Shrimp Butter

• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• One half cup butter, softened

Whip these together until smooth and creamy

Add:

• One clove of fresh garlic, finely chopped
• Two tablespoons finely minced onion
• One and a half tablespoons lemon juice

Stir again.

Fold in one can of crab meat (drained) and one can of tiny cooked shrimp (drained).

Refrigerate 2 hours or longer. Let stand to soften before serving.

Delicious served on crackers as an appetizer. For low carb eaters, put a dollop on top of a grilled steak or hamburger, or melt over cooked green beans.

Frosted Grapes

Mix together with an electric mixer until smooth:

• 8 ounces softened cream cheese
• 4 Tablespoons sour cream
• 4 Tablespoons powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 to 4 pounds of green and red seedless grapes. Remove from stems, wash and dry.

Fold the grapes into the cream cheese mixture. Serve in a glass bowl. Sprinkle a little light brown sugar on the top just before serving.

This is a quick and easy no bake cookie recipe that my family just loves. It is appropriately named “HAYSTACKS”

Haystacks

• 1/4 c margarine
• 1 (6 oz) pkg. butterscotch bits
• 1 can chow mein noodles
• 1 pkg miniature marshmallows
• 1/4 c chunky peanut butter

Mix peanut butter, margarine, butterscotch bits, and marshmallows in saucepan on low heat until well blended. Add chow mein noodles; mix well, drop by tablespoon onto waxed paper. Cool.

Great news! The monthly pot luck lunches begin again next week! That means Roz, Ryan, and I will have new, taste tested, recipes to share with you. Until then, here is a recipe my Grandma Veva used to make for the holidays. My mom took the recipe and converted it to a really large batch and we would ice and decorate cookies for days!! The recipe is even more special to me now as both of them have passed away. For whatever reason, my Grandma called these "Life Like Cookies". They are a great sugar cookie. Hope you enjoy!

Life Like Cookies

(The original batch size)
• 1/2 c shortening
• 1/2 c sugar
• 1/2 tsp soda dissolved in T milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 egg beaten
• 1 pinch salt
• 2 c flour

Mix in the order given, adding flour slowly. Chill for at least 3 hours. Roll out a little thicker than usual. (I roll mine out about a 1/4″.) Use cookie cutters to create the designs. She didn’t give baking instructions, but I use a 375 degree pre-heated oven. Place the cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet. Ovens vary and times will too with the size of your cookies, so watch the first batch closely. The cookies will be a light brown, usually around 8 minutes. Cool and decorate.

I was trying to find one of my favorite recipes that were either purple or red, white, and blue to go with today’s organization. Here is a super easy, yet colorful recipe that we use year round at our house. We make them for Christmas gifts by using white chocolate with red and green sprinkles, or colored chocolate with nuts, mini M&M’s or other small candies.

Pretzel Sparklers

• 1 bag of pretzel rods
• 1 bag of Nestle’s white chocolate morsels, melted (you can usually buy colored chocolate where candy supplies are sold)
• Sprinkles (red, white and blue) or star decorations (use your imagination!)

Melt the white chocolate morsels according to the package directions. While chocolate is hot, dip the pretzel rods halfway into the melted chocolate. Sprinkle the star decorations or the red, white and/or blue sprinkles onto the chocolate on each pretzel rod before the chocolate cools. Place coated pretzel rod on waxed paper or in a cup (decorated side up) to dry and cool. Once cooled, you can store them in an air-tight container for several weeks, but ours never last that long because someone always eats them first! These are easy, yummy and colorful!

You can add nuts or coconut to the mixture if you like.

Very rarely will we get a response on a recipe. Imagine our surprise when we got several emails about the Chipped Beef Recipe. Janet said

"it was one of the favorites I would eat at Grandma’s house. Had forgotten about it so have put the chipped beef on my grocery list…."

Candi adds frozen green peas and serves over steamed cabbage.

My husband refused to eat yellow cheeses, yet one of his favorite cheese balls is one with yellow cheese. His mother, Margaret Feyh, makes this cheese roll every holiday and it has become a tradition at our house also.

