Holidays are a time for near and dear ones to come together and celebrate love, friendship and the warmth of the festive season. Holidays also signify another important aspect in our lives - food. And lots of it! So whether you are a healthy eater, a cheese lover, a sweet tooth aficionado or a weekend boozer, here are a few unique holiday recipes which are sure to make your guests asking for more!
Frosty The Snowman Cheese & Crackers
INGREDIENTS
2 8 oz blocks of cream cheese at room temperature
1 oz package ranch seasoning mix (optional)
1 1/2 cups finely shredded white cheddar or mozzarella
1 baby carrot
A stalk of green onion
whole peppercorns or cloves
3-4 raisins
2 pretzel sticks
DIRECTIONS
Allow the cream cheese to come to room temperature. In a bowl, mix the cream cheese and ranch dressing mix. Ranch dressing gives flavor to the dip. You can skip it, if needed.
Make 2 balls out of the cheese mixture - a large one for the body, and a smaller one for the head.
Transfer cheese mixtures to two separate sheets of plastic wrap and cover them up.
Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
Right before serving, remove the plastic wrap and roll the balls over a plate of shredded cheese.
Place smaller cheese ball onto larger cheese ball on a serving platter.
Slice the tip off of a baby carrot and press into cheese ball to make a nose.
Use whole peppercorns or cloves for mouth and eyes.
Use raisins for buttons.
Secure a stalk of green onion around the neck with a clove, to form a scarf.
Stick in two pretzel sticks for arms.
Serve with crackers.
Pita Bread Christmas Trees
INGREDIENTS
2-4 Pita or naan bread rounds
Pomegranate seeds or finely chopped red pepper
Your favorite guacamole recipe
16-20 pretzel sticks
(Optional) yellow pepper
DIRECTIONS
Cut pita or naan bread into large triangles.
Poke a hole in the rounded side and insert a pretzel stick as the stem.
Spread guacamole on each pita triangle.
Layer red pepper pieces or pomegranate seeds in a zig zag line onto guacamole.
(Optional) Cut small stars from yellow pepper and place them on top of each tree
Persimmon Bundt Cake
I especially love this time of the year, as my favorite fruit, persimmon, is in abundance. Shoutout to my friend, Neelu Y, for this delicious reicipe.
INGREDIENTS
2 tsp baking soda
3 cups finely chopped Fuyu persimmons
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 2/3 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
1 cup chopped walnut
3/4 cup raisins
Red and Green frosting
Powdered sugar
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Grease and flour a 10-inch bundt pan
Blend baking soda into chopped persimmons and set aside.
Beat butter with sugar.
Add eggs, lemon juice, vanilla and beat till fluffy.
Stir in persimmons.
Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and spices.
Stir into the persimmon mixture until fully blended
Add walnuts and raisins.
Pour into the prepared pan.
Bake for 55-60 mins, until a toothpick inserted into the pan comes out clean.
Let cool in the pan for 15 mins and then turn onto a rack.
Dust powdered sugar over the cake and drizzle red and green frosting to give it a festive look.
Christmas Tree Pinwheels
INGREDIENTS
2 packages 8oz each cream cheese at room temperature
(Optional) 1/2 cup sour cream at room temperature
1/2 packet or about 1 1/2 tablespoons ranch dressing and seasoning mix
5-8 green tortillas 8 inch
Slice of sharp cheddar cheese for the star
Fillings for pinwheel - shredded carrot, dried cranberries, walnuts, finely chopped red, yellow and green bell pepper etc.
DIRECTIONS
Using a hand or stand mixer beat the cream cheese and sour cream (Optional) together.
Add powdered ranch mix and blend until smooth.
Add in the fillings and mix until combined.
Lay spinach tortilla on a flat surface.
Spread cream cheese mixture all the way to the edges of the tortilla.
Roll tortilla tightly. To seal the tortilla closed, use a small amount of the cream cheese mixture.
Slice into even sections, about 1-1 1/2 inch pieces
Arrange as a Christmas tree on a flat board.
Cut a star out of a slice of sharp cheddar cheese and place it at the top of the tree.
