Bake at 350 degrees for an additional 30–35 minutes. Cut in 1 ½-inch squares.
Yield: 4 dozen squares.
Donna’s Cook’s Notes
Okay, I admit it, despite the fact Larry is not my favorite person, I took one of his fudge bars to try later that night. And yes, it was good, and yes, I did finally ask him for the recipe—though I made sure he understood my interest was nothing personal.
Tiramisu
1 pound (16 ounces) mascarpone cheese
3 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons coffee liqueur*
1 cup heavy cream, whipped
24 ladyfingers, split
1½ cups cold espresso or strong coffee
1 can Solo or 1 jar Baker almond filling
3 ounces semisweet chocolate, grated
Combine cheese, sugar, and coffee liqueur, mixing well. Fold in whipped cream. Set aside. Line bottom of a deep 3-quart, straightsided glass serving dish with a layer of ladyfingers, cutting some to fit as necessary. Drizzle with. of the cold espresso. Spread with. of the almond filling, then. of the cheese mixture and. of the grated chocolate. Repeat layering two more times. Refrigerate thoroughly and serve semifreddo (cold but not frozen).
Serves 16.
*For those who don’t like the idea of a coffee liqueur, try the following substitutes: espresso, non-alcoholic coffee extract, or coffee syrup.
Lizzie’s Cook’s Notes
Tiramisu is considered a classic Italian dessert. Since its “invention” it has become my all-time favorite dessert. Every time I eat out, I look to see if tiramisu is listed on the dessert menu, trying it at various dining places.
Hot Cocoa for Adults
2 tablespoons cocoa
2 tablespoons sugar
pinch of salt
½ cup boiling water
2 cups scalded milk
¼ teaspoon vanilla
Mix cocoa, sugar, and salt together in top of a double boiler, then blend to a smooth paste with the cup boiling water. Place over direct heat, bring to a boil, and cook rapidly for one minute, stirring constantly to form a syrup. Add milk and heat to scalding over boiling water. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Whip for a minute with an egg beater and serve steaming hot.
Yield: 3 servings.
Goldie’s Cook’s Notes
Wonderful, wonderful drink to sip on a cold winter’s night. This has long been one of our favorites. I don’t know why it’s called “Hot Cocoa for Adults,” but that’s the way it reads in the cookbook my mother gave me when I married Jack.
Easy Biscuits
2 cups sifted flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
¼ cup shortening
1 cup milk
Sift dry ingredients together then make a well (or hole) in the center. Place shortening and milk into the well. Mix with wooden spoon until smooth. Pat dough on generously floured board. Turn over. Pat dough again, then cut with round biscuit cutter. Place cutouts on baking sheet. Bake at 450 degrees for 12 minutes.
Yield: 6–8 servings.
Donna’s Cook’s Notes
I know, making biscuits actually involves cooking. But this easy recipe is a good compromise on my “avoid turning on the oven” creed. Plus, as I only eat two biscuits at a time, I can save the rest for the freezer, to microwave for yet another day.
Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
1 small head of cabbage
1 pound ground beef
2 teaspoons chopped onion
1 egg, beaten
½ cup milk
1 teaspoon salt
Trim off soiled leaves of cabbage and remove core. Cover with boiling water and let stand five minutes or until cabbage leaves are limp. Separate leaves carefully, reserving five of the largest leaves for the rolls. Combine meat thoroughly with onion, egg, milk, and salt. Place1/5of the meat mixture on each leaf and fold up envelope fashion. Fasten with toothpick. Lay, flap down, in Dutch oven or saucepan. Add ½ cup water and cover rolls with rest of cabbage leaves. Simmer, covered, for 1 hour. Serve with tomato sauce recipe.
Yield: 5 servings.
TOMATO SAUCE
1 14½ ounce can tomatoes
1 teaspoon grated onion
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons flour
½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Combine first four ingredients and simmer for 15 minutes. Melt butter, blend in flour, and add tomato mixture and Worcestershire sauce, stirring until sauce boils and thickens.
Evangeline’s Cook’s Notes
Could this get any easier? I think not! And when you serve it, your family will think you slaved all day. A huge thank you to my friend Lizzie!
