My mom's old fiance used to make fruit cake in November and soak it until Xmas. That stuff was potent! I am telling you! The kids were allowed a bite, and that was it! Hehehehe. They say the longer you soak it, the better it is, and after they've been baked and soaked, they can be kept for literally years without going 'bad'. Not sure how I'd feel eating two year old cake, but they say it's fine. The alcohol is a preservative of sorts.

sayhellojana LOL! Good question! Im new to the soaking part to.And we dont even drink. But I have friends/family that will like it soaked in the Brandy. So thats who is geting it . I to have always thought that fruitcake lasts forever, And after rereading the post by Lily that she only makes it every other yr or so, I say its worth a try. I know from chatting with her that Lily likes/enjoys good food, So Im guessing it will work out pretty good. At least worth a try, otherwise I will never know what works for me !

Okay, I have the recipe from my grandmother. I thought they were Cream Cheese Truffles, but the orginal recipe calls them Buttercreams.

culinarycreations..Im sure its all good!

Ok, that was wrong... is anyone else overcome with the desire to slap culinarycreations? Is it just me? Sorry! Hahahahaha!

Ok, for some reason when I copied an pasted, it didn't show up. I did that with the other recipes an it worked...why is this?

Anyway, here they are

Buttercreams

Butter, softened      2 sticks
Cream Cheese, softened    8oz.
Powdered Sugar      3- 16oz pkg
Almond Bark      8 oz
Butter        1T
Paraffin        2-3T
Vanilla        1/2t

1.In a mixer, combine the butter, cheese, and sugar. Chill until firm enough to roll into balls.
2. Roll into balls, sticking a toothpick into each and placing on a wax paper lined sheet. Place in freezer. - this can be done WAY ahead of time
3. In double broiler, melt bakd and paraffin. Add vanilla. Dip each ball and place back on wax lined sheet pan, removing the tooth pick.
4. Place in fridge or freezer to set.

* You can do either the white or milk chocolate almond bark, either are great! These freeze well, so you can make em' early. Also if you remove the toothpick quickly, you don't see the little hole.


* These freeze really good, so make emâ ahead!!

Oh, yeah- surely there are more out there!!! Come on!!! I am so in mood to make Christmas gifts now!

Thanks everyone for getting me into the holiday spirit! Merry Christmas!!!

Oh, with all the holiday parties coming up, how about we start a thread for appetizer recipes...Anyone interested???
Can you tell I love getting new recipes.....

culinarycreations.. Thanks ! Do they have to be stored in the fridge ? because of the cream cheese( will it turn into a blob ) ?

If they aren't kept in the fridge, they won't melt.

My granndmother never kept them in the fridge, it never hurt us...

I have always heard with enough sugar it preserves things like the cheese. Anyone know that ratio or if it's true..??

Thanks, I was more worried about if they will melt,turn into a glob sitting out!

Cherries n Chocolate fudge

14 oz sweetened condensed milk
12 oz semi sweet choc chips
½ cup almonds coarsely chopped
½ cup candied cherries chopped
1tsp almond extract
Line 8in pan with foil, in micro safe bowl melt chips and milk till smooth.
Stir in almonds cherries and extract Spread in pan.Cover, chill till firm.
Cut in 1in squares. Store covered in fridge. Makes about 4 doz.
This is a family favorite!

Uuummm...sounds good! Is the taste similar to the chocolate covered cherries? We love those, but they are a lot of work!!!

Culinarycreations, those buttercreams sound to die for!!

They pretty much are....

My sister has a friend from college that stills drives down from each year to get some....

culinarycreations.. Yes the recipe is something like choc covered cherries!

Ok ---just so there is no misunderstanding about the fruitcake!!! The ones that I keep for 2 or 3 years, are frozen after you wrap them. Also remember that you aren't "soaking" them which means to me that you would be immersing them in the brandy. Alchohol also tends to evaporate somewhat, so this really just gives it flavor and moistness. I have been tempted to put the towels in my cup of coffee in the morning, but as yet, I have resisited!!!!!!

