Holidays/5 recipes

Easter breakfast casserole with sausage, eggs, sour cream, bell peppers, and onions. A simple 5-ingredient baked egg dish that feeds a crowd on holiday mornings.

A simple homemade Christmas incense blend of pine needles, hemlock needles, powdered sassafras bark, and whole cloves. Fill your home with the woodsy, spicy scent of the holidays in 5 minutes.

Homemade chocolate Easter eggs with a creamy butter and powdered sugar filling dipped in semi-sweet chocolate. Old-fashioned candy-making with just 5 ingredients for a classic holiday treat.

Velvety brandy sauce made in 5 minutes with butter, powdered sugar, and brandy extract. Drizzle over bread pudding, holiday cakes, or warm fruit desserts for an instant upgrade.

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.

Soft chocolate drop cookies packed with maraschino cherries and topped with a glossy chocolate frosting. Buttermilk keeps them tender. Makes 4 to 5 dozen in about 30 minutes, so they're built for holiday cookie trays and bake sales.

Buttery shortbread-style cut-out cookies topped with a simple vanilla powdered sugar frosting. Makes 4 dozen soft, melt-in-your-mouth holiday cookies with just 5 dough ingredients.

Spiral-cut ham with a honey and brown sugar glaze basted with pear nectar and orange juice. A simple 5-ingredient holiday ham that practically glazes itself in the oven.

Pear-walnut quick bread swaps water for pear nectar and folds chopped pears plus toasted walnuts into a honey bread mix for a 5-ingredient loaf. Great for holiday gifting and breakfast slicing.

"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."

No-bake rum balls with vanilla wafer crumbs, finely chopped pecans, cocoa, and a generous splash of light rum. Rolled in powdered sugar and ready in 15 minutes. The boozy holiday classic.

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."