Christmas Cooking - 2012

We'll I fell off the wagon - the blogging wagon. But I'm ready to start again and what better way than for Christmas. Here are the plans.

Christmas Eve - at my brother and sister-in-law's house. She is from Texas so we're having Mexican food - yeah. I really like that idea. I'm responsible for salsa and guacamole. I'll have to go with canned tomatoes since there are no decent tomatoes this time of year - even in Florida. I don't care what color they are they just don't taste like a tomato - it's just not right. 

Christmas Day - am - my traditional Sausage Balls w/mustard and/or grape jelly (may sound gross, but don't comment until you have tried it  - we had these every year growing up. This year, I'll be using the Cook's Country version to see if I like it better - I expect that I will. My personal favorite for Christmas - latkes with applesauce and sour cream. Finally, I plan on trying my mom's recipe for banana nut bread - we'll see how that turns out. Happily, the Boy will be in attendance. Music = Bach's Brandenburg Concertos, The Klezmatics - Jews with Horns. 

Christmas Day - pm - back to my brother and sister-in-law's house for turkey dinner - fried turkey. It's truly an amazing thing. I am responsible for cranberry sauce, sweet potato casserole (more like dessert than vegetable) and a dessert - probably pecan pie from America's Test Kitchen - it is truly fool-proof. Oh, and an appetizer - mini sweet potato biscuits with horseradish cream and ham - excellent.

Then on the the list of etc.
M&M Cookies, Lemon Curd (have Meyer Lemons from my tree!!), Chocolate Croissants, Sauteed Apples, Spinach & Mushroom Quiche, Peanut Butter Fudge, Parmesan Crackers (new recipe - like I need another one).

Then it's on to planning New Year's Eve! Hot damn. 

Christmas Cooking - Chestnuts

We tried something we have never done before. The very last thing we did on Christmas Eve was roast chestnuts in the oven. So I dutifully put x's on about 25 chestnuts that I bought at the grocery store. Probably not the best place to source chestnuts, but I don't know
where else to get them in our neck of the woods.
I carefully laid them all with the x up on the baking sheet and slide them into a 425 degree oven for the estimate time of 25 minutes.

What's left of a chestnut

We are sitting around enjoying snacks and drinks as the chestnuts roast - that is until the first one exploded. It looked like sawdust inside the oven - thank goodness for an self-cleaning oven.

Is this what they are supposed to look like?

So, figuring they were probably done now, I took them out of the oven and left them on the stove top to cool a little before we made an attempt at peeling them. We all gathered around to look at them and test the temperature by trying to pick them up (unwise at this stage of the game), when the next one exploded all across the kitchen. Needless to say, I quickly covered the rest with a dish towel. I thing we give it an A for excitement. I, personally, didn't care for them. That said, I may have had bad ones and not known it,  but I assume that they are an acquired taste, like boiled peanuts - you either like them or you don't there's no in between.

Christmas Cooking - Sausage and Cheese Balls

It isn't Christmas unless we have sausage/cheddar balls. I love the fact that they freeze well and I can have them again in a couple of weeks with no real work involved at all. I like mine the same way I like a sausage biscuit - with grape jelly. So that's what I do. Growing up, my dad liked mustard with his sausage balls - to each, his own. 


Sausage & Cheese Balls

3 cups Bisquick® mix
1 pound hot bulk pork sausage
4 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese (16 ounces)
1/2 cup milk
spicy mustard / grape jelly, for dipping

Heat oven to 350ºF. Lightly grease bottom and sides of jelly roll pan. Stir together all ingredients, using hands or spoon. Shape mixture into 1 inch balls. Place on pan. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until brown.
Immediately remove from pan. Serve warm with sauce for dipping.

Bench Notes: I just line a pan with foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray for easier clean up. And use your hand to mix - it's the only way this will work. 

Christmas Cooking - Cheese Straws

This is a new recipe for me this year. That said, I'm usually pretty terrible with puff pastry - I think it's the defrosting. No, really I do. Somehow I can't get that right. Either I take it out and it's still too frozen or I take it out and it sticks together and I have a terrible time with it.


Cheese Straws
Credit: Ina Garten
2 sheets (1 box) frozen puff pastry (such as Pepperidge Farm),
defrosted overnight in the refrigerator
Flour, for dusting
1 extra-large egg
1 tablespoon water
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1 cup finely grated Gruyère cheese
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper


Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Roll out each sheet of puff pastry on a lightly floured board until it is 10- by 12-inches. Beat the egg with 1 tablespoon of water and brush the surface of the pastry. Sprinkle each sheet evenly with 1⁄4 cup of the Parmesan, 1⁄2 cup of the Gruyère, 1⁄2 teaspoon of the thyme, 1⁄2 teaspoon of the salt, and some pepper. With the rolling pin, lightly press the flavorings into the puff pastry. Cut each sheet crosswise with a floured knife or pizza wheel into 11 or 12 strips. Twist each
strip and lay on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until lightly browned and puffed. Turn each straw and bake for another 2 minutes. Don't over bake or the cheese will burn. Cool and serve at room temperature. 

