Saturday's Yummy Recipes

Here are the recipes for today's yummy treats provided by our featured authors.

From Nan Jacobs:


Scotch Shortbread Cookies

These are simple to make, they melt in your mouth, and they seem to keep well. I like to cut some of them into little bite size pieces, as they are so rich. This way, people who are "being careful" can justify tasting them. Hee hee!

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 pound cold butter (no substitutes)

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour and sugar. Cut in butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Knead dough until smooth, about 6 to 10 minutes.
2. Pat dough into an ungreased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan, pressing up to the edges of the pan. Pierce with a fork (make sure to pierce all the way to the bottom of the pan). Bake at 325 degrees F for 25 to 30 minutes or until lightly browned.
3. Sprinkle with sugar on top; for holiday festivity, sprinkle red or green (or both) sugar sprinkles instead of plain sugar.
4. While warm, cut into squares. Cool.

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From Teri Wilson:

CAMERON’S YUMMY HOT APPLE CIDER

This recipe is my teenage son’s absolute favorite, so I named it after him. It’s super easy. I usually make it on Christmas morning and just leave it on the stove all day. It always disappears by twilight!

Ingredients:

6 cups apple cider or apple juice
¼ cup real maple syrup
2 cinnamon sticks
6 whole cloves
6 whole allspice berries
1 orange peel, cut into strips
1 lemon peel, cut into strips

Directions:

Pour the apple cider and maple syrup into a large stainless steel saucepan.

Place the cinnamon sticks, cloves, allspice berries, orange peel and lemon peel in the center of a washed square of cheesecloth; fold up the sides of the cheesecloth to enclose the bundle, then tie it up with a length of kitchen string. Drop the spice bundle into the cider mixture.

Place the saucepan over moderate heat for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the cider is very hot but not boiling.

Remove the cider from the heat. Discard the spice bundle. Ladle the cider into big cups or mugs, adding a fresh cinnamon stick to each serving if desired.

Yum!