Diva Wraps It Up, The

by Davis, Krista

  Ann’s Peanut Butter Balls

  1/2 cup peanut butter (I have always used crunchy peanut butter)

  1/2 cup icing sugar

  1/4 cup butter

  1 teaspoon vanilla

  1/4 cup coconut

  1/4 cup finely chopped cherries

  1 package chocolate chips

  Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl. Roll into balls about 1 inch in diameter.

  In a double boiler, melt chocolate chips and a small piece of parawax.

  Dip the peanut butter balls in the chocolate and place on wax paper. Let cool and set. Store in a covered container in the refrigerator.

  Kathy Kaminski

  Growing up, when I thought of good cooking it was my grandma Gertie that came to mind. She was my dad’s mom. No surprise—before she was married she worked as a cook for the rich people in the small town of Albion, NY. However, I don’t remember her as a baker. I’m sure she must have done some baking, but all the sweet recipes seem to come from my mom’s mom, Lucy. Today I’ll share her most famous recipe: her Pineapple Squares.

  My mom, Audrey, told me her mom made these since she was a kid. She has no idea where the recipe came from; however, it was quite popular in Polonia. Who knew pineapple squares were a Polish thing? Polish ladies all made their own versions, tweaking the recipe so that each version was a little different. What made Lucy’s special was the cream cheese frosting. Nana always believed in taking something when she went to visit. She’d ask, “What should I bring?” and everyone replied, “Your pineapple squares.”

  Lucy’s Pineapple Squares

  FOR THE CRUST:

  3 cups sifted flour

  1 teaspoon salt

  1 1/4 cups butter

  1/2 cup cold milk

  Work dough as for pie. Use 1/2 portion for bottom of a sided cookie sheet.

  Preheat oven to 350.

  FOR THE FILLING:

  2 medium-sized cans crushed pineapple

  7 tablespoons tapioca

  1 cup sugar

  Mix and spoon into piecrust. Top with remaining rolled-out dough. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

  FOR THE TOPPING:

  1 small package of cream cheese

  2 tablespoons softened butter

  11/2 cups confectioner’s sugar

  vanilla—no amount written, probably 1 teaspoon

  milk—small amount to get spreading consistency

  Cool, then frost. Sprinkle the frosting with crushed walnuts if desired. Cut into squares.

  Nancy Foust

  I received this from a friend and they go over very big with my family and anyone who gets a cookie tray from me at Christmastime. I have made them many, many times.

  Whoopie Pies

  1 cup butter, softened

  11/2 cups sugar

  2 teaspoons vanilla

  2 eggs

  4 cups flour

  3/4 cup baking cocoa

  1/2 teaspoon salt

  2 teaspoons baking soda

  1 cup water

  1 cup buttermilk

  FILLING:

  2 cups marshmallow creme

  2 cups powdered sugar

  1/2 cup butter, softened

  2 teaspoons vanilla

  Preheat oven to 375. Grease cookie sheet.

  In a mixing bowl, beat butter, sugar, vanilla, and eggs until well mixed. Combine dry ingredients. Add to butter mixture alternately with water and buttermilk. Drop by teaspoonfuls on greased cookie sheet. Bake for 5–7 minutes. Cool completely. In a small mixing bowl, beat filling ingredients until fluffy. Spread filling on half of the cookies, then top with remaining cookies. Makes about 3 dozen.

  (I make two kinds: strawberry and vanilla. The strawberry filling is made with strawberry marshmallow creme.)

  Jeanne Schutts

  Here is my favorite Christmas cookie recipe. My grandma (Marseilla Schutts) used to make them. I know it was in a Messiah Lutheran Church cookbook from Port Byron, IL. She attended that church, so it either came from the cookbook or a church member. My grandma was a wonderful woman who never had an unkind word to say about anyone. She loved having the family get together. She passed away several years ago, and we all miss her.

  These are very popular at holiday get-togethers, and we are always asked for the recipe. It is something different for people who do not like chocolate. You can take them to parties, and they travel well.

