Homemade Christmas No-Bake Delicacies: Kefflies, Rice Krispies and More

You can make cookies and a tradition at the same time. I come from an area heavily populated with Polish and Hungarian residents. At Christmas, everyone looks forward to kefflies. I moved to an area just 40 minutes away, and no one knows what kefflies are. I introduced them and started a tradition. The week after Thanksgiving, we all get together to make kefflies. They are labor-intensive, so the more the merrier. They are soooooo delicious that you'll want to hoard them all.

The night before the get-together, I make up the crust and make them into balls.

The Crust:

Mix together 2 pound of butter and 8 cups of flour. Separate 12 eggs and beat the yolks. Add the egg yolk to the butter that has been creamed with the flour. Add in 1 pint of sour cream and knead the mixture until it is smooth.

Separate the mixture into 10 1-inch wide "ropes" and break off 1-inch balls. You will end up with 120 balls, 12 from each rope of dough. Set it in the refrigerator overnight to chill firm. Save the whites from the eggs in a covered dish.

The Filling

Whip the (12) egg whites until they are stiff. Add 3 Cups of powdered sugar, 1 tsp of vanilla, and (optional) 1tsp of lemon juice. I've made it with and without. Add in 3 lbs of finely ground pecans or walnuts. (I vote pecans!)

Roll each ball flat into a large circle. Put a dollop of the filling in the center. (A little filling goes a long way since it swells.) Roll the dough into a crescent shape and seal the dough shut. And place it on a cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Put powdered sugar in a bag (I have always used paper lunch sacks, they work great.) and shake a few warm cooked kefflies at a time.

We eat some we divide the rest and everyone takes a job. One of the older granddaughters with the patients of Job began the first year by scooping the hot kefflies off the tray and having the youngest grandchild shake the bag. She was smart enough to find the perfect job for the youngest. The batch of kefflies is usually doubled for the occasion.

Another Holiday Tradition of the Past.

When my daughter graduated from High School, I moved from my home in the country area of a small town, to a much bigger city. That year I lost one of the traditions that I valued.

I had a neighbor two houses down that was almost the same age as myself, and went to the same high school. We were almost like Lucy and Ethel from "I Love Lucy." In fact, were called that many times. Every year we would get together and bring ingredients and recipes for 2 favorite cookies and would double the batch so we each had a batch to take home and freeze for gifts at Christmas. Sometimes we used no bake recipes to complete while the oven was used for baking.

No-Bake Cookies:
Yankee Doodles/ Haystacks
Melt 4 cups of semisweet chocolate chips and 4 cups of butterscotch chips in a double boiler with hot water. (Some have used a microwave.) Once it is melted mix in 10 oz of chow mein noodles and 2-12 oz cans of cocktail peanuts.

Drop onto wax paper by the spoonful and chill in the refridge. Keep stored in a container in the refrigerator. You can make a little different version by substituting peanut butter chips for the chocolate chips.

Rice Krispie Treats:
You can find the recipe on the back of the cereal package or at http://www.ricekrispies.com/KIC_Results.aspx?rt=72

Melt 6 Tbsp of butter and add 8 cups of mini marshmallows. Mix this with 12 cups of Rice Krispies and pack it into 2 buttered or coated 13X9X2 inch pans. Make certain that your hands have butter on them to keep the mixture from sticking.

Senior Version of the Krispie treats
Cook 2/3 Cup of Karo or light syrup, and 1/2 cup of packed brown sugar, over medium heat. Stir the mixture constantly and once it bubbles remove it from the heat and add 1/2 tsp of almond flavoring. Pour this over 4 cups of All bran cereal. Pat the mixture into a 13X9X2 greased pan. (This one will keep you regular while tickling your sweet tooth.)

Pecan Cookie with a memory:
We made the following cookie and the highlight was the crushed nuts. We were at the neighbor's house. The kitchen was next to a sunken dining room, so popular at the time. The recipe calls for crushed nuts, and upon seeing that "Chris" took the bag of nuts, placed them on the floor, and stamped on them while saying "Betty Crocker, eat your heart out." Tip: Don't crush nuts that way. The end of the sealed bag burst open and showered the living room area with a spray of nuts only dreamed of by the hungriest of squirrels. We didn't make the recipe that year.

Mix 2 C of sugar, 1/2 C of whole milk, 1/2 C butter, and 5 tbsp of unsweetened powdered cocoa in a large saucepan. Bring it to a boil until it reaches firm ball stage. (You drop a drop into a glass and the ball the drop forms is firm, not hard.) Remove it from the heat. Add 1 tsp of vanilla and mix well. Add 1 cup of crushed pecans (Do not use feet to crush) 3 cups of dry quick cook oatmeal, and 1 cup of shredded coconut. Mix it well and drop by the spoonful onto a buttered cookie sheet or wax paper.

Find your own recipes or use these to start a get together that can become a tradition. A lot of the pleasure of giving these gifts is the time spent making them. This is especially true when friends and family work together. In my humble opinion, a homemade Christmas is the opportunity to reunite as a family, find the small neighborhood or town in the expanses of the city, and a gift of love.