Cheese Souffle

This is from Kaity @ Ambition Never Goes Out of Style

Cheese Souffle

You can use any oven-safe straight-sided dish with a 2-cup capacity. Feel free to add veggies or ham, if you'd like! But it delish as is!

Ingredients (Serves 1)

2 1/2 tsp butter1 tbsp grated Parmesan
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/3 cup milklarge pinch of saltsmall pinch of paprika
1 egg yolk
2 egg whites
1/3 cup grated cheese, such as Cheddar or Swiss, tightly packed

Directions

Smear 1/2 tsp softened butter around inside of a souffle dish, and sprinkle Parmesan over it. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Melt 2 tsp butter in a small pot, and stir in flour.
Let cook over low heat for a minute, then remove from heat.
Pour in milk, whisking vigorously, and return pot to medium-low heat to simmer for a minute, stirring constantly as the sauce thickens.
Season with salt and paprika. Remove from heat, and whisk in egg yolk.

Put egg whites in a clean bowl and beat until they form soft peaks. Add a dollop of egg whites to pot, and mix in along with about 1/2 of the grated cheese.
Fold in remaining egg whites and cheese; transfer everything to the prepared souffle dish.
Place dish on a baking sheet and set it in the middle of the oven.
Turn the heat down to 375 degrees, and bake about 18 minutes, until souffle has risen and top is lightly browned.

Such a s fluffy and cheesy treat! I put some green enchilada sauce on mine and it was so yummy!

Christmas Desserts & Snacks: Brownie Parfait

A coworker brought these in for our Christmas party last year. Delicious! And so easy to make too!

1 pan of Brownies (your own recipe or boxed deal)
1 tub of Cool Whip
Red and green food coloring
Candy canes

Makes brownies as instructed (either via recipe or instructions on box).

While the brownies are cooking, get out the Cool Whip and divide into thirds. (We found that using Cool Whip works much better than the canned Redi Whip.) In one-third, add green food coloring and stir together; in another third, add red food coloring; and the last third, leave white. Add enough food coloring to get your desired color. Refrigerate.

Once the brownies are done, pull from the oven and using a fork, create brownie crumbles.

Select a wine glass, goblet, parfait dish, or whatever you want to use as the show-piece for your dessert.

First add a layer of brownie crumbles, then a layer of green Cool Whip, a layer of brownie crumbles, a layer of white Cool Whip, a layer of brownie crumbles, and finally a layer of red Cool Whip. Top with a candy cane or two and serve.

We found that it was best to either serve the dish right away, or refrigerate until serving time.

Do you have a Christmas dessert or snack that you favor?

Christmas Dinner: Sweetheart Salad

This is the perfect holiday salad. It's especially perfect for Christmas because it has so much red and green in it. It's beautiful, but also very tasty.

I got the original recipe from Taste of Home, but I also made a several changes.


Taste Of Home's Recipe:

Ingredients
3 cups spring mix salad greens
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup balsamic vinaigrette
2 tablespoons honey-roasted sliced almonds


Directions
Divide salad greens and cranberries between two salad plates. Drizzle with vinaigrette and sprinkle with almonds.

Serves: 2.
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Here is the recipe with the changes we made to it:

Ingredients:
Two bags of spring mix salad greens
Half of a 6 oz. bag of dried cranberries
Balsamic vinaigrette, to taste
1/2 cup of sliced almonds, candied

Directions
To candy almonds, put about 1/4 cup of sugar in skillet and heat over medium to medium high heat. Stir the sugar constantly until it begins to melt. Do NOT try to rush this! The sugar will start to form hard rocks first, then it will slowly begin to melt into a caramel-colored liquid.
When sugar is melted, add the almonds. Stir until all of the nuts are coated with caramelized sugar. Pour almonds onto a cookie sheet, aluminum foil, or waxed paper. Cool 10 minutes and break into small pieces.



Pour both bags of salad greens into a large bowl. Add dried cranberries and candied almonds. Add balsamic vinaigrette to taste. Toss and serve.

Serves: 6





Do share your favorite Christmas dinner dish!

Christmas Morning: Crouton and Egg Casserole

This has always been one of our favorite egg dishes and we look forward to it every Christmas morning.

MAKE THE NIGHT BEFORE!

Ingredients
1 box of HERB SEASONED croutons
MEAT- 1 lb. of bacon, or ham, or sausage; cooked
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
9-12 eggs, beaten
3 cups milk

Directions
In a 9x13 pan, layer the bottom of the pan with the whole box of croutons. Layer the meat on top of the croutons. Then layer with the shredded cheese.

In a separate bowl, mix beaten eggs with 3 cups of milk. Pour egg and milk mixture over cheese, meat, and croutons.

Store, covered, overnight in refrigerator.



The next morning, bake dish at 325 degrees for 50-60 minutes until eggs are set and firm.

Serves:6-8




What's your favorite Christmas morning dish?

Christmas Drinks: White Hot Chocolate

This is a recipe we got from the Better Homes and Gardens site. So yummy!

3 cups half-and-half or light cream
3/4 cup vanilla-flavor baking pieces, or vanilla-flavor candy coating, chopped
3 cinnamon sticks
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp almond extract
Slivers of vanilla-flavor candy coating (optional)
Ground cinnamon (optional)

Combine 1/4 cup of the half-and-half or light cream, vanilla baking pieces or chopped candy coating, stick cinnamon, and nutmeg in a medium saucepan; whisk over low heat until vanilla baking pieces or candy is melted. Remove stick cinnamon.

Add remaining half-and-half or light cream. Whisk until heated through. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla and almond extract. Serve warm in cups or mugs; top with slivers of vanilla-flavor candy coating and sprinkle with cinnamon, if desired. Makes 5 (6-ounce) servings.

All Christmas beverage recipes welcome! Including adult drinks too.

Christmas Cookies: Peppermint Meltaways

Taste of Home came through again! These cookies really do melt in your mouth!

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1/2 tsp peppermint extract
1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornstarch

FROSTING:
2 tbsp butter, softened
1-1/2 cups confectioners sugar
2 tbsp milk
1/4 tsp peppermint extract
2 to 3 drops red food coloring, optional
1/2 cup crushed peppermint candies

In a small bowl, cream butter and confectioners sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in extract. Combine flour and cornstarch; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well.

Shape into 1-in. balls. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool.

In a small bowl, beat butter until fluffy. Add the confectioners’ sugar, milk, extract and food coloring if desired; beat until smooth. Spread over cooled cookies; sprinkle with crushed candies.

Christmas Candies: Grammie's Truffles

We've posted this one before... Christine and I even got a little teary as we started shaping thoses truffles on Saturday. We sure do miss her!

½ pound dark unsweetened chocolate
½ pound Baker's Semi-Sweet
1/8 oz. can Borden’s condensed milk
1/2 tsp. mint oil or extract
Chocolate decorates/sprinkles

Melt chocolate in double boiler, add milk and stir. Add mint.
Let stand overnight.

Roll into balls and in decorates. Refrigerate or freeze to harden.

What satisfies your sweet tooth during the Christmas season?