Snowman Cookies

This is more of a tutorial than a recipe. I saw this in an ad in a magazine and thought it was such a cute idea.

Ingredients
1 package of Nutter Butter cookies
1 package of almond bark coating

Melt almond bark in microwave (follow package instructions). Coat cookies in candy coating and lay on parchment paper to dry. Decorate as desired.

Christmas Cookies

This recipe was given to me a couple of years ago by a friend and it is the best sugar cookie recipe I have ever found. The cookies are soft and the icing is very tasty....not the hard sugar cookies your grandma made.

Cookie Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 teaspoon almond extract
3 cups flour
1.5 teaspoons baking powder

Mix first 6 ingredients together until well blended. Add flour and baking powder and mix. Roll dough out on floured surface and roll to about 1/4 inch thick. Use cookie cutters for desired shapes. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.

Frosting Ingredients
4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter
3 squares almond bark, melted
2 ounces cream cheese
1 tablespoon vanilla

Beat all ingredients until desired consistency. Add milk if frosting is too thick.

Easy Chicken & Dumplings

I call this "easy" because I don't make my own dumplings...I use canned biscuits. I also use chicken breasts instead of a whole chicken because I always have those on hand. It's such a great meal for a cold day.

Ingredients
2 - 3 chicken breasts
1 onion, chopped
2 cups celery, chopped
2 cups carrots, chopped
3 - 4 tablespoons butter
1 container of chicken broth
3 chicken bouillon cubes
1 bay leaf
1 large can biscuits (I use Grands by Pillsbury)
Salt and pepper to taste

Saute onions, carrots and celery in butter until tender. Add broth, bouillon cubes, bay leaf and bring to a boil. Add chicken and cook until tender. Once chicken is cooked, remove from broth and shred. Add chicken back to broth and simmer. Pinch off pieces of biscuit dough and stir. Let simmer for about 10 minutes or until dough pieces are cooked through.

Cranberry Walnut Pie

My cousin Gretchen made this pie for Thanksgiving last year and I had to have the recipe. I have made it a couple of times since then, and it is always a hit. It has a perfect combination of tart and sweet....in my opinion.

Dry Ingredients
1 Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust
2 heaping cups Fresh (or frozen) cranberries
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Wet Ingredients
1 large egg
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup melted butter (6 Tablespoons)
3 TBSP all purpose flour

Directions
Unfold and place pie crust in pie plate, fold edges under and crimp.
Stir together dry ingredients and pour into pie crust.
Whisk wet ingredients in a bowl and pour over dry ingredients. (Mixture will be thick)

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for 30 more minutes.