Friday, December 19, 2008

Tis the season to pig out...

You know you've grown up when you get more excited about the food being served at your holiday parties then the gifts you might get. I think everyone has certain foods that they look forward to all year. Personally, I'm a huge fan of the appetizer. I'm perfectly happy grazing on appetizers and foregoing the big, fancy meal.
Here are some of my favorites to bring along to holiday get-togethers. First off, my husband will not go anywhere unless there are meatballs present. So I'm usually toting a crock pot of meatballs wherever we get invited. These are so easy. Just dump some KC Masterpiece (the King of BBQ Sauce) and grape jelly into the crock pot along with some frozen meatballs. Start it a few hours before your party and you have some awesome meatballs!
I'm a big dipper. I feel an almost magnetic pull if there is a cheese ball in the room. I like to take chopped chipped beef, cream cheese, a dash of Worcestershire sauce, and cheddar cheese. Beat it all together, form a ball then slap it on a cute dish with some crackers. Another easy dip is to spread cream cheese, top with cocktail sauce, then top with tiny shrimp. Yum!
Another holiday favorite is oyster stew. This is definitely an acquired taste. My husband refuses to kiss me after I eat it. I use a simple recipe of half and half, butter, salt, and oysters. I do drain the oyster liquor and rinse them or else it is too fishy for my taste. You have to be careful that you don't get the stew too hot or the milk will scorch. Serve with crackers and enjoy!





I'm attempting some new recipes this year, one being fudge. I'm not a fudge eater but my hubby loves it. I'm going to try it and see how it goes. Wish me luck.
So, how about you? Do you have some holiday favorites? Share one of your favorite recipes with the BBG's. Happy holidays to everyone!


What I'm reading...Dashing through the Snow by Carol and Mary Higgins Clark

xo,

Stephanie

8 comments:

TinaFerraro said...

I'm with you, Steph! In fact, I almost went a little crazy over chestnuts wrapped in bacon at a holiday party already this year.

For as long as I can remember, my family has scarfed down tubs of Swiss Colony "Incredible Spreadables" on Ritz crackers every holiday season. Our particular favorites are French Onion and Smokey Bacon. YUM.

The Golfing Librarian said...

What's the world coming to? It's a sad day when a woman who wants to please her man thinks of fudge! ;)

I have always been a fan of the cheese ball; no matter what, when, or where!

Me said...

Oooh, you had me until you got to oyster stew. My parents loooove it and my dad used to make it every year, but I can't stand it.

My yearly standbys are: Greek butter cookies (so good and so easy), Martha Stewart's spiced nuts (although next year I'm only doing pecans, they're the best) and peppermint bark.

This year I also tried my grandmother's divinity (which turned out so-so) and white chocolate/cranberry/orange cookies (which turned out amazing).

The only one recipe that's a must at Christmas is my mom's Nuts and Bolts (I think it was my grandmother's recipe, originally, and is just a homemade version of Chex Mix, but sooo good). Mom makes two big batches: one for my dad without pretzel sticks, and one for me without nuts. She eats both of them!

Megan said...

My holiday favorite is pretty basic, Christmas sugar cookies covered with yummy icing!

Wendy Toliver said...

Mmmm. Now I'm totally hungry, Steph!

Anonymous said...

Now that my tummy is nice and rummbly LOL...

Those meatballs look delish, but I nearly hightailed it outta here as soon as I saw you mention oyster stew. (I'm gonna stop there because my mom always told me not to criticize someone's food preference.)

Oh, and cheese balls? Yes, please. I'm a cheese fanatic.

And you can't forget brownies. Thick, chocolate-y (with a large helping of cinnamon and nutmeg for the holidays), and gooey. Perfect holiday treat if I do say so myself.

Marley Gibson said...

Mmmmm...it all looks sooooo good!!!

stephhale said...

Thanks for sharing your favorites, everyone!