Bench Notes: I used cheddar instead of Gruyere and did not use extra salt. I also used a little cayenne on about half the straws - just to see if we would like it.
Imperative that you flour the knife or pizza wheel. 

Christmas Cooking - Pecan Tassies

Pecan Tassies are vital to Christmas for me. I make them throughout the winter and into the early spring, but never summer. I'm not sure why.


Pecan Tassies

8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 lg eggs
2 cups brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups pecans, chopped


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat cream cheese and butter until blended, add flour and mix to incorporate and pat into disk, cover with plastic and chill for at least an hour.
Lightly beat eggs, add sugar and vanilla, stir in pecans Press dough by teaspoon into mini muffin cups, fill with pecan sugar mixture to within 1/4" of top of dough cups. Bake 25-28 minutes.


Bench Notes: I think this was originally from a Southern Living magazine, but could
not swear on that. Either way, I can make them in my sleep, I've been making them for so long - at least since about 1987. Forever ago.

Christmas Cooking - Crostini with honey, bleu cheese & pears

Another repeat favorite. It's probably again, one of the easiest things to make and I like it because, while I'm allergic to raw apples, I can still eat raw pears, a worthy substitute.


Crostini with Honey, Bleu Cheese & Pears


1 small pear
4 oz bleu cheese
1-2 Tbs milk
16 slices of french baguette, toasted
2 Tbs honey


Peel and core pear, and cut into 1/4 inch wedges. Combine bleu cheese and milk, stirring well. Spread baguette with cheese mixture, top with pear, and drizzle with honey. Serve.

Mixing Bleu Cheese & Cream

Bench Notes: I tend to use firm Bartlett pears, but Anjou works as well. Betting Seckel would work as well. Since I had heavy cream on hand, I used it instead of milk. I made this for our pre-wedding party too. The honey used was a gift from a student whose grandfather has an apairy near Blountstown, Florida.

Christmas Cooking - Lawn Party Sandwiches

So what's on the menu for this weekend - well, as it is my favorite thing to do, there is no meal, just a menu of appetizers. We'll start with one of my favorites - Lawn Party Sandwiches - super simple ham/cheese sandwiches. I made these for the first time for our pre-wedding party at the Highland Lake Inn.
Here's the original recipe from Southern on Occasion: A Companion to Inspire Gracious Living by The Junior League of Cobb-Marietta, Inc. The recipe is in the "A Tisket,  A Tasket" section -  if that don't make you sick... and below are my adjustments.


Lawn Party Sandwiches
1 c butter, softened
3 Tbs poppy seeds
1 onion, grated
1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbs Dijon mustard
2 (12 oz) packages white party rolls
1/2 pounds cooked ham
5 oz shredded Swiss cheese


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, mix together butter, poppy seeds, onion, Worcestershire sauce and mustard.
Slice rolls in half horizontally and set aside tops. Spread bottoms with the butter mixture. Top with have and Swiss cheese. Replace tops. Arrange rolls in a single layer in a medium baking dish. Bake in the oven for 10 to 12 minutes, until rolls are lightly breowned and cheese is melted.


Bench Notes: July 2002, February 2006, April 2009, 23 Dec 11
Made half recipe; added 1/2 tsp of Bourbon smoked black pepper; used Bourbon smoked Worcestershire sauce, 6 slices each of ham and cheese, used a shallot instead of onion, no poppy seeds.

Christmas Cooking - Hot Reuben Dip

This is a new recipe for me, but it's been in my stack for a good while. I was trying to have an appetizer dinner for us on Friday, so that I can continue cooking for Saturday and Sunday - jeez how Christmas snuck up on me. We like Reuben sandwiches, especially the recipe from America's Test Kitchen - it's a total winner.


Hot Reuben Dip
1 cup Swiss cheese, shredded
1/2 pound corned beef, chopped
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sour cream
2 Tbs ketchup
2 Tbs spicy brown mustard
1/2 cup sauerkraut, drained
1 pkg of rye cocktail bread squares

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, mix 1/2 cup of Swiss cheese with all the ingredients excepting the bread squares. Place the mixture in a baking dish and sprinkle the top with the rest of the Swiss cheese. Heat in the oven until bubbly, about 20 minutes. Turn on the broiler and brown top. Serve with bread squares.

Bench Notes: I substituted Chili sauce for the ketchup. I toasted very thin pumpernickel bread instead of using rye.

Evolution of the buffet

This is how I roll on Christmas Eve... ever since I was about 11, I decided that Christmas Eve, which was a huge thing in my family, was to be an appetizer party. All finger food and snacks, no sit-down meal, just eat and mingle. Ergo, my life as an event planner fit well into this, but it's still at the heart of my Christmas Eve meal. Which also means there will be excellent left overs for Christmas day. Cool.
So here's how it goes (steady as she goes):

Christmas Cooking - Sweet Potato Biscuits

A perennial fall/winter favorite and popular everywhere I take them.  The biscuits themselves are great but then you make it into a true appetizer and/or breakfast treat. I got the idea of this from a caterer I worked with. He serves sweet potato biscuits with turkey and cranberry sauce that was sweet and hot. My twist, is probably not original, but very popular. Fill the sweet potato biscuits with salty ham and a horseradish mayo. It's fabulous.