Chicken and Chutney Finger Sandwiches
3 cups diced cooked chicken
1 cup canned pineapple chunks, drained (reserve juice)
¾ cup sliced celery
½ cup mayonnaise
½ cup sour cream
3 tablespoons prepared chutney (I use store bought)
1 teaspoon curry powder
½ cup crushed Chinese noodles (or ½ cup almond slivers)
1–2 small loaves Pepperidge Farm sandwich bread
Trim crust from bread slices. In a large bowl, combine chicken, pineapple, and celery. In a separate bowl, use a wire whisk to blend 3 tablespoons of your reserved juice with the remaining ingredients (except almonds or Chinese noodles). Stir into chicken mixture.
Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour. Stir in crushed Chinese noodles or almonds, then spread on bread. Top with bread slice to create sandwich. Slice each sandwich into 3 or 4 finger slices. Serve immediately or freeze on baking tray. Place in baggies. Defrost and use as needed. If you plan to freeze, omit Chinese noodles, else they will get soggy.
Yield: This makes over 5 cups of sandwich filling and can serve 6 as a salad (on bed of lettuce) or will make several dozen finger sandwiches, depending on how thickly you spread the filling.
Lisa Leann’s Cook’s Notes
I’ve scaled down this recipe for you. But note that with so many nut allergies out there, I never use nuts in my catered cooking. I’ve found crushed Chinese noodles can work as a great replacement.
Cabbage and Apple Salad
2 cups shredded cabbage ( ¼ head)
2 cups apples, chopped
2 cans mandarin oranges
1 cup seedless green grapes
DRESSING
½ cup whipping cream
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ cup Miracle Whip
¼ teaspoon salt
Beat whipping cream until stiff. Add the rest of the ingredients.
Evangeline’s Cook’s Notes
It doesn’t sound appealing when you think of cabbage and apples together, necessarily, but you’ll be more than pleasantly surprised by the deliciousness of this recipe!
Baked Ham
1 12-pound ham
1 cup (packed) brown sugar
1 tablespoon dry mustard
½ cup spiced fruit juice
whole cloves
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, then put ham in oven. Insert meat thermometer into ham’s center. When the meat thermometer registers 130 degrees, remove the ham from the oven. Next remove the rind and score the fat. Spread a mixture of brown sugar, dry mustard, and fruit juice over the ham. Insert cloves into scored ham fat. Return ham to oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until ham is glazed.
Lisa Leann’s Cook’s Notes
Hams are perfect for big galas. I like to use my electric knife to slice it thin, though for smaller groups, thick slices are nice. One 12-pound ham can serve 30 to 50, depending on portions. So, if I’m serving ham to 200, I’ll cook 4 or 5 of them, depending on how many other options are available on the menu.
Easy Oatmeal Crispies
½ cup butter
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� cup margarine
½ cup sugar
1 cup flour
1½ cups quick oats
With electric mixer, cream butter and margarine. Next, add sugar, flour, and oatmeal, one at a time, into mixing bowl and blend. Chill dough for 1 to 3 hours. Shape dough into teaspoon-sized balls.
Place cookie balls three inches apart on a greased baking sheet. Flatten balls with bottom of glass dipped in sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 12–15 minutes. Let cool.
Yield: 4 dozen.
Donna’s Cook’s Notes
I always need a little sweet to tide me over. But I don’t want to overdo the sugar. This is a good compromise, as it’s low in sugar and high in oatmeal. I like to bake a couple of batches to freeze in large freezer bags. Then, I just pop the cold cookies, straight from the freezer, into my lunch. They’re perfect for my afternoon break.
The Recipe for Friendship
2 heaping cups of patience
2 handfuls of generosity
1 heart of love
a dash of laughter
2 well-rounded scoops of respect
2 heaping measures of trust
1 head of understanding
sprinkle generously with kindness
add plenty of faith and mix well
Spread over a lifetime and serve everyone you meet.
How to Have a Christmas Tea
Evangeline Benson
If you have suddenly found yourself as the grande dame of a Christmas tea (as I did), and whether or not you are forced to share these duties with someone else (as I was), I’d like to share a bit of wisdom I’ve acquired.
First, set a date. Many churches find that having the tea the first of December works best for the ladies of the community. After all, people have lives, and the holidays seem to bring out the best in folks and the worst in their calendars.
You will also want to plan where. Most church-sponsored Christmas teas are held either in the church sanctuary or fellowship hall, though there may be a lady or two in your church or community with the perfect home setting for your tea. If you decide to have the tea in your church building, account for both setup time and breakdown time. (Oh, and you’ll want to coordinate with the men in your community or church so you’ll have some brawn to help with table setup and breakdown; perhaps the husbands, sons, or fiancés of the girls.)
