Santa Sleuth (18 page)

Once turkey has been freed from its string net and the gravy is at the consistency you prefer, serve up and enjoy!

Punch Bowl Cake

Submitted by Wanda Downs

1 box yellow cake mix

2 (5 oz.) pkgs. instant vanilla pudding mix

5 cups milk

6 bananas

2 (21 oz.) cans cherry pie filling

2 (20 oz.) cans crushed pineapple, drained

6 oz. coconut

1(16 oz.) pkg. frozen whipped topping, thawed

¼ cup chopped nuts (any kind)

Bake cake according to package directions for two-layer cake; let cakes cool.

Prepare pudding according to package with the 5 cups milk listed.

In a large punchbowl, start with one layer of the cake and break into pieces; spread with ½ of the pudding mix, then slice three bananas over the pudding and then layer one can drained pineapple, one can pie filling, and half of the coconut.  

Repeat in the same order with the remaining ingredients.

Top with whipped cream, then sprinkle with nuts, chill, then serve.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Submitted by Elaine Robinson

I have won awards for these cookies at the Barnstable County Fair in July, but Christmas without these cookies just doesn’t seem quite right. I work as a nurse in a nursing home, and over the years, I have given these cookies as gifts to staff. At one of the nursing homes I worked at in the past, the woman who took care of the staff scheduling would request these cookies from time to time. Of course I complied and baked her a plate, and jokingly stated I wanted my vacation time!

1 cup peanut butter

¼ cup butter

1 egg

½ white sugar

½ brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix peanut butter, butter, and egg; add sugars and vanilla. Mix in flour, adding more if necessary. Roll dough between hands and flatten, placing on cookie sheet. Cookie sheet can be greased, or use aluminum foil.

Cook for 10 minutes; oven times may vary.

When cookies are removed from oven, an extra treat is to place a Hershey Kiss on top of each cookie.

Mexican Wedding Bells

Submitted by Pam Curran

This recipe is from my mother, Alva Wheeler. I have been making it for years and it is a tradition, especially at Christmas.

1 cup butter (½ cup margarine, ½ cup shortening)
6 tbs. confectioner’s sugar (powdered)
2 cups flour

1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans
 

Cream butter and sugar. Add flour, vanilla, and pecans. Spoon by
tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes in a 350-degree
preheated oven. 

When cool, cover with confectioner’s sugar until well
coated. I put mine into a paper sack and shake until covered with
sugar. 

These cookies freeze well.

Santa Whiskers

Submitted by Nancy Farris

These cookies have been a Farris family staple at Christmas. It just wouldn’t be the holidays without them.

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 tbs. milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2½ cup flour
¾ cup total of finely chopped red and green candied cherries
½ cup finely chopped pecans
⅓ cup flaked coconut

In a mixer bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Blend in milk and vanilla. Stir in flour, cherries, and pecans. Form into two logs, each 2" in diameter and 8" long. Roll each log in coconut, pressing lightly to make it stick. Wrap each log in plastic wrap and chill for several hours or overnight.

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Slice into ¼" slices and place on greased cookie sheet. Bake for 12 minutes or until edges are golden.

Almond Banket (Amandel Staaf, Dutch Holiday Pastry)

Submitted by Joanne Kocourek

A banket is a traditional Dutch Christmas dessert often given as a gift. Dutch families produce the “letters” as well as
banket
(sticks) in celebration of Christmas and special occasions. The custom of edible letters goes back to Germanic times, when children were given an A, made of bread, as a symbol of good fortune. During the 16th and 17th centuries pastry letters were captured in Dutch Masters’ still-life paintings.

Pastry:

1 lb.
cold
butter (It needs to be cold, and cut into smaller chunks, so that it breaks into grainy granules, rather than just creaming into the flour)

4 cups flour

½ tsp. salt

1 cup ice water

If using a food processor, mix the butter, flour, and salt first, then drizzle in the ice water a little at a time,
just
until the dough forms a ball. (It might be a little less or a little more than 1 cup, and it
must
be ice water.) If mixing by hand, cut the butter into the dry ingredients with a pastry cutter until all the butter is mixed in and the mixture is grainy. Then add the water a little at a time. Chill overnight.

Filling:

1 lb. almond paste, crumbled (don’t use marzipan; it has to be almond paste)

2 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

Optional: 1 tsp. almond extract or 2 tbs. Grand Marnier or amaretto liqueur

Mix completely. Chill overnight.

Topping:

In a small bowl, whisk 2 eggs with ¼ cup water.

Slivered almonds or granulated sugar (optional)

Divide filling into 10–12 equal parts. Cut dough into 10–12 equal parts. Take one part and roll into a long strip (around 15–12″ long and about 6″ wide). Put one portion of the filling along the strip in the middle, making an even ridge of filling about 1/2″ wide. Leave 1″ of dough free on the ends. Fold the ends of the dough over the filling. Fold one side up over the filling, then the other. Using a pastry brush, brush egg/water mixture along the seams and use fingers to seal.

Place tube (it will be around 1–2″ in diameter) on a long cookie sheet, seam side down. Brush top with egg/water mixture and sprinkle with a little sugar and/or almond slivers. Repeat procedure with each of the 10–12 dough/filling portions. (I usually bake 5–6 sticks on a cookie sheet.) Pierce the tops every 2–4 inches with a fork. Bake in 375 to 400 degree oven for 30 to 35 minutes, until the top of the pastry is golden brown. Bake one pan at a time.

Don’t be alarmed if some of the almond paste spills out; it is a favorite sneaky snack in our house to eat the spilled almond paste after the pans come out of the oven.

