Jolene's Recipe Journal

Mudslides are a go-to cocktail around here.  We always have the ingredients on hand and they're very easy to make.   The main ingredients of a mudslide are Kahlua, Baileys and Titos. For this holiday version we added Hood Golden Eggnog, which is made here in New England.   I drizzled the inside of my gorgeous JoyJolt Carre glasses with Ghiradelli chocolate sauce, this is optional but I think it just gives it a little something extra.   Fill your cocktail shaker halfway up with ice and then add 1.5oz each of Kahlua, Baileys and Tito's.  If you don't have a shaker you can use a mason jar or any container that has a lid that can be secured. If you like your drinks on the stronger side, add 1.5oz of eggnog. If you want it less boozy, you can add another 1.5oz of eggnog. This is the perfect drink to enjoy while decorating the tree, wrapping presents or watching the snow fall.  Cheers! Eggnog Mudslides Print With Image Without Image Author: Jolene's Recipe Journ...

Gingerbread can come in many shapes and forms and we're big fans of them all. Today we're sharing some of our absolute favorite recipes that celebrate one of the best flavors of the holiday season!

Today is the final day of #ChristmasCookies Week and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I have! My last recipe is another new one for me, tassies.  I've made cookie cups before but these Caramel Tassies from Taste of Home were my first try at a cream cheese based dough. It's super simple to put together, cream cheese, butter and flour.  Be sure that everything is softened and that the cream cheese and butter are really fluffy before you add the flour. After it's chilled you roll it into balls and then press them up the sides of the tins.  I like to use a tart tamper for this. Dock the dough using a fork or a skewer.  This helps the bottoms of the tassie stay flat. But don't worry, if some rise up after being baked just use the tamper to push them back down while they're still hot. The caramel filling is 2 ingredients. I hate unwrapping caramels so I bought the bits instead. Like everything else, the package has been downsized. I started with 11 oz of bits and 1/4c e...

Pinwheel cookies have been on my to-try list forever.  They look absolutely gorgeous on cookie trays with that characteristic swirl. I found these Cherry Pinwheels on the Taste of Home website and changed them up a bit due to nut allergies in my family.  I kept the red swirl, the cherry flavored one, as is. I highly recommend paste colors and not regular food coloring if you want the colors really saturated.  For the other dough I omitted the almonds and instead just used vanilla.  There's a lot of chilling time required for these so be sure to plan accordingly. The process of making the roll is a bit fidgety but it was a lot easier using a pastry mat with clear measurement markings. Once the completed roll had chilled I covered them with silver sanding sugar and chilled it again. I used a pastry cutter to slice the cookies, and again, the markings on the mat were really helpful in keeping them uniform.  Be very careful not to overbake them. You can make the dou...

Today starts Christmas Cookies Week and I'm really excited to be bringing you three new to the blog recipes! It's a bit of a challenge to get into the spirit when it's 70 degrees and sunny in New England but some festive music and some gingerbread flavored coffee and I was ready to go! We can't get enough gingerbread cookies around here.  I try at least one new one a season and this year it's Steve F's Gingerbread Sandwich Trees from Taste of Home.  I made absolutely no changes to the base cookie recipe and I used my homemade pumpkin pie spice mixture.   After the dough chilled I broke out my pastry mat. It makes rolling things out so much easier and contains the mess a whole lot better.   I used a cookie cutter that was approximately 3 1/4" by 3 3/4" and I got 48 cookies.  The recipe states to put M&Ms on only half the cookies but I put them on all of them. I still struggle with baking and my convection oven.  The first tray of cookies I pulled ...