Cranberry Bliss Bars

ingredients:

Bars:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon powdered ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup dried cranberries, chopped
6 ounces (about 3/4 cup) white chocolate chips (or chopped white chocolate)

Frosting:
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
4 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup dried cranberries, chopped

Drizzling Icing:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening
1-2 tablespoons milk

directions:

Bars:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 pan and set aside. In a medium bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar until smooth. Add eggs, vanilla, ginger, and salt and mix well. Gradually add flour and mix until smooth. Stir in cranberries and white chocolate. Pour the batter into the greased pan, using a spatula to evenly spread the batter in the pan. Bake 30-40 minutes, until edges are light brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

Frosting:
Beat the cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla and lemon juice until completely smooth. Spread on the completely cool cake. Sprinkle the top with cranberries.

Drizzling Icing:
In a small bowl, whisk together 1 Tbsp of milk, powdered sugar, and vegetable shortening. Gradually add more milk until the icing has a thick but drizzly consistency. I used closer to 2 tablespoons. Put the icing into a ziploc bag and snip off a tiny bit of the corner. Drizzle the icing on top in zig-zags.

Cut into squares or triangles and enjoy!

Frozen Fruit cups

1 can of lemonade concentrate made according to can directions
1/2 can orange juice concentrate
1 cup of water
1 cup of sugar
3 firm bananas cut up with a squirt of lemon juice on them
16 ounces of frozen strawberries
1 drained can mandarin oranges
1 can drained pineapple chunks
18 10 ounce plastic cups

Divide fruit among 18 cups. Combine orange juice concentrate, water, sugar and lemonade.
Pour liquid over fruit. Freeze cups in freezer until just before serving.

Caramel Apple Cake

I got this recipe from my friend Danita Berg.

1/2 cup butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
4 apples pealed and cut into chunks
3 cups flour
1cup of pecan pieces (optional)

Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs and mix well. Add dry ingrediants and apples and mix until just blended. Pour into a greased pan.

(I made this last night and my cake batter wasn't much of a batter, but more crumbs. So, I added a splash of vanilla and about 1/2-3/4 cup of milk to make it a batter.)

Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes. Cool completely and top with warm caramel.

Caramel Sauce
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 heavy whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt

Bring all ingrediants to a boil in a saucepan. Boil 6-7 minutes. Remove from heat and cool about 5 minutes. Pour over cooled cake.