When I think of desserts, I think of my Grandma Janice. She and my Dad have taught me how to make most of my favorite desserts and are the reason I know how to cook and bake today.
Here are a few family favorites for the Christmas season and for anytime you just want something sweet and yummy.
Cheesecake is a huge family favorite! Grandma used to always make them for any celebration. My little sister, Cydney, especially loved them. She loved them so much that as a young girl, she would help Grandma make them so she could learn how. After she knew how, she would make them every chance she got. As a result, they became a common item around our household whenever she had the opportunity to choose what was for dessert.
Cheesecake
1 (8-oz) cream cheese, softened
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
12 oz cool whip
¼-½ c. lemon juice
2 graham cracker crust pie shells
Mix cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, cool whip and lemon juice until smooth. Scrape the bottom of the graham cracker crust to get about a teaspoon of crust to sprinkle on top. Pour half of cream mixture into each pie shell. Sprinkle with crust. Refrigerate until ready to eat.
Optional: Add fruit of your choice. (strawberries, cherry pie filling, etc.)
Dad's secret chocolate chip recipe has been around since I can remember. I remember making cookies with him as a young girl and having so much fun! After I finally learned how to make them he would let me them all by myself and I would feel so grown up baking cookies by myself. These cookies will always hold a special place in my memory, remembering all the fun times my dad and I had in the kitchen making cookies.
Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 ¼ stick of butter or margarine
½ c. sugar
½ c. brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
2 ¼-½ c. flour
Chocolate chips
Walnuts (optional)
Preheat oven to 375°. Mix butter, sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla until smooth. Mix flour and baking soda in separate bowl. Add flour mixture into wet mixture. Cut in chocolate chip and walnuts (walnuts). Bake at 375° for 10-12 min, until done. Makes about 1 dozen.
I remember growing up and enjoying holiday jello. I always love the cherry, creamy middle and the lime. All the flavors mixing were just so good and I always looked forward to Christmas so Mom would make the jello and would get so excited.
Michko’s Holiday Jello
1 large Cherry jello
1 small Lemon jello
1 large cream cheese
1 small carton whipping cream
1 small crushed Pineapple (optional)
1 large Lime jello
In a 9 x 13 pan, mix Lime jello with 1 ¾ c. hot water then with 1 ¾ c. cold water. Let cool until set. Combine Lemon jello with 1 c. hot water and all of the juice from the pineapple. Mix cream cheese and whipping cream beat until soft. Add lemon and pineapple with cheese batter. Add the pineapple. Layer on top of set Lime jello softly. Cool overnight. In separate bowl, mix 1 ¾ c. hot water and Cherry jello. Add 1 ¾ c. cold water. Layer, gently, on top of lemon mixture. Cool until set. Serve cold!
Our favorite Christmas present from Grandmas was always her fudge. We would get big boxes of presents and would find the fudge tins and break them out for breakfast Christmas morning. They were the favorite Christmas morning treat! After we were old enough to make it ourselves, my grandma decided to teach us how to make it and she allowed us to help her. Now that we are grown up, Grandma still makes us fudge but we also make it for others to enjoy as gifts.
Grandma’s Fudge
Mix:
4 ½ c. sugar
1 can evaporated milk
Bring to boil over medium heat. Boil 6 minutes, stirring constantly. Take off heat.
Add:
2 c. butter
9 to 14 oz of chocolate chips
6 squares Bakers chocolate
Stir together until melted.
Add:
1 jar of marshmallow cream
1 Tbsp vanilla
Mix until creamy and smooth.
Optional: Add 2 c. walnuts, 2 cup marshmallow mini package.
Not many people have ever had or even heard of this. My dad grew up loving Pistachio cake. He learned it from his Aunt Sonja, and then his mom made it for him. He learned how to make it and we've been having it every year for his birthday for as long as I can remember. It is still to this day his favorite cake. We have it every August 22nd, and sometimes for other birthdays if we leave it to dad to make a cake.
Pistachio Cake 1 box yellow cake mix
2 small pkgs of pistachio pudding mix
1 pkg dreamwhip
Make the cake like the box says and add one package of pudding. Bake the cake according to the instructions. Allow to cool. While the cake is cooling, whip the dreamwhip package as directed and add second box of pudding mix (you may have to add a little more milk). Once the cake is cooled, spread whipped cream over the cake and enjoy!
Pumpkin pie is a family favorite especially for the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons. My Grandma Dean used to make this pie every year. She got it out of the Parade magazine but it has become a family favorite. After she died and when I was old enough, I took on the role of making Pumpkin pies every year. We used to always make 4 the day before Thanksgiving or Christmas. We would then eat one for breakfast the next morning, two for dessert after dinner with our relatives, and then the last one for breakfast the next morning. It was a delicious family tradition.
Pumpkin Pie
1 (29 oz) can pumpkin
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. sugar
¼ tsp. ground cloves
3 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. salt
4 eggs
1 c. evaporated milk
1 c. heavy cream
2-9” deep dish unbaked pie shells
Grandma used to make rice pudding for us after we would make a pot of rice. It was always a favorite thing to look forward to. I always think of my mom begging for raisins to be put in it but since none of us liked raisins, they were always left out. Sometimes my Grandma would make two batches: one with raisins and one without. Now my sister makes it for us all and we just enjoy it!
Combine pumpkin, brown sugar, sugar, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, salt and eggs; mix well. Combine evaporated milk and cream; heat to scalding point (do not boil); add; mix well. Pour into unbaked pie shell. Bake at 350° for about 1 hour or until knife is inserted near rim comes out clean. Serve with whipped cream.
Rice Pudding
1 gallon of whole milk
4 eggs
2 c. sugar
4 c. rice, cooked
¼ c. cornstarch
2 Tbsp. lemon extract (to taste)
1 tsp vanilla
Raisins (optional)
In large pot with heavy bottom, pour in milk. Mix in eggs and sugar. Add raisins (optional). Bring to boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Stir in the rice and cornstarch. Boil until thick. Take off heat and add the lemon extract. Serve warm or cold with cinnamon.
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