Reuben Casserole

2 cups sauerkraut, drained
2 medium tomatoes, sliced
1/2 cup low-cal Thousand Island salad dressing
8 oz. sliced corned beef
1 tsp. caraway seed
1 1/2 cups grated Swiss cheese
1/4 cup rye bread or cracker crumbs
1 Tbsp. butter

Layer sauerkraut, tomato slices, dressing, corned beef, and cheese in a your 9 x 13 casserole dish. Bake at 375 degrees F for 15 minutes. Remove from oven. Mix the rye bread crumbs or cracker crumbs, margarine, and caraway seed with fork til crumbly. Sprinkle crumb mixture evenly over top. Return to oven and bake 15 minutes longer. Serve hot. Enjoy!

Three Bean Salad

This recipe is great for your holiday potluck lunch/dinners!

3 different (15 oz) cans beans, your choice - drained and rinsed
1 onion, sliced into thin rings (red onions are great with this recipe)
3/4 cup white sugar
2/3 cup distilled white vinegar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon celery seed

Mix all ingredients together in your bean pot. Let set in refrigerator for at least 12 hours. Place bean pot in your bean pot basket and you're ready to go! Enjoy!

**green beans, wax beans, red or kidney beans, navy beans, garbanzo beans, just to recommend a few!

Image courtesy of Allrecipes.com

Quick and Easy Garlic Biscuits

3 Tbsp. butter
3 tsp. garlic powder
1 can biscuits (not grands)

Preheat oven to temperature indicated on biscuit package. Put butter in your stoneware loaf pan and place in the oven to melt. When oven has reached temperature, remove pan from oven. Add garlic powder and biscuits (will be a tight fit).

Bake 8 - 10 minutes. You can invert them onto a serving plate or serve/eat them right out of the pan. Enjoy!

***warning! You can't eat just one (or two, or three............)

Asparagus & Prosciutto Vase

This easy (but more time consuming than others on the blog) recipe comes from the Betty Crocker kitchen. It will make a huge impression on your dinner guests. Even those of us not quite as crafty can put together a beautiful decoration for the table. If you don't have an appropriate vase to use, a Celebrating Home mug will do the trick!

2 cups fresh cranberries
10 to 12 fresh small bay leaves
2 1/2 yards (1/8-inch-wide) gold ribbon or gold wire
Large yarn needle
2 bunches asparagus (about 2 1/2 pounds)
1/2 pound thinly sliced prosciutto, cut into 6x1-inch strips
1/2 cup spreadable cheese
Food-safe flowerpot (4 to 5 inches in diameter), or CH mug
Caesar dressing

Thread cranberries and bay leaves onto ribbon or wire, using needle, to make a garland.

Blanch asparagus and pat dry; chill about 1 hour. Brush prosciutto strips with thin layer of cheese. Tightly wrap prosciutto strip, cheese side in, around each asparagus stalk. Arrange in flowerpot.

Wrap garland around asparagus and pot. Serve with dressing.

**If you don't want to go to all the trouble of making your own garland with cranberries and bay leaves, use the gold ribbon (or other ribbon) that you can purchase that has the wire already in it. That creates a sturdiness needed to hold the position as you wrap around the vase.

Citrus Slaw

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
4 cups shredded cabbage (or bagged slaw mix!)
8 oz can chunk pineapple, drained
11 oz can Mandarin oranges, drained

Combine mayonnaise, pepper and nutmeg in your bean pot (or Large Serving Bowl). Add cabbage or slaw mix and toss to coat. Add pineapple and Mandarin oranges and stir. Chill before serving. Enjoy!

**Craisins make a nice addition to this salad as well. The color makes it even more festive! Add sliced or slivered almonds if you like the extra crunch!

Lemon Custard Cake

This gets 5 stars for Yuummmm! Sweet, sour and tart all in the same bite of heaven :)

1 prepared angel food cake
1 package (3.4 oz) instant lemon pudding mix
1 1/2 cups cold milk
1 cup (8 oz) sour cream
1 can (21 oz) cherry or strawberry pie filling

Tear the angel food cake into bite-size pieces and place in your 9 x 13 stoneware casserole dish.

In your serving bowl, combine the pudding mix, milk and sour cream. Beat until thickened, about 2 minutes. Spread over cake. Spoon pie filling on top. Chill until serving time. Enjoy!

Cheesy Corn Cornbread

1 box Jiffy cornbread mix
1 (15 oz) can creamed corn
1/2 cup grated cheese (your choice of flavor)
1 small can diced chilies

Mix cornbread and creamed corn directly in your 8 x 8 baker until well blended. Add cheese and chilies and mix well.

Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 20 - 25 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Texture will be a bit creamier because of the corn. Enjoy!

**instead of cutting in squares and serving as you would normally do, try scooping a spoonful onto the top of a bowl of chili, taco soup or taco tortellini soup! The sweetness of the cornbread is a wonderful contrast to the spicy of the soup.

Holiday Punch

1/3 cup white sugar
1 quart cranberry juice
2 cups unsweetened pineapple juice
3 Tablespoons almond extract
1 (2 liter) bottle ginger ale, chilled

In your Berry Beverage Server, mix together sugar, cranberry juice, pineapple juice and almond extract. Refrigerate for 1 day.

When ready to serve, pour in ginger ale and lightly mix. Enjoy!

Magic Cookie Bars

Baking "cookies" just doesn't get any easier than this!

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (you can buy these already in crumbs!)
1/2 cup margarine, melted
1 cup chopped walnuts, pecans or peanuts
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup butterscotch chips
1 1/2 cups flaked coconut
1 1/3 cups sweetened condensed milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a 9 x 13 inch pan pour in melted margarine. Sprinkle the graham cracker crumbs evenly over the margarine. Next place the chopped nuts over the crumbs, and sprinkle the chocolate and butterscotch chips over the nuts. Add the coconut over all, and pour the milk evenly over the top.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until lightly brown on top. Cool at least 20 minutes then cut into desired sized bars. Enjoy!

**you can mix this up a bit by changing the chocolate and butterscotch chips to white chocolate and peanut butter chips, or throw in some mint chocolate chips, or use all the same flavor!