Pomegranate Cheesecake with Homemade Danish Dessert

This delicious recipe is from my friend, Sally Goulding.
1 graham cracker crust

1 c. powdered sugar

8 oz Cool Whip, thawed

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1-2 c. pomegranate seeds

1 pkg raspberry Danish Dessert or make your own with recipe below

Mix powdered sugar, Cool Whip and cream cheese with a mixer until very smooth. Pour into pie crust and cool in refrigerator until set. Mix Danish Dessert as per package directions or use the following recipe.

1 c. sugar

2 heaping T. cornstarch

1 pkg unsweetened Kool-Aid brand drink mix in desired flavor

Mix these three item with a fork until well blended. Put in a sauce pan and add 2 c. cold water. Cook until desired thickness. Cool and add 1/2 of the sauce to the pomegranates and spread over top of cheesecake. Save the rest for another pie or make two pies at once.

I like to use strawberry Kool-Aid with fresh strawberries for strawberry shortcake.

Cranberry Pumpkin Bread

My son, Cory, made this bread. It was very good. The recipe came from Taste of Home.

3 c. flour

1 t. salt

1 t. baking soda

1 t. baking powder

1 t. cinnamon

1/2 t. each nutmeg

1/2 t. ginger

3 eggs

2 c. canned pumpkin

1 c. oil

2/3 c. sugar

2/3 c. brown sugar

3 t. vanilla

1 c. dried cranberries

1 c. chocolate chips

In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, soda, baking powder and spices. In another bowl, combine the eggs, pumpkin, oil, sugars, and vanilla; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in cranberries and chocolate chips. Pour into two greased 8-inch by 4-inch loaf pans. Bake at 350° for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

Caramels

My friend, Bea Stirland, gave me this great recipe.

2 c. whipping cream

2 cubes real butter

2 c. sugar

2 c. karo

Cook on medium low, stirring occasionally. Boil until it changes color, then stir more often until it holds its shape in ice water, when pinched. Spray 5 plastic ice cube trays with Pam. Pour the liquid caramels into the holes of the ice cube trays. (I use my gravy ladle to do this.) Put the trays into the fridge until set, then pop the caramels out and wrap them in parchment paper or waxed paper. Never leave in the fridge overnight. I usually make them in the morning and wrap them in the afternoon. This makes around 70 caramels.

Gumdrop Turkeys and Roses

Nutter Butter cookies

small gumdrops

candy corn

black icing in a tube

My grandkids made these turkeys today for Thanksgiving. Choose 5-6 different colors of gumdrops and roll them in sugar until they are flat and thin, 1 1/2 to 2 inches long. Be sure to keep turning the gumdrop over and sugaring both sides before rolling. They will stick without sugar. Press them together in a fan shape. Ice the top of the cookie and press it onto the bottom of the fan shape. Add black icing eyes and the top half of the candy corn for the beak.

Roses

Roll small gumdrops until flat and thin 1 1/2 to 2 inches long, sugaring and turning as you roll them. Cut each piece in half. Roll one into a coil for the center of the rose. Add three petals around the center, pressing the bottom of each petal to the center coil, overlapping petals a little. Add five petals around the three petals of the round before, pressing the bottom of each petal to the petals of the round before, overlapping petals a little. Curl the petals towards the back of the rose to desired shape.

Lorraine's Chocolate Chip Cookies

My daughter wanted to make her Aunt Lorraine's cookies today. Here they are. Lorraine is my sister-in-law who was diagnosed with cancer in March and passed away in June. She was one of the best and so are her cookies.

1 c. shortening

3/4 c. white sugar

3/4 c. brown sugar

3 eggs

1 t. vanilla

2 c. flour

1 t. soda

1 t. salt

3-5 large handfuls of old fashioned oatmeal

1 bag chocolate chips

nuts, if desired

We use a #50 scoop and bake them 12-13 minutes at 350°.

Cornbread

This is a delicious cornbread that can be baked in a pan or as muffins.

1 pkg dry yellow cake mix

2 c. yellow corn meal

2 c. flour

6 T. sugar

2 T baking powder

2 t. salt

2/3 c. margarine or butter, softened

2 eggs

2 c. milk

Mix well and put into a greased 9 x 13-inch cake pan. Bake at 375° for 35-40 minutes. Check with a toothpick to make sure middle is done. Serve warm or cooled. If you make muffins, they bake in 12-15 minutes. It will make 30-36 muffins.

Yummy Sugar Cookies

This is a recipe from Pam Pace, a teacher who taught in the classroom next to me for many years, until she passed away. Hope, my daughter-in-law, asked me to make them for her birthday dinner today. She only likes pink icing. You can see the fingerprint in the first one. Someone couldn't wait to try them.

3 1/4 c. flour

1 egg

1/2 c. butter

1 c. sugar

1 t. soda

1/2 t. salt

1 t. vanilla

3/4 to 1 c. commercial sour cream (I triple the batch and use 16 oz of sour cream.)

Mix like you would regular cookies. Chill for 1/2 to 1 hour. Roll out with powdered sugar instead of flour. (I always roll sugar cookies out with powdered sugar and the dough never gets stiff.) Bake at 350° for 10 minutes. Cool and ice with your favorite icing.