Special Recipes for the Winter Holidays You Celebrate

I'm normally all about making simple food with high quality ingredients. This one isn't in line with those principals, probably one of the reasons I only make it around Christmas...

Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Dates

Get This:

16 rashers of bacon
32 pitted dates
1/3 cup crumbled blue cheese
32 roasted almonds
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
About a half an hour of prep time, easier to do if you don't have to work around other people cooking at the same time.

Do This:

Cut bacon rashers in half width-wise. In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until partially cooked but not crisp. Remove bacon to paper towels to drain but keep it warm by putting the bacon on a baking sheet in the oven at 175.

Cut a lengthwise slit down the center of each date, being careful not to cut through completely. Fill each date with 1/2 teaspoon bleu cheese and an almond. Wrap each date with a piece bacon then secure the bacon to the date using a toothpick.

Place the wrapped, stuffed dates in foil-lined baking pan and brush tops with honey. Bake at 375° for 9-11 minutes or until bacon is crisp. Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper.

Want to make this ahead of time? The stuffed and wrapped dates can be made a day in advance, just cover and refrigerate. Brush with honey just before baking.

During the days between Christmas Eve and New Years day there is a never ending supply of snack foods. I like the recipe below for football season but it's also a nice treat to have on hand during the Christmas season. Of course if I make this snack it has to be spicy so if you have little ones or folks who can't handle spicy foods there are a few things you'll want to omit from this recipe.

An Improved Version of the Original Chex Mix Recipe:

Get This Stuff:

6 cups Wheat Chex
6 cups Corn Chex
6 cups Rice Chex
1 can Mixed Nuts
2 cups mini pretzels, use Christmas Shaped pretzels if you want
1 1/2 cups Fish-shaped Crackers
1 1/2 cups Sesame Bagel Chips broken up into 1 inch pieces
12 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
3 teaspoons Season Salt
1 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 tablespoon cayenne powder, more or less or none to suit your own taste

Do This:

Preheat oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Place butter in the pan you are going to use - I use a commercial steam table pan - it is the perfect size. Maybe a large roasting pan will work if you don't have any other large roasting pan.

Place pan in oven and allow butter to melt. Measure the dry spices into a bowl and stir until well blended. Combine the other ingredients in to another large mixing bowl, get your paw in there and mix it up (this is a great time to ask for some help from your younger visitors, make sure they have clean hand first - I'm just say'n).

Remove the pan with melted butter from the oven and stir in the Worcestershire sauce until well combined. Add the combined dry spices to the pan and stir until evenly distributed in the pan.

Add all the cereals, nuts, pretzels, crackers, and chips to the pan and begin gently stirring, lifting the stuff on the bottom to the top. I use my paws for this but the little guys and gals are going to get burned if they stick their hands in this mixture so do this part for them or offer up some large spoons and a lot of supervision to make sure no one gets burned. Gently continue mixing until you don't see pools of sauce on the bottom of the pan, indicating the mixture is coating the dry goods.

Place the pan in the oven for an hour, then remove the pan and mix the contents again. Put the pan back int he over and remix every 15 minutes for another hour. There shouldn't be any liquid left on the bottom of the pan after the second hour of cooking.

Remove the contents of the large plan to three large cooling racks covered with paper towels. Allow everything to cool and serve. Normally by the time this stuff hits the cooling racks the vultures swoop in and start picking at it while it's still warm.

I make chex mix all the time. It's about the only thing I snack on. I like to add nuts. Whatever nuts I find on sale. Sometimes cashew pieces, sometimes peanuts, honey roasted, and once in a while pistachios. My very favorite. I like that you can mix it up and add just about anything.

Cooked a ham? Don't you dare throw that bone in the trash! Make some stock with it or even better make...

Potato Soup

Collect This Stuff:

1 ham bone, with a little meat still on the bone
1 medium onion, diced
4 cups water
1/2 teaspoon celery seeds
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
5 medium red potatoes, cut in 1 inch cubes
5 or 6 large carrots, cut into 1 inch cubes
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
1/2 pint heavy cream

Then Do This:

Place first 6 ingredients in a Dutch Oven, bring to a boil over medium heat, and simmer for 30 minutes or until meat easily comes off the bone with a fork. Shred ham from the bone, discard any fat, return meat to the pot. Add diced potatoes and carrots, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender.

While potatoes are cooking, in a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat being careful not to brown. Add flour, stirring constantly until incorporated well. Bring heat to medium/high and gradually stir in the cream, when the mixture is thick and bubbly remove from heat.

When the potatoes are tender, stir the cream sauce mixture into the potato soup pot over medium heat, stirring constantly. Let simmer until soup reaches the desired consistency. You can add milk to adjust (but why would you want to thin this soup out?).

There has been no salt added to this point. Add salt, pepper, garlic, herbs or seasonings to your taste about 15 minutes before serving and double check just before serving. Remember that you can always add seasoning but once it's in the pot it's not coming back out, add a little seasoning at a time and let the flavors develop while the soup cooks.

Years ago when my nieces and nephew were little they loved having books read to them, especially Dr. Seuss books. SO way back when I thought it would be funny to try and come up with a real version of...