Enjoy
Christmas Tree Veggie Dip
INGREDIENTS
Baby Carrots
broccoli florets
4-5 pretzel sticks
Cherry tomatoes
Cauliflower florets
Your favorite veggie dip
Red or yellow bell pepper for the star
DIRECTIONS
Arrange all the veggies to form a Christmas tree using the cherry tomatoes as decorations, as shown in the picture.
Line the pretzel sticks to form the trunk of the tree.
Cut a star from the red or yellow bell pepper and place it at the top of the tree.
Serve the veggies with your favorite dip.
Christmas Grinch fruit skewers
INGREDIENTS
small bag of mini marshmallows
Strawberries
Banana
Green Grapes
Toothpicks
DIRECTIONS
Cut off the bottom of the strawberry and discard.
Slice the banana into thin rounds.
Using a toothpick, assemble the Grinch with the grape for the body, then banana slice, then strawberry and the mini marshmallow on top.
If the toothpick is not long enough to stick out from the grape bottom, insert the second toothpick into the bottom of the grape.
Red & Green Curry Leaf (Kari patta) Martini
INGREDIENTS
Vodka - 60ml
Sugar syrup – 1 tbsp
Lemon juice – 1 tsp
Curry leaves – 5-6
Ginger – 1/2 inch piece
Ice
Few sprigs of curry leaves for garnish
Red chilli powder+salt+sugar for rim
DIRECTIONS
Grind a handful of curry leaves with a little ginger with a little water. This makes enough paste to last a few rounds.
Mix the above concoction of vodka, lemon juice, a table spoon of ground curry leaves, sugar syrup in a cocktail shaker with ice.
For a holiday green/red touch, serve in a chilled martini glass rimmed with chilli powder, salt and sugar. Garnish with a stalk of curry leaves.
To make the classic martini, you can replace the vodka with gin and vermouth.
Puff Pastry pull-apart Christmas Tree
INGREDIENTS
2 sheets of Pepperidge Farm puff pastry
Pesto Sauce or Marinara sauce
slice of cheddar cheese for the star
Cherry tomatoes
1 egg
DIRECTIONS
Roll out the first sheet of puff pastry onto a piece of parchment paper. THEN gently lift the parchment paper and place it on to a baking sheet.
Spread the pesto sauce or marinara sauce on the sheet of puff pastry that's on the baking sheet. Then add the second sheet of puff pastry on top to make a sandwich.
Make a template out of another sheet of parchment paper in the shape of a triangle.
Cut the Christmas tree shape out of the parchment paper.
Lay the template on top of the puff pastry.
Use a Pizza Wheel Cutter or a sharp knife and cut out the Christmas tree shape in the puff pastry making sure you cut a tree trunk at the bottom.
Lay the extra sections of puff pastry aside. You'll need to cut the star for the top of the tree with this extra puff pastry.
Make the branches of the tree by slicing into the puff pastry, starting half an inch from the center and cutting till the end. Do this from the top to the bottom of the triangular tree, on either side, with an inch of uncut portion running in the middle from top to bottom. Make sure each branch is about an inch thick.
Then start twisting.
Press the edges of the twisted branches down into the puff pastry so they don't pop up.
Brush the entire tree with the beaten egg.
Bake in the preheated 375° F oven for 15 minutes or until the entire pastry is puffed and golden brown.
Cut a star out of a slice of sharp cheddar cheese and place it at the top of the tree. Decorate the tree with the cherry tomatoes as ornaments.
Serve with your favorite dip.
New Years Fruit Skewer
Almost everyone's New Year Resolution is to eat healthy. So what better way to start off your resolution than with this fruit platter for a New Years Eve party.
INGREDIENTS
Strawberries
Blueberries
Block of sharp cheddar cheese
Kiwi
Pineapple slices
Black olives
Wooden skewers
DIRECTIONS
Cut off the bottom of the strawberries.
Slice the black olives in half.
Cut pineapples, kiwi and the block of cheese into small cubes.
Thread all the ingredients onto the skewers as shown in the picture.
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