Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Welcome Food Lovers!

*Addendum to the Brie appetizer*

I am making these for New Year's Eve and I found premade phyllo dough cups at our SuperTarget. They're made by Athens and here they were around $2 for 15 of them. I know my recipe says puff pastry but hey, these will work and make it much easier. I am making homemade cranberry sauce though.

I am very willing to admit that I am a recipe junkie. I collect recipes and cookbooks like some people collect stamps. And I am sad to say that many recipes and even whole books remain untouched. I am hoping that starting this blog will motivate me to crack open some of those books and try more recipes. I have been making the same things for a while now and I think it's time to start shaking things up.

I'm going to start, since we're so close to Christmas, with some holiday recipes that I have already tried. When we still lived in Connecticut, Christmas Eve was spent with either my husband's family or at my mother's and at both places just appetizers and desserts were served. The last 2 years we spent up there I made the same thing. I'm not sure it has a name...I got the recipe from my next door neighbor. You need a sheet of puff pastry, some brie and some whole cranberry sauce. Cut small rounds out of the pastry using a small round cookie cutter. Place the rounds in a mini muffin tin, add a small chunk of brie and top with the cranberry sauce. Bake according to the directions on the pastry until they are golden and the brie is melted. Voila...a very simple yet yummy appetizer.

When it comes to holiday dinners, I have tried a couple things. I made braciole a couple years in a row but last year I made a roasted beef tenderloin served with horseradish mustard sauce and bacon and Brussels sprout hash. I am making tenderloin again this year but my husband requested I make Lighthouse Potatoes which we first had a few years ago at my cousin's house. They don't seem to go with tenderloin to me but since he asked for them, I'll make them. Here's the recipe:

Lighthouse Potatoes

32 oz. bag of frozen hash browns
16 oz. light sour cream
1 medium onion, chopped
1 can of cream of chicken soup (I use the low fat, low sodium kind)
1 tsp. garlic powder
2 cups of shredded cheddar (I've also used shredded Mexican Cheese).

Thaw the hash browns in the fridge overnight. In a large bowl, mix together everything except half the cheese.. Spread the mixture into a pan (I use 9x13, I think) and top with the remaining cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

I'll also be serving a roasted beet and spinach salad but I kind of wing that.

For Christmas morning I make an Overnight Sausage and Egg Bake that cooks while we're opening presents.

I think I'll make the Brussels Spouts for New Year's to go with our prime rib although Guy Fieri made these the other day and they looked good too and then I can just roast some fingerling potatoesa with some rosemary. Yummy!

Happy Holidays everyone!