Christmas Goodies!

These are some recipes I've posted before, but somehow they got lost in the reboot of the blog.

This first recipe was invented by a wonderful lady named Gina Scalera who used to work at the Joseph-Beth Bookstore in Lexington. She died a couple of years ago, but when she was running the romance department at the store, she had a reading group. Each month they would meet to discuss a book, and Slave was the book of the month for November 2008. She would make up a new cookie recipe for each book, and this is the kind she made for Cat!

CAT'S M & M CANDY BARS

-2 cups unbleached Flour
-1 tsp. Baking Powder
-pinch of salt
-1/4 tsp. Baking Soda
-2/3 cup unsalted Butter, softened
-2 cups firmly packed Brown Sugar
-2 lg. Eggs
-2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
-1 cup M&M Candies

Preheat oven to 350 (325 if using a glass baking pan). Lightly grease a 13"x9" baking pan.
In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Set aside.
In a large bowl cream the butter and brown sugar. Mix in eggs, one at a time, mixing well. Mix in the vanilla. Gently mix in the dry ingredients, until well combined. Stir in the M&M's.
Spread evenly into prepared pan. Bake 25 minutes, until lightly golden. Remove from oven and cool completely before cutting into bars.
Yield: 3-4 dozen, depending on size of bar. Can be frozen.

While I'm at it, I might as well give away all my secrets. This next recipe is one I got from my grandmother. Heaven knows where she found it, but it's one of those things that everyone seems to like. I've tasted several different variations and have tried substituting other ingredients, but, trust me, the original is best!

POTATO CASSEROLE
1 pkg Ore-Ida hash brown patties (27 oz) thawed and crumbled up (You can use the bag of shredded hash browns, but it isn't as good.)
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
½ cup chopped onion
1 can Campbell's cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese

Mix all together and spread in greased 9 X 13 pan
Mix one stick melted butter with 1 ½ cups of crushed cornflakes and spread over the top.
Bake @ 350 for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Merry Christmas!