i heart ___.

  

1. Ginger Cookies

I'm loving ginger cookies this season. Gingerbread cookies and ginger snaps had never been one of my favorites in the past. (When I was a child, I really disliked them. I think that might be because I had them when I was sick one time.) But in my adult life, I didn't totally hate them, they just weren't my favorite. I don't know if they've just grown on me, or it's the pregnancy hormones making things taste different, or because my brother and his new wife served Moravian ginger crisps at their wedding, but this year I love them. I haven't made gingerbread girl cookies yet, but sometime before Christmas, I will.

 2. Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips

I made some chocolate peppermint chocolate chip cookies a couple weeks ago that were delicious. But, I used crushed up candy canes in the batter. They were good, but the candy cane pieces were a little sticky for my liking. A couple days ago I learned about these awesome baking chips, when my friend Katie brought cookies that looked like the photo above to our Bible study fellowship. Now, hopefully I can find these baking chips, and I'll try them in that yummy cookie recipe. (I have lots of cookie baking plans.)

3. Cranberry Jello Salad

I found this festive photo on the Taste of Home website, but their recipe doesn't match how I make this Christmas-y jello salad. Jonathan's family has fun Christmas Eve traditions including supper with Wild Rice Soup and Jello salad. Last year I switched up their salad and took this cranberry jello salad. It seemed to be a hit, so hopefully they'll let me continue to contribute this. Here is my basic recipe (I think. if I decide this isn't right, I'll fix it here too):

1- 6 oz (large) package raspberry flavored jello mix

2 cups boiling water

1- 16 oz can whole berry cranberry sauce

1- 8 oz can crushed pineapple, undrained

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Stir the jello and boiling water together until the gelatin dissolves. 

Mix in the cranberry sauce, pineapple, celery, and nuts. 

Pour the jello mixture into a serving dish. (I like a 9x13 pyrex)

Refrigerator overnight.

I usually stick with this recipe, but you can use different jello flavors--strawberry, orange, lemon, cranberry etc. If you have the smaller size gelatin packages, you can mix it up with a couple different kinds. Also, you could experiment with different fruits like mandarin oranges, apples, cherries, or grapes.