Sweet Potato Biscuits
original from Emeril Lagasse


2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
12 Tbs unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes
1 cup mashed sweet potato
1 cup pecans, finely ground
1/3+ cup heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Mix the flour, baking powder , baking soda and salt together. Add the butter and work it into the flour mixture with your fingers or in a food processor, until the mixture looks like wet sand. Add sweet
potatoes and pecans. Add cream until a dough forms. Flour the working surface and press dough out until it's about 1/2 inch thick. Using any size biscuit cutter and cut biscuits. Place on baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes or so.


Sweet Potato Biscuit w/ham and horseradish mayo


One batch of sweet potato biscuits
1/3 pound deli ham, any type, thinly sliced
2 Tbs horseradish
2 Tbs mayonnaise

Split the sweet potato biscuit, add desired about of ham on bottom of biscuit, In a small bowl, mix horseradish and mayonnaise, adjusting the taste to your liking. Spoon the horseradish/mayo mixture on top half of biscuit.Replace the top of the biscuit. Serve warm or room temperature.

Bench Notes: make sure baking powder is fresh. You can either bake or boil the potatoes. Boiling seems fast and I do that skin oon and peel after they have cooled. It's pretty easy. You can sub half and half for heavy cream, but I wouldn't. I use a smaller (two bite) size biscuit cutter for appetizers, and a larger one for breakfast biscuits.

Christmas Cooking - M&M Cookies

This was a staple at Christmas growing up and though I am a strange bird and don't really care for chocolate, these are really good cookies. I don't make them every year, but decided to bake these this year for a change. This always makes me buy crisco - I don't use it for anything else. This recipe is from my mom and I have no idea where it originally came from, but didn't bother to look either because this just works. 


M&M Cookies


1 cup crisco
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups M&M, plain

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together, crisco and both sugars. Add eggs, one at a time, and incorporate. Add vanilla. Beat to combine.In a small bowl whisk flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the crisco mixture in two batches, incorporating completely. Add M&Ms, mix in by hand. Spoon onto baking sheet. Bake 10 minutes or until golden.

Bench Notes: These are colorful cookies that balance nicely with the chocolate, a soft cookie that is not too sweet. These are easy to put together as you do not need to wait for butter to become room temperature. Have never tried with peanut M&M.

Christmas Cooking - The candy calendar

Winter, it is thought, is a good time to make candy - at least in my little part of the world. But apparently, that is not the case in the past few days. Winter, in north Florida is a blessed time of low humidity. Great for candy making (horrible for my hair which craves humidity to make it slightly wavy and not static electricity-driven nightmare). I will gladly suffer bad hair for some time making candy, but the gods of humidity do not agree with me. So, I can't make candy. The humidity is at a low point at present, but it's still 54% humidity and rising with a 100% chance of rain tonight and part of tomorrow. Hopefully, this will clear as the week goes on and I can get into vanilla taffy, toffee, and chocolate dipped pretzels (a total favorite). Damnation, I want vanilla taffy - aka crack, because, yes, if the police saw it, they would think it was crack - totally looks like it - and is easily as addictive. A recipe from my mom's mom. Outstanding. Not sure I'm going to share.

Christmas Cooking - Cheddar-Hot Pepper Jelly Thumbprints

This is a recipe I've made a couple of times because it is a cool vehicle for one of my favorite things in the world - hot pepper jelly. Every late summer / early fall, I make hot pepper jelly. It's just stupidly good and easy to make and to tweak as you go along, so rather than serving the hot pepper jelly and cream cheese with crackers, I use this recipe, especially for the holidays. I call mine hot pepper jelly as opposed to jalapeno jelly since I tend to use a combination of Tabasco and cayenne peppers with usually a jalapeno or two thrown in.

Cheddar-Hot Pepper Jelly Thumbprints

Yield: about 40

6 oz sharp or extra sharp white cheddar


1/2 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese (2 oz)


1/2 cup butter, softened


1 egg yolk


1 cup all-purpose flour


1 egg white


1 Tbs water


1 1/4 cups pecans, chopped


1/3 - 1/2 cup hot pepper jelly.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In food processor, mix cheese and butter until well combined. Add youk and 1/4 tsp black pepper and process until combined. Add flour, pulse several times until a dough forms, set aside.
In a small bowl combine egg white and water. Place pecans in a shallow dish. Shape dough into 3/4-inch balls. Roll balls in egg white, then in pecans. Place 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Use your thumb to dent the center. Bake 15 minutes or until the cookies are lightly brown in color. Press any puffed center down with a spoon. Transfer to a rack and cool. Just before serving, place a small bit of jelly in the centre of the thumbprints.

Bench notes: Unfilled cookies can be store in the fridge for three days and in the freezer for three months (just don't forget they are there).
I made them the first time for Thanksgiving 2005.

Christmas Cooking - 2011

My Initial List

Over the last few days and during the next few days, I'm going to be posting my Christmas Cooking for 2011. This is the easiest and best way for me to document what works and what doesn't and what people thought of everything. It will be helpful for 2012. Enjoy!