Cheryl Robinson’s Marzipan Christmas Cookies

1 cup butter or margarine, softened
_ cup sugar
2_ cups plain flour
_ to 1 teaspoon almond extract
Food coloring in at least three colors

Cream butter and sugar. Stir in flour and almond extract until mixture looks like meal. Divide into 3 equal parts, using food coloring to color each part differently. The dough can be used like play dough to create various fruit and vegetable shapes—pears, apples, peaches, peas, beans, etc. You may use cinnamon sticks (broken for the proper size) or cloves to create stems, etc. Be creative—make leaves or give the peaches or apples a pink or yellow spot! Place on an un-greased baking sheet and chill for _ hour. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Bake for 30 minutes until set—do not let brown. Makes about 4 dozen.

Kathie Etherton’s Christmas Sausage Casserole

6 slice buttered bread
1 pound breakfast sausage, any flavor
6 beaten eggs
1 pint heavy cream
salt
1_ cups shredded sharp cheese

Lightly grease the bottom of a large baking pan. Place the bread, butter side up, on the bottom of the pan. I always cut the crusts off the bread. Brown the sausage—I usually use a seasoned sausage—and layer it over the bread. Combine the eggs and cream and a dash of salt, and pour the mixture over the sausage. I like to chill this in the refrigerator overnight. In the morning, top the casserole with the cheese. Bake it in the over at 350 degrees for approximately 45 minutes, or until it is bubbly and brown. Enjoy!

Connie Cloud’s Cracker Candy

40 saltine crackers
2 sticks real butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1 bag of milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a large cookie sheet with heavy duty aluminum foil and put the saltines on the sheet in a single layer. Melt the butter in a sauce pan, stir in the brown sugar, and boil for 3 minutes. Carefully pour the sugar mixture over the crackers. Bake the crackers and sugar mixture for 5 minutes at 400 degrees. Remove from the oven and sprinkle the chocolate chips over the bubbling mixture and let stand 5 minutes. When the chocolate chips have melted, spread them over the entire pan of crackers and refrigerate for 2 hours. Break into bite-sized pieces and store in an air-tight container in a cool place.

What Christmas movie is a tradition in your family?

“A Christmas Story. It’s just not the same if I don’t get to watch this at least six times a year.”
Amy Landreth
“A White Christmas with Bing Crosby. I love all the classics.”
Karen Lord

“Frosty the Snowman. My granddaughters love it.”
Ron Wilkerson

“National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.”
Christie Price

“The original How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”
Nancy Williams

“Polar Express.”
Tabatha Thomas

“Home Alone 1 and 2.”
Bill Puckett

“Miracle on 34th Street.”
Carol Dean

“It’s a Wonderful Life.”
Melissa Shields, Kristy Walker

“It’s Christmas, Charlie Brown.”
Sarrah Puckett

“Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. It’s the epitome of Christmastime.”
Jennifer Israel