A Few Christmas Recipe Ideas

Our family's Thanksgiving menu is pretty much set in stone, but the Christmas menu varies quite a bit. This year we're having Christmas dinner at my parents' house and they're hosting a crowd. My mom is making a ham and my dad is smoking a turkey (his specialty!) and it's up to all the rest of us to bring the appetizers, sides and desserts. I've spent a good chunk of time this morning perusing recipes on food websites hoping I can find some inspiration. I though I'd pass along a few of the recipes that sounded like they could be good contenders to make this year's menu. Maybe they'll be on your table too!

Appetizers

- French Onion Tart - I think I'd add goat cheese and some arugula on top!

- Mushrooms Stuffed With Brie

- Blue Cheese Straws

- Roasted Tomato Appetizer

- Savory Tomato Bread Pudding Bites

- Cheese Balls Three Ways

Mains

- Fig and Orange Glazed Ham

- Maple Roast Turkey and Gravy

- Roasted Filet of Beef with Whole Grain Mustard Herb Crust

- Individual Beef Wellingtons

- Pork Loin with Dried Fruit and Chestnut Stuffing

Sides

- Honey-Glazed Roasted Carrots and Parsnips

- Green Bean Casserole - two options

- Creamy Herbed Potatoes

- Parker House Rolls

- Roasted Acorn Squash Salad

- Sweet Potatoes - Ruth's Chris Style

- Asparagus with Dijon Vinaigrette

- Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

- Cornbread Biscuit Dressing

- Christmas Salad

Desserts

- Christmas Rum Cake

- Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies

- Pear Upside Down Cake

- Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Dulce de Leche

Brunch Ideas

- Monkey Bread

- Charleston Breakfast Casserole

- Pigs in a Blanket

- Gingerbread Waffles

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Santa Fe Soup

Santa Fe Soup

adapted from AllRecipes.com

1 lb ground beef

1/2 white onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1 T chili powder

1 T Tex-Mex Seasoning

2 14-oz cans of diced tomatoes with chilies, drained

1 can corn, drained

1 can ranch style beans

1/2 c chicken broth

1 lb Velveeta, chopped

avocado, sliced (optional)

tortilla chips or fresh tortillas, for serving

In a large pot over medium heat, brown ground beef with chopped onion and garlic. Drain off fat. Add chili powder, Tex-Mex seasoning, diced tomatoes, corn, beans, broth and velveeta. Stir well to combine. Lower heat to medium-low and continue cooking until cheese is melted.

For serving, ladle soup into bowls. Top with avocado. Serve with tortilla chips.

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PW's Blackberry Cobbler

My daughter loves blackberries so I buy a pint almost every week at the grocery store. But one thing that's important for me to remember, which I often don't, is that Finley eat minuscule amounts of food. So at just about any given time, there are multiple containers of half-filled with berries in my refrigerator. I was thumbing through my Pioneer Woman cookbook and found this recipe for blackberry cobbler and I had all the ingredients! Hallelujah!

I thought the name 'cobbler' wasn't really fitting for this recipe. It reminded me more of a clafouti than a cobbler as it has a cake-y dough on the bottom. It's still a delicious dessert though and I'll definitely make it again....but I'll call it by it's proper name - blackberry clafouti. I served it with vanilla ice cream on the side and it really was a great dessert.

Patsy's Blackberry Cobbler

adapted from Ree Drummond's The Pioneer Woman Cooks

1/4 lb (1 stick) butter, melted

1 1/4 c plus 2 T sugar

1 c cake flour

1 c milk

1 t vanilla

a pinch of salt

2 c fresh blackberries, washed and patted dry

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 3-quart baking dish with butter (or nonstick spray).

Place the butter in a bowl and microwave until melted. In a medium bowl, stir together 1 c sugar, flour, milk, vanilla and salt. Whisk in melted butter. Pour the batter into prepared baking dish. Sprinkle blackberries over the batter. Sprinkle berries with 1/4 c sugar.

Bake for 1 hour, or until golden brown and bubbly.

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Pumpkin Cheesecake

I mentioned this recipe briefly in a previous blog post about Thanksgiving dishes, but I wanted it to have it's own dedicated post since it really is one of my very favorite fall desserts. The filling is so creamy and pumpkin-y and the gingersnap crust is too die for! If you need a fantastic dessert to serve a crowd, I wholeheartedly suggest you make this one!

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Bacon, Potato, Rosemary and Fontina Pizza

I'm always looking for different pizza recipes since I love to serve homemade pizza on the weekends. Nothing says weekend more than pizza, wine and a movie! Anyway, I digress. This pizza was great and such a change from traditional pizza. The name pretty much says it all, except it does leave out the best part - the arugula you put on top after cooking. I love the peppery bite of arugula and I thought it paired nicely with the pizza.

Here are a few thoughts about the recipe though:

1.) Next time, I'll cook the bacon beforehand so it's crisper and the pizza won't be as greasy.

2.) I didn't make my own dough and you don't have too either. Most pizza places will sell you a huge ball of their dough for only $1-2. Score!

3.) While fontina is a wonderful melting cheese, it can be a little pricy (mine was $5.50 and I used it all). Fontina is a mild cheese, so I think you could easily substitute shredded mozzarella for a fraction of the price without sacrificing flavor.

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Chicken and Brie en Croute

Sounds pretty fancy-schmancy! But with only 4 ingredients, this recipe is fabulously easy too! I prepare this a lot when I'm short on time or not feeling particularly inspired to make a really time-consuming meal. This has been one of my go-to recipes for years and I can't believe I haven't posted on it already!

Below I have the basic recipe, but it can easily be adapted to fit your tastes. A few things that I've done in the past: added sauteed mushrooms or other veggies, omitted the brie and used up all the random pieces of cheese in the fridge, made them mini-size for an appetizer, used puff pastry dough in place of the crescent roll dough, used left-over Thanksgiving turkey instead of chicken...Really this versatile recipe is just a good starting off point!

Chicken and Brie en Croute

1 can crescent dough

2 chicken breasts cooked and diced (I usually buy a rotisserie chicken to save time)

4 oz brie cheese (I suggest the garlic & herb flavored brie so you don't have to worry with adding a bunch of herbs yourself. I realize how lazy that makes me...)

2 green onions, sliced

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Unroll the crescent roll dough. Press the seams of 2 triangles together to make a rectangle. You'll end up with a total of 4 rectangles.

To assemble, place a handful of chopped chicken, a few spoonfuls of brie and a smattering of green onions on one half of each rectangle, leaving a little dough showing on all the edges. Fold the dough over itself and press the edges together firmly to seal it. You don't want any of that delicious cheese escaping! Bake on a greased baking pan for about 15-20 minutes or until they are golden brown.

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Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies

I saw this recipe on Food Network's website and I loved that it only had a few ingredients. Sometimes baking intimidates me a little because there is usually so many ingredients and you have to measure everything so exactly or else the recipe may not turn out well. I'm not really an exact measurement kind of gal, so I was excited this find this gem from Paula Deen! I took these cookies to a happy hour and was asked for the recipe - always a good sign! And my husband paused mid-bite to exclaim that the cookies were "amazing"!

Here are a few things I found out about this recipe that I thought I'd pass along:

1.) since the dough is chilled, the cookies don't spread out very much

2.) it makes a ton of cookies! I think I made close to a 100, which could be great if you need to make a lot of cookies for a bake sale, Christmas party, etc.

3.) the dough can be refrigerated for several days and then baked

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