Christmas And Traditional Food Recipes.

Due to popular demand.....okay, one person asked for my perogy recipe....it's time for a recipe exchange!

Christmas Eve is a "meatless" meal in our house. We start with dessert, a sweetened wheat, then on to the cabbage (sauerkraut) soup then the main course with salmon and perogies. Off to midnight Mass and when we get back it's usually ham sandwiches and opening one present.

Here is my recipe for perogies. The dough is the most important.

Perogy Dough

8 cups potato water
1 cup oil
3 beaten eggs
12 cups of flour

Mix it all up then add

10 cups of flour

This makes a huge amount of perogies so make sure you have helpers. You can freeze any left over dough for next time.

The most popular filling is mashed potatoes (keep the potato water for the dough) and cheddar cheese. Put the grated cheese into the potatoes when they are still hot so the cheese melts. I also do sauerkraut filling: fry bacon and onions, cool and then add to potatoes and sauerkraut.  Roll out the dough (the less you handle it the better) cut out circles, fill making sure you have closed all ends, and boil until they pop to the surface, usually 3 to 4 minutes. Serve with onions and sour cream.

Of course the best part about Christmas is all the treats! My reader and contributor to FNF's SOR sent me this wonderful recipe, which I'll make today.

Oreo Cookie Truffles

1 box oreo cookies

1 package cream cheese

chocolate melting wafers (I use half milk and half dark) found in the bulk section of grocery store

coconut


1-put whole box of cookies in the food processor and chop fine.  No need to separate the cookie from the filling.

2-mix in cream cheese until soft sticky consistency (you may need to use your hands)

3-chill until firm enough to roll into balls

4-line a cookie sheet with wax paper

5-melt wafers in a double boiler on low heat.  When melted dip each oreo ball in chocolate and place on cookie sheet.

6-sprinkle with coconut or melted white chocolate

7-refrigerate until chocolate is hard

8-makes about 30 truffles depending on how big you make your balls.

Depending on how big you make your balls? LOL! This seems easy and delicious.

One of my quick treats is marble squares, they taste like chewy chocolate chip cookies, but better:

Marble Squares

1 cup butter
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F (175C). Grease and flour a 9x13 pan.

In a medium bowl, cream the butter (I cheat and soften it in the microwave) with white and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and vanilla. Sift together the flour and baking soda.

Spread mixture evenly into prepared pan. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top. Bake for 5 minutes, then using a butter knife, swirl the melted chips into the batter for the marbleized effect. Bake for 15 minutes longer.

I have made these 4 times in the last two weeks for a Jazz band bake sale, Dogs with Wings pot luck and for school parties. Very easy to make and very tasty.

If any of you have a favorite recipe, please send me an email (hunterinalberta1@hushmail.com) or leave it in the comments. I'm interested in a good shortbread recipe and one for "Oh Henry" type bars. So, share your recipes with all of us, it's a non-partisan type of Christmas activity!