Making Spirits Bright with 5 FREE Recipes from Joan McElman’s Welcome to My Kitchen! Enjoy these favourite Holiday recipes hand-picked by Joan McElman.

Making Spirits Bright with Butter Tarts!

Ingredients 24 pre-made tart shells 2 large eggs, beaten 1 1/2 c. packed brown sugar 1/2 c. corn syrup 1 tbsp. vinegar 1 tsp. vanilla 1/2 c. melted butter raisins

Directions Place a few raisins in each tart shell.˜ Beat eggs well, add brown sugar and corn syrup.˜ Beat until f uffy, add vanilla and vinegar.˜ Mix well.˜ Add melted butter.˜ Pour into each tart shell.˜ Bake at 400 – 10 min., reduce heat and bake another 12-15 min. at 350.˜ I use a measuring cup to f ll the tart shells, saves a lot of drips.

“When we visited friends in Colorado, they had never heard of butter tarts. Tart shells were not available, so they never made them. When they visited this summer, I made a double batch and they disappeared within minutes.”

—Joan

Alternative: use maple syrup in place of the corn syrup and add chopped pecans instead of raisins.

Ingredients

Making Spirits Bright with Chocolate Shortbread!

Ingredients 2 c. butter, softened 1 c. sugar 1/2 c. cornstarch 3 1/2 c. f our 200g. chopped chocolate bars (any really

good quality chocolate bar will do) Icing sugar for dusting

Directions Cream butter and sugar, add cornstarch and f our.˜ Gradually add in chocolate.˜ Roll into 1” balls and place on ungreased baking sheets, press down slightly with f ngers or glass.˜ Bake 20 – 25 min at 325º.˜ Cool well on wire racks. Dust with icing sugar.˜

“These freeze really well and my husband eats them right out of the freezer – says they just take a bit longer to melt in your mouth”

—Joan

Making Spirits Bright with Microwave Peanut Brittle!

Ingredients 1 c. granulated sugar 1/2 c. corn syrup 1 c. blanched, salted peanuts 1 tsp. vanilla 1 tsp. butter 1 tsp. baking soda

Directions In a microwave safe bowl or 8 c. measuring cup, mix sugar and corn syrup.˜ Cook on high for 4 min., stirring halfway through to make sure all of the sugar is dissolved. Add peanuts and microwave another 3 – 5 min. (depending on how hot your microwave is) until the

mixture is bubbling and is light brown.˜ Do not let it brown too much as it will continue to cook after you take it out of the microwave. Add butter and vanilla and stir until melted.˜ Add soda and stir until frothing stops.˜ At this point, you need to have on long oven mitts.˜ Pour onto a greased cookie sheet ( I like to line mine with non-stick foil) and spread as thinly as you can get it.˜ Cool and break into pieces.˜

Just a point, don’t try to make this on a humid day as it will not get brittle, just sticky.

Ingredients1/2 c. butter3/4 c. brown sugar1 tsp. vanilla2 c. f our1 can sweetened condensed milk1/2 c. miniature chocolate chips1/2 c. f nely chopped nuts (walnuts

or pecans)1 1/2 lb. dark melting chocolate

(candy coating)

DirectionsCream butter and sugar.˜ Beat in vanilla.˜ Add f our alternately with the milk.˜ Stir in chips & nuts.˜ Shape into 1” balls, place on waxed paper lined sheets.˜ Refrigerate until f rm about 1 –2 hrs.˜ Melt chocolate.˜ Dip balls in chocolate, allowing excess to drip off.˜ Chill until chocolate is set.˜ Remelt remaining chocolate and drizzle over or drizzle with white chocolate, or add sprinkles.

The easiest way to drip the truff es and not have a big gob on the bottom is to line a cookie sheet with waxed paper, place a cross-hatched cooling rack on top and set balls on that to drain.˜ To add the drizzle, put the chocolate in a small plastic bag, snip off corner and just drizzle in lines up and down the tray, letting the waxed paper catch the drips.˜ These are better not refrigerated right away as it changes the color of the chocolate, but they freeze well after they are set.

Making Spirits Bright with Cookie Dough Truffl es!

Making Spirits Bright with Gourmet Cranberry Sauce!

Ingredients 3 c. fresh or frozen cranberries 1 orange cut into 4 – rind on 1 c. f ne granulated sugar 1/4 c. orange liqueur

Directions Toss everything but the liqueur in a food processor. Process until f nely chopped. Add liqueur. Refrigerate until ready to use.

“You can freeze this as well. I put it into meal size containers and just thaw what I need for a meal.”

—Joan

Don’t miss out on watching Joan on Welcome to my Kitchen available exclusively on Eastlink Community TV. Check your local listings for show times.

Joan McElman grew up on a farm, the youngest of ten children in a German-Russian household. By her teens, she was working in the logging camps of BC. She would go on to marry an airforce pilot, a job that would take them all around the country and world. Joan joined the Eastlink TV family in 1983 and has been teaching generations of family to cook wholesome, simple meals ever since. Welcome to My Kitchen is grounded in her practical farm experience, but enriched by a lifetime spent cooking and studying food.