Cheese Roll

• 1 large box Velveeta Cheese
• 1 8 ounce package of cream cheese, softened slightly
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp. dried salad herbs (I use an Italian herb blend)
• 1 cup pecans, chopped fine
• Chili Powder (used in last step, not mixed in with above)

If you have a food grinder, that works the best to put everything through the grinder and then mix well. You can use a food processor, but be sure to stop and scrap the sides often to get it mixed together. On a sheet of plastic wrap, create several logs about an 1 1/2" thick. Roll the logs into chili powder, coating the logs well. Wrap rolls in plastic wrap and refrigerate. Slice thin and serve with crackers.

Last newsletter I mentioned St. Lucia day which was December 13th. One of the ladies in our local Swedish culture club makes the Lucia Buns for her college students. I asked if I could have her recipe. Joy said that the recipe she is sharing is from a Swedish immigrant woman that she met at the American Swedish Institute in the Twin Cities when she was a guide there during graduate school.

Lucia Buns, Lussekatter

• 1 pkg active dry yeast
• 1/4 c. water, warm
• 3/4 c. milk
• 1/2 c. butter
• 1/2 c. sugar*
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp powdered saffron (or crush saffron threads in a mortar and pestle)
• 4 c. flour

For brushing 1 egg, 2 T. water

*Healthy Option: unrefined sugar (Sucanat or Rapadura)

Dissolve yeast in warm water and set aside. Warm milk, add butter to melt. Place all above ingredients in a mixing bowl using 2 c. of the flour. Mix for 3 minutes using mixer. Add rest of flour and beat with wooden spoon. Work dough on board, adding a little flour for easy handling. When smooth and shiny put in a bowl and let rise to double in bulk. Turn out on floured board and shape into Lussekatter. (The traditional shape is an "S." Let rise on cookie sheet and brush with egg and water mixture before baking. Put a raisin in each curl and bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes. Makes about 4 dozen rolls.
Note: Joy said hers tend to burn at 450 degrees, so she bakes them at 375 degrees.

SWEET AND SALTY PUMPKIN SEEDS

NOTE: You can start with fresh pumpkin seeds that have been cleaned, rinsed and patted dry. Heat your oven to 300 degrees and spread the seeds on a baking sheet. Bake them until dry throughout, about 50 to 60 minutes. Or you can start with pre-roasted pumpkin or sunflower seeds. Get the ones without salt.

• 2 cups roasted pumpkin or sunflower seeds, unsalted
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar*
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

*Healthy Option: unrefined sugar (Sucanat or Rapadura)

Turn the over up to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients together until the seeds are well coated. Spread the seeds on a rimmed baking sheet and bake, stirring occasionally until brown, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Today’s recipe is quick, fat free, low in sugar, and still delicious! This is good for dipping fruit in.

PINK FRUIT DIP

• 4 ounces fat free cream cheese, softened
• 1 1/2 cups fat free Cool Whip (or whip your own heavy whipping cream with vanilla extract, sweetened with stevia)
• 1 teaspoon pink sugar-free lemonade drink mix

1. Beat the cream cheese and lemonade mix until smooth.
2. Beat in 1/2 cup (not the whole amount) of Cool Whip.
3. Fold in the remaining Cool Whip (1 cup).
4. You need to refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.
5. Serve with strawberries, apple slices, or banana chunks.

It’s about time for school to start so I thought about the Brown Bag Lunch. When I went to grade school we had to cool lunch boxes. Then in high school we had a great cafeteria so I didn’t pack a lunch most of the time. When I entered the work place, I thought it was cool to eat out with my friends, until I figured out how much that cost me each week. Now I bring my lunch most of the time, in a plastic grocery bag. Perhaps I need to get a cool lunch box and put fun back into lunch! Now I try to be healthier, and it’s not too hard when I can find a healthy dessert recipe!

HEALTHY LUNCH BOX COOKIES

• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1 cup honey
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup oat bran OR oatmeal
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup crisp rice cereal
• 1 cup raisins, semisweet chocolate chips, or carob chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, add the peanut butter, honey, oil, vanilla and eggs. Mix well until smooth. Add the flours, oat bran, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix until combined. Stir in cereal and raisins or chips.

Drop by tablespoons onto cookie sheets 2" apart. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 11 minutes until brown.

This website gives some great tips on brown bag lunch.