Amanda's Cheddar Cheese Ball

1/2 lb grated sharp cheddar cheese

4 oz cream cheese, room temperature

1/4 cup mayonaisse

1/8 teaspoon onion salt

1/8 teaspoon garlic salt

1/4 cup chopped walnuts, plus enough to roll and cover the cheese ball.

Put all ingredients (except the nuts to roll the cheese ball in) in food processor, process until well combined.  (Amanda actually mixes this by hand, wearing plastic gloves to keep clean.)  Put nuts to roll the ball in a pie plate.  Pile the cheese mixture on top of the nuts (in as close to ball shape as you can get it).  Bring the nuts up the sides and on top as best you can, then pick up the ball and roll it around in the nuts to cover completely.  Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

Chocolate Covered Pretzels

pretzel rods

chocolate chips (semi-sweet, milk, or dark)

white chocolate bark or candy coating

wax paper

tall, straight glass

fork

Pour chocolate chips into the glass.  Microwave for 30 seconds to a minute.  Stir with a pretzel (this will be difficult at first--don't force it).  Continue to microwave 15-30 seconds at a time, stirring between each, until chocolate is melted and smooth.  Using the pretzel, pull chocolate to the rim of the glass and begin twisting the pretzel, leaving a generous amount of chocolate.*  Place on waxed paper.

After you have dipped all the pretzels and lined them up on waxed paper, microwave a block of white chocolate bark for 15-30 seconds, stirring with a fork until melted and smooth.  Drizzle back and forth over the pretzels.  Let dry for a couple of hours or overnight.**

Bag one or two pretzels in Wilton Pretzel Bags (they can be found at Walmart in the cake decorating aisle).  They come with silver ties, but I usually tie the tops with curling ribbon and a little Christmas card.

I've found you can get about 20-24 pretzels per bag (dip the broken ones too though!) and that you need about 1 12 oz bag of chocolate chips per pretzel bag.  Kathryn and I dipped four bags of pretzels in about 35 minutes, resulting in 92 pretzels!

*If you like TONS of chocolate, just dip the pretzels and pull them right out of the chocolate.  But this will make it necessary to use A LOT more chocolate.  I prefer a lighter coat of chocolate--and I even like the pattern made by twisting the pretzel out of the chocolate.

**Warning!  You have not tempered the chocolate, so it may bloom!   It's still okay to eat--but if you pass them out within the next day or so, they're usually fine and get eaten before any blooming happens.  But no guarantees here.

Soft Sugar Cookies with Buttercream Frosting

6 1/2 cups flour

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 cup lard (or butter)

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups sour cream

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  In a large bowl, sift together flour, salt, and baking soda.  Set aside.  Using a mixer, cream together lard (butter) and sugar.  Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.  Beat in vanilla and sour cream.  Mix sifted flour to beaten mixture until fully incorporated.  

Roll out on a floured surface to 1/4 inch thickness.  Cut out shapes.  Place on a greased or parchment-lined cookie sheet.  Bake for 7 minutes or until edges of cookies are light brown.

Buttercream Frosting

1 1/2 cups butter at room temperature

2 lbs powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 cup whole milk (or half and half)

Using a mixer, beat the butter until smooth.  Beat in about two cups of powdered sugar.  Beat in salt and vanilla and a little milk.  Beat in the rest of the powdered sugar and slowly pour in the rest of the milk.  Color with food coloring.

Chocolate Mousse Cookies

1 1/2 cups whipping cream
3 Tablespoons sugar
24 oz Hershey Chocolate Almond bars, chopped 
Nilla Wafers*, crushed, about 1/2 a box

Whip cream to firm peaks, adding sugar around the soft peak stage.  Melt chopped chocolate in microwave one minute at a time. Fold in whipped cream. Freeze for about an hour. Using a spoon or small cookie scoop place a small amount of mouse into a bowl containing the crushed Nilla wafer crumbs. Coat each ball with crumbs and quickly roll and shake off the excess crumbs.  Place on waxed paper.  Keep refrigerated.  Makes about 40.

*Use the real thing.  And the easiest way to crush them into a fine crumb is to give them a whirl in the food processor.