Holiday Entertaining

I served this punch at our holiday supper club brunch. Tastes great and looks like Christmas!

POINSETTIA PUNCH

1 quart of cranberry juice
1 quart of pineapple juice
2 quarts of ginger ale
1 1/4 cups of sugar

Mix juices and sugar in a punch bowl until the sugar dissolves. Add ginger ale right before serving.

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This vinaigrette is wonderful! Great on a holiday salad with pears, crumbled gorgonzola, dried cherries and walnuts.

DARK CHERRY BALSAMIC VINAIGRETTE

Source: Nordstrom Entertaining at Home Cookbook

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/2 cup cherry preserves
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 cup canola oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

PREPARE VINAIGRETTE:

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the balsamic vinegar, sugar and garlic and bring to a simmer, stirring frequently to dissolve the sugar. Simmer the mixture, uncovered, until reduced by half, about 10 minutes. Add the cherry preserves and cook for 1 minute longer. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature, then whisk in the red wine vinegar followed by the canola oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Notes: The vinaigrette recipe yields about 2 1/2 cups of dressing. Place extra dressing in a sealed jar and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks. Use on other salads, or drizzle over grilled shrimp or lobster.

Holiday Hors d'Oeuvres

We had these at the lake this past weekend. My only suggestion would be to make the rolls a day in advance to let the flavors come together.

CRANBERRY FETA PINWHEELS

1 (6 ounce) package sweetened dried cranberries
1 (250 g) container spreadable cream cheese
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup chopped green onions
4 large flour tortillas or wheat flour tortillas or spinach tortillas

1. Combine all ingredients except tortillas, mix well.
2. Divide and spread mixture evenly among tortillas.
3. Roll up tightly, wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least one hour.
4. To serve cut into 12 slices.

Source: Cooking Light Board

Time to Bake the Cookies!

Sweet, decadent and very festive! Great cookie to give for the holidays!



CHOCOLATE SANDWICH COOKIES

2 packages (18.25 ounce) devil's food cake mix
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 package (8 ounce) cream cheese, softened
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
3 to 4 cups confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a mixing bowl, beat cake mixes, eggs and oil. Batter will be very stiff. Roll into 1 inch balls. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool on sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

In a separate mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and butter. Add sugar and vanilla; mix until smooth. Divide and tint icing. Spread on cooled cookie bottom and top with a cookie to create a sandwich.

Makes approximately 4 dozen

Notes: I used Duncan Hines brand cake mix and baked the cookies for the full 10 minutes.

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These cookies are soft and delicious!

RED VELVET CRINKLES


1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons natural unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon salt (I used 1 teaspoon)
2 tablespoon milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 (1-oz) bottle red food coloring
1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar

Preheat your oven to 350 F. Line baking sheet with parchment or a Silpat.

Beat together the butter and brown sugar on medium speed with mixer until it is creamy. Add egg, beating until combined.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, beating until combined. Add milk, vanilla, and red food coloring, mix to combine.

Place your confectioner's sugar in a large bowl.

Using a teaspoon size cookie scoop, drop dough into your confectioner's sugar.
Cover with confectioners' sugar then gently roll in the confectioner's sugar and into a ball. Drop ball back into the sugar several times, coating well with the sugar.

Place your cookie balls onto your prepared cookie sheets and bake for 12 minutes. Cool on pans for 5 minutes.

Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes approximately 2-3 dozen.

Source: Southern Living Board/JawJuh Peach's Recipe

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I've been baking these gingerbread cookies since 2004. Richard (my brother) loves these!!!

GINGERBREAD COOKIES



1 (3.5 ounce) package cook and serve butterscotch pudding mix
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla

In a medium bowl, cream together the dry butterscotch pudding mix, butter, and brown sugar until smooth. Stir in the egg and vanilla.

Combine the flour, baking soda, ginger, and cinnamon; stir into the pudding mixture. Cover and chill dough until firm, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease baking sheets or use a Silpat.

On a floured board, roll dough out to about 1/8 inch thickness, and cut into shapes using a cookie cutter. Place cookies 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until cookies are golden at the edges.

Cool on wire racks.

Makes approximately 2 ½ dozen cookies.

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JEWELED THUMBPRINTS



2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1/2 pound) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

About 2 tablespoons seedless raspberry jam
About 2 tablespoons apricot preserves
About 2 tablespoons strawberry preserves

Equipment: 1/2-inch-thick wooden spoon handle or dowel

Make dough:

Whisk together flour and salt. Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until very pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Beat in egg and vanilla. At low speed, mix in flour mixture in 3 batches just until a dough forms. Divide dough in half and form each piece into a 6-inch disk, then chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, about 1 hour.

Assemble and bake cookies:

Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
Roll level teaspoons of dough each into a ball and then flatten each ball slightly (to 1 inch wide and less than 1/2 inch thick). Arrange them on baking sheet and then make a deep indentation in center of each round with wooden spoon handle.

Fill indentations in each cookie with about 1/8 teaspoon jam avoiding any large pieces of fruit.

Bake until cookies are baked through and golden-brown on edges, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool on baking sheets 5 minutes and then transfer to racks to cool completely.

Bake more batches on cooled baking sheets lined with fresh parchment.

Cook's Notes: Dough can be chilled up to 2 days. Cookies keep, layered between sheets of parchment, in an airtight container at room temperature 1 week.

Source: Gourmet (recipe is called "Trios" on the website)

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One of my most favorite things to do during the holidays is bake cookies. Here is a new recipe that I tried today. It's a keeper!

CHOCOLATE MINT CANDY COOKIES



1 ½ sticks of unsalted butter (3/4 cup)
1 ½ cups light brown sugar
2 tablespoons water
2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
2 large eggs
2 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 (4.67 ounce) boxes of Andes Crème de Menthe Thins (56 pieces total)

In a saucepan over medium heat, cook the sugar, butter and water stirring occasionally until melted. Remove from heat and stir in the chocolate chips until melted. Set chocolate mixture aside to cool for 10 minutes.

Pour the chocolate mixture into a large bowl. Beat in the eggs one at a time. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Stir flour mixture into the cooled chocolate mixture. Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease cookie sheets or use a non-stick pad (ex. Silpat). Roll cookies into walnut size balls and place 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheet.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. When the cookies come out of the oven, press one mint thin into the top of each cookie and let sit for about 2 minutes. When the mint is softened, swirl with back of a spoon or wooden pick. Cool cookies on a wire rack.

Makes approximately 4 dozen cookies.

Enjoy & Happy Holidays!

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SNICKERDOODLES (See Sideline Sweets section for recipe)