Cranberry Jello Salad

1 (16 oz) can jellied cranberry sauce
1 (16.5 oz) can pitted dark sweet cherries, drained
10 1/2 oz crushed pineapple with juice
1 (6 ox) package cherry jello
2 cups boiling water
1 C chopped pecans (optional - I didn't put them in)

Directions:
1. In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt the cranberry sauce.
2. Cut cherries in pieces and add them to the melted sauce. Stir in the pineapple with its juice. Remove from heat.
3. In a medium bowl, pour boiling water over gelatin. Stir until dissolved.
4. Add the jello to the cranberry mixture and stir. Stir in optional nuts. Pour into a 9x13 and chill until set.
5. Top with sweetened whipped cream, if desired.

*This is mom's recipe. I made it for Christmas and it was a hit!

Canned Chicken

Our local stores have chicken breasts for $1.39 this week so I pulled out my never-used-before pressure cooker and tried canning chicken. I was a little nervous because of an infamous family story of my Grandma Coombs' pressure cooker blowing up while full of red beets (no one was hurt, but the walls were RED!).

I thawed the frozen chicken by placing it into a bowl of warm water for about 20 minutes. This is about five pounds of chicken. I did a total of 20 lbs. My 16-quart pressure cooker states that it will process 10 pints at a time, but it really only did 8 - maybe because I used wide-mouth jars. Each jar held about one pound of chicken.

When it was completely thawed, I trimmed off any fat on the chicken (which wasn't much). I then put the raw breasts into clean jars with about 1 inch of head space. I didn't add any water. I could have added a 1/2 teaspoon of salt, but because the chicken had already been injected with some broth, I choose not to add the salt.

After fastening lids and rings onto the pint jars, I placed them into my pressure cooker with 3 quarts of water and fastened the lid (the water amount will vary - see your own pressure cooker manual for specific instructions).

My pressure cooker manual states to cook meats at 13 pounds of pressure (adjusted for my own altitude of 5700 feet) for 75 minutes (90 minutes for quarts).

I think this was the hardest part of processing the chicken. Every pressure cooker works differently. I had to carefully read the manual several times. Make sure to read yours carefully for water amounts, pressure required, and processing times (always adjusting for altitude as described in your manual). I vented mine for 10 minutes, added the weight, processed for 75 minutes and then let the cooker drop pressure and cool. It required some watching to maintain the pressure at 13 pounds. By the third batch, I had a pretty good idea of where to set my stove top and was able to get some other things done.

This is the result! I did 20 pints of chicken (each pint is about one pound of chicken). Prepping the chicken was easy. Learning to use the pressure cooker was a little harder, but now that I've done it, I won't be hesitant to do it again!

Liege Waffles

We were introduced to these at Bruges in Salt Lake City. I got a Belgian Waffle Maker for Christmas so tonight we gave it a try. These are NOT a traditional batter waffle. Instead, they use yeast and rise like a bread dough. Pearl sugar, which is not easy to find, adds a caramelized crunch. They are more of a dessert than a breakfast. Divine!

Liege Waffle Recipe:

2 1/4 teaspoons of active dry yeast
1 1/2 tablespoons white sugar
3/4 cup lukewarm milk
3 eggs
1 cup melted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups pearl sugar

1.Sprinkle the yeast and white sugar over warm milk in a small bowl. The milk should be no more than 100 degrees F (40 degrees C). Let stand for 15 minutes until the yeast softens and begins to form a creamy foam.
2.Whisk the eggs, melted butter, and vanilla extract into the yeast mixture until evenly blended; set aside. Stir together the flour and salt in a separate large bowl, and make a well in the center. Pour the egg mixture into the well, then stir in the flour mixture until a soft dough forms. Cover with a light cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes. Gently mix in the pearl sugar.
3.Preheat a waffle iron according to manufacturer's instructions.
4.Place a baseball-size ball of dough on the preheated waffle iron. Cook waffles until golden and crisp, about 2 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough. Allow waffles to cool for 2 to 3 minutes before serving.

Source: All Recipes

Strawberry Colada Cookies with Toasted Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting

1 box strawberry cake mix
1/3 cup oil
1 1/2 TB Cream of Coconut
1 tsp coconut extract
2 eggs

Frosting:
6 oz softened cream cheese
1 TB + 1 tsp softened butter
2 1/4 C powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp milk

1C shredded coconut toasted in the oven until golden brown (@ 350*)

1. Preheat oven to 350*. In a large bowl, mix cake mix, oil, eggs, extract and cream of coconut until combined. With a cookie scoop, scoop onto parchment lined cookie sheet. Do not press down. Bake for 11-15 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

2. Place cream cheese and butter in a bowl. Mix until smooth. Slowly add in powdered sugar, vanilla and milk. Spread frosting on top of cookies, then sprinkle or dip in toasted coconut.

Makes about 30 cookies

Orange Lovelies

3/4 C shortening
1 C sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
2 C flour
1 C cooked carrots (basically 1 can drained)
1 C nuts (optional)

Cream sugar and shortening. Add egg and beat well. Add all other ingredients, mix well. Bake at 350* for 8-10 minutes. While warm, ice with frosting.

Frosting:

3 TB tangerine juice
1 C powdered sugar
grated tangerine rind (to taste)
pinch of salt