Holiday Recipes:

These are some of my favorites for the Christmas season. If you need more detailed instructions, let me know and I'll try to clarify the steps.

Sugared peanuts
2 c. peanuts
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. water
Mix together in a pot. Bring to a boil and continue to stir until water evaporates and then bake on a flat pan (pan can be covered in foil for less mess) for 20 minutes at 300. This will dry and crisp them. You don't have to do the baking step. We have taught many Kenyan ladies to make these cooking over and open fire with no baking. The ladies loved them even though they are very sweet.


Sausage Balls
1 pound of Raw pork mince seasoned with four tsp. of seasoning
2 cups grated cheese
3 cups biscuit mix (use biscuit mix from Newcomer's cookbook - works with whole wheat)
Mix and form into balls. Bake for 15 min. at 350.


Ham/Poppy Seed filling
1 lb. grated swiss (or gouda) cheese
1 lb. chopped ham
3 tbsp. poppy seed
3 tbsp. prepared mustard (american)
1 tbsp. worscestershire sauce
1/2 stick butter, softened
Mix and spread on rolls. Cover pan with foil, bake at 350 for 20 min.


Spice tea
1 gal. water
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 TBSP whole cloves
4 sticks cinnamon
3 sm. tea bags
1 1/2 c. orange juice
1 1/2 c. pineapple juice
Juice of three lemons
Boil water, cinnamon and cloves plus sugar for 5 minutes. Add tea. Turn heat off and let set for 3 min. Strain at once and add juices.


Spicy Bean Dip
Refried beans - 1 can (or 2 cups homemade which tastes better)
1 cup cheese
1/2 c. taco sauce (I usually use the sauce from the Newcomer's cookbook)
1 can green chilies
1/4 c. chopped onion
1 1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/8 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. oregano
Mix and heat until smooth and cheese in melted. Serve with chips.


Holiday cheese Ball -
2 - 8 oz. pkgs. cream cheese (4 “pots” of Mrs. Brown’s plain cream cheese)
1 small can crushed pineapple , drained.
1/4 c. green pepper
2 T. chopped onion
2 tsp. seasoned salt
2 c. chopped pecans
Mix all but pecans, then form into ball and roll in pecans to coat. This makes very large cheese ball. I usually cut in half = or make the whole recipe and then make two small cheese balls.

December Africa Meal

We hosted another Africa meal last night. It was great fun and we had an outstanding group over to help prepare it. As I reviewed the recipes I've posted already, I saw that for the "Oven Roasted Meat" I'd said to sear the meat before cooking - I did not do that yesterday and it turned out fine. I just trimmed it and cut the meat into cubes and put it in a casserole dish to cook, adding the chopped onion and canned tomatoes. Also, I did not say that when you add the can of tomatoes, that I usually use chopped tomatoes. If you use a can of whole tomatoes, you need to cut them up before adding them to the meat. Make sure you have plenty of tomato juice for the meat to cook in. I cooked a large quantity of meat last night (6.5 pounds after trimming it) so I had to add some extra tomato juice. Enjoy! It's really yummy! =)