Christmas Cooking

Apple Squares

Black Forest Brownie Torte

Coconut Cream Truffle

Fruitcake

Honey Walnut Torte

Nutmeg Rolls

Peppermint Balls

Quick Cheesecake

Strawberry Chocolate Truffles

White Chocolate Truffles

Black Currant Tea Brownies

Butterscotch Brownies

Fruit Bars

Raisin Cheesecake Bars

Raspberry Almond Cheesecake Bars

Sour Cherry Bars

Turtle Brownies

Gingerbread*

Old Time Christmas Cookies

Shortbread 

Spice Cookies*

Stained Glass Cookies

Zimtsterne

Chocolate Slices

Cinnamon Slices

Frozen Fruit Sliced Cookies

Fruit Filled

Ginger Almond Slices

Oatmeal and Coconut Slices

Peanut Butter and Honey

Sesame-Seed Slices

Surprise Bites

Spritz

Chocolate Crinkles*

Cinnamon Butterfingers

Coffee Cookies*

Gingersnaps

Little Rummies

Marzipan Cookies

Mexican Wedding Cakes

Peanut Butter Cookies

Pecan Spice Cookies

Snickerdoodles

Snow Balls

Snowcaps

Thumbprint

Applesauce Raisin Cookies

Apricot Raspberry

Chocolate Crinkles*

Christmas Jewels

Cranberry Cookies

Lace Cookies

Molasses

Oatmeal

Orange Drop

Pineapple

Praline Cookies

Pumpkin Cookies

Basic Biscotti

Biscotti di Vino

Greek Baklava

Hazelnut Biscotti

Poorman's Biscotti

Walnut Baklava

Chocolate Butter Crunch

Chocolate-Covered Cherries

Chocolate-Covered Toffee

Chocolate Pralines

Gummies

Peanut Brittle

Suckers

Christmas Fudge

Chocolate Mint Fudge

Gingerbread Fudge

Peanut Butter Fudge

Vanilla Fudge

Candied Citrus Peel

Caramel Popcorn

Chocolate Pecan Icing

Christmas Wreath Cookies

Easy Fudge

HayStacks

No-Cook Divinity

Orange Balls

Peanut Clusters

Royal Icing

Snow Candy

Cinnamon Cider 

Eggnog

Hot Buttered Rum

Hot Cranberry Punch

Wassail

White Hot Chocolate

• Go to the Deli, give them all your money. 

• Make "wreath" pancakes and serve with strawberry syrup.  (wreath pancakes are silver dollar sized, served in a circle to look like a wreath) 

 
• Make veggie "wreath". Run down to the grocery store, buy a bag of those expense pre-cut finger veggies, a couple of red and green bell peppers, cherry tomatoes and a bottle of Ranch salad dressing. Place bowl in middle of platter,  surround with green veggies (broccoli, celery, green bell peppers...) Next toss on some red veggies (tomatoes, red bell pepper) A few nice pieces of cauliflower to brighten things up. 

• Tell that co-worker that always brings that good stuff to the office, "I was telling my friend about that wonderful _____ you made last month. I'll give you $_____ if you can make one for ______night." 

• Use pointed paper cups for making lime gelatin "trees." Cut away paper when mold is firm and decorate with cream cheese or Cool whip. 

 
• Another great invention was "Almond Bark", cheap and good tasting. If your budget can't handle the price of chocolate morsels, almond bark makes a great substitute for dipped items. While most of us see the "chocolate" and "white chocolate" varieties, if you look hard there is also a butterscotch flavor. Between theses three, you can be the hit of the pot luck. My personal favorite is dipped pretzels. Melt bark, dip, and place on either foil or waxed paper. Then melt a different flavor, pour into a plastic sandwich back, cut corner, and drizzle over pretzels. 

• Another thing you can do with your almond bark is simply melt and add goodies, pour on to a piece of foil, and break up into serving size pieces. Some of my favorites are: 

Chocolate Bark with raisins or nuts
White Bark with chopped up jellied candies (I use red, green and yellow)
Then of course I use both with Rice Krispy cereal, you might call it a home made "Crunch" bar.
If you have the time crush some hard peppermint candies, and mix in to either the flavor.
If you are really in a hurry, and cutting the budget, simply melt any two flavors, at the same time (different containers) pour onto foil and swirl together, simple but looks and tastes great.
 
• The good ole "Dump Cake". Dump two cans of fruit pie filling, top with dry yellow cake mix, place pieces of butter across the top. Toss in the oven. 

 
• The Snack Tree, use a styrofoam conical form, cover it with green paper. Use toothpicks with vegetables and edibles, such as cheese cubes, cherry tomatoes, grapes, cauliflower, green pepper, carrot slices, etc. to cover it. Serve with a dip. 

• Orange Sips: Roll an orange between your hands till soft. Use a knife and cut an "X" in the orange. Insert a porous peppermint stick in the "X" and sip away! 

Wrap each cookie in waxed paper, the follow this order for packing:

1 layer of filler
1 sheet of waxed paper
1 layer of cookies
1 layer of filler
1 sheet of waxed paper
1 layer of cookies
and so on.
Fill any empty space with filler.

Now for your trick of the day, I did this one a coouple of years ago. If shipping overseas, and the person lives near a larger airport. Check with the different airlines that go there. The term is "counter to counter". To give you an idea of the time and money saved:

Little Rock AR to Santa Cruz Bolivia for a 14 pound box
FedX $278 not next day
UPS $165 not next day
Post office too slow, takes weeks and unable to track
American Airlines $85, dropped it off at 2pm was there at 9:05 the next morning!

While their prices are great they also offer sales and discounts.