Ingredients:

1 dozen 12-inch plastic decorating pastry bags (available at party supply stores)
4 cups green jelly beans
1 cup total yellow, white, and red jelly beans
tape
12 brown pipe cleaners

Procedure:

Place a few yellow jelly beans in the tip of the plastic decorating bag. Then carefully pour about 1/3 cup of green jelly beans into the bag. For lights and ornaments, you can mix the green jelly beans with yellow, white, and red. For the tree’s trunk, tape the bag shut and twist a brown pipe cleaner around the base. Trim off the excess plastic. (Note: in the photograph, the trees are held upright with fishing line.) Makes 12 trees.

Ingredients:

(1) 10-pack El Monterey beef n bean burritos
40 oz. can chile con carne
1 cup Water
1 lb. corn chips
2 cups cheddar cheese shredded

Procedure:

Heat up El Monterey Burritos according to packaging and keep warm. Heat up Chile Con Carne with the water added, and bring to a simmer. Hold on stove top until assembly. Place corn chips on large serving platter, pour half of the chile over the chips and sprinkle half of the cheese over the chile. Arrange the hot burritos over the chile and cheese and finish by pouring the rest of the chile and cheese over the burritos. Melt cheese under a hot broiler or in a preheated 375°F oven. Serve immediately.

Ingredients:

4 eggs
450 grams (16 ounces) confectioner’s sugar
1 pinch of salt
1½ tablespoons of anise
1 tablespoon of kirsch
550 to 600 grams (19..21 ounces) flour

Procedure:

Put eggs, confectioner’s sugar, salt, anise and kirsch in a bowl and stir about 5 minutes until well mixed. Add flour and mix into a dough. Form rolls of about 1.5 cm (0.6 inches) diameter and cut in pieces of about 5 cm (2 inches) length. Cut in each piece about 3 times slightly angular and bend them slightly. Slightly grease baking sheets and put the rolls onto it to dry. Do not use baking paper sheets. Do not move the pieces. Let them dry for 24 to 48 hours at room temperature. Make sure there is no draught. Bake them for about 25 minutes in the lower part of the pre-heated stove at 140°C (285°F). Keep the door of the stove a bit open. Let the cookies cool down and remove them from the baking sheet with a scraper.

Variations:
Instead of forming rolls, you may roll out dough on a flat surface, approximately 1 cm (0.4 inches) thick. Put out shapes and treat them as described above.
Use models to create forms, then treat them as described above.

Ingredients:

1/2 pound pork tenderloin

Marinade:
2 teaspoons dark soy sauce
2 teaspoons Shao-Hsing rice wine or dry sherry
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch

Sauce:
3 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons low-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons Shao-Hsing wine or dry sherry
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon cornstarch

Other:
4 dried black mushrooms
4 tablespoons dried cloud ears or wood ears
2 tablespoons dried lily buds
1/2 cup canned bamboo shoots
2 green onions
2 slices ginger
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons oil for stir-frying, or as needed
1 teaspoon sesame oil

Procedure:

Cut the pork into thin strips. Add the marinade ingredients, adding the cornstarch last. Marinate the pork for 30 minutes. Mix the sauce ingredients, whisking in the cornstarch last. Set aside. Place the dried mushrooms, cloud ears or wood ears, and lily buds in separate bowls and soak for approximately 30 minutes. Squeeze out any excess water. Remove the stems from the black mushrooms and the hard tips from the lily buds. Cut into thin strips. Rinse the bamboo shoots under warm running water to remove any tinny taste. Drain and cut into thin strips. Clean the green onion and cut into thirds. Cut the ginger into thin strips. Lightly beat the eggs with the salt. Heat the wok over medium-high to high heat. Add 2 tablespoons oil, swirling along the sides. When the oil is hot, add beaten eggs and scramble until they are quite firm. Remove the eggs from the wok. Clean out the wok. Add 2 tablespoons oil. When the oil is hot, add the ginger and stir-fry until aromatic (about 30 seconds). Stir-fry until the pork changes color and is nearly cooked through. Remove from the wok. Add 2 tablespoons oil. When the oil is hot, add the wood ears, lily buds, and mushrooms. Stir-fry for about 1 minute. Push up to the sides. Give the sauce a quick re-stir and add in the middle of the wok, stirring quickly to thicken. Add the other pork and scrambled egg back into the pan. Stir in the green onion. Mix everything together. Taste and add extra seasoning if desired. Remove from the heat and stir in the sesame oil.
To Serve: Serve with mandarin crepes and hoisin sauce. Place pancake on a plate and brush with hoisin sauce. Add meat mixture and roll up the pancake. If desired, instead of stir-frying the green onion you can add it to the meat mixture at this point.

Variations:
Deep-fry the pork instead of stir-frying. Serve the mu shu pork over rice.

Ingredients:
For sponge cake:
3/4 cup all purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp. milk
3 eggs
1 1/2 tbsp. butter

For topping:
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
4 tbsp. sugar
Various fruits (strawberries, peaches, cherries, and so on)

Procedure:

Whisk eggs in a bowl. Place the bowl over warm water in another large bowl and whisk further. Add sugar little by little. When the egg mixture becomes light yellow, sift flour and add to the bowl. Mix the flour lightly in the egg mixture. Mix butter in warm milk. Add mixture of melted butter and milk in the batter and stir gently. Preheat the oven in 350-degree. Place baking wax papers inside of a round cake pan (18cm). Pour the batter in the pan and bake in the preheated oven for 25-35 min. Remove the cake from the pan and cool it on a rack. Cut the cake in half horizontally. Mix heavy cream and sugar in a bowl. Whip the cream well. Take the half of the whipped cream and mix with chopped fruits. Place the cream on top of a round cake slice. Place another cake slice on top of the cream. Spread the rest of the whipped cream on top and around the cake. Decorate the cake with colorful fruits and Christmas decorations.

Ingredients:

1 pound thinly sliced pork
2 tbsp. grated fresh ginger
3 tbsp. soy sauce
2 tbsp. mirin
1 tbsp. sake

Procedure:

Mix soy sauce, mirin, sake, and grated ginger in a bowl. Marinate pork for 5 minutes. Heat some oil in a frying pan. Stir-fry the pork slices on medium heat. Served ginger pork with shredded cabbage. Makes 4 servings.