Holiday Recipes

There were always some favorite family recipes that went with the holidays. In addition to the apple and pumpkin pies there was Jello and cream cheese salad molds, Christmas bread, brownies, and lots of different cookies, including rum balls made with Southern Comfort.

My dad always pitched in, and not just sampling the delights. He made waffles for breakfast. Light fluffy waffles, perfectly crisp, and garnished with bacon. Early on I took them for granted, but after becoming a father I paid close attention and learned to duplicate his technique. This is the first time I've let it out of the family, so if you want to make Harold's Heavenly Waffles, I'll tell you how to do it.

My generation scattered to the far corners, and rather than send my cousins a gift basket, I started making Uncle Mikey's Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. You can follow the recipe on the lid of every Quaker Oats box, but I've added and changed a few things that make the cookies special, and I'll give a few tips on how make them different ways.

Finally, some thing very simple if you're too busy for a formal dessert is Baked Apples ala Mode. My favorites are Johnny Golds and Macintosh, but any apple will do in a pinch. Start by washing off the wax that all store apples have applied to them, and cut out the cores. Place them top down in a pan you can cover. Mix cinnamon with sugar and pour into holes made when coring the apples. You can top with a dollop of butter if you like, then bake soft, about one hour at 350 degrees. With a spatula lift the whole apple into a bowl and top it with vanilla ice cream. Dribble some of the juice in the baking pan over the ice cream and Viola.