Green Eggs and Ham

What You'll Need:

2 tablespoons green food coloring
6 eggs, hard boiled, peeled, cut in half, cooled, and yolks mashed in a bowl
1/4 cup mayonnaise, plus a little more - just like butter, is it possible to have too much?
1 tablespoon yellow mustard, again have a little extra on hand and taste as you go
1/4 cup cooked country ham, finely chopped
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
4 tablespoons green peppers, finely chopped
4 tablespoons carrots, finely chopped
onion, finely chopped, to taste
1 viable explanation that details why your version of green eggs & ham doesn't match the illustrations in the Dr. Seuss book of the same title

How It's Done:

Pour the green food coloring in a bowl and gently roll the egg white halves in it. Let them soak for a while, the longer you leave them in the dye the greener they'll be. Your fingers will turn very green, if that doesn't bother you then keep using your paws. Otherwise there's a thing called a spoon, do some research on that thing if having green fingers isn't an optimal condition for you. I have heard rumors that plastic spoons can be found for free in various fast food restaurants and that they are disposable too. Apparently there is also a special variant of this device called a spork, for the purposes of this recipe either a spoon, spork, or possibly even a fork would all be acceptable instruments to assist you in preparing this dish without turning your fingers green.

Place the egg whites, hollow side down, on a cake rack over a plate or tray and allow to drip-dry. While the egg whites dry, mix the thoroughly mashed yolks with mayonnaise, mustard, and finely chopped ham.

Season the egg yolk mixture with pepper to taste. No salt is needed as ham is salty but hey, I'm not the one who is going to eat your version of this dish so taste it and add salt if you think it needs it. Cayenne would be great in this but it would be a cruel trick to spice this up any further if your target audience is the little shavers. Add green pepper, carrots, or onion, and mix well.

Before filling the whites, gently dab the green egg halves with paper towels to remove excess food coloring. An easy way to fill the egg whites is to transfer the egg yolk mixture into an appropriately sized zip lock bag, squish all of th efilling to one side, then snip off the bottom corner of the empty side of the bag. Instant disposable piping bag! Trying to impress special visitors? Use a pair of pinking sheers to snip the corner off the bag. When filled place each egg in an egg tray or a dish, cover with saran wrap, and chill until serving time.

Lastly, get your story straight. 3-5 year-olds can be very literal so be prepared to attempt to explain the difference between fiction and non-fiction on the fly. Depending on how many beers you have in you when the interrogation starts, it might be more difficult than you initially thought it would be. "Go ask your mother" is a safe answer if you're drawing a blank but when all else fails you can distract the little guys with a piece of candy and a little misdirection; "If I remember right you like chocolate and it just so happens I know that there is some chocolate in the dish on the coffee table... Hey, I think the Peanuts Christmas Special is on TV again..."

Here's a dish that goes well with almost every meal!

Kartoffelpuffer (Potato Pancakes)

What you need:

2 pounds potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 large onion, quartered
1/2 cup milk
1/2 - 1 cup flour (use 1/2 cup flour with drier potatoes; up to 1 cup with potatoes that contain more water)
Salt to taste
Freshly cracked black pepper
2 eggs
Vegetable oil

Git'r Dun:

Grate potatoes and onion into a bowl (use the old Veg-O-Matic if you are making a large quantity, just increase the amount of ingredients proportionally). Add milk, salt, pepper, and eggs. Add the flour a little at a time until the mixture is about the consistency of cake batter. Mix well, use the best tool for the job - your paws (wash 'em first of course)!

In a large, heavy skillet (break out the cast iron!) heat 1/4 inch vegetable oil until hot. Drop potato batter (1/4 cup per pancake) into skillet and fry until golden brown and crisp on both sides.

Drain on a paper towel and eat 'em while they are hot! Especially tasty at breakfast with some scrambles eggs, bacon, and green chili! Equally good on the side with prime rib, steak, roast goose... Or just on their own! The only rule? NO KETCHUP!

Bumping this thread to see if anyone has anything new to share. Here's a repeat but still a recipe that I think has merit and helps to make my Christmas season whole.

Christmas Eve is a busy time, who wants to try and attempt a big formal meal AND make it to Church AND open gifts all on the same night? How about a quick and easy meal that is available to everyone whenever they get hungry on Christmas Eve?

Sauerkraut, Chops, and Sausages

Gather this stuff up:

Canned or your favorite kind of Sauerkraut
Pork chops
Kielbasa
Bratwurst
Weisswurst
Bockwurst

Git'r dun:

Break out the big pot put the raw chops on the bottom, cover with sauerkraut, add in some sausages, cover with sauerkraut... You get the idea! Add water, about 3:1 water to sauerkraut, bring the pot to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Check the chops to make sure they are cooked before serving. This is a low and slow recipe so you will need to check on it every so often and add more water.

My family keeps such a pot on the burner from Christmas Eve day through the day after Christmas along with a bowl of whole boiled potatoes, loaves of good crusty bread, and butter. Since Christmas is a busy time and people are coming and going at all hours of the night and day this works well to keep everyone fed.

This is the kind of meal that you can perpetuate, just add more ingredients when you need to but take care not to add more raw meat unless you will take the time to bring the pot back to a boil first and check the meat to ensure it's fully cooked.