Candy-Cane Kiss Cookies

Merry Christmas Eve, one and all! Each year the holiday season brushes by quicker and quicker. Likewise, it seems that the allure and excitement of Christmas time is overshadowed by retail shopping and larger than life sales. 

But through it all, there is one thing that remains classic to me. Christmas Cookies. Floodgates of memories open up and pour into my home. Christmas cookies and candies remind me of my childhood Christmases. They were the best of time. The whole family came together in my parents large colonial home, and consequently it was the only time the whole family got along. For the most part. I think cookies bring people together. 

What do you think?

Candy-Cane Kiss Cookies

Yields: 2 1/2 dozen

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/4 cups butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon peppermint extract, optional
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Candy Cane flavored Hershey's Kisses, finely chopped
granulated sugar
additional, unwrapped Candy Cane Kisses- about 30

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Make room in either refrigerator or freezer for your cookie sheet.
2. In large mixer bowl, combine powdered sugar, butter, extracts and egg. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often until creamy (2-3 minutes). In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Add to wet mixture and beat, scraping bowl often until well blended (1-2 minutes). The mixture will be a bit crumbly. Stir in chopped Kisses.
3. Shape dough into 3/4-inch to 1-inch balls; roll in granulated sugar. Place 1-inch apart on cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until set. As soon as they come out of the oven, press a Candy Cane Kiss in the center of each cookie. They'll crack a little around the edges, so just use your fingers to kind of hold the cookie together while you set the kiss inside. Put cookie sheet (with cookies) immediately into the freezer (preferred) or refrigerator so that the Kisses will set quickly. As soon as you press them into the cookie, they will begin to soften... so if you can get them into the freezer then they will keep their Kiss shape.
4. Store in a covered container- at room temperature for up to a week. In the freezer they should be ok for a couple of weeks.

Blue Cheese Spinach Toss

If you can't handle the heat, get out of the kitchen.
Because this baby is HOT! It's maxed out with flava, and you can tone the heat down to fit your preferences, but why?

These days my culinary experiences consist of freezer twin pops and saltine crackers. Dee-lish, lemme tell you! Why, you ask?
Yes, it is what you are thinking... I have a bun in the oven! I'm sick as a dog. And food, well... I'd rather pull my eyelashes out one-by-one than actually ingest something with aroma or flavor.

That said, I couldn't not share this with you. It's lovely and creamy. It' spicy and sweet. It's everything a dinner should be. Eat this for me. Because I can't. And because someone out there should be eating fabulously!

Blue Cheese Spinach Toss
   adapted from PW
Serves: 4

Ingredients:
12 oz Angel Hair Or Thin Spaghetti
1 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1-2 cloves Garlic, Minced
1 15 oz can Diced Tomatoes, Drained
Dash Of Sugar
Salt And Freshly Ground Black Pepper, To Taste
Crushed Red Pepper Flakes, To Taste
1/2 cups Crumbled Blue Cheese
1/2 cups Heavy Cream
2 cups Baby Spinach
Half-and-Half, for thinning
Extra Blue Cheese Crumbles, For Garnish

Directions:

Cook pasta according to package instructions.
In a large skillet over medium heat, add olive oil. When hot, add minced garlic and cook for a minute. Pour in drained tomatoes. Add sugar, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper to taste. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Reduce heat to low. Stir in crumbled blue cheese. Add cream and stir, then a little splash of half-and-half if sauce is too thick. Cook for a minute or two, tasting and adding more seasonings as needed.
At the very, very, very last minute. toss in spinach. Immediately toss in the cooked and drained pasta. Serve immediately!

Lemon BBQ Roast Chicken

Come to Mama, baby. Come. To. Mama.

I have told yall before that I can't carve worth a cent. This time was no exception. But lemme tell you, I didn't need to carve, it tasted just as scrumptious having been mutilated by yours truly. If I could have I would have just buried my face into this bird, sinking my teeth into this tangy juciness. But, that's not very lady-like. Not very Hollis-like. Uh,Right.

*Sigh* A girl can dream, can't she?

Make this soon. You need to.


Lemon BBQ Roast Chicken
Serves: 6

Ingredients:
2 small Lemons
1/2 c BBQ sauce
1 tsp Italian seasoning
2 cloves Garlic,peeled
1 whole Chicken, 4 lbs

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grate 1/2 tsp lemon peel; set aside. Cut lemons in half, squeeze juice into small bowl. Set aside lemon halves for later use. Add BBQ sauce and seasoning to the lemon juice; mix well.
Place rinsed and dried chicken in a large baking dish. Place 2 lemon halves and garlic cloves inside the cavity of the chicken. Rub skins of chicken with remaining 2 lemon halves and discard. Tie legs together with kitchen twine.
Bake for 1 hour and 45 min or until chicken is cooked through, brushing with BBQ sauce mix every 5 min during the last 20 min of the baking time. Sprinkle with reserved lemon peel the last 5 min.
Remove and discard the lemon halves and garlic cloves. Serve with potatoes and stuffing.