What is a party without the proper drinks?
My “Twist” on Hors d’oeuvres
What is a party without the proper drinks?
This year we celebrated by having family over for the evening of Christmas. Since everyone had eaten a large meal at noon during other family celebrations, I decided to offer delicious hors d’ oeuvres this year. I started researching recipes a few weeks before in order to have time to pick just the right formula.
Dining Stones Cheese Ball
My final menu is as follows:
- Chili Cheese Dip with two kinds of corn chips
- Meat Balls with Stroganoff seasoning
- Bruschetta Crostini
- Cheese Ball with a variety of crackers
- Egg rolls with hot mustard and Hoisin sauce
-
Freshly Washed Spuds
Potato Wedges with cheese and bacon bits
- Smores Cake with ice cream
- Bowl full of chocolates
- Wine, hot chocolate, and pink champagne
Variation of Recipes
Most of these recipes are my own variation of an original recipe. For the Chili Cheese Dip, I took a risk and used a new chili mix from my favorite Iowa grocery store, Fareway.
Potato Wedges Soaking
The mix caught my eye because the ingredients had been dried and I only needed to add boiling water. I liked that idea over making my own chili as another time saver. I used the traditional Velveeta cheese melted in the microwave and folded in the hot moistened chili. I placed the melted cheese dip on hot Dining Stones and served with various dipping corn chips.
Fitting neatly in pan
Meat balls are always a hit at any party so I knew that item had to be on my list. I purchased three pounds of ground beef, eggs, and a stroganoff seasoning packet for my ingredients. I beat three eggs in a large bowl and after whipping in the stroganoff packet for my own twist on the recipe, then crumbled the ground beef and blended all together. I used a deep set spoon to measure each one because I wanted them to all be a uniform size. I had prepared this the day before the event and baked it in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes with aluminum foil covering the dish.
Bite Sized Meatballs
After it cooled, I set it in the refrigerator. It only needed to be in the oven another 30 minutes on the day of the party.
Easy … simple!
For the crostini, I used french bread cut on an angle and brushed with extra virgin olive oil. I placed them on a cookie sheet and baked until just before they turned brown. I used basil and tomato Classico Bruschetta since tomatoes and fresh vegetables aren’t in season right now in Iowa. That could just be an excuse on my part but I love this particular bruschetta blend and wouldn’t come close to duplicating it.
Just before the seasoning!
My family loves baked potato wedges with melted cheese and crumbled smoked bacon pieces. I cut the freshly washed potatoes into wedges and then blanched them until they started to be translucent. My twist on the recipe is putting the wedges in a large plastic bag with olive oil and McCormick Montreal Chicken seasoning sprinkles. I topple the bag around to mix it up then dump into a casserole dish to bake for 30 minutes. Then I sprinkled shredded cheddar cheese and cooked bacon pieces on top.
Dessert
Smores Cake
I ran across an amazing recipe for Smores cake a while back and just loved it, so I made my own version of that dessert. I took a full box of graham crackers and placed in a plastic zipper bag. I rolled a bottle over it to break up all the pieces evenly. Then I melted two sticks of real butter and blended well with two tablespoons of real vanilla. Half of that mixture went in the bottom of a small (9″ x 9″) glass casserole dish. On top of that I sprinkled a layer of miniature marshmallows, then a layer of the very small chocolate chips. I repeated the layering and pressed it down gently to fill in empty spaces.
Time Savers!!!
Then in the oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. That is the perfect melting temperature. When it cooled, I was able to cut it into squares and served with a dollop of whipped cream. Delicious!
Time Savers
The egg rolls and cheese balls were not made from scratch but I needed to save time somewhere.
Happy New Year!
