Chocolate Peanut Butter Sandwich No-Bake Cookies

1 box (15.1oz) Ritz crackers
3 bags (11.5oz each) milk chocolate chips
peanut butter (how much you need will depend on how much you like)

1. Make sandwiches using a dab of peanut butter sandwiched between two crackers. Make sandwiches until all of the crackers have been used.

2. Empty one bag of chocolate chips into a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on 50% for four minutes. Stir until smooth.

3. Carefully drop each sandwich into the melted chocolate, turning with a fork until it is fully coated. Remove from chocolate using a fork and place on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Repeat until all the melted chocolate has been used. Add more chocolate chips to the bowl; melt, and continue coating sandwiches until all sandwiches and chocolate chips have been used.

4. Set cookie sheets aside for the chocolate to set; decorative sprinkles or a white chocolate drizzle may be added at this point, if you wish. (They may be placed in the refrigerator to speed the setting process.) Once chocolate has hardened, cookies may be stored in tightly closed containers with wax paper between the layers.

Makes approximately 60-70 cookies.

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Shortbread Bites

1.25 cups all purpose flour
3 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup butter (no substitutions), cold, cut into pieces
1.5 tbsp red and green nonpareils or sprinkles

1. Preheat oven to 325 with baking rack in top third of oven.

2. In a food processor with knife blade attached, pulse flour and sugar until combined. Add butter and pulse until dough begins to come together. Place dough in a medium bowl. Gently knead in nonpareils or sprinkles until evenly blended and dough forms a ball.

3. On lightly floured wax paper, pat dough into 8x5" rectangle; freeze 15 minutes. Cut dough into 1/2" squares. Place squares 1/2" apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.

4. Bake cookies 18-23 minutes, rotating once, or until lightly browned on the bottom and just beginning to get a hint of light brown on top. Transfer cookies to wax paper-lined wire rack to cool. Store cookies in tightly covered container at room temperature for up to one week or in freezer up to 3 months.

Makes approximately 100 pieces.

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Sugar Cookies

2.5 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1.5 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla

1. Whisk together flour and salt in a small bowl.

2. Beat together butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes in a stand mixer or 6 minutes with a handheld. Beat in egg and vanilla. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture, mixing until just combined.

3. Form dough into 2 balls and flatten each into a 6" disk. Chill disks, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour.

4. Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350.

5. Roll out 1 disk of dough (keep remaining dough chilled) into an 8.5" round (1/4" thick) on a well-floured surface with a well-floured rolling pin. (If dough becomes too soft to roll out, rewrap in plastic and chill until firm.) Cut out as many cookies as possible from dough with cutters and transfer to 2 ungreased large baking sheets, arranging cookies about 1 inch apart.

6. Bake cookies, 1 sheet at a time, until edges are golden, 10 to 12 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool completely.

7. Meanwhile, gather scraps and chill until dough is firm enough to reroll, 10-15 minutes. Make more cookies with remaining dough and scraps (reroll scraps only once) and bake on cooled baking sheets.

8. Do not ice cookies until completely cooled. Let icing dry completely (about 1 hour) before storing cookies.

Makes 2-3 dozen cookies.

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Leftover Turkey Pot Pie

1 pie crust
1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup carrot, finely chopped
1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup celery, finely chopped
1/3 lb fresh green beans, trimmed and cut into bite-sized pieces
3 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into uniform bite-sized pieces
2 cups leftover turkey, light and dark, diced
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/4 cup flour
2 cups turkey or chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream
fresh or dried thyme
salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400. Put potatoes and green beans in a pot of water. Boil, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Cover and boil an additional 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.

2. Melt butter in a large skillet. Add carrots, onion and celery. Cook until translucent, a couple of minutes. Add turkey and stir. Sprinkle flour over mixture. Cook over medium heat for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly.

3. Pour in broth, stirring constantly. Add cream, continuing to stir. Add peas, potatoes and green beans. Bring to a slow boil, and allow mixture to cook and thicken for several minutes. Add salt, pepper and thyme to taste. (Do NOT underseason!)

4. Pour into a casserole dish or deep pie dish. Roll out crust so that it is one inch larger than the dish. Place crust on top of pot pie mixture, pressing crust into sides of dish. Cut vents into top of crust.

5. Place in oven on baking pan to catch any drips. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Allow to cool for a bit before serving.

Serves 4-6.

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Classic Pumpkin Pie

3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1-3/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp salt

1 can (12oz) evaporated milk
2 large egg whites
1 large egg
cooking spray
1/2 (15oz) pkg refrigerated pie crust

1. Position oven rack to lowest position. Preheat oven to 425. Remove crust from refrigerator to bring to room temperature (15 minutes).

2. To prepare filling, combine first six ingredients in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add pumpkin; stir with whisk until smooth.

3. Unroll crust. Roll out to 11". Spray pie dish with cooking spray. Fit crust into plate. Tuck edges under and flute.

4. Pour pumpkin filling into crust. Place plate on a cooking sheet. Place cooking sheet on lowest rack in oven. Bake at 425 for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 (do not remove pie from oven); bake an additional 50 minutes or until filling is almost set. Cool completely on wire rack before serving.

Serves 6-8.

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