pour apple cider into pot, add desired amount of red hots and a cinnamon stick or two.  Let simmer on low until candies are melted and cider is warm.  Enjoy!

Stuffing with Meat
Submitted by Nora Valenzuela

1 lb ground beef or 1/2 lb beef and 1/2 lb pork 

1/2 onion chopped

1 garlic clove chopped

2 stalks of celery finely chopped

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup slivered almonds

salt & pepper to taste

1 pkg chicken flavored Stove Top

1/2 can of evaporated milk

1/2 can of water or more if needed

Brown the ground beef and season with salt and pepper.  Add onions and garlic and saute until onion crystallizes.  Add celery and raisins and saute until tender.  Add milk and water and simmer a few minutes until flavors blend.  Add almonds and bread mix and mix well and turn heat off.  Cover and let sit for a few minutes so the bread can soften.

 Green Bean Casserole
Submitted by Andrea Klitzke
Recipe Coming Soon!

French Silk Pie
Submitted by Kristie Larsen

Cream:                 1/2 cup butter
Gradually add:     3/4 cup sugar (cream well)
Blend in:                1 square (oz) unsweetened baking chocolate, melted and cooled
Add:                        1 tsp vanilla
Add:                        2 eggs, 1 at a time, beating 5 minutes after each egg (with electric mixer, use at least medium speed)

Turn into a cooled, baked pie crust.  Chill at least 2 hours before serving.  Top with whipped cream and walnuts (optional).

Be sure to keep this pie refrigerated - when it sits out too long it starts to "melt."  If that happens, just put it back in the fridge until it firms back up.  It won't look quite the same, but it should taste just fine. 

**Double this recipe for 1 9" pie; triple for 2 9" pies.**  (I doubled it for last night.)

**The key to getting this to work is to make sure you whip enough air into it, early on.  Rarely does a single recipe turn out as good as a double recipe because you don't beat it as much.  If you are going to do a single recipe, I would beat it for 5 minutes after adding the sugar, 5 minutes after the chocolate and vanilla, and then 5 more minutes after each egg.  If you're tripling the recipe, you can add eggs number 3 and 4 at the same time, beat 5 minutes, and then add 5 and 6 and beat 5 minutes and it should work out. 

 English Toffee
Submitted by Kristie Larsen

1 cup real butter (no substitutions!!!)
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
1 Tbsp light corn syrup
3 Tbsp water
1/2 package milk chocolate chips (for this, I like Ghirardelli)
3/4 cup chopped nuts (and then some more)

Add 1st 4 ingredients to heavy, aluminum pan.  Cook; stiffing often to hard crack stage, or until candy begins to brown quickly.  Remove from heat immediately.  Add nuts and pour into buttered cookie sheet.  Let it cool a little bit (maybe 5-10 minutes) and sprinkle chocolate chips on top.  (You want it still warm enough to melt the chocolate chips, but not so hot that the chocolate mixes in with the toffee.)  Allow chips to melt, then spread over candy (like frosting).  Top with additional chopped nuts.  Allow to cool thoroughly and break into pieces.

 Chocolate Mint Ice Cream Cake
Submitted by Heather Hicks

Cake:

5 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped

2 TB unsalted butter

5 large eggs, yokes and whites separated

3/4 cup plus 1 TB sugar - separated

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/8 tsp salt

1 quart peppermint ice cream

Glaze:

1/4 cup heavy cream

1-1/2 tsp unsalted butter

1-1/2 tsp sugar

2 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped

Decoration:

peppermint candy canes

Cake:  Heat oven to 350.  Line a 15x10 inch jelly roll pan with nonstick foil.  Melt chocolate and butter in small saucepan over low heat; remove from heat and whisk until smooth.  Let cool.

In large bowl with electric mixer, beat egg yolks and 3/4 cup sugar for 3 minutes, until combined and very lightly thickened.  Beat in chocolate mixture, vanilla, flour, and salt until blended and smooth.  Wash and dry beaters.

In large blow with mixer, beat egg whites until foamy.  Add remaining 1 TB sugar and continue to beat until still and peaks form.  Stir one quarter of beaten whites into chocolate mixture to loosen, then fold in remaining whites until blended.

Spread in prepared pan.  Bake 22 to 24 minutes, or until set and firm to the touch in center.  Cool completely in pan.  Place a large sheet of waxed paper on work surface; invert cake onto paper and carefully peel off foil from cake.  Cut cake crosswise into three pieces.

To assemble:  Line a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan with nonstick foil, extending foil by 2 inches on each short end of pan.  Trim one cake piece to fit on bottom of pan.  Top with 2 cups ice cream, spreading into an even layer.  Top with a second layer of cake, and remaining ice cream.  Top with remaining cake layer.  Cover pan with foil and freeze at least 4 hours, until firm.

Glaze:  In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stir together cream, butter, and sugar until sugar dissolves; bring mixture to a boil.  Add chocolate; remove from heat.  Let stand 5 minutes; whisk until smooth.  Let cool to room temperature.

Remove cake from pan by foil ends and invert onto wire rack set over baking sheet; remove foil.  Pour glaze over top of cake with spatula, gently spread to edges in thin, even layers; push excess over sides to cover cake completely.  Freeze 30 minutes, or until glaze is hardened.  Transfer cake to serving plate.  Garnish top with peppermint candy canes.

 Jalapeno Poppers
Submitted by Marianne Scott

Ingredients

• 20 whole Fresh Jalapenos, 2-3 Inches In Size
• 2 cubes Cream Cheese, softened
• 1 pound Thin(regular) Bacon, Sliced Into Thirds

Preparation Instructions

If you have them, slip on some latex gloves for the pepper prep... Cut jalapenos in half, length-wise. With a spoon, remove the seeds and white membrane (the source of the heat; leave a little if you like things HOT). Smear softened cream cheese into each jalapeno half. Wrap jalapeno with bacon pieces (1/3 slice). Secure by sticking toothpick through the middle.

Bake on a pan with a rack in a 375-degree oven for 20-25 minutes. You don’t want the bacon to shrink so much it starts to the squeeze the jalapeno. If, after 20 minutes, the bacon doesn’t look brown enough, just turn on the broiler for a couple of minutes to finish it off. These are best when the jalapeno still has a bit of bite to it.

Serve immediately, or they’re also great at room temperature