Here’s a collection of favorite holiday recipes from our F&F family — some of which were featured on the show. Happy New Year and enjoy!

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 Mama Camerota’s Ricotta Pie• 3 lbs. Ricotta

• 1 ½ cups sugar

• 7 large eggs

• 4 tablespoons flour (or as needed)

• 1 tsp lemon extract

• 1 tsp cointreau (optional)

• 1 tsp. vanilla or almond extract

• grated rind of one orange and one lemon

Mix all ingredients and pour into two 9” or 10” pie shells or into one large rectangular pyrex pan, approx. 8’ x 11.” Bake in a 350 degree oven for at least one hour till golden on top. Test as for quiche: knife in center must come out clean.

 

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Alisyn’s Aunt Carol’s PizzellesNote: My Mom warns that lots of things affect the outcome of the pizzelles: humidity, altitude, weather. She recommends you experiment until getting the cookies to the right thin crispness. (btw, you’ll need a pizzelle iron, which you can buy at any good cookware store).

• 6 eggs

• 3 and 1/2 cups flour (approximately)

• 1 and 1/2 cups sugar

• 1/2 lb butter (melted and cooled)

• 4 tsps baking powder

• 2 tablespoons vanilla or anise (or orange or lemon zest, if you prefer)

Beat eggs while adding sugar gradually. Beat until smooth. Add butter and flavors. Sift together flour and baking powder add to egg mixture. Dough will be sticky enough to be dropped by spoonfuls onto hot pizzelle iron. For some irons you need to press them only 20 seconds. When cool, sprinkle them with powdered sugar.

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 Mama Kilmeade’s Struffoli (also known as STRUFILI)• 4 cups flour

• 1 ½ cups honey

• 1 tsp. baking powder less than ¼ cup sugar

• ½ tsp. salt Rind of one orange

• ½ bar butter Colored sprinkles

• 6 large eggs or 7 small

In large bowl add flour, baking powder and salt. Add butter (break up with fingers if necessary to be sure its well mixed). Make a well and pour in beaten eggs..now take sides of flour and work into eggs a little at a time to get solid piece of dough. On floured board knead dough for at least 15 minutes- cut dough to see that there are no bubbles – if there are, knead until gone. Now, take a little piece of dough and roll into a noodle shape and cut off small pieces about

¼ inch size. In large pot, heat oil. When hot, drop pieces into oil…stir occasionally and cook until golden (not too brown). Cook entire batch. Next, in big pot add honey, sugar and orange rind..boil for 3 minutes stirring constantly.Now take strufili and stir in the honey mixture stirring well. Take small glass and place small greased glass in center of dish…Place strufili around glass in mounds packing it well to keep it firm…Put on sprinkles and let stand..when firm remove glass and place holly sprig or Christmas ornament in middle. Cover with saran wrap and keep in cool place.

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 Mama Carlson’s Swedish Toffee Bars• 1 cup of butter
•  1 cup of brown sugar– pinch of salt– 1 teaspoon of vanilla– 1/2 teaspoon of almond flavoring– 1 cup of white flour

• 8 Hershey’s milk chocolate bars

Mix ingredients and pour them into a 9″x 13″ greased glass pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until edges are brown. Take out of oven and while still hot cover with the 8 Hershey’s bars. Once they’ve melted, spread chocolate around top of toffee with a knife. When cool cut into pieces and serve at room temperature.

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Carlson Rice Pudding
Cook in double boiler for 1 hr-stir occasionally:

• ½ cup of white rice

• 4 cups of milk

• ¼ tsp. Salt

Add:

• 1 beaten egg

• ½ cup of sugar

• 1 tsp vanilla

cook additional 15 minutes in double boiler

• stir in ¼ to ½ cup of half & half

Chill overnight in covered dish (add more half & half if too thick)

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Swedish Shrimp Spread
• 8oz cream cheese• 3 tbsp. Mayonnaise

• ½ tsp curry

• ½ tsp salt

Mix and spread on plate

• 4½oz can of shrimp

• ¼ cup green onion tops (press in)

• 2 hard boiled eggs chopped fine

Serve with crackers!

