Cranberry (Christmas) Jello Salad

I made this for our 4th of July barbeque.  I think the consensus was that it was fine.  Not bad, not wonderful, just fine.  I used my mini-nut chopper to dice everything, and it worked great, even the orange.  I cut them all a little while before I was able to add them, so chopping the apple with the orange helped keep the apple fresh.

The celery was a big sticking point for most.  Why add celery to a jello salad?  I would suggest just leaving the celery out.  I really liked the orange in it!  It added a bit of zing.  I think I will try that in a jello salad in the future.  The cranberries also tasted good, and I would definitely add them to a jello salad in the future.

Since this has cranberries, oranges, and nuts, I think it would be easiest and most appropriate around Christmas.  I had to make a special trip to the one grocery store in the entire valley that sells frozen cranberries this time of year.  At Christmas, I could have easily gotten them anywhere.

Sorry no picture!  I just didn't get one in the craziness of 4th of July.  It was dark red with little bits in it.  :)

Christmas Cranberry Jello Salad by Maude J
2 small packages cherry jello
1 3/4 C sugar (I only put in about 1 cup, and I dissolved it into the cranberries and orange and apple)
4 C water
1 orange (ground)
1 C chopped nuts
1 C celery diced
1-2 apples diced (I used 1 large apple)
2 C cranberries ground

Dissolve jello using 2 C boiling water, then 2 C cold.  Set in frig until syrupy, then add remaining ingredients and let set up.

French Dressing by Hilda G

This dressing was good, but I don't think I would make it again.  French dressing in a bottle from the store is cheaper, ounce for ounce, than the ketchup and oil required to make this, and I don't think this was really any better.  AND buying it in the bottle means you don't have to wash the blender.  Plus, I'd just skip right to the ranch dressing, which tastes a whole lot better, anyway.

French Dressing by Hilda G.

1/2 C salad oil

1/2 C ketchup

1/4 C sugar

2 T vinegar

1/2 t paprika

1 t salt

1 onion (I used 1/2 tsp onion powder)

1/4 C lemon juice

Mix in blender for 2 minutes; chill in the refrigerator

Pecan Logs, Penuche, and Nut Caramels by Louise M.

When we split up the recipes, I had Nut Caramels and Pecan Logs.  Since I needed to make the penuche AND nut caramels in order to make the pecan logs, I switched it with Aunt Renee.  Besides, Renee is already an expert at penuche and doesn't need the practice.  (Okay, okay, so I called her and asked if she happened to have any penuche left over that I could just use for the pecan logs.  It's not cheating!  But she didn't have any, so I had to make it.)  Since I'm doing all three recipes this time, I won't post the next couple times we do candy.

Thoughts on Penuche:

1. I halved the recipe, and it worked just fine.  
2. The first round went to sugar immediately.  I think it had crystals on the bottom of the pan the whole time.  I immediately added some milk to the sugary candy and put it back on the stove (using a different pan).  As soon as it boiled and the crystals were melted, it was at soft ball stage.  Luckily, it worked that time.
3. Stirring the penuche directly on the granite counter top worked well.  I also poured it onto the granite right off the stove.  I would do it that way again.
4. Jennifer (also an expert at penuche) had some extra instructions that really helped.  I will put them in italics.  
5. Do NOT put the toddler in the high chair with fruit loops to keep him busy while you stir the penuche.  He will finish the fruit loops LONG before you finish stirring.  You will then need to bribe your 5 year old to sing songs and do other crazy stuff to keep the toddler from screaming and/or climbing out.
6. Do NOT use your favorite spatula to stir unless it's got a strong handle.  It is entirely possible to break the handle right off in the middle of stirring.  
7. It's AMAZING how good a little butter, cream, and sugar can taste if done right!

Penuche

2 C brown sugar

2 C granulated sugar

2 C cream

1/2 C butter 1/4 C butter

Butter sides of pan.  Bring sugars and cream to boil stirring constantly.  Add butter.  2 TBSP Butter now, 2 TBSP later.  Boil until syrup forms soft ball in cold water.  Do not stir sides of pan.  Remove from heat, put remaining 2 TBSP butter on top.  Let cool to lukewarm.  Beat until thick and creamy.  Pour into pan, or shape into rolls for pecan logs.  Makes 2 Pounds.  DO NOT DOUBLE.

The Caramel recipe was fairly straight forward.  This picture shows how much was left over after I dipped the pecan logs, and since I had some nuts that had caramel stuck to them, I decided to just add the rest of my pecans to some of the caramel.

Nut Caramels
2 C sugar
2 C white syrup (aka Karo Syrup)
1 tsp Vanilla
1 Cube butter
dash salt
1 Can Sego Milk (aka evaporated milk)
1/2 C nuts

Boil Sugar, syrup, and salt to crack stage.  Add milk and butter, which has been warmed together on back of stove, add to sugar mixture stirring constantly so mixture doesn't stop boiling.  Boil until done as firm as desirable (hard ball for pecan logs).  Remove from heat.  Stir in vanilla and nuts (nuts are optional).  Stir until starts to cool.  Pour into well buttered pan.  Cool and cut into squares.  This caramel makes heavenly popcorn balls if you allow the caramel to cook a little less time (soft ball).  It also makes good caramel sauce for ice cream if only cooked a short time after milk and butter are added to sugar mixture.  Use your biggest pan and watch for caramel popping out while adding the milk and butter.  

