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I’ve been looking forward to this day! I have many many recipes, but these are the closest to my heart. Grab a cup of my SIL’s homemade hot chocolate and homemade marshmallows and join me while we chat.

My great aunt who I only got to see a couple times a year used to make these every year special for me.  My cousins and I would wait out on the front steps for her arrive just to see them, the wreaths that is. She always made them soooooooooo pretty and perfect!  Aunt Louise was just plain crazy it seemed to me.  I can’t pinpoint any one thing that made me think that, but as the years wore she continually proved it.  Let’s just say if the made a movie of her life, Shirley MacLaine would play her part.  Aunt Louise reminds me of Shirley’s character Ouiser Boudreaux in Steel Magnolias.

HOLIDAY WREATHS
(these are better when they are made a few days ahead)
30 large marshmallows (or 1 jar marshmallow cream)
1/2 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoon green food color
3 1/2 cups cornflakes
Red Hots

• Combine marshmallows, butter, vanilla and food color in top of double boiler. Heat and stir frequently until well blended.
• Gradually stir in cornflakes until well blended.
• Drop onto wax paper and arrange into wreath shapes. I plop them onto the wax paper and then push out from the center to form the wreaths.
• Decorate with red hots.
• Let cool.
• If your house is warm – chill in refrigerator until set.

OATNUT SOURDOUGH HERB DRESSING
10 slices Brownberry or Oroweat OATNUT bread, cut into bite size chunks
1/2 loaf sourdough French bread, cut into bite size chunks
1 large sweet onion, chopped fine
1 small bunch celery (leaves and all), chopped fine
1/2 bag baby carrots, chopped fine
1 box mushrooms, chopped fine
1 tablespoon sea salt
1 tablespoon white pepper
2 sticks unsalted butter
4 cups hot water
2 tablespoons Better than Bouillon Chicken base
2 tablespoons Buttery Herb & Garlic Mix (I believe McCormick makes it)
4 teaspoons minced garlic, Jar

• Cut bread into bite sized chunks and spread out in a thin layer over cookie sheets.
• Bake at 200 degrees for 3-4 hours until pieces are actually hard.
• Chop all the vegetables.
• In a large cast iron pan melt 1/4 cup of the butter.
• Add the onions and saute until translucent. The add the celery and carrots and continue sauteing until crisp tender. Add the garlic last as it will burn first.
• Whisk together the water, better than bouillon chicken base and all of the seasonings.
• Add the melted butter.
• In a large pan toss the bread slices together.
• Add the sauteed vegetables and toss again.
• Add the liquid mixture and toss again until well absorbed.
• Fold entire mixture into at least a 9×13 baking dish.
• Bake uncovered 1 hour.
• At this point I use a small portion for our dinner that night and freeze the rest.
• When it’s time to cook it again, I defrost it, put it back in the same baking dish and bake it again, but this time covered with foil until the last 15 minutes so it doesn’t dry out. We like it crisp on top so I remove the foil the last 15 minutes.

Now there is much debate over Gran’s cranberry salad recipe, but one thing was for sure she’d have to make a double batch, one for my mom and aunt and another for everyone else.  Now while I usually helped prepare the above recipe, I hated it!! One year she even decided the grapes needed to be peeled – need I say more?

I much prefer the recipe below.  Shhhh, don’t tell anyone, but I’ve already eaten a whole batch by myself.  In my defense it was while I wasn’t feeling good and had a sore throat.

HOLIDAY SALAD
1 package (3 ounces) cherry Jell-o
1 package (3 ounces) black cherry Jell-o
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1 can (14 ounces) whole berry cranberry sauce
1 can (20 ounces) crushed pineapple, undrained
2 cups seedless green grapes, quartered
chopped pecans (optional)

• Dissolve the jell-o in the boiling water in a large bowl.
• Fold in the pineapple and cranberry sauce.
• Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Fold in grapes and pecans if desired. 
• Refrigerate until firm.

Now on to the REALLY yummy stuff!

CHUNKY MONKEYS
3 cups crushed pretzels
1/2 cup sugar
scant 1 cup butter, melted

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• Line a 13×9 cake pan with heavy duty foil, leaving plenty on the edges to use as handles later.  This will make clean-up so much easier.
• In a medium mixing bowl stir together the pretzels, sugar and melted butter until well blended.
• Press the pretzel mixture evenly into the bottom of the cake pan.

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
11 ounce package caramel baking bits (or 14 ounce vanilla caramels, unwrapped)
2 cups honey roasted peanuts

• In a medium saucepan melt butter over a medium heat.
• Whisk in the whipping cream and brown sugar until sugar is dissolved.
• Stir in caramel bits, stirring constantly until bits are melted and sauce is smooth.
• Add in peanuts to coat well.
• Immediately pour over pretzel layer, spreading evenly.

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter chips
1/2 cup butterscotch chips
3/4 cup Heath milk chocolate toffee bits

• Scatter each of these over the caramel layer.
• Bake 25-30 minutes or until edges are bubbling.
• Cool in pan on a wire rack.
• Lift foil edges to remove bars from pan.
• Cut into bars.
• Layer between wax paper in an airtight container.  I store them in the fridge, but the can also be frozen for 3 months.

BUTTERFINGER COOKIES
Ritz crackers
creamy peanut butter
almond bark
sprinkles

• Spread peanut butter on ritz crackers and top with another cracker. 
• Melt almond bark in the microwave. 
• Dip each cookie in the almond bark and set onto wax paper to harden. 
• If you’re using sprinkles do so before the almond bark hardens.

 A few more favorites are:

• Oreo Cheesecake Balls
• Magic Marshmallow Puffs
• Peanut Butter Fudge Drops 
• Sea Salt and Caramel Rice Krispie Treats