Gingerbread Men Cookies

Gingerbread Men
3 cups flour
2 tsp. McCormick® Ground Ginger
1 tsp. McCormick® Ground Cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. McCormick® Ground Nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup (1/2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
l egg

MIX flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt. Beat butter and brown sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add molasses and egg; beat well. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until well mixed. Press dough into a thick flat disk. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.

ROLL out dough to 1/4-inch thickness on lightly floured work surface. Cut into gingerbread men shapes with 5-inch cookie cutter. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE in preheated 350°F oven 8 to 10 minutes or until edges of cookies are set and just beginning to brown. Cool on baking sheets 1 to 2 minutes. Remove to wire racks; cool completely. Decorate as desired.

Makes 2 dozen.

Snowman Christmas Cake

snowman cake
MAKES 24 servings
prep 15 minutes
BAKE at 350° for 43 minutes
EQUIPMENT
2 8-ounce ovenproof glass bowls 2 12-ounce ovenproof glass bowls 2 4-cup ovenproof bowls or
metal ball pans (such as Wilton) 9   foil cupcake liners
Chopstick or wooden skewer
INGREDIENTS
2    boxes (18.25 ounces each) yellow cake mix
8   large eggs
2   cups buttermilk
2/3   cup vegetable oil
1    bag (14 ounces) flaked coconut
1     roll strawberry fruit leather (such as Fruit by the Foot)
2    cans (16 ounces each) vanilla frosting
1     orange fruit slice
12 mini chocolate chips
2   cream-filled chocolate cookies (such as Oreo)
1    thin chocolate cookie (such as Famous chocolate wafers)

Heat oven to 350°. Coat bowls with nonstick cooking spray; coat with flour. Place foil liners into muffin-pan indents.
Combine cake mixes, eggs, buttermilk and oil. Beat on low speed until just combined. Increase speed to high; beat until smooth, about 2 minutes. Spoon 2V2 cups batter into each of the largest bowls, 1 cup batter into each of the medium bowls and Vi cup batter into each of the smallest bowls. Divide remaining batter among the 9 prepared cupcake cups.

Bake at 350° until cake is golden and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean: about 17 minutes for the cupcakes, 22 to 25 minutes for smallest bowls, 30 minutes for the medium bowls and 40 to 43 minutes for large bowls. Transfer cakes to a wire rack and cool completely.

Meanwhile, place the coconut in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Transfer to a medium bowl. Cut fruit leather into a 6-inch and an 8-inch length. Fold each in half, pressing to secure, to get 3-inch and 4-inch lengths. Use scissors to cut fringe on short end of each piece.

Invert cooled bowl cakes onto work surface. Trim flat sides to make level.

Place one of the large bowl cakes, flat-side up, on a platter. Spread top with vanilla frosting. Place the other cake layer on top, flat-side down, to create a ball. Spread a thin layer of the frosting all over cake. Gently press the coconut all over to cover.

Repeat with the remaining cakes to make 2 smaller balls.

Place the medium ball on top of the large ball. Insert a trimmed chopstick or wooden skewer for support. Place the 2 pieces of fruit leather as the scarf on top of the middle cake. Add the small ball cake on top. Add more coconut, if necessary.

Cut the orange fruit slice into a %-inch triangle for the nose and attach in the center of the small cake. Add the mini chips, pointed-end in, as the eyes and the mouth. For the hat, attach the 2 cream-filled cookies to the flat chocolate cookie with some of the remaining vanilla frosting. Arrange hat on top of snowman.

Spread remaining vanilla frosting on top of the cupcakes, sprinkle the tops with the coconut and serve with snowman.

PER SERVING 530 calories; 25 g fat (8 g sat.); 5 g protein; 73 g carbohydrate; 2 g fiber; 463 mg sodium; 73 mg cholesterol

Simple Chilli

*1 can red beans

*1 can kidney beans

*1 can black beans

*1 can pinto beans

*2 can chilli beans

*1 lb hamburger

*1 medium union

*chilli powder

*onion powder

*garlic powder

*cheddar cheese (optional)

*cheesits (optional)

Brown hamburger and add diced onion, then add cans of beans, then add seasonings to taste. Cook for 1 hour stirring occassionally. Serve with cheezits or sprinkled cheddar cheese.

Sausage & Egg Noodles

*large package of egg noodles

*green bell pepper

*onion

*butter

*polish sausage

Bring water to boil (this is important or noodles with be clumpy and not cook right) and add egg noodles to it. Fry sliced sausage and diced peppers and onion in a pan with two large spoons of butter until cooked through. When pasta is done drain and stir everything together.

Cranberry Cocktail

*cranberry juice

*7-up

This is a staple for every occasion at my house. Add equal parts and have alot of it because it will go fast. Can be served over ice or partially frozen leaving a slushy consistency.