Almond Cream Cheese bars

Almond cream cheese bars

1 cup butter

2 cups flour

1/2 cup powdered sugar

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

2 eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon almond extract

FROSTING:

1/4 cup butter

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

milk

1 teaspoon almond extract

Sliced almonds

Combine butter, flour, and powdered sugar; beat until well blended.

Press into the bottom of a 9 x 13 cake pan. Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add eggs, sugar, and almond extract. Beat until well blended.

Spread on top of the crust and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Allow to cool.

FROSTING:

Combine butter, powdered sugar, and a small amount of milk; beat until smooth.

Add more milk if frosting is too thick to spread easily. If it is too thin, add a little more powdered sugar. Add almond extract.

Spread on top of bars and then sprinkle with sliced almonds.

Linzer Cookies

Linzer Cookies

1 1/4 cups butter, softened 

1 cup powdered sugar, sifted

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 

1/2 cup finely chopped pecans, toasted 

1/4 teaspoon salt 

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

1/4 cup seedless raspberry jam

Powdered sugar

Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer; gradually add 1 cup powdered sugar, beating until light and fluffy.

Combine flour and next 4 ingredients; gradually add to butter mixture, beating just until blended.

Divide dough into 2 equal portions. Cover and chill 1 hour.

Roll each portion to a 1/8-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface; cut circle shape,Cut centers out of half of cookies with a 1 1/2-inch shaped cutter. Place all cut outs on lightly greased baking sheets. Or follow instructions on your Linzer cookie cutter kit. 

Bake at 325° for 15 minutes; cool on wire racks. Spread solid cookies with jam; sprinkle remaining stars with powdered sugar. Top each solid cookie with cut out top.

Christmas Teacakes

1 cup butter, NO substitutions
1/2 cup POWDERED  sugar
1 teasp. Vanilla
2 1/4 cup a.p flour
1/4 teasp. salt
3/4 cup chopped pecans

Mix butter, sugar and vanilla well. Add flour, salt, nuts and mix well. Chill dough.

Preheat oven to 400º while dough is chilling. Roll dough into 1 inch balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet about an inch apart. Bake in oven for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool slightly so you can gently roll hot cookie balls  in powdered sugar. When completely cool, roll again. Store in air tight container.
Makes about 4 dozen.

Thawing and cooking a turkey safely

Thawing turkey for Thanksgiving dinner can seem a bit overwhelming with all the preparations for family coming over for the holiday!!!  Your busy cooking, cleaning and preparing and you forget to thaw the turkey.Start by realizing that it will take several days for your turkey to thaw in the refrigerator. .  You can keep the turkey thawed for a day or two in the fridge prior to cooking.  Besides using the refrigerator, you can use the cold water method. I personally use the fridge method and then resort to the cold water if I guessed wrong on thawing time or forgot to pull the turkey out of the freezer. 

How to Thaw a Turkey Safely In The Fridge

When you remove the turkey from the freezer keep the turkey in its plastic wrapper. Place the turkey on a tray or in a pan to catch any juices.   Allow about 24 hours for ever 5 pounds of turkey following the time table below as a guideline.   Remember that you can keep the turkey in the refrigerator for a day or two extra once its thawed. 

4 to 12 pounds = 1 to 3 days

12 to 16 pounds = 3 to 4 days

16 to 20 pounds = 4 to 5 days

20 to 24 pounds = 5 to 6 days

How to Thaw a Turkey Safely In The  Cold Water

Thawing a turkey in cold water  requires a bit more action on the cooks part.   Again keep the turkey in the wrapper and allow 30 Minutes per pound for the turkey to soak in cold water. You will need to change the water every 30 minutes until the turkey is thawed.  Use the timetable below as a timeline to thaw your turkey. 

4 to 12 pounds = 2 to 6 hours

12 to 16 pounds = 6 to 8 hours

16 to 20 pounds = 8 to 10 hours

20 to 24 pounds = 10 to 12 hours

Approximate Roasting Times for Stuffed Turkey

6 to 8 pounds             3 to 3-1/2 hours

8 to 12 pounds           3-1/2 to 4-1/2 hours

12 to 16 pounds         4-1/2 to 5-1/2 hours

16 to 20 pounds         5-1/2 to 6 hours

20 to 24 pounds         6 to 6-1/2 hours

Approximate Roasting Times for Unstuffed Turkey

6 to 8 pounds             2-1/2 to 3 hours

8 to 12 pounds           3 to 4 hours

12 to 16 pounds         4 to 5 hours

16 to 20 pounds         5 to 5-1/2 hours

20 to 24 pounds         5-1/2 to 6 hours