Holiday Recipe Wrap-Up

It's New Year's Day...and all I want is a giant salad.  Apparently, I'm not as young as I used to be, because my digestive system can't handle all the wonderful party food that it used to.  I don't regret making (or eating) any of it, though, because everything was wonderful.

For Christmas Eve, I was assigned appetizers and dessert.  I made:

Caprese Skewers, but without the balsamic drizzle.  I must have overreduced the vinegar because it just tasted overcooked and gross.  It was delicious without it!

Spiced pecans, but I'm not linking the recipe here.  The one I tried was a disaster that called for cooking them too long at too high a temperature, resulting in almost $10 worth of pecans in the garbage the first time I made it.  Still looking for the recipe I used last year, which was wonderful!

Cheese Straws - totally rich, totally decadent.  The straw tip on my cookie press was way too big so I used the flat ridged tip instead, making crackers instead of straws.  Loved them.

Turron de Navidad - which will rip your fillings out but tastes delicious!

Soft caramels

Churro Chex Mix - made with butterscotch chips because I couldn't find cinnamon.  Delicious and I will definitely be making these again!

Lemon Crinkle Cookies - DELICIOUS!!!

Homemade Twix bars - as good as they sound.

And, of course, the requisite sugar cookies with sprinkles.  I use a friend's old family recipe.

I split most of what I made in two and saved half for Christmas Day.  I make Christmas dinner each year for my family, my parents and my uncle.  We eat at my parents' house, so I always make something I can put together at home and cook when I get to Mom and Dad's.  One year it was manicotti, last year it was Swedish meatballs.  This year, I made Chicken Cordon Bleu, with the white wine cream sauce left in the reviews by Krysia73. It was delicious!

We were also supposed to have Duchess Potatoes but I ran out of time so we had plain old mashed potatoes instead.  Still great.  Mom made green beans with bacon and the cranberry jello salad that I love every year.

New Year's Eve, we always go to my husband's sister's house.  We usually just have snacks, but this year we decided to have appetizers for dinner so I went a little bigger than usual.  I made:

Skinny Taco Dip - I added a layer of refried beans to the bottom of the pan to add a little more flavor and fiber.  It was REALLY good.

Bacon Cheese Balls, but without the pecans because my nephews don't like nuts (I don't think they ate any anyway, but oh well).  A little too rich, but still good.

Pepperoni Puffs.  These would make a great quick lunch sometime!

Loaded Baked Potato Dip - I made a half batch and it still made a ton.  Delicious but very rich!

Homemade Peppermint Oreos - mine weren't so pepperminty because I discovered my peppermint extract bottle only had about four drops left in it (who knew it could evaporate out of a closed bottle???), but I swished some vanilla around in the bottle and it came out with a nice hint of mint.

And a last minute addition, bought on the way to the party, was clam dip.  My husband's family tradition.  Just take 8 ounces of cream cheese, and a can of minced clams.  Drain the clams but save the juice, and mix them in with the cream cheese.  Add enough of the juice to make it a dippable consistency.  Serve with Chicken in a Biskit crackers.

And that, my friends, is my holiday recipe roundup.  And the reason why I'm getting my fat butt to a Weight Watchers meeting at my earliest opportunity!