  Real Good (Unbaked) Cookies

  1/2 package almond bark

  1/2 cup peanut butter

  1 cup peanuts

  1 cup miniature marshmallows

  1 cup Rice Krispies

  Melt the almond bark. Add peanut butter and mix well. Add other ingredients and mix well. Drop onto wax paper and refrigerate until hardened.

  Margaret F. Johnson

  Here is my mother’s cookie recipe. She was a great meat-and-potato cook, and this is the only cookie recipe I have. She wrote it in a letter to my aunt in 1942. I had just had my diphtheria shot and was cranky. She wasn’t able to do much cooking after 1950, so I did most of it. Of course, I’ve continued to cook ever since. I love food!

  I think these are best with a simple chocolate frosting.

  Helen Lou’s Drop Chocolate Cookies

  1/2 cup butter

  1 cup brown sugar

  2 egg yolks, beaten

  1/2 cup sour milk

  1/2 teaspoon baking soda

  1 teaspoon baking powder

  1⁄8 teaspoon salt

  13/4 cups flour

  2 squares melted baking chocolate

  2 egg whites, beaten to soft peaks

  1/2 cup walnuts

  Preheat oven to 350. Grease cookie sheet.

  Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Cream butter and sugar, add yolks, add milk and flour mixture. Then add melted chocolate. Next fold in beaten egg whites and walnuts. Drop cookies on buttered cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Frost if desired.

  Jessica Faust

  I hope I make it into your cookie exchange with our family Scotcheroos! It’s my grandmother’s (Grandma Rose Carroll) recipe, and it came from her mother. Generations of Christmases on this one . . . Everyone loves these. I also make them gluten free by subbing gluten free pretzel sticks for the noodles.

  Scotcheroos

  1 cup chocolate chips

  1 cup butterscotch chips

  1 cup salted peanuts

  1 cup thin chow mein noodles

  Melt the chips together in a double boiler, add the peanuts and noodles and stir until thoroughly covered. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto waxed paper and let set.

  James Ashcraft

  The following Christmas cookie recipe was handed down from my grandmother, Myrtle Fite, to my mother, Peggy Rae Ashcraft, who passed it on to me. Myrtle Fite was given the recipe by a friend and fellow ladies’ club mate, Mid Geary.

  Holiday Tizzies

  1/2 cup sugar

  1⁄3 cup butter

  2 eggs, well beaten

  11/2 tablespoons of sweet milk

  11/2 cups flour

  1/2 teaspoon salt

  1/2 pound candied pineapple

  1 pound chopped dates

  1 pound candied cherries

  1 pound (4 cups) whole pecans

  1 wineglass full of whiskey (1/2 cup)

  Preheat oven to 300. Grease cookie sheet.

  Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and milk. Toss the fruits and nuts with half the flour. Add the rest of the flour to other dry ingredients and mix with egg mixture. Then add floured fruits and whiskey. Drop by teaspoon on greased cookie sheet. Bake in slow oven for 15 to 20 minutes.

  Elaine Faber

  This is a family basic brown sugar cookie recipe from my grandmother (1920s). Because it is so v
ersatile, it can be used all year long. Anything can be added to change the flavor: chocolate chips, raisins, dates, dried figs, persimmons, or candied fruit (for Christmas).

  Holiday Nut Drops

  1/2 cup shortening (butter or margarine)

  1 cup packed brown sugar

  1 egg

  1 teaspoon vanilla

  11/2 cups flour

  1/4 teaspoon baking soda

  1/2 teaspoon salt

  1/2 to 1 cup of chopped nuts (or chocolate chips, raisins, dates, dry figs, persimmons, or candied fruit)

  Preheat oven to 350.

  Thoroughly cream shortening with brown sugar. Add egg and vanilla. Add flour, baking soda, and salt to creamed mixture.

  Mix in chopped nuts (or other ingredient). Bake 10–15 minutes.

  Roberta Daniels

  My mother received this recipe over forty years ago from a friend at Christmas. Our family loved them so much that she went out the next day to buy a pizzelle iron. My mother has passed on, but my husband and I have been making them for over twenty years as part of our cookie treats at Christmas. Family and friends love them. This year we made close to 350 pizzelles to give to family and friends. As one of our neighbors said this year, “Oh, the cookies are finally here!”

