Christmas Party Food......

Last night was the Gem County Garden Club Christmas Party.  Yes, we had too much great food and everyone wanted everyone else's recipe.....so, here they are.

NILLA Turtle Cookie Balls          Lacey Bayes    Bakerschocolate.com and Ziploc.com1 pkg (8 oz) Philadelphia cream cheese – softened
70 Nilla wafers – finely crushed (about 2-1/3 cups)
3 Tablespoons caramel ice cream topping
2 pkgs (8 squares) Baker’s Semi-Sweet Chocolate – melted
¼ cup chopped Planters pecansMix first 3 ingredients until well blended. Shape into 42 (1-inch) balls – FREEZE 10 minutes. Dip balls into melted chocolate, place in single layer in shallow waxed paper-lined pan. Sprinkle with nuts. Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm. 

HINTS FROM LACEY – reduced-fat cream cheese is just as delightful, white chocolate/vanilla bark is a nice substitution. Use a plastic fork with the middle tines broken out to dip balls in chocolate – makes for nicer-looking end product.  

BEER BREAD
JoAn Rice – Bread in a hurry!!!!3 cups of all purpose flour (I use whole wheat)
4-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup – or less of sugar
½ teaspoon salt – you can use less
1 12-ounce can/bottle of beer – Jan uses Miller Genuine Draft

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix all dry ingredients together in a medium sized bowl – add beer – stir (the smoother the mix, the less dense the bread. Pour mixture into buttered loaf pan and bake 45 minutes – remove bread from over and brush with butter. You can also sprinkle sesame seeds, etc. on it at this time. Return to oven and bake for 15 more minutes – Remove to rack to cool. JoAn has also deleted ½ cup of all purpose flour and added ½ cup flax seed – Very FORGIVING recipe. ENJOY!!! – Jan Irving & JoAn

KIM BAUER’S TRASH MIX – GREAT SNACK1 box corn chex 1 bag pretzel stix or your choice
1 box white cheddar cheesets – or -- 
1 bag butter crackers Nuts if wantedPlace these ingredients in a 13 gallon trash bag – mix gently.
Coating – 
2 cups canola oil 2 pkgs dried ranch dressing
Crushed red pepper (to taste) 
½-1 tsp garlic/pepper seasoningMix this coating together and pour into trash bag of “chex” mix – rotate bag every hour to distribute seasonings. Eat – Enjoy (from my sis -- Sharon Bauer)

OVEN CARAMEL POPCORN  (Jan Irving) 

Recipe from Marilyn Riffie/Christmas Sharing note/2010 – wonderful corn

5 quarts popped corn                              2 cups brown sugar

1 cup butter                                           ½ cup corn syrup (I use light)

1 teaspoon salt                                      ½ teaspoon baking soda

Pour the popped corn into a large roasting pan.  Combine sugar, butter, syrup and salt in a heavy saucepan and boil 5 minutes – stir constantly to avoid burning.  Remove from heat and add the baking soda, stir.  Pour syrup mixture onto popped corn and stir till corn is coated well.  Bake at 250 degrees for 1 hour (I stirred mine every 20 minutes).  Spread baked caramel corn on waxed paper-covered cookie sheet and carefully break into serving pieces as it cools.  Store in tightly sealed container.