Recipes

Hamballs

Ingredients
Meatballs

• 1/4 lb bacon, diced
• 1 lb ham, diced (we used ground ham loaf)
• 1 lb ground pork
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup breadcrumbs
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tsp dry mustard (we did not use)
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp pineapple juice

Glaze

• 1 cup pineapple juice
• 1/2 cup cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1Tbsp ketchup
• 2 tsp dry mustard (we did not use)
• 1/2 tsp cayenne (optional, we did not use)
• 1 tsp corn starch mixed with 2 Tbsp cold water

Method

1 Preheat oven to 350ºF

2 Put the bacon and ham into a food processor and pulse briefly 3-4 times to chop fine. (We did not do this as we used ham loaf) Do not puree. Place the mixture in a large bowl with the remaining meatball ingredients and mix well to combine. Using your hands, form meatballs anywhere from 1-inch to 2-inches in diameter. The smaller diameter meatballs will make for easier eating if you are making them for an appetizer for a party. Larger meatballs will work well for a main course.

3 Arrange the meatballs in a casserole pan and put in the over for about 1 hour for 2-inch diameter meatballs, or 30-40 minutes for 1-inch diameter meatballs. These meatballs are pretty forgiving, but look for an internal temperature of about 165º or so.

4 Make the glaze when you put the meatballs in the oven. Mix all the ingredients except the corn starch in a small pot and bring to a boil. Whisk in the corn starch and simmer 1-2 minutes.

5 Baste the meatballs once they have cooked for 20 minutes, then again at 40 minutes for larger meatballs or at 10 minutes and 20 minutes if you are making small meatballs, and then again at 5 minutes before they are done.

Serve by themselves as a party appetizer, or on pineapple rings.

Yeild: Makes 20-60 meatballs, depending on the size.

Andes Mint Cupcakes

Chocolate Cakes

• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• Devil's food cake mix

Chocolate Mint Filling

• 1/3 cup chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1 tsp peppermint extract
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar

Mint Buttercream

• 8 oz cream cheese
• 6 Tbsp butter
• 3-4 cups powdered sugar
• 1 Tbsp heavy cream or milk
• 1 tsp peppermint extract
• green food coloring

Directions:
1 Preheat over to 350º and line two cupcake pans with paper liners.
2 Using a whisk, mix sour cream, oil and vanilla extract together. Add eggs one at a time, stirring well in between each addition.
3 Alternate adding the cake mix and liquids (buttermilk and water), starting and ending with the cake mix.
4 Fill liners 2/3 full and bake for 14-18 minutes, or until an inserted knife comes out clean.

Chocolate Mint Filling
5 Melt chocolate chips and heavy cream together in the microwave or on the stovetop over medium heat. Stir in peppermint extract and powdered sugar.
6 When cupcakes come out of the over, use a squeeze bottle to fill the cupcakes with the filling, or use the filling as a ganache and dip the tops of the cakes into it.

Mint Buttercream
7 Beat cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Add powdered sugar, heavy cream and peppermint extract and beat well. Add green food coloring and stir well.
8 Pipe buttercream onto cooled cupcakes and top with extra chocolate mint filling and an Andes Mint.

M&M Cookies Recipe (from squidoo.com)

• Serves: 50 Cookies (mine made 3dz)
• Prep Time: 20 Minutes
• Total Time: 35 Minutes

Ingredients

• 1 cup of soft butter (it is critical that it be soft)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups regular all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 12-ounce package of M&Ms (I used half m&ms and half chocolate chips)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and the sugars until light and fluffy. It is critical that the butter be at room temperature in order to make this step work nicely.

Beat in the egg and the vanilla.

In another bowl, mix together flour, baking soda and salt.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix.

The recipe says to STIR in M&Ms and nuts at this point. I always put the M&Ms right in the mixer. I suppose a couple might get broken but if they are it hasn't caused any serious issues and doing it this way is easy and fast.

Using teaspoons, drop cookies of about one heaping teaspoon onto your cookie sheets, making them about two inches apart. My cookie sheets need to be greased.

Bake for between 10 and 13 minutes. I prefer mine cooked less rather than more. Another personal choice but don't overcook them.

Cool on wire cookie racks.