Merry Christmas!

From the Toth Family to You,
We wish you a very Merry Christmas.
Thanks for stopping by!

Cranberry-Macadamia (Pecan) Bars

Here's the second recipe for cookies I made for a cookie tray Christmas gift. This is a fancier cookie than what I normally make, but I wanted to make some varieties that I knew no one else had given them yet. Plus, the bar cookies were easier than drop cookies. Just like the Chocolate Revel Bars, this recipe comes from that Better Homes & Gardens red and white plaid binder cookbook most of us have in our collection. Just a note: I always use pecans in this recipe.

Cranberry-Macadamia Bars

1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. finely chopped macadamia nuts, hazelnuts, or pecans

1 1/4 c. sugar
2 beaten eggs
2 T. milk
1 tsp. finely shredded orange peel
1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 c. finely chopped macadamia nuts, hazelnuts, or pecans
1 c. finely chopped cranberries
1/2 c. coconut

In a mixing bowl stir together the flour and the 3/4 c. sugar. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until misture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the 1/2 c. nuts. Press flour mixture into the bottom of an ungreased 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Bake in a 350 oven for 10-15 minutes or until the crust is light brown around the edges.

Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl combine the 1 1/4 c. sugar, eggs, milk, orange peel, and vanilla. Beat until combined. Pour over the hot crust. Sprinkle with the 1/2 c. nuts, cranberries, and coconut.

Bake in the 350 oven for 30 minutes more or until golden. Cool slightly in pan on a wire rack. Cut into bars while warm. Cool completely in pan.

My notes: I lined my pan with parchment paper. After allowing the bars to cool for a bit, I lifted the entire pan of cookies out onto a cooling rack to finish cooling. I didn't cut the bars until they were completely cool. The orange zest in these cookies makes all the difference in the world, so if you try the recipe, don't let that out! Thanks for stopping by!

Chocolate Revel Bars - Take II

I posted the recipe for these bar cookies a few weeks ago. I made them for a Sunday afternoon 8 for $10 stamping workshop at my house. I didn't post a picture of them the first time, so now you can see how yummy they look!


I made them again for Christmas gifts for the Associate Pastor and Children's Pastor at our church. I made three types of cookies and gave each of them a tray full. This is the first of the three. I'll share the other two recipes in the next two posts. Thanks for stopping by!

Holiday Biscotti

I decided to make some baked goods for the pastors of our church. You can see in my last post where I made peanut butter ice cream topping for our Senior Pastor. Today I'll tell you about the gift I made for our Youth Pastor. At some point in time, he was a barista for Starbucks. (I think it was Starbucks.) He has an espresso/capuccino machine in his office. So I thought the perfect gift for him would be some biscotti.

I am a Food Network fan. One of my favorites is Giada De Laurentiis. I used to sit and watch her show while I was nursing my youngest son! I watched an episode where she made Holiday Biscotti and printed the recipe off to try someday. I made it a year or so ago, but hadn't made it since. You can get the recipe here.


The first time I made it, I used pecans instead of pistachios. It was still good. This time, I made it with the pistachios, but I didn't dip them in white chocolate or do the colored sugar decorations. They were yummy without it! Give this recipe a try sometime when you're looking for a new cookie recipe to try! Thanks for stopping by!

Peanut Butter Ice Cream Topping

My father loves peanut butter ice cream topping and has my mom make it for him any time we make homemade ice cream. She makes it without a recipe, and I never know how to make it like she does. She can tell me what she puts in it, but not any relative amounts. I need more specific instructions when I'm cooking, so I went looking for a recipe. I found one about a year ago, and I think it was on the Family Fun website, but I don't remember for certain. I think the original recipe called for heavy cream, but I just use milk. I don't remember if I made any other changes or not, but here's the recipe I use.

Peanut Butter Ice Cream Topping

1/2 c. peanut butter
1/2 c. milk
1/4 c. granulated sugar
1/4 c. light corn syrup
2 T. butter
1 tsp. vanilla

Bring the first five ingredients to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and mix in vanilla. Cool and serve! Enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by!

Peppermint Divinity

There's a recipe for Peppermint Divinity in the December issue of Country Living magazine. In Christmases past before I had children, I would make an assortment of homemade candies, put them in little gift boxes, and give them as Christmas gifts. So I've made candy before, but I've never made divinity.

