Two Holiday Drinks

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HOT APPLE PIE

Ingredients
2 oz Tuaca
hot apple cider
whipped cream
cinnamon stick for garnish

Directions
Pour the Tuaca in an Irish coffee glass.
Fill with hot apple cider.
Top with whipped cream.
Garnish with a cinnamon stick.

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PEPPERMINT PATTY

Ingredients
1 oz. peppermint schnapps
½ oz. créme de cacao
1 tsp. créme de menthe
5 to 8 oz. hot chocolate
About 1 oz. whipped cream
Shaved chocolate

Directions
Pour liqueurs into a glass mug, fill with hot chocolate and top
with whipped cream. Garnish with chocolate shavings.

Linzer Cookies

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Ingredients
(makes about 30 small-size cookies)
1 cup blanched or sliced almonds
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup granulated white sugar, divided
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2large egg yolks
Zest of 1 lemon
Powdered sugar for dusting
1 cup seedless Raspberry Preserves

Directions
Place almonds in a food processor and process with 1/4 cup of the sugar from the recipe until finely ground. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk or sift together the flour, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of your mixer, cream the butter and remaining sugar until light and fluffy (approximately 3 minutes). Beat in the vanilla extract, egg yolks, and lemon zest. Beat in the ground nuts. Add the flour mixture beating just until incorporated. Divide the dough in half and fill large freezer bags with it. Then roll it out in the bags. Refrigerate until firm (at least one hour and up to several days).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and place rack in center of oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Remove one rectangle of dough from the refrigerator. On a lightly floured surface, cut the bags and roll out the dough between the plastic (this is only necessary if it is not yet only 1/4 inch thick). Using a cookie cutter (round, square, heart, etc.) cut out half the dough. Place the cookies about 1/2 inch apart on the prepared baking sheet. Use a smaller cookie cutter to cut out the the centers of half of the other half of the cookies. (You will be sandwiching two cookies together and there will be a small ‘window or cut out’ in the top cookie so you can see the jam underneath.)

Re-roll/refrigerate/cut any scraps of dough. Bake the cookies for 12-14 minutes or until they are very lightly browned. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

While the cookies are cooling place the raspberry jam in a small saucepan and heat gently until it has thickened slightly. Strain if there are any lumps in the jam. Let cool.

To Assemble Cookies: Place the cookies with the cut-outs on a wire rack and lightly dust the tops with the confectioners’ (powdered or icing) sugar.

On the bottom surface of the full cookie (top of cookie will face out) spread with about a 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon of jam. Place the cut-out cookie on top and gently sandwich them together.

Note: You can store the unassembled cookies in the refrigerator for several days in an airtight container. It is best, though, to assemble the cookies the same day as serving in order to keep the cookies crisp.

Chicken Pot Pie

IF YOU'RE MAKING THE CRUST:

Ingredients
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
1 stick butter
4 tbsp ice water

Directions
Combine flour, salt and sugar in a food processor. Cut butter into cubes and add to the processor and pulse until just combined. Slowly add the ice water in while pulsing. Gather the dough into a ball and refrigerate until you're ready to roll it out and use it.

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POT PIE FILLING:

Ingredients
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cubed
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup frozen green peas
1/2 cup sliced celery
(the following can be substituted with cream of mushroom soup,
if you'd like to save time)
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
1 3/4 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup milk
Add a frozen pie crust and pastry for the top to your list if you are skipping the dough-making process


Directions
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C.)

2. In a saucepan, combine chicken, carrots, peas, and celery. Add water to cover and boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, drain and set aside.

3. For homemade sauce vs cream of mushroom: In the saucepan over medium heat, cook onions in butter until soft and translucent. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and celery seed. Slowly stir in chicken broth and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick. Remove from heat and set aside.

4. Place the chicken mixture in bottom pie crust. Pour hot liquid mixture (or cr. of mush) over. Cover with top crust, seal edges, and cut away excess dough. Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape. Add an egg wash if you would like more of a "golden" crust look.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Apple-Cheese-Lager Bread

INGREDIENTS
1 small Granny Smith apple, peeled
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped shallots
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 cups flour
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 1/4 cups shredded sharp white cheddar cheese
1 (12-ounce) bottle Sam Adams lager, or a similar lager-style beer
2 tablespoons melted butter

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 375F degrees. Shred the apple, discarding the core. Squeeze the excess juice from the shredded apple so that it is barely moist.

Heat the olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the shallots and shredded apple to the pan and cook for 8 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in the pepper and garlic and cook for 1 minute more.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, thyme, and cayenne. Make a well in the center of the flour and add the shallot mixture, cheese, and lager to the bowl, stirring until just combined.

Transfer the batter to a 9X5-inch loaf pan coated with nonstick cooking spray. Drizzle the melted butter over the loaf and bake for 50-55 minutes, until the loaf is a deep golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center emerges clean. Cool the loaf in the pan for 5 minutes and then transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely.

Feel free to substitute or get creative with this recipe - you could swap out the cheese for one you'd like better, omit the cayenne, or change up the beer to hard cider for example. Store your bread at room temperature, tightly wrapped, for up to two days.