I have done a cookie exchange with my Mom’s Club for several years now.  This is the first year I have been the organizer though, and I decided to change the rules.  Previously, recipes were submitted and approved before the exchange.  Candies, fudge and the like were not allowed.  Why anyone would prevent the addition of fudge to their holiday diet is beyond me.  I basically did away with the rules, allowing for a little more creativity.

I made a ‘Cookie In A Jar’ rather than baking cookies (or fudge, or whatever) for everyone.  I left the “To/From” card blank to allow for re-gifting because they make perfect last minute gifts. 

There are a bazillion recipes for cookies in a jar, but the secret for these is to have a ‘tamper’. 

It’s a wooden tool with flat ends that comes with the Ball Gift Jar kits (which I found on sale this fall for $1.87 each).  It’s what you use to squish down the ingredients so they are packed in and have that nice ‘layered’ look. Going forward, I can just use a regular wide mouth canning jar without buying the kids now that I have the tamper. 

I got carried away with the jar gifts, and decided to make teacher gifts in a jar too.  I layered red, black, and white beans in a jar which filled it about 3/4 of the way full. The kits also included a cute, pre-cut piece of fabric for the lid, a wooden tag, a recipe card, and pretty string.

Then, in a square of cheesecloth I put:

• 3 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 tablespoons dried onion
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

I tied the cheesecloth with cooking twine, and set it on top of the beans.  I attached a recipe card with the following instructions:

Three Bean Chili 

Remove spice bag from jar; set aside.  Place the dried bean mixture into a saucepot.  Cover dried beans with cold water and soak overnight.  Drain.  Cover beans with 2 inches of fresh, cold water.  Cover and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer 1 1/2 hours.  Add 1 pound of browned ground beef, 2 14 ounce cans of diced tomatoes; the tomato sauce and the contents of the spice bag.  Mix well and cook on low heat for 1/2 an hour.

It occurred to me that people might not be very excited about basically getting a jar of dried beans, so I found some inexpensive stockings and put a box of Jiffy Corn Bread mix, a can of tomato sauce, and very cute tiny jars of Tobasco sauce to give with the jars. 

I’ve gone gift jar mad. Someone needs to stop me…

A few months ago, I bought a children’s book by Naomi Howland with this title.  It is a Chanukah Story about a pan that keeps frying up latkes until the secret words are spoken to make it stop.  It’s a neat, old folk story that appears in different cultures with a different form.  It’s the same story as Strega Nona, but with latkes instead of pasta.

We’ve been reading this book over and over for a while.  Now, we are going to make our own Latkes as Chanukah starts in about a week.  My kids have very little exposure to Judaism, and what better way to connect with another culture than by food?  You could also try teaching your children the art of kvetching, like one of my friends did but I think I will stick with the potato pancakes.

Unless you have a magic pan, you will need to fry them up yourself so obviously the kids can’t help with that part.  The easiest way to make them is simply to use a box of Manischewitz Potato Pancake Mix.  It’s in the ‘ethnic’ section of pretty much every grocery store in town. 

Simply follow the directions on the box, and serve with applesauce. If you need some, head over to my house because I still have a freezer full of it.

For more seasonal ideas, head over to Scribbit’s Winter Bazaar.

Shalom!

In my usual Halloween delinquence, we still haven’t carved our pumpkins.  They have been sitting on the front porch, un-carved, for about two weeks now. Apparently the squirrels took this to mean that they should carve them, because they have completely torn into them and there are seeds and pumpkin guts all over the porch.  No; I haven’t cleaned them up yet. That’s about as gory as I get.

I have decided to serve a ’spooky’ meal for the first time this year.  It is entirely inspired by some very cute Halloween placemats and napkins I got real cheap at Kohls last year on about November 1st.

So here it is – my Super Spooky Meal!  My kids will probably be more scared that I am asking them to eat peppers than anything else…

Jack O Lantern Pizza

• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 cup salsa 
• 3/4 cup frozen whole kernel corn
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 cups biscuit mix
• 1/3 cup very hot water
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 cups shredded Colby-Monterey Jack or Cheddar cheese (8 ounces)
• Toppings, such as orange and green bell pepper strips, sliced ripe olives and cherry tomato wedges, if desired.

Move oven rack to lowest position. Heat oven to 450ºF. Grease 12-inch pizza pan. Cook beef in 10-inch skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until brown; drain. Stir in salsa, corn and 1/4 cup water. Heat to boiling; remove from heat. 
Mix biscuit mix, 1/3 cup hot water and the oil until soft dough forms; beat vigorously 20 strokes. Let stand 5 minutes. Press dough in pizza pan, using fingers dipped in biscuit mix; pinch edge to form 1/2-inch rim. Spread beef mixture over dough. Sprinkle with cheese. 
Bake 11 to 15 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted. Arrange Toppings on pizza to form jack-o’-lanterns.

Eyeball Jello

Pour lemon jello into ice cube trays.  Drop a blueberry or grape into each tray; let set.  When you pop it out, it will look like an eyeball. 

Spooky Hand Punch

1. Wash a rubber glove, fill with water and tie tightly at the wrist with rubber band. Place in freezer for 1 to 2 days.
2. Mix a 2 liter of ginger ale with a 46 oz container of dark colored juice (cherry, berry, etc.)
3. Dip frozen hand in warm water briefly to loosen the glove. Cut glove to remove and place frozen hand in punch before serving.
    

For more Halloween ideas, head over to Scribbit!