  Pizzelles

  Yields 70–75 pizzelles.

  6 large eggs

  13/4 cups sugar

  2 sticks margarine (melted and cooled)

  2 teaspoons baking powder

  4 cups all-purpose flour

  2 teaspoons anise or vanilla flavoring (Roberta uses anise)

  Beat eggs, add sugar, melted margarine, and anise or vanilla flavoring. Mix well. Add flour and baking soda until well mixed. Batter will be thick. Use a teaspoon to place on pizzelle iron. Bake on pizzelle iron for 43 seconds. Time may vary from iron to iron.

  Helena Georgette Mann

  This is my mother’s recipe, which I have altered some. Everyone liked the original. They go crazy over the altered version. It’s all the teenage boy next door talks about.

  Gingersnaps

  1/4 cup shortening

  1/2 cup white sugar

  1/2 cup light brown sugar

  2 teaspoons baking soda

  1/2 teaspoon salt

  1⁄3 cup molasses

  1 egg

  21⁄3 cups flour

  11/4 teaspoon ginger

  1 teaspoon cinnamon

  1/2 teaspoon cloves

  1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

  1/4 cup white sugar (optional)

  1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

  Preheat oven to 375. Grease cookie sheet.

  Cream together shortening, sugars, baking soda, and salt. Add molasses and egg and mix well. In a separate bowl, mix flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and pepper. Add to shortening mixture and mix well. Form into small balls.

  If using optional 1/4 cup white sugar and extra cinnamon, mix them together and roll the balls in cinnamon-sugar mixture.

  Place on greased cookie sheet. Bake for 9–11 minutes for crisp edges and a softer center, or 13 minutes for a crisp cookie.

  Kitty Free

  My best friend, who passed away several years ago, gave my family these cookies with the recipe. You can make them with M&M’s for holidays (red and pink for Valentine’s Day, green and red for Christmas, orange and brown for Halloween). We have even added food coloring for special occasions.

  Forgotten Cookies

  3 egg whites

  3/4 cup sugar

  1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

  11/2 cups miniature chocolate chips

  Foil

  Place foil on a cookie sheet. Preheat oven to 375.

  Whip egg whites until stiff. Add sugar (slowly) and cream of tartar. Beat until thick. Slowly fold in the chips. Place by large spoonful on the foiled cookie sheet. Turn off the oven and place cookie tray in the oven for 21/2 hours. Let them cool completely and peel them off the foil. Store in airtight container.

  Cranberry Jingle

  1 part vodka

  2 parts peach schnapps

  cranberry juice

  Fill glass with ice, add vodka and peach schnapps, and fill with cranberry juice.

  English Bishop

  (modern version)

  2 oranges

  2 cups apple juice or apple cider

  2 cups cranberry juice (if using Ocean Spray use original version)

  1 cup rum

  1/4 to 1/2 cup Grand Marnier

  pinch of cloves (optional)

  Preheat the oven to 350. Place the oranges in a pan and roast for 20–30 minutes. Combine all the other ingredients in a pot. Slice the roasted oranges and add them to the liquid. Heat but do not boil. Serve with a slice of orange in each cup or mug. (If making a larger quantity for a party, you may wish to float small clove-studded oranges in it.)

  TURN THE PAGE FOR A PREVIEW

  OF KRISTA DAVIS’S NEXT

  PAWS & CLAWS MYSTERY . . .

  The Ghost and Mrs. Mewer

  COMING SOON FROM BERKLEY PRIME CRIME!

  Dogs love their friends and bite their enemies, quite unlike people, who are incapable of pure love and always have to mix love and hate.

  —SIGMUND FREUD

  “There is no such thing as a ghost.” Eva Chevalier turned her pointy nose up in the air and chortled. “It’s preposterous. Nonsense, folderol, fiddle-faddle.”

  No sooner had she spoken than the automatic sliding glass doors to the parking lot whooshed open. A gust of wind blew in, bringing dried leaves with it.

