Russian Teacakes

Gabriel and I had a lovely morning making these cookies- he insisted that his be made without nuts and covered in green sprinkles. I figured, why not?
These didn't turn out round like I expected them to, but I think it was simply because I made them too large. The recipe says 1" balls, and I've always had a terrible gauge of what size things are.

Mix Thoroughly:
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 c sifted powdered sugar
1 t vanilla
Stir in
2 1/4 c flour
1/4 t salt
3/4 c nuts, finely chopped
C hill for about an hour
place onto an ungreased baking sheet
roll in powdered sugar while still warm and then again once cool

Pesto Pizza with Roasted Garlic, Peppers and Onions

This is divine and I ate way too much of it. Originally the brain child of Zack Brady, this pizza rocks my world.

Pesto:

Puree:

Basil

Garlic

Salt

Pepper

Parmesan Cheese

Spread dough on pizza plate (I was lazy and used pre-made dough)

Spread pesto over it

Saute:

Onions

Bell Peppers

Garlic

Salt

Pepper

Roast 2 head of garlic (see roasted garlic)

Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over pesto and cover with roasted garlic and pepper & onion mixture

Bake as directed for your pizza dough. Probably about 20 minutes at around 400

Polly's Chocolate Chip Orange Drop Cookies

This is one of my all-time favorite cookie recipes- its really quite remarkable. They are rather terrible for you physically, but emotionally... well

I make these every Christmas and whenever possible in between.

Cream:

1 c butter

8 oz cream cheese (softened)

1 cup sugar

Add:

2 eggs

2 t grated orange rind

2 t vanilla

Stir in:

2 1/4 c flour

1 t salt

an appropriate amount of chocolate chips

Chill for at least an hour

Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes

Christmas Spread

I'm beginning to feel rather silly that I posted no pictures of Christmas dinner. In my house we don't do the regular turkey shin-dig- we just buy a lot of fancy cheese and crackers and have ourselves a good old time. My personal favorite was the mango ginger stilton.

Tortillas

This is just about my favorite thing to snack on. I like to slather these guys up in honey and eat about 10 of them.

Mix up:

2 c any kind of flour (i like a mixture of whole wheat and white)

1/2 t (or more) salt

1 t baking powder

-mix until a ball forms. pat/roll out tortillas (they arn't going to look like the kind from the store- i make them smaller and thicker)

-fry without oil on a very hot pan, preferably cast iron

Nonnie's Fried Chicken

My great grandma Nonnie was a legit southerner. She knew her stuff; while I'm not a huge fan of the fried stuff in general, this seems like a dish that one ought to have in their repertoire (and its pretty damn good anyways)

Cut up:

3 lbs chicken

Sprinkle with:

2 1/2 t salt

1/2 t pepper

Shake in a bag with:

1 1/4 c flour

-Fill a skillet halfway full with cooking oil

-Heat the oil until a drop of water pops when dropped into the oil

-Put chicken in (don't crowd, work in batches)

-Place a lid over the skillet and WATCH IT! when the bottom of the chicken turns brown, turn it over (it takes about 15-20 minutes to cook a pan of chicken)

-Take up the chicken on a paper towel.

YOGURT!

EVERYBODY loves yogurt. what's better? HOMEMADE YOGURT! and its easy! Heres whatchagottado:

Heat: 1 quart of milk to boiling for 1 minute

gently mix in: 2 Tb yogurt (I like greek yogurt for it's thickness)

pour it into a crockery bowl, cover with tight plastic wrap and put somewhere thats 110 degrees overnight, then switch to your fridge. GOOD TIMES!