The Lisa Gets Mouthy Edition

Welcome to our over-sized annual food edition, where first, Lisa has returned, and she and Kim endeavor to make you hungry with a couple of festive holiday treats. Lisa's Cream Cheese Mints 8 oz package cream cheese, full fat, softened (You want the block, not the whipped cream cheese in the tub) 1/4 cup (or 1 half stick) butter, softened 2 lbs powdered sugar 1 - 2 tsp mint extract gel food coloring (optional) Granulated sugar for rolling. When I made these, I left the candies white and used green sugar. Let butter and cream cheese get to room temperature. Mix these, along with the peppermint or whatever extract you would like to use, in a large bowl. Gradually add the powdered sugar. You may find you don’t use it all. I did, but then added an extra third package of cream cheese. This recipe is fairly foolproof, so relax. I’ve seen some that do not include the butter. Mix all ingredients except food coloring and granulated sugar until smooth and well-blended. If you’re going to make candies of different colors, divide it into separate containers before adding the coloring. If you like, you can then roll these in small balls, pressing down on them with the tines of a fork. If using silicone molds, roll each ball in sugar before pressing into the mold. Doing this will allow them to unmold easily. Let them dry for about half an hour on waxed paper before refrigerating. Lay them in single layers of waxed paper so they don’t stick together. Kim's Beer Bread I chose to link to a website for this recipe, as, while it differs very slightly from mine (I always use butter), it gives a lot of cool alternatives and ways to dress this bread up. Any way you choose to eat it, it's so tasty! Click here for the recipe. We also discuss something shocking about Amazon prior to our recipes that you'll find, well, interesting. If that's not enough, we're then joined by Kesel Wilson, editor and programs manager with National Braille Press, to run down a plethora of new and upcoming releases from NBP. She shares so many terrific books that you're sure to find something to gift to someone you love, including you! Click here to visit National Braille Press. We hope you enjoy this jam-packed episode!