  A grey Weimaraner with startling blue eyes stepped away from the doors and growled. Gingersnap, the Sugar Maple Inn’s canine ambassador, simply wagged her tail. In typical golden retriever fashion, she continued kissing the guests gathered in the reception area.

  The doors closed again as if a person had passed through. I felt the chill of a late October wind pass by.

  “I bet there’s a ghost in here now,” Casey Collins whispered, looking up at the ceiling and shoving his glasses to the bridge of his nose with his index finger. Casey worked at the inn as a desk clerk but seemed more like a little brother than an employee. At twenty, he still looked boyish and reminded me of the young Harry Potter, with similar glasses, a shock of dark hair that always fell into his forehead, and sweet innocent eyes.

  Five guests who were part of the Apparition Apprehender ghost hunting team had just arrived and were waiting to check in. They had come to town to shoot a TV show about the ghosts at the creepy old Wagtail Springs Hotel. The guys dived into their luggage and pulled out assorted handheld machines. The chatter behind Eva stopped as they concentrated on their gizmos.

  I raised my voice a little to get their attention. “Welcome to the Sugar Maple Inn. I’m Holly Miller. If you need anything during your stay, please let me know.” I smiled broadly but they were intent on their machines. Oh well.

  Eva turned her eyes toward the ceiling and shook her head in amused disbelief. The doors were automatic, but I had to admit that opening on their own had been odd. Probably the result of that gust of wind.

  Only the day before, I had moved to Wagtail Mountain to join my grandmother, Liesel Miller, as her partner at the Sugar Maple Inn. Halloween was nearly upon us and the first thing I had seen at the outskirts of town was a huge orange banner over the road that proclaimed Welcome to Howloween in Wagtail, where spooky things are afoot! A cat with an arched back adorned one side and a howling dog decorated the other.

  The inn’s Halloween decorations added to the fun. Pumpkins clustered at the base of the doors on both sides. Spiderwebs clung to the walls with a parade of faux spiders marching along them. The sinister figure of a grinning vampire hanging upside down in a black cape was enough to give anyone a chill. Two skulls lay at rakish angles on top of the registration counter, and vultures
peered at us from the large antler chandelier overhead.

  My grandmother, whom I called Oma, German for grandma, had flitted off to a meeting of some sort, leaving me to keep an eye on the Apparition Apprehenders when they checked in.

  Not that I minded. I welcomed any excuse to leave my apartment on the top floor. Boxes upon boxes cluttered my quarters. My entire life was still packed, except, of course, for my calico kitten, Twinkletoes, and my Jack Russell terrier, Trixie, who sniffed around the back of the reception desk in search of the treat jar.

  Zelda, the desk clerk, had called me when the ghost hunting crew arrived. I hadn’t expected any major problems, but here I was, already thinking that I would have to have a little talk with Casey about arguing with guests. After all, Eva was paying to stay with us, and if she didn’t believe in ghosts, that was her business.

  “That was not a ghost.” Eva took a deep breath and gazed at the antics of the guys behind her. She turned back to Zelda and me. “I am a university professor and have students like them. What frightens me is not ghosts, but the fact that my students and people like these ghost hunters believe ridiculous claims of spirits. If these gentlemen would think it through, they would understand the absurdity of believing in ghosts.”

  Eva wore thick glasses in pink cat eye frames that accentuated the odd paleness of her skin. Clearly vintage, a boxy coat of drab green wool hung on her, at least two sizes too large. A wide pink hairband pulled her dark hair back, very 1960s. Thirtyish, like me, I guessed.

  A Siamese cat on a leash jumped onto the registration counter, startling Trixie. She yipped at the cat and danced around to the lobby side. When she saw the open bags, she lost interest in the cat and buried her nose in a duffel bag.

  I glanced at Eva’s reservation. She’d been booked as part of the Apparition Apprehenders group. Obviously, an error on our part. She should be in the cat wing. An easy fix.

  “I’m sorry. It appears we have made a little mistake. I have you down as one of the ghost hunters. But no matter, we can—”