I've been on a mint kick lately. It started a few weeks ago when I bought a bottle of Twisted Mint hand soap at Bath & Body Works. The idea of peppermint divinity piqued my interest. I thought I would give it a try and put it in our preschool teacher gifts. It turned out really well--even if I do say so myself! Yum!

Kiss Cookies

Have you seen the Candy Cane Hershey's Kisses? I bought some last weekend to make cookies with. I've made peanut butter blossoms in the past with milk chocolate Kisses, but I wondered what a chocolate cookie with a candy cane Kiss would taste like. So I tried to make some, and my oldest son just loved them! My husband liked them pretty well too, and my younger son just wanted to eat the Kisses out of the middle. Thanks for stopping by!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm sure lots of people think my chocolate chip cookie recipe is top secret, but it's not. In fact, the recipe I use is off the side of the Butter Crisco canister. You can get it on the Crisco site at www.crisco.com. I do add some extra flour, and I don't really follow their directions. I've gleaned a few baking tips from watching the Food Network occasionally over the years. Otherwise, it's a great recipe. Of course, I add some love too, and that makes them scrumptious! Thanks for stopping by!

Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies

3/4 c. Crisco Butter Shortening
1 1/4 c. firmly packed light brown sugar
2 T. milk
1 T. vanilla extract
1 egg
1 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 c. coarsely chopped pecans (optional)
*If nuts are omitted, add an additional 1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Heat oven to 375ºF.

Combine shortening, brown sugar, milk and vanilla in large bowl. Beat at medium speed of electric mixer until well blended. Beat in egg. Combine flour, salt and baking soda. Mix into shortening mixture until just blended. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.

Drop by rounded measuring tablespoonfuls 3 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheet.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes for chewy cookies, or 11 to 13 minutes for crisp cookies. Cool 2 minutes on baking sheet on a cooling rack. Remove cookies to rack to cool completely.

Bacon, Cheese & Potato Chowder

I made the ladies this soup for lunch on Saturday during our cd calendar stamp camp. It's from a past Kraft Foods magazine. Do you get it? If not, go to http://www.kraftfoods.com to sign up for it. I love it, and it's FREE! Thanks for stopping by!

Bacon, Cheese & Potato Chowder

3 c. milk
1 can (10.75 oz.) condensed cream of potato soup
2 c. frozen Southern-style hash browns (the cubed ones, not shredded)
shredded cheddar cheese
crumbled bacon (We like the Oscar Meyer Real Bacon Bits in the
yellow bag in the salad dressings and croutons aisle.)
thinly sliced green onions

My Notes: I always substitute 2 c. milk and 1 c. sour cream for the 3 c. milk. I like the extra flavor that the sour cream gives. Also, I never garnish with the green onions. I'm just not a fan.

Mix milk and soup in large saucepan. Stir in hash browns. Bring to boil on high heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer 10 min., stirring frequently.

Ladle into soup bowls. Top evenly with the cheese, bacon and onions. Serve with a crusty whole grain roll or bread.

More of My Notes: I've also put this in a crock pot to cook. If I need it quicker, I'll cook it till finished on the stove, and then put it in a crock pot on low to stay warm if we're eating on the go or munching on it all day on a college football Saturday!

Apple Crisp

This is a recipe that my aunt gave me when I got married. I decided it was a good fall recipe to make for the gals at my 8 for $10 workshop last night. Thanks for the recipe, Bev!

Apple Crisp

Granny Smith apples (They're the best for baking!)
1 c. sugar
1 c. brown sugar
2 c. quick-cooking oatmeal
1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. melted butter
1 tsp. cinnamon

Peel and slice apples to fill a 13x9x2 pan almost full. Sprinkle the 1 c. sugar evenly over the apples. Combine the remaining ingredients and spread the mixture over the apples. Bake at 350F until apples are tender and topping is lightly browned, about 30-40 minutes.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hat Cookies

It's "H" week at Kids' Kingdom Preschool. "H" is for hat, so what better for a snack than hat cookies? Thanks, Family Fun magazine, for all your great ideas for kids! Thanks for stopping by!

Holy Cow! It's a Birthday Cake!

Someone has a birthday! I am a very amateur cake decorator. The idea came from the Family Fun magazine website.

Yes, that is a big white blur on the picture. For privacy's sake, I took the name off of the picture. Too many people freely give away their privacy these days. I'm probably going a little overboard, but better too much than not enough. Thanks for stopping by!