Holiday Scents

1 orange, sliced
1 lemon, sliced
3-4 cinnamon sticks
1 tsp. whole cloves
1 handful of cranberries
1 bay leaf

Put everything together and fill pan with water. Boil together and then let simmer on stove. It will fill your home with a wonderful holiday smell.

Poppy Seed Dressing

3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. salt
1/3 cup vinegar
1 cup vegtable oil
1/2 T poppy seeds.

Wisk together, refrigerate, and serve over a bed of greens.

orange, brown sugar glaze

1 cube butter
2 med. oranges, sliced
2 cups fresh orange juice
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup water
1/4 tsp cloves
2 cinnamon sticks

Mix all ingredients into sauce pan, and cook for 30-40 minutes. Strain out orange slices, cloves and cinnamon sticks and serve over ham.

Katie's Chicken & Wild Rice Soup

8 cups chicken broth
3 cups sliced carrots
½ cup slice celery
1 small bunch green onions, sliced
1 box Uncle Ben's Wild Rice, original recipe with seasoning packet
1 tsp. dried thyme
2 Tbls butter
3 Tbls flour
1 cup milk
1 Tbls lemon juice
½ tsp. Italian seasoning
3 cups chopped cooked chicken (rotisserie works well)

Mix broth with vegetables, rice and seasoning packet, and thyme. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cover. Simmer for 50 minutes. Melt butter, stir in flour, stirring until smooth. Add milk. Stir and cook until bubbly, then cook for 1 minute. Slowly add to hot rice mixture. Add chicken and lemon juice. Salt and pepper to taste. Heat through and serve.

Christmas Salad

1 head red leaf lettuce
1 head green leaf lettuce
1 large pomegranate
1 large pear
1 cup Asiago cheese shaved or shredded
1/2-1 cup toasted cashews
2 large grapefruits

Note: last night I added 1 head of Romaine and left out the grapefruits.)

Dressing:
1 cup sugar
2 Teaspoons dry mustard
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup apple cider vinegar
2 cups vegetable oil
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
(This makes a TON of dressing....you could easily half it)

Sour Cream Rolls

Grandma Garff’s Sour Cream Rolls

Ingredients:

1 large carton of sour cream (2 cups)1/4 cup shortening
Heat them together in a little pan, but don't boil.Place in mixing bowl and stir in:

1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, well beaten
Directions:Take 2 packages of dry, fast rising yeast and dissolve in 1 cup of luke warm water. Then mix with other ingredients in large bowl. Add 7 1/2 cups flour, and knead.Cover the bowl with aluminum foil and place a dishtowel over it. Place bowl and contents, well covered, in a refrigerator overnight (or in a cold oven for 3 hours) and until the dough has doubled in bulk. Make rolls and place in roll pans, cover with dishtowel and let raise for about 3-4 hours.Don't make them too small. If you fold them over, put a little butter between the folds. Bake 9-12 minutes, depending on oven, at 350 degrees. Bake until rolls are light brown--not dark brown.
I cut the dough into 4 equal parts and then roll it out into a 16 inch circle. Then I use a pizza cutter to cut the circle into 16 even triangles. I roll them up like Cresent rolls and butter them with a melted butter and a pastry brush hot out of the oven.
Make them tastier!

This dough is an excellent base for cinnamon or orange rolls.
After the first rising, divide dough 4 ways. Roll each section out into a circle. Brush dough with softened butter. Sprinkle with brown sugar & cinnamon (for cinnamon rolls) or sugar and orange zest (for orange rolls). Roll into log shape and slice 1 ½ inch rolls. Place in buttered pyrex and bake.

Optional Frosting: While the rolls are still slightly warm, frost with a butter, milk, powdered sugar frosting (cinnamon rolls). Or butter, OJ and powdered sugar (orange rolls).