Cinnamon Christmas Ornaments!

Cinnamon Christmas Ornaments

1 cup applesauce

1 cup cinnamon

No baking and simple for kids! mix together to form a stiff dough. play around with it, if it's too wet and sticky, add more cinnamon, and if it's too dry, just add more applesauce. Roll out to 1/4 inch between plastic wrap. (because it's very, very messy otherwise, kind of a dry-sticky) cut with cookie cutters. Make a hole at the top with a straw for ribbon. Let air dry several days turning occasionally.

Makes about 12 great smelling ornaments!

**The first year we made these we painted them after they were dry with puffy paint and added eyes and glitter and beads, they turned out great!! But they are pretty enough to leave plain also.

***They make great Christmas gifts!

****These are NOT edible****

What Spice Are You?

Your result for What Spice Are You Test...

You are Garlic!

0% Habanero, 20% Sage, 10% Thyme, 20% Ginger, 30% Garlic, 0% Curry, 10% Cinnamon and 10% Oregano!

You can be both mellow and sweet.

You are very loved and tend to get along well with people. People remember you! You love to help people and want to feel useful.

You may sometimes have a tendancy to talk a bit too much, but you also don't mind listening to other people either. You hate it when you become engrossed in your own problems, and you can often feel guilty.

You don't have a desire to lead, normally, and you don't mind taking directions and lending a hand. You have a generous spirit and a kind heart.

You are more than likely very attractive, but you would never stop to admit it. You do notice the positive qualities in other people, though.

Take What Spice Are You Test<

Homemade Peanut Butter!

My daughter got to make this recipe today for her math. She is learning fractions and multiplying and counting by 2's (peanuts in shells). It was a fun lesson and the kids really liked this all natural peanut butter.

1 cup shelled peanuts

1 tsp canola oil

Mix in food processor or blender until smooth. It doesn't get smooth really, but you'll know when it is done. It's a little chunky, but not big chunks. We doubled the recipe and had some leftover for tomorrow's snack.

Cinnamon Sticks!

I have never used Cinnamon sticks until our last social co-op. I put them in the crock pot with apple cider and they smelled so good, I can smell them as I type this!! (and that was a couple weeks ago!) It was fun to see the sticks uncurl and look like this by the end of the day. We didn't know this would happen. It was kind of a kitchen experiment for us. I am a new lover of cinnamon sticks!! I can't wait until Tom's Christmas party this weekend (at our house!) I am making apple cider for sure!! Tom's party is at our house, it's all his employees and is on the feast of St Nicholas, which makes it exciting! I will post a real picture of our pumpkin cheesecake and cream cheese bars afterward!

Update: I was so busy with our 20 some guests that I forgot to take pictures of the cheesecake or bars!!! So sorry!

Cornucopia Treat!

These mini cornucopias are lots of fun for children to make for Thanksgiving. I've been making them for 14 years! These are the 3 ingredients you need and then just top the bugle off with a little frosting and dip in Fruity Pebbles! Cornucopia: A symbol of food and abundance dating back to the 5th century. In North America it has become associated with Thanksgiving and harvest.

Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake

I make this every Thanksgiving. It is the Kraftfoods recipe tweaked in a "Jamie" way.

Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake

2 cups finely crushed Keebler Sandies cookies (or more, I'm not good at measuring) The original recipe called for Ginger snap cookies mixed with pecans, but it was too rich, so the Sandies make it a little less rich.

6 Tbsp butter, melted

3 pkgs (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar, divided

1 tsp vanilla

3 eggs

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

dash of cloves

Mix crushed cookies with melted butter and press onto bottom and 2 inches up side of 9-inch springform pan.

Beat cream cheese, 3/4 cup sugar and vanilla with mixer, until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Reserve 1 1/2 cups of the plain batter. Stir remaining 1/4 cup sugar, pumpkin and spices onto remaining batter. Spoon 1/2 of the pumpkin batter over crust, top with spoonfuls of the 1/2 of the reserved plain batter. Repeat layers. Cut through batters with knife several times for marble effect.

Bake at 325 degrees for 55 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool before removing rim of pan. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. Store leftover cheesecake in refrigerator. Makes 12 servings.

Company Salad

Sorry no picture for this one, I hope to update this with a picture after the holidays! This recipe is actually all about the dressing, the salad can be anything you like, although I will tell you what I almost always use. My sister in law gave me this recipe and she said her mother always made this dressing when they had company so it was called "Company Salad". Now, every year at my husband's Christmas party, his employees request this salad, so it has become our own "Company Salad"!

Company Salad Dressing

3 to one oil/lemon juice

(I usually make 3/4 cup oil/1/4 cup lemon juice)

1 tsp mint

1 tsp garlic salt

1 tsp oregano

2 tsp parsley

pepper to taste

Mix together.

I toss this with red leaf/green leaf lettuce or Romaine mix with lettuce added.

Top with large black olives and croutons. (I use homemade bread crumbs/croutons)

Homemade Croutons

12-15 slices bread (whole wheat is best but it doesn't matter)

1/2 cup butter (or more)

garlic salt

Remove crusts, brush both sides with butter, sprinkle with garlic salt and cut into chunks.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.