Santa Hat Candy Cane Cookies

I try a new Christmas Cookie recipe every year.  This year’s were Peppermint Santa Hats.

It was super easy and is really yummy.  And I am not all that crazy about candy canes.

http://ksarahdesigns.typepad.com/my-blog/2011/12/tasty-eats-santa-hat-peppermint-cookies.html

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Cream of Potato Soup

I have tried many different recipes for potato soup over the years and have not been incredibly impressed with any of them.  Until I found this one.  It’s easy and has good flavor.  It’s also really easy to make it semi-vegetarian for myself, while Dave can still eat it with the bacon.

This recipe was not originally mine, but I have added some additions (and subtractions) so what follows is my adapted version.

Ingredients

6 slices of bacon, diced

1 onion, chopped

1 Tb all-purpose flour

6 cups chicken broth

6 potatoes, thinly sliced

½ cup instant potato flakes

1 cup half and half

Directions

1. Saute bacon and onions in a medium sauté pan, set aside.  (I cook the bacon separately and then sauté onions in same pan once drained of grease.  This gives the soup some bacon flavor without the bacon.)
2. Over low heat, in a medium sauce pan, cook flour in 1 Tb melted butter until pasty, slowly add chicken broth and bring to a boil.
3. Stir in onions and bacon (I leave the bacon out and make my husband add it to his own servings later on.), stir in potatoes and instant potatoes.
4. Simmer for 30 minutes until potatoes are tender, then blend in half and half.
5. Top with shredded cheese and scallions.

Cream Cheese Apple Bread

In an effort to get my carb loving oldest daughter to eat better things, I often try different breads with fruits and vegetables in them.  So far it hasn’t worked, but I keep trying.  I like them, so it’s not like they go to waste.  This one was my first attempt at a cream cheese bread.  It was pretty yummy.  The flavor was really good, but next time I will grate the apples instead of dicing them.  You can get the recipe here:

http://todayscreativeblog.net/apple-recipes/

Beer Cheese Soup

I love all things Fall, which for me includes lots and lots of soup.  And while it is not exactly Fall, it has been unseasonably cool which of course got me craving soup.

I like cooking, but I really enjoy making soup.  I think a lot of it is the chopping.  There is something therapeutic in the action for me.  And vegetables are so pretty.

This soup is also one of my favorites because it has two of the world’s best ingredients.

Beer.

And cheese.

Lots of cheese.

Serve it with popcorn, crackers, bread, salad or nothing.  It’s yummy regardless.

Find the recipe here:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/wisconsin-natives-beer-cheese-soup/detail.aspx

and enjoy.

Homemade Banana Bread

Recipe:

4 Ripe Bananas

1/3 Cup Melted Butter

1 Cup Sugar

1 Egg

1 tsp Vanilla

1 tsp Baking Soda

Pinch of Salt

1 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour

Preheat oven to 350.  Mash bananas and mix melted butter into them.  Mix in sugar, egg and vanilla.  Sprinkle baking soda and salt into mixture and combine.  Add flour last and mix.  Pour into a buttered 4X8 loaf pan.  Bake for 50 minutes – 1 hour.

Disclaimer: This is not my recipe.  I got it from a website and I apologize because I no longer have any idea where I got it or who to give the credit to.  All I know is that it is incredibly easy to make and oh so yummy.  I love the way the bananas melt in your mouth when it is fresh out of the oven.