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Pinterest and Facebook often put me on the trail of good recipes and interesting culinary stories. Young cook, Koren Hale, prepared Chicken Enchiladas for his Spanish class last week. His mother posted a photo of him on Facebook doing the preparations and reported he found the recipe on Pinterest.

Easy to prepare, this is a great recipe for a family dinner or potluck meal. With adult supervision, even the youngest of cooks could enjoy making this recipe.

Chicken Enchiladas

4 cups cooked, shredded chicken

2 Tbsp taco seasoning

3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

3 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1 cup sour cream

10 corn tortillas (10 inch)

1 can (28 ounces) green enchilada sauce

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large bowl combine shredded chicken, 2 cups of the mozzarella cheese and 2 cups of the Monterey Jack cheese, sour cream and taco seasoning. Mix until well incorporated.

Wrap tortillas in a damp paper towel or tea towel and microwave for 1 minute.

In a skillet warm the enchilada sauce. Working with one tortilla at a time, dip it in the enchilada sauce until lightly coated. Scoop 1/3 cup of the chicken filling into the tortilla and roll up tightly. Arrange seam side down in a 9 x 13 inch baking dish and repeat with remaining tortillas.

Pour remaining enchilada sauce over the prepared enchiladas and top with the remaining cheese.

Bake for 25 minutes, until cheese is bubbling. Yield: 10 enchiladas.

Note: I used about 1/2 cup filling in each, so I believe the 1/3 cup was a heaping cup. Also, red enchilada sauce and flour tortillas could be substituted.

Cookie exchanges, cookie plates for shut-ins and veterans, and Christmas-gift plates are being planned by many area bakers. Candy canes are often used as a festive package presentation decoration. Due to the fragile nature, there always seems to be a broken cane or two. Peppermint Puffs are a fun and tasty way to use crushed candy canes. They are pretty on a cookie plate and pack well for shipping. The recipe was in a Crisco shortening advertisement in 1988.

Peppermint Puffs

2/3 cup Butter Flavor Crisco

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup crushed peppermint candy canes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease cookie sheets and set aside.

In mixer bowl cream together Crisco and sugars at medium speed. Beat in egg.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Stir into creamed mixture.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls and press the top firmly into the crushed candy canes. Place candy side up on prepared baking sheets. Bake 11-12 minutes until slightly browned around edges. Remove to cooling racks to cool completely. Yield: about 3 1/2 dozen.

Note: use parchment paper instead of greasing the pans to make cleanup much easier. Also: it is easy to crush the candy by placing in a zip closure bag and rolling with a rolling pin or smacking with a hammer.

Chocolate brownies are a favorite of many. There are many very good, from-scratch recipes available. Messing with melted chocolate has never been my favorite kitchen task. Brownies are one of a very few box mixes I favor. Use a quality brand and follow package instructions, and you will have excellent brownies.

You may add many things to a brownie mix to make them special. Recently I spotted a recipe on Pinterest, from scratch of course, with Peppermint Pattie candies as the middle layer. I've made them twice now using a Pillsbury Chocolate Fudge Family Size mix.

Peppermint Pattie Fudge Brownies

1 package (18.4 ounces) Chocolate Fudge Brownie Mix

2/3 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup water

2 eggs

15 Peppermint Patties

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Coat the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking pan with cooking spray and set aside.

Remove wrapping from the Peppermint Patties and set candy aside.

Prepare the brownie mix using the oil, water and eggs, according to package instructions.

Pour 2/3 of the brownie batter into the bottom of the prepared pan and spread evenly. Place the Peppermint Patties in five rows of three on top of batter.

Carefully pour remaining batter over the Peppermint Patties and smooth with the back of a spoon to completely cover.

Bake as directed, approximately 28 minutes. Yield: 24 squares.

Note: if your recipe or mix is for an 8- or 9-inch baking pan, use fewer Peppermint Patties.

Many area cooks bought Christmas hams and turkeys early and froze them, fearing they might not be available when needed. Just as at Thanksgiving, they need to start thawing early. December 21 would be a good day to start thawing them in the refrigerator. Be sure to place in a pan or on a plate to catch any drips during thawing.

Our next column will include recipes to use up Christmas dinner leftovers, and New Year’s Eve party fare. Please share some of your favorites to include in that issue.

On Dec. 29 at 10 a.m., we are planning a Christmas-Break Kids’ Cooking Class in conjunction with Go Odessa Recreation. Watch for the posting to sign up your children. We will be making party snacks and focusing on the measuring and math of cooking and safe kitchen skills, while having fun making tasty treats. There is no charge for the class.

– Share your favorite holiday recipes, using up leftovers recipes and New Years treat recipes by sending them to: Welcome to My Kitchen, c/o The Odessa Record, P.O. Box 458, Odessa, WA 99159, email therecord@odessaoffice.com or drop them on the Welcome to My Kitchen mail tin in The Odessa Record office. If you have put up a fresh cut Christmas tree, be sure to keep it watered. Additionally, fresh green wreathes will benefit with being spritzed with water daily.