Let the pastry cool completely, then wrap tightly in plastic wrap. To serve, cut in 1–2″ slices.

Festive Fudge

Submitted by Kathleen J. Kaminski

Making this Festive Fudge has become a Christmas tradition for me. While I love Christmas cookies, I generally don’t have the time to make them; instead, I make this fudge, to eat myself and also to give as presents! I generally make three kinds—with nuts, with marshmallow, and a chocolate mint. For the chocolate mint I use mint chocolate chips instead of regular (you can also mix part mint with regular for a lighter mint taste). Then I crush up some candy canes and sprinkle that on top before cooling. I got the recipe from my mom.

3 cups (18 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips (or milk chocolate chips)
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk (
not
evaporated milk)
Dash of salt
½–1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
1½ tsp. vanilla extract

In heavy saucepan, over low heat, melt chips with condensed milk and salt (or microwave). Remove from heat, stir, and add vanilla. Spread evenly into wax paper–lined 8- or 9-in. square pan.

Chill two hours or until firm. Turn fudge onto cutting board, peel off paper, and cut into squares.

Store covered in refrigerator.

Marshmallow fudge:

Proceed as above but omit nuts and add 2 tbs. butter to mixture. Fold in 2 cups miniature marshmallows.

I’ve done other variations as well: using mint chocolate chips instead of or mixed with the regular chocolate chips, then sprinkling crushed candy canes on top of the evenly spread mix, using some raspberry-flavored chocolate chips, etc.

Peanut Brittle

Submitted by Vivian Shane

This recipe is an oldie but goodie; it was given to me by my mother.  My cooking style tends toward simple types of recipes and this one is relatively easy. The result is much tastier than the commercial type of brittle!

2 cups sugar

1 cup light corn syrup

½ cup water

1 cup (2 sticks) butter

2 cups salted peanuts

1 tsp. soda

Heat and stir sugar, syrup, and water in a heavy 3-quart saucepan until sugar dissolves. Continue to cook and stir until syrup boils, blends in butter. Cook, stirring occasionally, to 230 degrees on candy thermometer. Stir often after temperature reaches 230, and continue to cook to 280, then add peanuts. Stir constantly to 305 (hard crack stage). Remove from heat and quickly stir in soda, mixing well. Pour into buttered cookie sheet. Remove from pan as soon as candy is set and break into pieces. Store in tightly covered container. Makes 2¼ lbs.

Divinity

Submitted by Pam Curran

This one came from a very special aunt who was like my second mother, who used to bake a lot and make candy. She made pies to sell to our local cafés. I wish I had some of her pie recipes. This was always a must-have around the holidays for us.

3 cups sugar                                                 

1 cup Karo white syrup                                

½ cup water                                                

¼ tsp. salt

2 egg whites

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup pecans

Cherries (if desired)                                        

Cook sugar, Karo, water, and salt until it cracks in cold water (hard boil stage). Remove from heat. Beat (mixer) egg whites until stiff and gradually add syrup to them, beating constantly. 

Continue beating until it loses its gloss and add vanilla, pecans, and cherries. Pour into buttered platter and cut into squares.

Yorkshire Pudding

Submitted by
Janel Flynn

This recipe was my Grandmother Emerick’s recipe. She used to make this at her bed-and-breakfast in Massachusetts with roast beef. Really good with gravy on top.
 
1 cup sifted flour
½ tsp. salt

1 cup milk
2 eggs, well beaten
 
Sift flour and salt together.

Gradually add milk and eggs, which you have combined. Beat until smooth.
Pour into pan that has about ¼ cup hot drippings from a roast beef.

Bake in hot oven at 450 degrees for 25–30 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve with roast beef and gravy.
 

Books by Kathi Daley

Come for the murder, stay for the romance.

Buy them on Amazon today
.

Zoe Donovan Cozy Mystery:

Halloween Hijinks

The Trouble With Turkeys

Christmas Crazy

Cupid’s Curse

Big Bunny Bump-off

Beach Blanket Barbie

Maui Madness

Derby Divas

Haunted Hamlet

Turkeys, Tuxes, and Tabbies

Christmas Cozy

Alaskan Alliance

Matrimony Meltdown

Soul Surrender

Heavenly Honeymoon

Hopscotch Homicide

Ghostly Graveyard

Santa Sleuth

Shamrock Shenanigans –
January 2016

Paradise Lake Cozy Mystery:

Pumpkins in Paradise

Snowmen in Paradise

Bikinis in Paradise

Christmas in Paradise

Puppies in Paradise

Halloween in Paradise

Whales and Tails Cozy Mystery:

Romeow and Juliet

The Mad Catter

Grimm’s Furry Tail

Much Ado About Felines

Legend of Tabby Hollow

Cat of Christmas Past

A Tale of Two Tabbies –
February 2016

Seacliff High Mystery:

The Secret

The Curse

The Relic

The Conspiracy

The Grudge –
December 2015

Road to Christmas Romance:

Road to Christmas Past

Kathi Daley lives with her husband, kids, grandkids, and Bernese mountain dogs in beautiful Lake Tahoe. When she isn’t writing, she likes to read (preferably at the beach or by the fire), cook (preferably something with chocolate or cheese), and garden (planting and planning, not weeding). She also enjoys spending time on the water when she’s not hiking, biking, or snowshoeing the miles of desolate trails surrounding her home.

Kathi uses the mountain setting in which she lives, along with the animals (wild and domestic) that share her home, as inspiration for her cozy mysteries.

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The Daley Weekly
. There’s a link to sign up on both her Facebook page and her website, or you can access the sign-in sheet at:  http://eepurl.com/NRPDf