Holidays/3 recipes

Candied cranberries slow-cooked in sugar syrup over a double boiler, then rolled in sugar until sparkling. A 3-ingredient holiday garnish or sweet snack.

Holiday master butter cookie dough combines flour, cornstarch, and creamed butter into a tender, rollable base for cut-outs, Linzers, thumbprints, and pinwheels. Chills up to 3 days or freezes up to 6 months.

Sweet potato and parsnip puree spiked with toasty ground cumin. A 3-ingredient, dairy-free side dish with natural sweetness and earthy spice for holiday tables or weeknight roasts.

Sugared pecans in a buttery brown sugar glaze made on the stovetop in 5 minutes with just 3 ingredients. A quick snack, salad topper, or holiday gift idea.

Classic Swedish spritz cookies made with a cookie press from a rich butter dough. Decorate with candied fruits or colored sugar for a festive holiday cookie tin that yields 3-4 dozen.

"A tall, impressive cake that showcases the flavors and smells of the holidays. A three-layer extravaganza with a touch of molasses and shredded apple to keep it moist. It fills the house with a fragrance that beats the most expensive holiday-scented candle. It will be talked about long after the party is over." Source: The Pastry Queen Christmas, by Rebecca Rather

"This cake is a rich, dark, moist fruit cake, very flavorful at Christmas. Try icing with almond paste for a more festive touch. This recipe is started in October or November so as to let it mellow before the holidays. I remember very well my mother storing her fruit cake in an old butter churn that belonged to my grandmother and great grandmother. I wish that I had that old crock."

Holiday gingerbread cutout cookies made with molasses, brown sugar, and warm spices. Dough chills for 1 hour, rolls to perfect thickness, then cuts into festive shapes ready for decorating.

Chewy oatmeal cookie dough shaped into snowmen and decorated for the holidays. A fun winter baking project for kids that makes four big cookie snowmen.

No-bake walnut chocolate rum balls rolled in cocoa powder. Made with grated milk chocolate, chopped walnuts, powdered sugar, and real rum. A rich holiday candy ready in 15 minutes, makes 2 1/2 dozen.

I got this recipe from "TheSouthernLadyCooks.com" Here's a blurb from her website: "These rolls will melt in your mouth. I have made them for years and they are wonderful. My family looks forward to these rolls during the holidays. I think this recipe was on a box of grits years and years ago."

Aunt Bunny's Stuffing combines apple, orange, pineapple, water chestnuts, and preserved ginger with raw sausage and 13 herbs and spices for a holiday turkey stuffing that's genuinely unlike any other.

White chocolate orange buttercream for a holiday Buche de Noel, made with egg yolks, half-and-half, and Grand Marnier. Part 1 of a stunning Christmas log cake topped with toasted almonds and cranberries.

Old-fashioned divinity candy with holiday, chocolate, and ginger variations. The classic Southern white candy: cloud-light, melt-on-your-tongue texture, made by streaming hot syrup into beaten egg whites.

Classic coffee Irish cream liqueur with whiskey, Kahlua, and sweetened condensed milk ready in 1 minute. Shake, chill, and serve this creamy homemade holiday cocktail.