Put apples in buttered 9 x 11 baking dish, along with the cranberries. Stir flour, oatmeal, sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Work butter into flour mixture until pea size. Sprinkle mixture over fruit. Bake 350oF until topping is set and golden brown. May cover with aluminium foil while baking.

Baked Beans Cake

Submitted by Jean Lewis

1 cup raisins
1 cup boiling water
1 19-oz can baked beans (2-1/2 cups)
3 eggs
1 cup canola oil
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1 tsp vanilla

Pour boiling water over raisins. Set aside. Mash beans with a fork. Add eggs, oil, and sugar. Beat well. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder cinnamon and salt. Stir into bean mixture. Drain raisins, reserving liquid. Add raisins, chopped nuts, and vanilla to batter. If batter is too thick, add a little of the raisin water, stirring to combine. Pour into greased 9x13-inch pan. Bake at 350o for 1 hour or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in pan on a rack.

Coconut Icing:

1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cream or milk
1/3 cup butter

1 cup shredded coconut
1 tsp vanilla
½ cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Combine sugar and cream. Bring to a boil in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Boil for 2 minutes. Add butter, remove from heat. Stir in coconut, vanilla, and nuts. Pour evenly over cake and allow to cool before cutting.

Christmas Meatballs

By Marilyn Meeks

Mix the following:

1 lb ground beef
1 tsp. Salt, pepper
¼ cup onion chopped
1 tbsp. Parsley

¼ cup chili sauce
1 tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce
¼ cup carnation milk * (I used 2% milk)
½ cup crushed cornflakes

Preheat oven to 350oF

Make meatballs small. Put them in greased cake pan. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake meatballs until brown. Serve with barbecue sauce.

Speck (bacon) and Sauerkraut

Submitted by Suzanne Tanner, A Swiss Tanner family tradition

Raw sauerkraut
Smoked bacon
Smoked sausages
Raw, unpeeled potatoes, cut in half
1 large onion
10 cloves
6 dried juniper berries
Bay leaf

1 can beer
2 cloves garlic, crushed
some whole peppercorns
1 cored apple, unpeeled, cut into segments
1 cup sweet apple juice
1 litre bouillon (from veggie or beef cubes,dissolved)
A few tbsps. vegetable oil

Go to a European-type food store where they carry raw sauerkraut and smoked bacon/sausages. Buy a good kilo of kraut. Wash it in cold water (at home, I'd suggest) then squeeze all the juice out of it. Heat oil in a large pan. Peel onion and stick about 10 cloves into it. Fry it on high heat until it gets a bit brownish (2 minutes or so). Add the kraut and let it heat up, stirring constantly so it doesn't burn. Add bay leaf and juniper berries. After about 4 minutes pour beer over it and stir gently. Add garlic, peppercorns, apple and apple juice. Put the heat way down below medium and add ¾ litre bouillon. The liquid should just about cover the kraut. Keep some bouillon to be added later; you'll need it. Stir and put a lid on the pot. Let simmer 2 hours stirring every 30 mins or so.
Now it's time to put in the smoked bacon (not the sausages). Let it simmer at least an hour then remove it from the pot. Add the potatoes to the kraut. Close the lid and let them cook about 30 min or until done. Remove potatoes and add sausages (any will do as long as they're smoked or cooked) and put bacon back in too (20 minutes maybe). The rind of the bacon should become soft and almost edible.
Always ensure you've got plenty of liquid in the kraut. It should simmer, not boil violently.
Now it's time to fill the plates and eat. The kraut is now well cooked and tasty. It has simmered at least 4 ½ hrs. Mustard is good with the meats and beer or white wine will be just what's needed to wash it all down.
It's a simple dish to make and can be eaten even days later. En Guete!