Almond Butter Cutouts

In case you can't recognize the shapes, that is a cat and a train above.
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup ground almonds
Colored sugar and frosting, optional
Directions:
In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg yolks and extract. Combine flour, salt and baking powder; gradually add to creamed mixture. Stir in ground almonds. Cover and chill at least 2 hours.
Roll out on a lightly floured surface to 3/8-in. thickness. Cut with cookie cutters; place on ungreased baking sheets. Sprinkle with sugar if desired. Bake at 375° for 10-13 minutes or until the edges begin to brown. Cool on wire racks. Frost if desired. Yield: 3-4 dozen.

My frosting:
3/4 bag powdered sugar
3/4 cup softened butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp or more almond extract
1-3 tbsp milk
1/2 tsp butter extract (optional)
Food coloring

Mix all ingredients except milk. Add milk 1 tablespoon at a time, until you have the thickness you want. Add more vanilla, almond, and butter extracts to taste.

Banana Cookies with Peanut Butter Filling

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup mashed bananas (about 2 medium)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
Filling
1 cup Smucker's Natural Creamy Peanut Butter
1/2 cup butter
1 cup powdered sugar
Heat oven to 350° F. Beat brown sugar, sugar, and butter in large mixer bowl until creamy; add banana, egg, and vanilla. Beat until well mixed. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl; mix well. Add flour mixture to banana mixture; mix until soft dough forms.
Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets. Bake 11 to 13 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on wire racks.
Beat peanut butter, butter and powdered sugar until well mixed. Spread about one tablespoon filling on bottoms of half of cookies. Gently press bottoms of remaining cookies against filling to form sandwiches.
Tip: Cookies can be frosted. Add one to two tablespoons milk to peanut butter filling, stirring until smooth. Frost tops of cookies. I personally prefer them stored in the refrigerator.
Makes two to 2-1/2 dozen sandwich cookies.

Holiday Pretzel Treats

Square waffle-shaped pretzels
Hershey kisses
M & M's

Spread pretzels on baking sheet covered with parchment. Unwrap kisses and place one in the center of each pretzel. Bake at 170 degrees for 4-6 minutes until kisses are soft. Remove from oven and quickly place an M & M on top of each one. Refrigerate until firm. Makes as many as you want.

Note: You can use any kind of kisses, but they melt at different rates. I used milk chocolate peanut butter kisses and they melted fast. I also had to store them in the refrigerator so they wouldn't be too gooey. (Remove from fridge about 5 minutes before eating.) Then I tried it again with dark chocolate kisses and dark chocolate M & M's. They took longer to melt and held their shape better. They also didn't have to be stored in the fridge all the time. They are pictured above. The chocolate peanut butter ones melted in a mass on the pretzel but they still tasted good.

Spicy Beef and Barley Soup

2 teaspoons canola oil
1 (1 1/2-pound) eye-of-round steak, cut into 1-inch pieces
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sliced onion
2 cups (1/2-inch-thick) slices carrot
2 cups sliced mushrooms (about 8 ounces)
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 cups fat-free, less-sodium beef broth
1/2 cup uncooked pearl barley
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 thyme sprig
Preparation
Heat canola oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle beef evenly on all sides with freshly ground black pepper and salt. Add beef and onion to pan; sauté 5 minutes, turning to brown beef on all sides. Remove beef mixture from pan; place in an electric slow cooker.

Add carrot and mushrooms to pan; sauté 5 minutes. Add bell pepper and garlic; sauté 2 minutes. Add carrot mixture, broth, barley, basil, crushed red pepper, tomatoes, and thyme sprig to slow cooker; stir well to combine. Cover and cook on HIGH for 1 hour. Reduce heat to LOW; cook 6 hours. Discard thyme.

Yield

6 servings (serving size: 1 2/3 cups)

Apple Chess Pie

1 (9-inch) pie shell
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
2 Braeburn or Golden Delicious apple, cored and chopped
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Whipped cream (optional)

1. Heat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Lightly prick bottom of pie shell with fork; bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Set aside.
3. Reduce oven heat to 325 degrees F.
4. In large bowl with electric mixer, beat butter, both sugars, and the salt until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beat well after each addition. Stir in chopped apples, sour cream, pecans, flour, and vanilla.
5. Spread mixture in pie shell and bake 50 to 60 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely. If desired, garnish with whipped cream, and serve.

Makes 8 servings.

Pumpkin Crisp

We liked this best the second day, after we had scooped the entire thing into a round dish and refrigerated it overnight. The topping got a little too crunchy, and this took care of that issue, since it got all mixed together. Warm it up just a little (not hot) and serve with vanilla ice cream.

1 16oz can pumpkin
3 eggs
1 15oz can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup brown sugar
4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1 cake mix (lemon or yellow)
1 cup chopped nuts
2 sticks (1/2 pound) melted butter

DIRECTIONS;
Mix pumpkin, eggs, condensed milk,
sugar and pumpkin pie spice until smooth.

Pour in a greased 9x13 pan

Sprinkle dry cake mix over pumpkin mixture

Sprinkle nuts

Drizzle butter

Bake in a preheated 350 oven
for approximately one hour.

Kid-Friendly Fried Rice

1 bag Success brown rice
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp teriyaki sauce
1 cup mixed frozen peas and corn, thawed
1 egg
2 tsp milk
1 tsp jarred minced ginger
1 tsp jarred minced garlic
5 Ringo chicken rings, baked or microwaved
salt and pepper to taste

Cook rice according to package directions. Then open rice and pour into skillet with oil. Add 1 Tbsp each of soy sauce and teriyaki sauce. Mix in ginger and garlic. Push mixture to half of skillet and pour egg, beaten with milk, into other half of skillet. Scramble egg, and then mix with rice. Add corn and peas. Chop chicken rings or nuggets. Mix chicken into rice and then add remaining soy and teriyaki sauce. Taste and add salt, pepper, and more sauces if you like.

If you want to serve this as a side dish, just leave out the chicken.