Can you believe that Christmas Day is one week from today???  Perhaps you are scrambling for ideas on things to bake for that special day?  Well, here is a recipe, tried and found to be true, that I suggest:

• 1 recipe of your favorite pie pastry
• 3 squares unsweetened chocolate
• 1/2 cup butter
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 51/2-oz. can evaporated milk
• Whipped cream or vanilla ice cream to serve with pie
• Line a 9" pie plate with pastry
• In a saucepan, melt chocolate and butter together over medium heat.
• In a bowl, beat eggs.  Add sugar, vanilla and evaporated milk.  Mix well.  Add chocolate-butter mixture and blend.
  
• Pour filling into pie shell and bake at 350 (F) for 35 minutes or until firm to touch.  When serving, garnish with whipped cream or the vanilla ice cream.
• Serves 6 - 8 (or even 1)  :-)

This weekend I am going to make this recipe because my nephews (read three of them) our visiting and we will be doing our Christmas celebration.  My thought is that on Friday afternoon after they get here, I will fill them up with hearty appetizers:  crackers, hot clam dip, meatballs, cheeses, etc. Then we will take BART into the City a visit the Embarcadero skating rink, see the cascading Christmas lights at the Hyatt Regency, go to Union Square and see the tree there as well as the one at Needless Markup (aka Nieman-Marcus)...before finally adjourning to what I hope is a delicious dinner at Eureka Restaurant (in the Castro).

I digress.  This recipe I am planning on making for our Sunday dinner.  Each of them will have an assigned food to make...but this is what I will make:

• 4 to 6 pound pork loan roast (I've always done bone-in but this time will try boneless)
• 2 garlic cloves, slivered
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 2 tablespoons parsley flakes or chopped parsley
• Heat oven to 325 (F).*  Make small cuts between ribs and insert garlic slivers.  Rub roast with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.  In large plastic bag or shallow dish, pour wine over roast; rub on parsley.  Marinate covered, 2 to 4 hours at room temperature.**
• Drain wine, sprinkle with remaining salt & pepper.
• Place roast, fat side up, on rack in shallow roasting pan.  Roast at 325 (F)* for 2 to 3 hours or until thermometer registers 170 (F).
• 8 - 10 servings
• *  What I do is sear the roast at 450(F) for 1/2 hour and then reduce the heat to 325(F) and roast until the meat thermometer reads 170(F)
• **You can also refrigerate this in the plastic bag and marinade for 24 to 48 hours.  This weekend will be 48 hours.
• Enjoy...

Years ago, during the Friday Night Social Club days (and that is a whole 'nother story), I used to do an open house on Christmas Eve.  The basic idea was lots of appetizers, lots of adult beverages, and then the guests that were that were still there later on the evening were welcome to stay for a baked ham dinner or a roasted turkey dinner.  Quite often there were a good seven to eight people that stayed on in the evening just for dinner.

Here is one of the appetizers that I served...a tried and true recipe:

• 8-oz. pkg. cream cheese softened
• 1/4 cup dairy sour cream
• 1 teaspoon prepared horseradish
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 1/2-oz jar dried beef (or your favorite) finely chopped.
• In medium bowl, blend cream cheese, sour cream and horseradish until smooth and creamy.  Stir in Parmesan cheese and 1/2 of the dried beef.  Chill cheese mixture about 15 minutes for easier handling.  Shape cheese mixture into a ball; roll in remaining dried beef.  Chill at least 20 minutes or until serving time.  Serve with assorted crackers.  Makes a 4-inch ball.

Brrrrrr!  It is just darn cold regardless whether you are in the Midwest and are enduring almost sub-zero cold and digging out from yesterday's snow...or you are here in Pacifica which was a bone-chilling 31 degrees (F) this morning...with a strong wind from the NNW right off of the Pacific Ocean.

Here is a perfect antidote:

• 1 quart apple cider
• 1 cup orange juice
• 1 cup pineapple juice
• 1 teaspoon whole allspice
• 1 teaspoon whole cloves
• 2 2-inch cinnamon sticks
• brandy
• In medium saucepan, combine all ingredients except brandy.  Simmer 15 to 20 minutes.  Strain.  Serve in a mug with one shot of brandy.  Garnish with a cinnamon stick or an orange slice.
• Makes 6 mugs.
• Enjoy.

