Kanimi Crab Dip

I'm on a cooking frenzy for the holiday. Stuck at home in the snow with nothin' better to do. This dip was from a grocery store one year. So good! And so easy. It is one of our new holiday traditions for Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve.

Kanimi, if you don't know, is a fish substitute (pollack) for crab. It is commonly found in regular grocery stores. It comes in different 'cuts' and even 'lobster' flavor. It is much less expensive than crab. They even sell it at Costco.

8 oz. neufchatel cream cheese, at room temperature
1 pound kanimi
1 c. fat free sour cream (or with fat)
1 packet of ranch salad dressing mix

Mix it all with a mixer until well combined. The kanimi will break up in the process. Cover and chill. Good on crackers, etc.

Mango-Topped Cheesecake

Cheesecake has been my fave since I was a kid. We got to choose our birthday cake every year, and after I discovered cheesecake, there was no going back to regular cake. Loving it so much has lead to the search for a truly good recipe. That search ends below.

You can use this recipe for cheesecake by itself for classic version. You can also make lemon curd to top it with instead of mango.

New York’s finest Cheesecake
Adapted from Family Circle

3 – 8 oz. cream cheese (you can sub Neufchatel to save on fat, but it costs in mouth feel)
1 ¼ c. sugar
4 eggs
2 t. vanilla
2 t. lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350. Prepare a crust of your choosing. Beat room-temperature cheese and sugar at medium, scraping a few times, until well blended. Beat in other ingredients. Pour into springform pan or pie plate. Bake 50 min. or until puffed and golden. Transfer to rack and cool. Refrigerate overnight.

The next day:

Mango Curd
Adapted from Aloha World .com

¾ c. sugar
2 T. cornstarch
1 c. pureed mango
¼ c. butter
2 T. lemon juice
6 egg yolks, beaten

whisk together sugar and cornstarch in a sauce pan. Add mango, lemon, and butter. Whisk together and heat on medium. Stir constantly and heat until thickened. Slowly stir about ½ of the hot mix into the egg yolks, whisking like there’s no tomorrow. Then immediately add it all back into the pan, whisking like crazy to evenly mix the yolks in before it goes horribly wrong (just kidding). It should boil quickly. Keep whisking and turn heat down, about 2 minutes. Transfer to top of chilled cheesecake, cover and refrigerate. If there is extra, put in a covered container and refrigerate. The extra can be used like lemon curd.

OMG, it doesn’t get better than this!

The Real Story of Amish Friendship Bread gifting

The Amish Friendship Bread recipe is so bogus. It wouldn't know an Amish person if it met one. But if you ignore the directions and mythology, it makes a good sourdough starter. If you should happen to get one, try these directions instead of the stuff that came with it. Directions for creating your own are easily found on the internet. Please don’t give the goop in bags to unsuspecting civilians!

Refrigerate in covered glass. No metal touches it. For sourdough starter, when starter is needed, add equal parts flour and milk, cover and set out for a day. It should get fluffy if the starter is alive.

For the Friendship type recipes, add 1 cup each: milk, flour, and sugar. Leave out for a day to rise.

For either, wash your original glass container while rising. Cleanliness is critical for a starter. Then take 1 cup and put back into the vessel and refrigerate for the next time. It needs no tending in the fridge. It will wait until you are ready.

Friendship CAKE (make no mistake, it’s not bread!)

Using a mixer, mix with the starter:
3 eggs
½ c. milk
½ t. vanilla
½ c. oil
½ c. apple sauce
1 c. splenda, honey, agave syrup, or sugar
Add this next:
½ t. baking soda
1 ½ t. baking powder
1 c. ww flour (or mix as it pleases you)
1 lg. box instant pudding (vanilla or other flavor that matches your magic)

Your personal magic: Add what pleases you. An over ripe banana, dried fruit, pumpkin, nuts, chocolate chips, and spices as appropriate for what you are aiming for. Basically, just watch that the consistency of the mix is like a thick cake would be. It is pretty much fail proof.

Spray pans. I like bundt pans. Bake at 325 for about an hour. Toothpick test for doneness. Also works great for muffins.

Cheese Ball

My mom used to make this every December. Now, my daughter, who is soooo picky asks for it every year. She must have now idea that it has blue cheese in it.
The tradition continues!

From Betty Crocker

2- 8 oz. Neufchatel cheese
4 oz. crumbled blue cheese
1 c. shredded sharp cheddar
¼ c. minced onion
1T. Worcestershire

Put cheeses into mixer bowl to soften to room temp. When soft, mix on low to combine. Wipe bowl to make sure it is all included. Then beat at medium until fluffy-like. Pat down, cover with wrap, and refrigerate until cold and stiff. Wet your hands. Divide into 2, shape into balls and roll in chopped nuts of your choice. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate again to firm up.

Seven Layer Bars

My mom used to make these bars every Christmas. They disappeared very quickly. You can vary it many ways. It all ends up good!

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (leave a cracker pack closed. Beat it with
something to break up crackers. When crushed, measure out the crumbs)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (either of the chips can be changed as you prefer)
1 cup butterscotch chips
1 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 1/3 cups shredded coconut

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Place butter in 13 x 9 inch pan and melt in oven. Swirl to coat bottom and sides with butter.
3. Spread crumbs evenly over bottom of pan. Layer chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and nuts over crumbs. Pour condensed milk over nuts. Sprinkle coconut over condensed milk. Press down on the coconut.
4. Bake until edges are golden brown, about 25 minutes. Let cool.

Super Sized Party Mix - not for the timid!

3 boxes of Chex (the 17 ounce size is what this is based upon) the traditional flavors are wheat, corn, and rice
1 bag pretzel sticks
1 pound butter or margerine
1 big bottle of nuts from Costco (you can use anything you like)
1/2 c. worcestershire sauce
1 T. garlic powder
1 T onion powder

Lightly combine cereal, pretzels, and nuts in a massive bowl or two. Melt butter gently. When melted, add sauce and powders. While one person tosses the cereal with big spoons, another drizzles the mixture slowly over. When evenly coated, fill 2 rimmed baking sheets with mixture. Bake together at 250 for 15 minutes. When the timer goes off, dump each pan back into the really big bowl to toss it again. Then reverse the pans in the oven and bake 15 more minutes. Bake 1 hour total. We like to put half of the mix from each pan in each massive bowl so everything is mixed as well as possible.

This can be personalized many ways. Change the cereals. Add crackers. Spice it up.

Easiest Hershey Kiss Cookies Ever

1 c. peanut butter
1 c. sugar
1 egg
Hershey's Kisses, unwrapped

Mix everything except for the kisses well. If too dry to hold together, add more pb. If too wet, add more sugar. Roll into 1 inch balls. Press a kiss on the top of each. Take care not to push so hard that you break the cookie. Bake at 350, about 10 minutes.

You can use any flavor of Kiss. Some bubble a bit, but hold their shapes.

Yummy!