Our Famous Wedding Welcome Gift Bags

I'm about to toot my horn here...but we had the most amazing Welcome Gift Bags for our Wedding Weekend last month! We wanted the bags to be personal...and I think we totally accomplished that. Included in the bag were my Mom's Chocolate Chip Cookies, my Nana's Pecan Pie from our family's restaurant, Brian's Mom's Hello Dolly Cookie Bars and our friend Sally's Cheese Straws.

Since food is so much apart of who we are as a couple and family...we thought it would was a great idea to fill the bags with some of our favorite treats. Also included in the bags were recipe cards of each thing included, for those who love to cook. I thought it would be fun to share these special recipes with each of you.

Kathie’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 1/2 Cups White Sugar

1 Cup Margarine

1 Egg

1 T Vanilla

2 Cups All Purpose Flour

1 tsp Baking Soda

1 Pkg. Chocolate Chips

1 C Chopped Pecans

Cream Margarine and White Sugar with mixer. Add Egg and Vanilla.

Sift Dry ingredients together and blend into the mixture.

Stir in Chocolate Chips and Nuts.

Bake in a 350 degree oven on an ungreased cookie sheet for 9-11 minutes or until golden brown.

Makes a really crispy cookie.

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Treado’s Pecan Pie

3 Eggs, Slightly Beaten

1 Cup Sugar

1 Cup White Corn Syrup

3/4 Stick Butter

1/4 tsp Salt

1 1/2 Cup Pecans, Chopped

2 tsp Vanilla

1 (9 inch) Pie Shell

Slightly beat eggs, add sugar, syrup, vanilla and salt. Melt and cool butter.

Mix in butter to other ingredients by hand.

Place chopped pecans in the bottom of an unbaked pie shell, cover pecans with mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes.

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Sally’s Cheese Straws

5 Cups Sharp Cheddar Cheese

2 Cups Plain Flour

1 Stick Margarine

1 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Salt

1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper

Mix All Ingredients together. Let Mixture Soften.

Fill Cookie Press with Star Attachment and Squeeze onto 4 Trays.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 7 minutes, cut into 2-3 inch pieces, return to oven and cook until hard to the touch

(about 5 minutes).

Place on plate to cool.

Makes about 4 Dozen.

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Gail’s Hello Dolly Cookie Bars

1/2 Cup Margarine (Melted)

1 1/2 Cup Graham Cracker Crumbs

1 Cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

1 Cup Chopped Pecans

1 1/3 Cup Flaked Coconut

1 Can Eagle Brand Condensed Milk

Melt Margarine in a 9 x 13 inch pan. Sprinkle graham cracker crumbs evenly over the margarine. Spread chocolate chips followed by the pecans and then the

coconut. Next pour condensed milk over the top of the coconut.

Bake at 325 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool completely and cut into bars.

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By the way...in the process of making the bags, I now understand why wedding and event planners make so much money! They sure were a lot of work...but in the end they were totally worth it.