Next, decide if you want to have an evening or an afternoon tea. Or, you could do both, and in this way—should you have your tea on a weekday—the ladies who work outside of the home and those who work inside of the home can all find a way to attend.
Then, get the ladies of your church or organization to sign up as table hostesses and helpers as early as possible. I cannot stress this enough, and I suggest giving them at least a month to six weeks lead time. Instruct your hostesses that they will be responsible for the setting and theme of their table, which should hold no more than six to eight, typically. This is also a lot of fun, seeing the themes for the first time the day of the tea. For the most part, women simply love to get out all the pretty stuff and play.
Have one of your ladies be responsible for decorating a greeting table in the front entrance, reception area, etc. I suggest that this be done a couple of weeks before the tea so as to add to the promotion of the tea.
Promoting the Christmas tea is never difficult. Bible studies, potluck clubs (like ours!), church bulletins, flyers about the community, an announcement in the local paper, something on your church website— the list goes on and on. If you are having a special speaker or music (and don’t get me started on the mess Lisa Leann created this year), make sure you give adequate information. You might want to add photos from past teas on your flyers or invitational letters as well.
When it comes to organizational meetings, I suggest you hold two meetings specifically for the table hostesses, the first about four weeks out, the second a week from the event. Always call the ladies before the meetings, because with so much going on during the season with a Reason they could easily forget. Have a list of details ready to share with the ladies and be sure to remind them that the focus of the tea is Christ and glorifying God (some people we know need reminding of this more than others).
Checklists for the hostesses should be passed out at the meeting.
Now here’s a little ministry tool you might want to consider: ask that the centerpieces for the tables not be secular in nature. No reindeer, Santas, or snowmen. This gives those who are unchurched something to focus on that might, in turn, become a seed planted. Of course, Lisa Leann vehemently disagrees with me on this, and I’m not saying I’m for it 100 percent. I’ve seen some secular centerpieces that’ll thrill you to pieces. I’m just saying consider it. You know your group better than I do.
While we’re on the secular versus religious issue, I have two other comments.
1. This is a Christmas tea. Not a holiday tea. If God had wanted us to call it a holiday tea, he would have called his son “the Holly” rather than “the Christ.” That’s my opinion, anyway.
2. But on the other hand, I see no problem with having a little Bing Crosby “White Christmas” on the stereo system followed by Perry Como’s “O Holy Night.” For pity’s sake, if Barbra Streisand can sing “Silent Night” and “O Little Town of Bethlehem” on her Christmas album, then why not?
Make sure the hostesses have the correct date and time, and especially when the venue for the event will be open to them so they can come in and decorate their tables, etc. If you plan the tea correctly, you can actually have a tea decorating party the evening before the event.
Some churches choose to sell tickets for the tea (either to support their ministry or another ministry or to supply funds for the speaker or musical entertainment, etc.). If you do—and you certainly shouldn’t feel bad about doing this—keep your hostesses apprised as to how many tickets are selling. You may have to invite additional hostesses to join, and wouldn’t that just be grand! (I suggest having two or three additional tables set up for unexpected guests.) One last thought on this is to be sure to have a ticket receiving table where additional tickets can be purchased the day of and where name tags can be picked up.
Though the event is called a tea, be sure to offer other drinks as well, such as coffee and wassail. Prepare all of these as early as possible (about three hours ahead of time) and try to get one-hundred-cup pots for brewing and then thermal serving pots for serving. (Of course, for the tea, you will simply need to get thermal pots of hot water ready with a nice assortment of teas.) Offer an assortment of cold drinks as well. Consider having the young ladies of your youth ministry help with the preparation and distribution of the drinks, allowing them to apprentice in the art of hosting a tea.
For food setup and distribution you have a couple of choices: either setting up long tables (we, at Grace Church, like the round tables for tea and long tables for serving) and having the ladies serve themselves one table at a time or having servers wait on the ladies. Some churches have the fellows in their congregation take on the role of servers, dressing them up in penguin suits and draping a white towel over their arm.
Food can either be catered in or brought in by the good cooks of your church or community.
A Christmas tea should reflect the personality or personalities of those who are giving it. Create or organize fun games and activities (nothing too flamboyant; after all, this is a tea not a three-year-old’s birthday party). Have door prizes. Perhaps a dramatic sketch or reading. Above all, give the gift of love, a fitting thing during the holiday season.
The Potluck Club—Takes the Cake Page 31