Sugar cookies with Icing

These are a holiday tradition since I was a child and now I do it with my children. 

It's an inexpensive way to do something fun together.  

These can be given as gifts, served at parties or simply enjoyed as a family.

The no chill cookie recipe I used is here

(I added an extra egg because my dough was too crumbly):

http://www.inkatrinaskitchen.com/2011/12/best-sugar-cookie-recipe-and-kitchenaid_28.html

Here is the easy icing recipe:

http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-decorate-cookies-with-icing-the-easiest-simplest-method-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-198240

This was pretty simple:  just mix, bake, and decorate!  

Fun memories to last a lifetime :-)

Easy Ham Salad

I bought a spiral sliced ham and it was Soooo much meat!  I've been thinking of ways to use it up!

I'm very glad I remembered to make ham salad.  

The first time I tried it, was at a park play date many years ago...another mom had simply brought a container of ham salad and crackers.  She and her children shared some with me and it was delightful!

You won't believe how simple it is to make.

I used to use a food processor, but I had to use a cutting board and knife this time, which wasn't as hard as I thought it'd be.

Then I put all of the finely chopped ham in a bowl and mixed in enough mayo to moisten the meat and added a few tablespoons of sweet pickle relish to add a bit of crunch, color, and tang to the salad.  Keep chilled.

Serve with crackers or on bread as a sandwich.

Ingredients:

Finely diced ham

Mayo

Pickle relish

Serve on Bread or crackers

Cafeteria Yeast Rolls

Buttery, fluffy goodness!

These take me back to the days when we ate a church dinner before church on Wednesday nights.

I started out by mixing the dough and setting it aside to rise through dinner.  

Then I took half the dough, kneaded it, and rolled it to 1 inch thickness.  

I then cut it into squares with a pizza cutter and put in a buttered dish or parchment paper lined cookie sheet.

I did the same with the other half.

I let these rise for about an hour and then baked at 400 degrees for about 12 minutes. 

We ate them HOT out of the oven with butter and honey.

There are plenty leftover to freeze for later...yields 5 dozen.

Ingredients:

3 cups warm water

5 Tablespoons yeast

1 tablespoon white sugar

2/3 cup white sugar

1/4 cup milk

2 eggs 

1 tablespoon salt

10 cups all purpose flour

1 cup butter, divided

Instructions:

1. Add 1 tablespoon sugar and the yeast to a large bowl with the warm water. Let stand 10 minutes.

2. In another large bowl, mix flour and 2/3 cups sugar.

3. Dice 1/4 cup butter and mix into the flour mixture with your hands until mixed through.

4. Mix milk, egg, and salt into the yeast.

5.  With a wooden spoon, slowly mix the flour into the yeast mixture until it pulls away from the sides and forms a ball.

6.  Cover bowl with a hot, damp towel that's wrung out until double in size. About 45 minutes.

7. On floured surface, roll out dough to 1 inch thick.

8. Cut into 2 inch squares with a pizza cutter.

9. Place 1inch apart on greased backing dish or parchment paper lined cookie sheets. Let rise again, 45 minutes.

10. Melt remaining butter and drizzle over rolls.

11.  Bake at 400 degrees for about 12 minutes.

These were excellent the next day! I put spiral sliced ham and cheese in them and popped them in the microwave for a minute and they were wonderful ham and cheese sandwiches!  I added Dijon mustard and sweet pickle relish to mine for a bigger flavor!

Adapted from this recipe:

http://carzycook.com/showthread.php?tid=7068