Festive Cranberry Salsa

I love an appetizer that is festive looking, incredibly tasty, and super easy to make.  You too, huh?  Then allow me to introduce you to...cranberry salsa.  This recipe is really fast to make and requires very little clean up.  And the vibrant red and green colors make it the perfect appetizer.  You could even serve it at your Christmas meal as your cranberry side.  Too bold?  If that's going against tradition too much, bring it as an appetizer, and it may just make its way to the main course.  It's that good.  I like to serve it with chips, but I was just thinking how wonderful it would be over some warm brie or maybe a block of cream cheese.  Hmmm, I'm liking the sound of that more and more.  Maybe I'll try that next time. :)

Festive Cranberry Salsa

You will need:

12 oz. raw cranberries
1/2 large jalapeño, de-seeded
1 small bunch green onions
1/2 bunch cilantro
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/3 cup sugar (heaping)
1/4 cup orange juice

How to make it:

In a food processor, pulse the cranberries until finely diced.  Put cranberries in a medium sized bowl.  In the same food processor, pulse the green onions, jalapeño, cilantro, salt, and pepper until finely diced.  Add to the cranberries.  Stir in the sugar and orange juice. Allow salsa to sit in the refrigerator for a few hours before serving.

Smoked Turkey Sliders with Pesto Mayo

These sliders were a team effort.  Jack smoked the turkey breasts, and I made the pesto mayo and did all of the assembly.  We served these at a Christmas Party we hosted.  It is the perfect party food.  Easy to grab and eat.  You can serve it chilled or warm.  And they are darn tasty.  Everyone loved them, and the star of the slider is definitely the turkey.  Kudos to Jack for mastering the smoked turkey on the Green Egg.  

The recipe for the turkey breast can be found here (we omitted the potatoes).

Smoked Turkey Sliders with Pesto Mayo

You will need:

1 5-6 lb. turkey breast

36 Hawaiian King Rolls

1/2 cup mayo

1/3 cup pesto

9 slices swiss cheese

How to make it:

Carve the smoked turkey into pieces that will fit easily on the sliced rolls.  

Cut each cheese slice into four squares.  

Combine pesto and mayo in a bowl and stir until completely combined.  

Create an assembly line: spread pesto mayo on one side of a roll, top with one square of swiss cheese and two pieces of turkey. It's as easy as that! :)

Progressive Christmas Party

We hosted a really fun progressive Christmas Party at our house this year and had a blast.  Our house was the main course, and we had a whole spread of yummy food.  I think we had 35 people come, and we ate almost everything!  My talented sister-in-law, Allison, did all of the flowers for me, and they were festive and beautiful.  I loved having friends at our home and celebrating the season in such a fun way.  And it's nothing like a party to get your house in order.  I'm already looking forward to the party next year....

Below is the menu I served along with several appetizers and a salad from sweet friends who offered to bring something.  The key was making things that can be served at room temperature and can be made in advance.  Recipes to be added soon!

Smoked Turkey Sliders with Pesto Mayo

Good Ole' Macaroni & Cheese

Brussels Sprout Salad with Bacon & Almonds

Festive Cranberry Salsa

Prosciutto-wrapped Dates

Mini Caprese Apps & Mini Mascarpone Cranberry Apps

Vegetable Beef Soup

My mom is a really good cook and always made delicious homemade meals.  She had a few go-to meals that were standards for us growing up.  One of those was vegetable beef soup.  I wanted to make it as we were trapped inside during the icepocalypse, but I could not remember where I had put the recipe.  I used what I had, bought a few extra ingredients, and winged it a bit.  It turned out really tasty and definitely hit the spot on this cold December night!

You could make a few substitutes to this base recipe and create all sorts of vegetable soups! A few ideas would be to use ground turkey or chicken instead of beef, or you could use any vegetables you have.  Add more tomatoes to make it more of a red base or more beef stock to make it a thinner soup.  The possibilities are endless!

Vegetable Beef Soup

You will need:

2 lbs ground beef
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, diced
1 poblano, chopped
1 16 oz bag frozen mixed veggies
1 28 oz can whole peeled tomatoes
1 15.5 oz can fire roasted diced garlic tomatoes
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
2 cups beef stock

How to make it:
In a large dutch oven, brown the ground beef.  Drain onto a plate once cooked.

In the same pan,  add olive oil and sweat onion, garlic and poblano until onion translucent.  Add all of the spices and heat for 2 minutes.  Add diced tomatoes and crush the whole tomatoes with your hand into the pan.  Cook for 5-10 minutes and then add the beef back to the pan.  Pour in the beef stock, stir to combine, and allow soup to simmer for approximately 45 minutes until desired consistency is reached.  Serve with shredded cheese and chopped green onions.

French Breakfast Puffs

I love the Pioneer Woman.  Her blog is hilarious and everything she makes looks scrumptious.  Almost all of her dishes would not be part of any diet, but that is probably what makes them all look so yummy.  Last weekend we had an unlikely ice storm sweep through Dallas.  I made the Pioneer Woman's French Breakfast Puffs for Jack's bible study group, but because of the snow, no one came over.  Thus, Jack and I had a few too many breakfast puffs for the two of us.  Oh well.  I don't regret eating a sweet treat for breakfast on Saturday morning.  And a snack on Saturday afternoon.  And breakfast on Sunday.  You get the idea.

Riley was so confused by but absolutely loved the snow.

Biscuits covered in butter and cinnamon and sugar.  That's basically what these babies taste like.  The muffin is basic, but once you soak them in butter and then roll them in cinnamon sugar, an ordinary muffin is transformed into a treat.  These are an easy and quick breakfast that will make your guests think you bought them from the nearby bakery.  Try them!

French Breakfast Puffs

You will need:

3 cups Flour
3 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
1 cup Sugar
2/3 cups Shortening (Crisco)
2 whole Eggs
1 cup Milk
1-1/2 cup Sugar
3 teaspoons Cinnamon
2 sticks Butter

How to make it:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 12 muffin cups.

In a large bowl stir together flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Set aside.

In a different bowl, cream together 1 cup sugar and shortening. Then add eggs and mix again. Add flour mixture and milk alternately to creamed mixture, beating well after each addition.

Fill prepared muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden.

In a bowl, melt 2 sticks butter. In a separate bowl combine remaining sugar and cinnamon. Dip baked muffins in butter, coating thoroughly, then coat with cinnamon-sugar mixture.