Miss Kay's Duck Commander Kitchen (28 page)

Slice-and-bake cookies have done away with the need for homemade cookie recipes, but I am still convinced these are way better. Plus, it’s a great way for moms and children to connect. If you haven’t done it in a while, spend some quality time cooking with your kiddos.

Phil’s Famous Hot Cocoa

Makes 4 servings • Medium saucepan

¹
/
₃
cup unsweetened cocoa powder

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/
₂
cup sugar

Pinch of salt

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cup hot water

1 quart milk

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teaspoon vanilla extract

1. In a medium saucepan, stir together the cocoa powder, sugar, and salt. Add the water, stirring to moisten the cocoa. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes.

2. Add the milk, stir, and heat until just steaming (do not boil after adding the milk). Stir in the vanilla and serve.

A Note from Miss Kay

I know making homemade hot cocoa isn’t necessary anymore with all the powdered mixes available, but it sure is good. If you’re looking for a way to treat your friends, this will do the trick.

Creamy Green Grape Salad

Makes 6 to 8 servings • Large salad bowl

1 package (8 ounces) package cream cheese, softened

1 container (8 ounces) sour cream

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cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons brown sugar (either light or dark is okay)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large bunch (about 1
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pounds) seedless green grapes, washed, dried, and cut in half lengthwise

1 cup coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts

In the bowl, beat the cream cheese, sour cream, both sugars, and the vanilla until light and creamy. Add the grapes and stir until they are covered with the mixture. Sprinkle the pecans over the top, mix again, and refrigerate.

A Note from Miss Kay

This is such a simple dish, but it’s a fun way to dress up grapes. Be sure to buy grapes that are firm to the touch and, when you shake them, are attached tightly to their stems.

Colorful Fruit Salad

Makes 12 servings • Large salad bowl

2 cans (20 ounces each) pineapple chunks, drained, half the juice saved

2 cans (11 ounces each) mandarin orange slices, drained

1 large bunch seedless green grapes, washed and dried

1 large bunch seedless red grapes, washed and dried

2 apples, cored and cut into small chunks

1 pint strawberries, washed, dried, hulled, and thickly sliced

1 can (21 ounces) peach pie filling

2 bananas

1. In a large salad bowl, stir together the pineapple, the reserved juice, and the orange slices. Stir in the green and red grapes, apples, and strawberries. The pineapple juice will keep the fruit fresh. (The salad can even be refrigerated and stored overnight.)

2. Stir in the pie filling.

3. At serving time, slice the bananas, add to the salad, and toss to coat with the juice. (The pineapple juice will keep the bananas fresh looking, too.)

A Note from Miss Kay

This recipe is one that Phil’s sister Jan has shared with me. The pie filling at the end is optional. All the other fruit mixed together is great on its own if you don’t have pie filling handy.

9.

Our Cajun Christmas

A recipe has no soul. You, as the cook, must bring soul to the recipe.

—Thomas Keller

Instructed by the king, they set off. Then the star appeared again, the same star they had seen in the eastern skies. It led them on until it hovered over the place of the child. They could hardly contain themselves: They were in the right place! They had arrived at the right time!

—Matthew 2:9–10,
The Message

Our Cajun Christmas Recipes

Quick & Easy Shrimp Salad

Fried Shrimp

Crawfish Pie

Fried Crawfish Patties

Shrimp au Gratin

Willie’s Crazy Bread

Do-Ahead Piecrusts

Alan’s Cream Cheese Pie

Easy Vanilla Wafer Piecrust

Carrot Cake

Phil’s Famous Eggnog

Jessica’s Banana Liqueur Cake

Our Family Christmas

Christmas is my favorite time of year. I like to decorate every inch of my house, and yes, it’s a good thing my house isn’t that big or Phil might get a little nervous about my decorating obsession. This last year I had my niece Melissa come over to help me organize my decorations after Christmas, but they’re still a mess. Her best efforts were no match for my decorations. Most of them are stored in a small house next door to our house that Alan and Lisa lived in when they were first married. The little granddaughters call it the “library” because I have so many books stored in there. They love to play in the “library,” and any time we can’t find them, we know where to look. Right now their playing space is crowded with my Christmas decorations. I’m sure it will stay that way until the next Christmas season, and I’ll get Melissa to come help me again. The girls just walk around it all and act like there’s not a big Santa staring at them all the time.