Russian Tea Balls

Whether you call them Russian Tea Balls or Snow Balls, they are delicious and are my favorite cookie to make for the holiday season. They just taste so good and are festive; they'll be one I make for years to come. The recipe I use is from my grandma. 

Russian Tea Balls

Mix together:

1 cup soften butter

1/2 cup sifted confectioners powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Sift together and then stir in with butter mixture:

2 1/4 cup flour

1/4 tsp salt

Mix in:

3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts

Shape into a loaf and chill for 3-4 hrs or overnight. 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roll into 1 inch balls. Bake on non-greased sheet until firm but not brown for about 10 - 12 minutes. While still warm roll in confections sugar. Cool and roll in the confectioners sugar again. Devour!!!

 

Thanksgiving and I brought the Salad

For the past few holidays, I have offered to bring the salad. Some might think this to be a boring choice, and if I went with the typical Caesar Salad, it just might be. But, I welcome the challenge of discovering new and delicious ways to throw a bunch of healthy veggies together. Over the years of making my own lunches, I've tried and been pretty successful at finding ways to make a salad interesting, fun, and exciting to eat. For this one, I used a recipe I found on Pinterest called Summer Veggie Slaw. After dinner my cousin asked, "What were the green leaves in there?" I responded, "Spinach!" She said she didn't think she even liked spinach and maybe I had helped to change her mind on that. 

Below are the vegetables I put in the salad. It's easy to mix it up, use what you have at home, or perhaps buy a new vegetable from the store that you might want to try. For many of the veggies, I simply use a potato peeler so they create long ribbons instead of chopping them. For some reason, this makes the salad new and exciting to eat. 

• Yellow squash
• Green zucchini
• Red pepper strips
• Carrots
• Radish, sliced and cut into strips
• Green onions finely chopped
• Very fresh shucked corn or precooked (I used frozen sweet corn)
• Torn spinach leaves
• Served with Caesar dressing