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Special Swedish Sugar CookiesCream together:

• 1 cup powered sugar

• 1 cup white sugar

• 1 cup butter or margarine

• 1 cup vegetable oil

• 2 eggs

• 1 tsp. Vanilla

• 1 tsp. Almond flavoring

Sift together:

• 4 cups flour, plus heaping tbsp.

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 tsp soda

• 1 tsp cream of tartar

Add to first mixture and mix well. Roll into small balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Press down cookies with a glass dipped in sugar. Bake in moderate oven (350 degrees) for 10 minutes. This is a large recipe and yields about 125 cookies. Cool 2 minutes in pan, then turn top side down on plate of sugar…2 at a time. Remove to cool further.

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 Carlson Chocolate fudge• 2 squares unsweetened chocolate-melt with butter the size of an egg (a little over ¼ cups) and ¾ Cup top milk (whipping cream).

Cook over low heat until it looks like chocolate pudding. Add two cups of white sugar-stir until dissolved. Cover pan. Cook without stirring (low heat) until soft ball stage cook, beat…add vanilla.

Be sure you heat after it has cooled to lukewarm or fudge will sugar.

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 Carlson Cinnamon Thumbs• 1 Cup butter

• 6 T. sugar

• 2 Cups flour

• 1 tsp. vanilla

Make dough into small ball. Roll in cinnamon sugar and place on greased cookie sheet. Make criss-crass with fork dipped in cinnamon sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until light brown on bottom. Put in cinnamon sugar-cover on both sides.

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 Gretchen’s Penueche• ¼ Cup melted butter

• 2 Cups brown sugar

• Pinch salt

• ¾-1 Cup of Half and Half

• 1 tsp. vanilla-added when cooled

Cook to soft ball that holds it shape. Cool and beat (it takes a lot of beating). Doer in pan or drop on waxed paper.

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Doocy’s Pecan Butterball Cookies• 8 ounces butter
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
•  3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
•  2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 2 cups chopped pecans

PREPARATION:

Cream butter and stir in vanilla. Gradually work in confectioners’ sugar and flour. Add chopped pecans and work into dough. Pinch off dough and roll to form balls about the size of a quarter. Place on greased baking sheets; bake pecan cookies at 300° for 10 minutes, then 5 to 10 more minutes at 325°. Roll pecan cookies in confectioners’ sugar while still hot.

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 Doocy’s Snowballs• 1 CUP BUTTER, SOFTENED

• 1 2/3 CUPS CONFECTIONERS SUGAR DIVIDED

• 1 1/2 TEASPOONS VANILLA

• 2 1/4 CUPS ALL PURPOSE FLOUR

• 1/4 TEASPOON SALT

• 1 CUP FINELY GROUND WALNUTS

PREHEAT THE OVEN TO 400

IN A MEDIUM SIZED BOWL, CREAM THE BUTTER AND 2/3 CUP

OF THE CONFECTIONERS SUGAR. ADD THE VANILLA. STIR IN

THE FLOUR, SALT AND FINELY GROUND WALNUTS.

ROLL THE DOUGH INTO 1 INCH BALLS. PLACE THE SNOWBALLS

1 INCH APART ON AN UNGREASED BAKING SHEET. BAKE 12 TO

14 MINUTES, OR UNTIL LIGHTLY BROWNED AROUND THE EDGES.

COOL 2 TO 4 MINUTES BEFORE DUSTING WITH THE

REMAINING CONFECTIONERS SUGAR.

ONCE THE COOKIES ARE COMPLETELY COOL, DUST THEM AGAIN

WITH THE SUGAR. MAKES ABOUT 36 COOKIES.

YUM!