Thoughts on Pecan Logs

1. There is an art to getting these to look good, and my Grandmother definitely had it figured out.  Hers always looked better than mine.
2. Don't try to dip the penuche into caramel right off the stove.  I have a blister on my finger where I burned it a little.  You might also lose the piece of penuche in the caramel when you drop it from your burning fingers and have to go digging.
3. I found that using my flat wooden spoon to get the penuche out of the caramel worked a lot better than using my fingers or a fork.  I just scooped, let a little caramel drip off, and then flipped it over onto the pecans kind of like I would when dipping chocolates.
4. I also tried dropping pecans onto the top of the caramel/penuche after setting it on some pecans, and then rolling from there, and it helped with getting less caramel on my fingers.  
5. It takes a lot of pecans!  I had a five ounce bag, and it only made three pecan logs.  I ended up pulling some chopped pieces from my pantry to finish the last pecan log. 
6. After you get the pecans stuck into the caramel, you can reshape the log a little, especially if you let it cool some first.
7. Once again, these taste so good!!  And that's just the parts I licked off my fingers after I finished.  I haven't actually cut into one yet.

Pecan Logs
Shape Penuche into rolls about 3/4 inch in diameter.  Wrap in foil or plastic wrap and freeze (I did this step after my penuche had been cooled and refrigerated for a while.  It still worked.)  Make "Nut
Caramels".  While caramel is still warm, dip frozen penuche logs into caramel and coat them, then roll in shelled pecan halves (or chopped pecans).  Cool and store in a cool place (freezer) wrapped in plastic wrap and foil.  Will stay good for months, maybe years.  But only if well hidden.

Sweet & Sour Pork by Cleone W

This is a basic pork stir fry, but very good.  If I did it again, I would cook the cubed pork all the way in some oil in the skillet, then add the vegetables right into that.  It seemed like boiling the meat took some of the flavor out.  I really liked the way it did the sauce because it thickened very quickly with no lumps.  Also, I used a red instead of green pepper just because I happened to have one in the fridge.

Sweet and Sour Pork
1 1/2 lbs cubed pork
1 diced green pepper
1 med chopped onion
2/3 C cubed pineapple
2 C water
1/2 C vinegar (I used white)
1/2 C water
1/4 C brown sugar
1/4 C granulated sugar
1/4 C corn starch
1/2 C pineapple juice

Brown pork cubed and add water.  Simmer 45 minutes and drain (this is the step I would skip).  Combine vegetables and pineapple and cook in butter for few minutes (I just cooked them in with the pork).  Keep vegetables crisp.  Make sauce by bringing vinegar, water, & sugars to boil.  Combine corn starch & pineapple juice.  Add to hot mixture and cook until thickened.  Pour over pork and vegetables.  Serve over rice.

Lemon Chiffon Pie by Kathy N.

I was reading over the other pie recipes just now, and realized Jenn made a Lemon Chiffon Pie, too.  I think this one was a lot easier to make.  It had simple ingredients.  Aside from the lemon and orange, I always have the ingredients, and it's not hard or expensive to pick up a lemon and orange while at the store.  I beat the egg whites while the juice was heating up, so they were ready to go as soon as the egg yolk mixture was thick.  One problem I had was tiny lumps in the egg yolk mixture, and they didn't smooth out.  I think if I had mixed the corn starch with the sugar before I added the yolks, it might have solved that.  And, I added the egg yolk mixture to the boiling juice gradually, beating like crazy with a whisk the whole time.  So I don't think the lumps came from that.  I put it in a graham cracker crust, since I'm much better at making that kind.

As far as taste, I'm just going to have to guess.  I don't like cream pies, so not only do I not like this one, I have nothing else to judge it from since I never eat cream pies.  I'd rather skip dessert.  I know I'm the crazy one here, so I'll guess and say it's a 3.  It smelled good, and when I licked the spoon a little after I dumped the filling in the crust, it was a pleasant taste.  Plus, beginning to end, it took less than an hour, and that includes breaks to fix lunch for my kids.  

FYI: the filling is gluten free and dairy free, which has to add extra points.  :)

Lemon Chiffon Pie by Kathy Nelson

juice of one lemon

juice of one orange

3 egg yolks

1/2 C sugar

3 T corn starch

3 egg whites

1/2 C sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Add enough water to juice of lemon and orange to make one cup.  Bring to boil.  Add egg yolks, 1/2 C sugar, and corn starch which have been blended.  Cook to thicken (it only took a couple minutes).  Beat egg whites until stiff with 1/2 C sugar and vanilla.  Fold whites mixture into lemon mixture, pour into baked pie crust.  (I used a 9 inch pie plate, and it fit perfect)