Ingredients
1 (6 pound) bone-in country ham
30 whole cloves
3 cups apple cider, or as needed
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 tablespoons ground cloves
1 tablespoon vanilla extract (optional)
1 orange's peel
Directions
1.Press whole cloves into the ham so they are evenly distributed. You may score the ham for easier insertion if you wish. Place the ham in a slow cooker. Pour in apple cider until only about 2 inches of ham is above the surface. Pack the brown sugar on top of the ham, pressing into the cloves. This will get washed away in the next step but any that stays on is a bonus.
2.Pour the maple syrup over the ham. Season the apple cider with cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, ground cloves and vanilla. Add the orange peel to the pot. Fill the slow cooker as full as you can with apple cider without going over the fill line. Cover and set to Low. Cook for 8 to 10 hours.

GINGER COOLER

Serves 1

1 apple, cored, peeled, and sliced
1/2 cup filtered water
1/2 cup ice
1 lemon, peeled, halved, and seeded
1 2-inch long peice of peeled, fresh ginger, crushed

Combine all the ingredients in a blender and drink immediately..

Bacon and Hash Brown Egg Bake

Brunch? Mix up breakfast favorites of bacon and hash browns in a make-ahead egg bake.

INGREDIENTS
1 lb bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
1 medium red bell pepper, chopped (3/4 cup)
1 package (8 oz) sliced fresh mushrooms
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3/4 cup milk
12 eggs
1 package (2 lb) frozen hash browns, thawed
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese (16 oz)


1 In 12-inch skillet, cook bacon until crisp. Using slotted spoon. Remove from pan to small bowl. Cover and refrigerate. Drain drippings, reserving 1 tablespoon in pan. Add onion, bell pepper and mushrooms; cook 4 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Stir in mustard, salt and pepper. In large bowl, beat milk and eggs with wire whisk.
2 Spray 13x9-inch (3-quart) baking dish with cooking spray. Spread half of hash browns in baking dish. Spread onion mixture evenly on top. Sprinkle with 1 cup of the cheese. Spread remaining hash browns over top. Pour egg mixture on top. Cover; refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.
3 Heat oven to 325°F. Uncover; bake 50 to 60 minutes or until thermometer inserted in center reads 160°F. Sprinkle with remaining 1 cup cheese and the bacon. Bake 3 to 5 minutes longer or until knife inserted in center comes out clean, top is puffed and cheese is melted. Let stand 5 minutes.

Chipotle Barbeque Sauce

Don't buy it! It's really easy to make, just follow my homemade chipotle barbecue sauce recipe and you can have your own smoky BBQ sauce in under 30 minutes.
The base ingredient chipotle, (pronounced chee-pot-ley) is a smoked jalapeño that you can either buy or smoke yourself from the red jalapeño pepper. You can use green but I don't think the end result is as sweet.

The most common way to buy it is in adobo sauce which essentially is a mix of spices, vinegar, tomato sauce (and sometimes other chilies) that's presented in a can. Because this is the most common way to buy the chipotles you can use then canned variety in my recipe.


Ingredients:-

450 ml or 16 oz tomato ketchup
2 onions chopped onion
110ml or ½ cup water
2 cans chipotle chilis chopped
100g or 4 oz brown sugar
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon minced garlic
½ teaspoon celery salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
A splash of cooking oil for frying
Method:-Heat the oil gently in a sauce pan, throw in the onions and the minced garlic and fry until the onions turn clear (about 5 minutes). Now add the rest of the ingredients and simmer. You'll know when the sauce is ready because it will start to thicken.

Healthy Apricot Pecan Oatmeal Muffins

INGREDIENTS:
Makes 12 muffins
1 cup quick cooking oats
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking power
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup canola oil
1 egg
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

DIRECTIONS:Place oats and buttermilk in a bowl. Stir to combine. Cover and let stand for 20-30 minutes. In a large bowl sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir in apricots and pecans. Add oil, egg and brown sugar to the oatmeal mixture and combine well. Pour the oatmeal mixture into the flour mixture. Stir just to moisten the dry ingredients. It will look lumpy. Divide batter into 12 greased muffin cups.

Bake in a preheated oven at 375°F for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove muffins from muffin tin and cool on a wire rack.

Recipe courtesy of Marjorie Johnson. For more healthy recipes, purchase On the Road to Blue Ribbon Baking with Marjorie.

What You Need

36 OREO Cookies, divided
1/2 cup butter or margarine, divided
4 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup BREAKSTONE'S or KNUDSEN Sour Cream
1 tsp. vanilla
4 eggs
4 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate

Make It
HEAT oven to 325°F.
LINE 13x9-inch baking pan with foil, with ends extending over sides. Finely crush 24 cookies. Melt 1/4 cup butter; mix with crumbs. Press onto bottom of prepared pan.
BEAT cream cheese and sugar with mixer until blended. Add sour cream and vanilla; mix well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each just until blended. Chop remaining cookies. Gently stir into batter; pour over crust.
BAKE 45 min. or until center is almost set. Cool. Meanwhile, microwave chocolate and remaining butter in microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1 min.; stir until smooth. Cool slightly; spread over top of cheesecake. Refrigerate 4 hours. Use foil handles to lift cheesecake from pan before cutting to serve.
Kraft Kitchens Tips
Size-Wise
Sweets can be part of a balanced diet but remember to keep tabs on portions.
How to Neatly Cut Dessert Bars
When cutting creamy-textured desserts, such as cheesecake, carefully wipe off the knife blade between cuts with a clean damp towel. This prevents the creamy filling from building up on the blade, ensuring clean cuts that leave the edges intact.
How to Make Mess-Free Cookie Crumbs
Crushing cookies into crumbs can be a messy task. To keep the mess to a minimum, place the whole cookies in a resealable plastic bag. Flatten bag to remove excess air, then seal bag. Crush the cookies into crumbs by rolling a rolling pin across the bag until the crumbs are as fine as you need.

S[inach Parmesan Holiday Dip

Spinach Parmesan Holiday Dip

Makes 3 cups

1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

1/2 cup red bell pepper, diced

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 (6.5 ounce) jar artichoke hearts, drained and mashed

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Salt and ground black pepper to taste

1/4 cup heavy cream

Directions

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2.Mix together spinach, bell pepper, garlic, artichokes, sour cream, and parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Mixture will be thick, add cream to thin to dip consistency. Spoon into a 1 quart baking dish.

3.Bake for 20 minutes, or until bubbly. Serve with crackers. Happy Holidays! We wish you and your families a healthy, safe, and warm holiday season.
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