Coaches' meeting

The coaches had their end of semester meeting and Mother made snacks. She asked me to make a candy cane coffee cake to go with her sausage wontons, peanut butter cookies with chocolate kisses and buttermilk pies. Also she made banana bread for each coach.

When she retires, the coaches are not only going to miss all her work she does but also all her cooking.

Here's Mother busy in her kitchen.

  

Basket full of banana bread for all the coaches.

  

Sausage Wontons (see recipe below)

 

Candy Cane Coffee Cake (see recipe below)

 

To make the candy cane coffee cake unroll the crescent rolls and press into a rectangle. I doubled the recipe but only used 1 1/2 cans of the crescent rolls for the cane.

Make the filling and spread it down the center 1/3 of rectangle. Make cuts 1 inch apart to edge of filling. Fold opposite strips of dough over filling and cross in center to form a braided appearance. 

 

Curve one end to form a candy cane shape.

I used the other half of the second can to make a small braid to take to my office.

Sausage Wontons

1 lb sausage

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

1/2 green bell pepper, chopped

1/2 cup ranch dressing

2 bunches green onions, chopped

2 cups colby cheese, shredded

1 pkg small square wonton wraps

Heat oven to 350. Place wraps in greased mini muffins tins. Bake for five minutes. Cook sausage until done, drain. Add vegetables, cheese and ranch dressing. Mix thoroughly. Spoon mixture into cooked wraps. Return to oven and bake for 5-7 minutes.

NOTE: Mother did not have any red peppers so she just left them out this time, but the wontons were still delicious.

Candy Cane Coffee Cake

3 oz cream cheese, softened

2 T granulated sugar

1 t almond extract

1/4 cup sliced almonds

1/4 c chopped maraschino cherries, well drained

1 can refrigerated crescent dinner rolls

Glaze

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2-3 t milk

1. Heat oven to 375. Grease cookie sheet with shortening or use parchment paper. In small bowl, beat cream cheese and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in almond extract, almonds and cherries: set aside.

2. Unfold dough onto cookie sheet, press into 13 X 7 inch rectangle, firmly pressing perforations to seal. Spoon cream cheese mixture down center 1/3 of rectangle.

3. On each long side of dough rectangle, make cuts 1 inch apart to edge of filling. Fold opposite strips of dough over filling and cross in center to form a braided appearance. Seal ends. Curve one end to form candy cane shape.

4. Bake 18 to 22 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from cookie sheet. Place on wire rack. Cool completely.

5. In small bowl, mix glaze ingredients until smooth. Drizzle over coffee cake. If desired, garnish with additional sliced almonds and cherries. Store in refrigerator.

NOTE: This time, Mother wanted a larger cake so I double the above recipe but only used 1 1/2 cans of rolls to make the candy cane. I used the other 1/2 can to make a small braid to take to my office. I used only chopped red cherries in the filling but used red and green to garnish the top. Also this time I used slivered almond instead of the sliced as called for in the recipe because that is all we had on hand.