Someone mentioned starting an appetizer thread (sorry forgot who) and I would love that. My one big fundraiser is all appetizers and fancy desserts and I would love new recipes. I tried to start that thread a few weeks ago, but got not one answer. I am in if it gets going.
Lily

Hey guys - I have not read each of the posts, so forgive me if this information has already been posted. I have read quite a few recipes, and let me say THANK you, you guys are going to make my children's teachers oh so happy this Christmas! I always do homeade goodies for gifts and now I have lots of new recipes to use.

As for my contribution - I have to find my Christmas recipes. I am sure I have something in there. I have a fab recipe for Rum Balls, that I have to find. But.....I recieved an email yesterday and it has links to ALL kinds of candy and treat recipes for the Holidays! I will post the link to the home page, and Mel, you can decide what to do with it from there.

http://www.northpole.com/Kitchen/Cookbook/

There are a lot of recipes, some of which are already listed, others that aren't. I haven't tried any of them, but it looks like a great combination. Mel - maybe you can just put the link onto our recipe page!

By the way - GREAT JOB MEL, love the recipe listing on the web!

Mandi

Those are some great recipes Mandi! Thanks!

Lily, if you could provide a link to the post, we'll see if we can bring it back to life!!

Had I seen the post, I'd been all over it!

Thanks Lily.. And Im sorry you never got anyone to respond.I never even saw the thread. I would love to have one on appetizers.. I really have no recipes for them and would love to, being I do love to eat them just nothing I ever got started on collecting.

Hey everyone...I found Lily's post for appetizers!!!!

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopicp-6147424.html#6147424

I know everyone has at least one...right...

This recipe came from "Anna Olson" and is sooo good!

Irish Creamy Fudge

1/2 cup evaporated milk
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 cup white sugar
3/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup Irish Cream liqueur (Bailey's)
2 1/4 cups icing sugar, sifted

Directions:

Grease an 8-inch square pan and line with parchment paper so that it hangs over the sides. Stir evaporated milk, brown sugar, white sugar, butter and salt in a heavy-bottomed saucepot. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring often, and cook until 238 °F (use a candy thermometer to gauge). Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and Irish Cream and scrape into a bowl or mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. With the mixer on low speed or electric beaters, add in the icing sugar in three additions, mixing well after each addition. Scrape fudge into prepared pan and let cool completely before slicing.

Oh my goodness these all sound so good. I will have to go find some of mine to put in here. Thanks all you wonderful ladies and Mel thanks for the files.

Shay, to keep from having to buy some Bailey's, think I could use my Bailey's flavored coffee creamer?

Meemawfish- yes you will, go, dig, search....

hmmm, I'm not too sure. I have never had the bailey's coffee creamer. Does it actually taste like bailey's? We don't have nearly the selection of creamers here that you have there! I would guess that if it tasted like bailey's it should be alright.

Well, I can't really say if they taste the same or not. I haven't ever had Bailey's

I will be trying the recipe either way in a few weeks, I'll let you know how it works! Thanks!!

culinarycreations--thanks so much for finding the appetizer thread and getting it going. You are a peach!!!!!

I made my annual trip to the Amish country today to buy all my baking supplies for the holiday season. If any of you live near an Amish community or even a couple of hours away, it is sooooo worth it. Their supplies, for the most part, are really cheap and so fresh that you can't find better anywhere. There is also a cheese factory where we go and I get all my holiday cheeses there also. Some of the co-ops are not as large as others, but this one in Wisc. is just wonderful. I even found cookie sprinkles there that I have never seen anywhere else. Just thought I would pass that tip on. Now I am off to see what has happened to my Appetizer Thread!!! You guys are the greatest!!!!!

Oh snap!! An appetizer thread! You'll be finding me over there after I get this baby to bed!! See, all you have to do is pop into one of these threads and mention something else you want to do and we are ON it!! I LOOOOVE appetizers!