Each of the recipes posted are tried and true.  The hot clam dip has been a family staple for Christmas for more years than I can count (and I can count a lot of them).  The Tom & Jerry recipe...well that is primarily a Midwestern thing to be enjoyed:

Hot Clam Dip

• 8-oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
• 2 tablespoons chopped almonds
• 1 tablespoon instant minced onion
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Dash pepper
• 6 1/2 can minced clams, drained
• Heat oven to 375 (F).  In 1-quart casserole, combine all ingredients.  Bake about 10 minutes or until heated through.  Garnish with parsley or paprika.  Makes about 1 1/2 cups.
• This dips is also good served cold.  Almonds can be toasted before adding to dip.

Tom & Jerry Batter

• 6 eggs, separated*
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 6 cups powdered sugar
• dash salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 drop oil of cloves**
• 1 drop oil of cinnamon**
• brandy
• boiling water
• In medium bowl, beat egg yolks until thick and lemon-colored; add milk and powdered sugar.  Beat on low speed for 1 minute; beat on high for 2 minutes or until mixture is quite stiff.  In large bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form.  Fold in yolk mixture and remaining ingredients.  For each drink used 1/4 cup brandy, 1/4 cup boiling water and 1/4 cup batter floating on top.  About 24 servings.
• Refrigerate leftover batter for up to two days.
• * for this recipe use only grad AA clean whole shell eggs.  Be careful of bacteria.
• You can purchase the oils through Amazon.  Or if not, use 1/4 teaspoon ground spice for each.

I originally found this recipe in a little Canadian cookbook called "I've Got to Have THAT Recipe Too!"  This is a tried and true recipe that I've made and given away as a simple little gift:

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup pecans, chopped
• 1 10-oz jar maraschino cherries, drained (reserve liquid), chopped*
• 1 tsp vanilla
• Glaze:  1 cup powdered sugar and 1 - 2 tablespoons milk or reserved cherry juice (one tablespoon of each)
• In a large bowl, cream together sugar, butter and eggs until light and fluffy.
• Combine dry ingredients and add to butter mixture along with the buttermilk.  Beat until well blended.  Stir in pecans, cherries and vanilla.
• Pour batter into greased loaf pan.  Bake at 350 (F) for 55 - 60 minutes.
• Remove from pan, cool and glaze.  Makes one loaf.
• For the glaze...combine the powdered sugar and milk or reserved cherry juice until smooth.  Drizzle over warm pecan bread.
• *the reserved cherry juice can be refrigerated and used for batches of Kenny Lysdahl Brandy Manhattans!

Do you like horseradish?  I do.  I can also say that the stronger that it is the better it is...you know that point when you have a touch too much and you can feel the heat searing your sinuses?!?  Well, here is a recipe to temper the heat...yet it goes deliciously with pork, beef, and as a sandwich spread.  It is also far far better than any type of horseradish sauce you can find at the store:

You are sitting there at the table hankering for something different than warmed up turkey, dressing, gravy.  You don't want another turkey, dressing, salad dressing, cranberry sauce sandwich for the next 10 years.  Well, here is a recipe that I've had for years for a simple casserole (yes the Midwestern thing in me is alive and well) using leftover turkey.  It may be just the thing to make this evening and use up the last of your Thanksgiving turkey:

• 3 cups cooked turkey, cut up
• 1 cup finely chopped celery
• 1 cup cooked rice
• 3/4 cup Mayo
• 1 tablespoon chopped onion
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 can slice water chestnuts, drained
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 3 hard cooked eggs, chopped
• 1/4 pound butter
• 1 cup slightly crushed corn flakes
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds
• Combine chicken, celery, rice, mayo, onion, lemon juice, salt, water chestnuts, soup, and eggs.  Put into a greased 9" x 13" baking dish.
• Melt butter and drizzle over cornflakes and slivered almonds.  Place mixture over the top of the casserole.
• Bake at 350 (F) for 35 minutes.
• Enjoy.
• Say good-bye to the last of the turkey and have a glass of wine to salute its carcass as it goes into the trash.