A few of our favorite recipes this Holiday season

Bacon, Olive and Onion Cheeseball

Ingredients **
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
6 slices bacon, browned until crispy, patted dry and chopped
1/2 can black olives, drained and chopped
3 green onions, thinly sliced

Mix together. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and chill until serving. You can also roll this in roasted nuts before chilling. We made our's into a monster face instead of covering it with nuts because it was way funner to eat that way. And if monsters know that we eat monster heads, they will be less likely to terrorize us.

**You can change these ingredients to fit whatever you like. Just keep the cheese the same and drain everything really well.

Cream Cheese Blueberry Pie

Ingredients
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
8 ounces whipped topping
1 tsp. vanilla
1 (9 inch) pastry shell, baked
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 cups fresh or frozen blueberries


Directions
1 - In a small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and vanilla until smooth. Fold in whipped cream. Spread into pastry shell.
2 - In a large saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch, water and lemon juice until smooth; stir in blueberries. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Cool. Spread over cream cheese layer. Refrigerate until serving.

This was a terrific yet tart dessert, which I thought was nice when there were so many incredibly sweet things to eat. It did not take much time to make and was easy to make ahead.

Cheese Fondue (I think this will be our traditional Christmas lunch.)

Ingredients
1 cup apple or white grape juice
1/2 pound shredded Swiss cheese
1/2 pound shredded Gruyere cheese
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 (1 pound) loaf French bread, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 package Li'l Smokies
apple slices


Directions
Simmer juice in pot. Toss shredded cheese with flour. Add Swiss cheese, Gruyere cheese, 1/4 pound at a time to simmering juice. Stir after each addition of cheese until melted. When all the cheese has melted, stir in salt and nutmeg. Keep warm in crock pot or rice cooker. Serve with cut-up French bread, Li'l smokies, and apple slices.

Cheesy Mashed Potato Layer Bake

4 large white potatoes, baked and peeled
3 large sweet potatoes, baked and peeled
1 (8 ounce) cube Cream Cheese, divided
1/2 cup Sour Cream, divided
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
1/4 cup Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese, divided
1 small onion, divided

Directions
1 - Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place potatoes in separate bowls. Add half each of the cream cheese, sour cream and onion to each bowl; season with salt and pepper. Mash with potato masher or mixer until creamy. You may need to add milk to the white potatoes to get them to a creamy consistency.
2 - Stir half of the Parmesan cheese into white potatoes. Stir half of the Cheddar cheese into sweet potatoes. Alternately layer half each of the white potato and sweet potato mixture in 2 qt. or 9x13 clear glass dish. Repeat layers.
3 - Bake15 min. Sprinkle with remaining cheeses; bake 5 more min. or until cheeses are melted.

I thought this was so pretty. It looked like a Christmas ornament. And I was very excited to find a cheesy potato recipe that included sweet potatoes.

Caramel Dipping Sauce

1/3 cup water
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pinch salt

Directions
1 - Bring the water, sugar, and butter to a simmer in a saucepan over medium heat. Do not stir the mixture until the sugar has completely dissolved in the water. Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the caramel has turned golden brown, 10 - 15 minutes.
2 - Carefully pour in a slow, steady stream of cream into the caramel while stirring constantly. The hot caramel will boil vigorously when the cream is added and solidify in areas. Add the vanilla extract and salt. Continue stirring over low heat until the caramel is smooth and creamy, 5 to 10 minutes more. Allow to cool for at least half an hour before using.

I used this to dip apples in as well as drizzle over a pumpkin cheesecake. It tastes like homemade caramels. Way better then the stuff you buy at the store!

Dry Ranch Dressing Mix

1 teaspoon dried parsley
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tsp. dried dill weed

Mix together. Use in place of the Ranch seasoning mix.

This tastes just like the store bought stuff, and it is way cheaper.

I have found that if I mix this with a container of sour cream, take a portion of that out and mix with seasoned rice vinegar, it tastes very similar to Ranch Dressing and (depending on the type of sour cream you use) does not have near the additives.

Peppermint Marshmallows

Ingredients
3/4 cup water, divided
3 (.25 ounce) packages unflavored gelatin
2/3 cup light corn syrup
2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 - 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
confectioners' sugar

1 - Grease a 9x13 baking dish. Add confectioners' sugar and coat the pan. Set aside.
2 - Place 1/2 cup of water in the bowl of an electric mixer, and sprinkle gelatin on top of water to soak.
3 - While gelatin is soaking, combine 1/4 cup of water, corn syrup, and sugar in a saucepan, and bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil the mixture hard for 1 minute.
4 - Pour the hot sugar mixture into the gelatin mixture and beat on high for 12 minutes with electric mixer, until the mixture is fluffy and forms stiff peaks. Add vanilla and peppermint extracts, and beat just until blended.
Pour the marshmallow mixture into the prepared baking dish, using a greased spatula to smooth the top of the candy. Cover the candy with the reserved greased foil or wrap, and press down lightly to seal the covering to the top of the candy.
5 - Allow the marshmallow candy to rest for 4 hours or overnight. Set out a layer of wax paper covered with confectioners' sugar. Loosen marshmallows from the edge of the dish. Dump out onto wax paper. Using oiled scissors or an oiled kitchen knife, cut the marshmallow candy into strips, then into 1 inch squares. Dredge the marshmallows lightly in the confectioners' sugar and store in an airtight container.

This recipe is very fun for kids. If you don't care for the peppermint flavoring, the vanilla alone is great. Instead of cutting these in squares, you can use cookie cutters.