Christmas Goodies

We've started this family tradition when we were married that we make goodies for Christmas for friends and family. Usually I do this with my mother, and Gaven might pitch in a little. But my mom's been sick with an ongoing cold and Gaven has stepped up to the plate. This is fudge with walnuts. I tweeked this a little so it wasn't quite so grainy. I used a full package of marshmallows (12oz) only 1 1/8 cup sugar. 2/3 cup evaporated milk .3 Tbsp butter and a full package of Semi sweet chocolate. It comes out more silky and richer.

A couple years ago I was given a ward recipe book from my mother-in-law that has the best banana bread recipe I have ever had. It's moist and has a little bit of nutmeg in it.

This is nougat (with walnuts) I really wanted to make another kind of candy, and though this tastes excellent, it's too hard to chew unless it's practically melting to each other. I think next time I'll add 1/2 boiling candy at 350 F. That should do the trick. The link to this is
http://www.recipezaar.com/Nougat-198917

These are some awesome Sugar cookies. They were so chewy and sweet and the frosting was great, it hardened within just a few minutes which makes it awesome to transport. I love the website recipezaar. Anyone can post recipes (they have to be approved) and then other's rate them and put in their responses. The link for these are http://www.recipezaar.com/Grannys-Sugar-Cookies-8757 and for the frosting it's http://www.recipezaar.com/Cookie-Frosting-19649

This peanut brittle was also awesome. It's got rave reviews from everyone including Gaven's grandfather who loves this stuff but usually complains that it hurts his teeth. But this is clean cut, no chewy stick to your teeth stuff. The link for this is http://www.recipezaar.com/Peanut-Brittle-37044 . We used roasted peanuts though instead of raw. We like the taste better.

These are suppose to be melt-away lime spritz cookies, but when I was making these, The dough was a little dry so I added some cream cheese and lime juice to the batter. Kids loved these. The press is always fun to use.
http://www.recipezaar.com/Lime-Meltaway-Spritz-Cookies-126042

These are Raspberry Spritz cookies. Well their suppose to be anyway. We only had strawberry extract and jam, so they're strawberry spritz cookies. I don't know that I'm too fond of these I think it's the extract, they're good until the after taste.

Spicy Ginger Cookies. I am such a die hard ginger cookie fans. These are definately awesome. My only thing I would change would not to add the fresh ginger, it seems to make them a little drier than I would like. I also like to add about 1/4 tsp of white pepper just enough to give a bite. The kids and Gaven also love these. The link for these is http://www.recipezaar.com/Soft-Spicy-Heavenly-Ginger-Cookies-20431