Orange and Macadamia Nut Cookies
Prep: 45 minutes Bake: 12 minutes
Orange and Macadamia Nut Cookies
ingredients

4 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sifted powdered sugar

1 cup cornstarch

2 cups butter (no substitutes)

1 cup chopped macadamia nuts or toasted walnuts

2 egg yolks

1 tablespoon finely shredded orange peel

4 to 6 tablespoons orange juice

Granulated sugar

2 cups sifted powdered sugar

3 tablespoons softened butter (no substitutes)

1 teaspoon finely shredded orange peel

2 to 3 tablespoons orange juice

Finely chopped macadamia nuts (optional)

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degree F.

2. Combine flour, powdered sugar, and cornstarch in a large mixing bowl. Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut in 2 cups of butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the 1 cup nuts. Combine egg yolks, 1 tablespoon orange peel, and 4 tablespoons of the orange juice in a small mixing bowl; add to flour mixture, stirring until moistened. If necessary, add enough of the remaining 2 tablespoons orange juice to moisten.

3. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until it forms a ball. Arrange balls on an ungreased cookie sheet. Dip bottom of a fluted glass in granulated sugar, and use it to flatten one ball to 1/4-inch thickness. Repeat for remaining cookies.

Bake in the preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes or until edges begin to brown. Transfer cookies to a wire rack; let cool.

5. Meanwhile in a small bowl stir together powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons butter, 1 teaspoon orange peel and enough of the 2 to 3 tablespoons juice to make sauce of speading consistency.

6. If desired, sprinkle with finely chopped macadamia nuts. Makes 72 cookies.

From Better Homes and Gardens

Sue

I used to make marinated carrots. We called them "copper pennies".

I like spaghetti squash. It's hard to cut through the rind on it, though. So I stab it a few times, put it in a microwave safe pan with some water and cook on high for 11-13 minutes. No problem cutting it in half then. We ate a lot of it when Harry was on low carb. Tried to trick him into thinking he was getting pasta, but it didn't work :-)

SPAGHETTI SQUASH CASSEROLE

1 Large Spaghetti Squash, baked
1 Cup Ricotta Cheese
1 Pint Cherry Tomatoes
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1/4 Cup Fresh Basil, chopped
6 Ounces Thick Bacon, cooked crispy
4 Ounces Gruyere or Swiss Cheese
1 Pinch Salt and Pepper
1 Teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper (opt.)

Slice squash in half longwise. Bake squash, skin side up, at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes, until very soft. Let cool and pre-heat oven to 375. Add olive oil to a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add tomatoes and a pinch of salt. Let tomatoes cook until they get soft. Use a spoon to press on them and burst them open.Continue to cook tomatoes down for 10 minutes. Add crushed red pepper if you're using it. Once tomatoes are thick, turn off heat and add fresh basil. Stir to combine.

Bake bacon on a baking sheet at 350 degrees for 15 minutes so it stays nice and crispy. It works best if you can cook the bacon on a wire rack.

Once squash is cool enough to handle, scoop out the seeds and use a fork to lightly scrape out the inside flesh of the squash, which should form strands that look like spaghetti. Mix squash flesh with ricotta cheese in a small bowl and add a pinch of salt and pepper.

Lightly butter a 2.5 quart baking dish. Then layer in half of the spaghetti squash mixture.
Top squash with tomato sauce and bacon strips. Then cover with other half of squash mixture. Top with grated Gruyere or swiss cheese. Bake casserole at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Serve immediately

I got the "Carrot Salad" recipe from a dear 90+years old friend about 3 years ago. That is what she called it. (She is now in a nursing home.)

Patti43, we used to make a similar dish which we knew as Copper Pennies, but it was served hot. Funny how recipes travel around, get changed and/or renamed, isn't it?

Here is a recipe that I found in the local newspaper supplement last week. I had apples that a friend brought me, fresh from the orchard, so I made this. It is really good.

ROASTED CARAMEL-GLAZED CINNAMON APPLES

3 Tbs butter
4 firm, crisp apples, halved and seeded.
ý cup brown sugar
4 cinnamon sticks (about 4 inches each) halved, or mix 2 tsps ground cinnamon with the brown sugar.

With oven rack in middle position, heat to 400ð. Place butter in 13 x 9 inch baking pan to melt.

Sprinkle brown sugar over the butter and arrange cinnamon sticks evenly over the sugar. Place apples, cut side down over sticks, or evenly over the sugar. Bake until apples are tender, about 25 minutes. Turn apples over and spoon sauce over apples. Continue to bake about 5 minutes or until apples are golden brown. Let cool slightly. Serve a half apple in a small bowl, sticking a cinnamon stick in each core. I mixed the sugar with the cinnamon.

I served them with a big dollop of Cool Whip on top.

Sue

I found this recipe yesterday, it will be great at this time of year. See link below for the picture.

Apple Rice Krispy Treats

You start off with the basic rice cereal treat recipe.

10 oz of marshmallows
4 tablespoons of butter/margarine
6 cups of rice cereal

In addition you will need

Tootsie roll candy
leaf gummy candy (found at local drug store)
red food coloring
small box of strawberry gelatin (or you could use cherry)

You will also need wax paper and cooking spray. I used cooking spray on my hands while I worked on the apples.

In a sauce pan- melt your butter and marshmallows. Once they are completely melted and mixed well, add in your red food coloring (your desired amount) and 1 box of gelatin. Mix well.

Stir in your rice cereal

Once it lightly cools, start forming your apples. We were able to get 10-11 apples per batch. (yes that is right if I needed 100 apples� I made 10 batches of this in 2 days.. whew!!)

Once you form your ball, I used my thumb to make an indention.

Add in your tootsie roll candy�.

Add your leaf gummy candy.

2 Tips�

1- Clip off the BACK side of the gummy leaf candy. It will expose the back and it will be stickier and will help stick better to the apple. I thought the marshmallow in the treat would be enough but they often fell off. So I used kitchen scissors and snipped off the back and it worked like a charm and you never know the back was snipped off.

Tip 2- Don�t sit there and peel 101 tootsie rolls. Enlist your children.. that is why you gave birth to them right?? (Kidding) They actually enjoyed helping mom.

Here is a link that might be useful: Apple rice krispy treats