The recipe this week goes way back to our early married years. It was a quick lunch and really tasty.

Ham and Cheese Buns

• One-half pound chopped ham or Spam (I personally like Spam!)
• One-half pound shredded mild cheddar cheese
• 2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
• One-third cup chili sauce or ketchup
• One-third cup finely chopped sweet onion
• 3 Tablespoons mayonnaise or Miracle Whip

Combine the ingredients and spread on buns. Wrap each one in foil and bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees. These are delicious with chips and grapes or bananas and a nice salad.

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.