CHRISTMAS DINNER 2006
Walnut Balls with Apricot Barbecue Sauce
Tofu & Butter Lettuce Salad with Lemon Orange Vinaigrette
Dan's Yams
Baked Corn Pudding
Wild Rice Dressing
Mashed Potatoes
Berry Pinwheel Cake
Warm Christmas Punch
Walnut Balls with Apricot Barbecue Sauce
Serves 10
from Aunt Shanna
2 ½ c. cracker crumbs
1 ½ c. ground walnuts
1 tsp salt
1 onion – chopped
1 T. sage
1 ½ c. yellow cheese – shredded
3 pressed garlic cloves
1/3 c. parsley
8 eggs
Mix together, form into balls, bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes with sauce.
APRICOT BARBECUE SAUCE
½ c. oil
½ c. lemon juice
1 ½ c. apricot jam
1 t. oregano
1 c. ketchup
4 T. brown sugar
4 T. onion
1 tsp salt
Heat and bring to boil for 5 minutes.
Tofu and Butter Lettuce Salad with Lemon-Orange Vinaigrette
Serves 4
Adapted from Sunset Magazine
Make-ahead tip: Prepare the dressing up to 3 days in advance.
1 package extra firm tofu
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon minced shallot
About 1/4 teaspoon salt
About 1/8 teaspoon pepper
3/4 cup orange-infused olive oil or 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil plus 1/2 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
12 cups bite-size pieces crisped butter lettuce leaves (about 2 heads)
1/2 cup thinly sliced radishes (about 4)
1 avacado, thinly sliced
Bread crumbs (recipe follows)
The dressing was a little bitter so I added some honey.
Saute tofu in a little olive oil over medium-high heat until brown.
In a small bowl, combine lemon peel, juice, shallot, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper; let stand at least 15 minutes. Whist in olive oil.
In a large serving bowl, mix lettuce, radishes, avocado, and tofu with enough lemon-orange vinaigrette to coat. SAve extra vinaigrette for another use. Divide mixture among four plates. Top with bread crumbs, if using.
BREAD CRUMBS
In a food processor, whirl 1 slice
egg bread to fine crumbs. In a small frying pan over medium-hight heat, melt 1 tablespoon
butter. Add bread crumbs and stir until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Stir in
salt and
pepper to taste. A teaspoon or two of
fresh herbs are also a nice addition. Spread crumbs on paper towels to cool.
Dan's Yams
from Dan O'Hayre, a guy I used to work with at Duke Energy - He was a single guy who brought this yummy dish to an office potluck.
6 yams
(I think I prefer sweet potatoes...the yams were a little stringy.)
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup brown sugar
6 big marshmallows
Place yams in water and boil until you can easily stick a knife through them.
Drain, and peel skin.
Mash.
Mix the next 6 ingredients together.
Place yams in a baking dish and pour the 6 ingredient mixture over the top.
Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.
Place the marshmallows over the yams. Bake for an additional 5 minutes until marshmallows are golden brown.
Baked Corn Pudding
from Taste of Home Magazine
Serves 10
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 eggs
1 cup milk
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 can (15-1/4 ounces) whole kernel corn, drained
1 can (14-3/4 ounces) cream-style corn
In a bowl, combine the sugar and flour. Whisk in the eggs, milk, butter, salt, and pepper. Stir in the corn and cream-stle corn. Pour into a greased 1-1/2 qt. baking dish. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.
Wild Rice Dressing
adapted from Real Simple Magazine
Serves 6-8
Make-ahead tip - Assemble the dressing but do not bake it. Cover and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. Bake as directed, adding 10 minutes to the baking time.
1 32-ounce container vegetable broth
1 cup wild rice
1 1/4 cups brown rice
1 stick unsalted butter, plus more for the dish
1 small yellow onion, finely choppped
3 stalks celery, finely chopped
1 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, finely chopped
1/4 cup fresh sage, finely chopped
1 cup pecans, finely chopped
1 cup dried apricots or cranberries, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a pot, over medium-high heat, bring the broth and 2 cups water to a boil. Add the wild rice and brown rice, reduce heat to low, and cover. Simmer until tender, about 45 minutes. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add the onion and celery and cook for 10 minutes. Add the cooked rice, parsley, sage, pecans, apricots or cranberries, slat, and pepper and toss. Transfer to a buttered casserole. Cover and bake for 25 minutes.
Mashed Potatoes
from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook
Serves 4
Make-ahead tip - Prepare as directed, except, after adding milk, freeze mashed potatoes in 1/2 cup mounds on a baking sheet. When firm, place in a plastic bag; seal. To reheat, place on a greased baking sheet. If desired, brush with melted butter. BAke in a 325 degree oven about 25 minutes or until heated through.
3 medium potatoes (1 pound)
2 tablespoons butter
Milk
Peel and quarter potatoes. Cook, covered, in a small amount of boiling lightly salted water for 20 to 25 minutes or until tender. Drain. Mash wiht a potato masher or beat with an electric mixer on low speed. Add butter and salt and pepper to taste. Gradually beat in enough milk (2 to 4 tablespoons) to make light and fluffy.
Berry Pinwheel Cake
from Taste of Home Magazine
Serves 8
Kenny likes to have his birthday cake served after Christmas dinner. It's always challenging for a chocolate lover like me to come up with a recipe that does not include chocolate. I chose this recipe because it looked festive with the red strawberries, but it would be better to prepare this cake in the summer when the strawberries are fresh. I used a baking pan that was slightly larger than 15x10x1 and the cake was spread way too thin and it scorched. It worked better the second time around with the correct dimensions, though the cake broke when I tried to roll it. Instead of a rolled cake we had a layered cake. For better success, follow the directions from Cooking Light.
4 egg yolks
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
4-1/2 teaspoons water
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
FILLING:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoons lemon curd
(Kenny found it at Trader Joe's. It's yummy!)
2 cups chopped fresh strawberries
In a large mixing gbowl, beat the egg yolks, eggs, and sugar until thick and lemon-colored. Beat in the water, oil, and vanilla. Combine flour, baking power, and salt; gradually add to egg mixture.
Grease a 15-in.x10-in.x1-in. baking pan and line with waxed paper; greas and flour the paper. Spread batter into pan.
Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until the cake springs back when lightly touched. Cool for 5 minutes. Turn cake onto a kitchen towel dusted with confectioners' sugar. Peel off waxed apper. Roll up cake in towel jelly-roll style, starting with a short side. Coll on a wire rack.
In a mixing bowl, beat cream until soft peaks form; add sugar, beating until stiff. Fold in lemon curd; gradually fold in strawberries. Unroll cake; spread filling evenly to within 1/2 in. of edges. Roll up again; dust with confectioners' sugar. Cover and chill for 1 hour before serving. Refrigerate leftovers.
Warm Christmas Punch
from Taste of Home Magazine
Makes 2 quarts
Kenny bought pure cranberry juice for this and it was a little strong. We ended up serving it chilled and diluted with Sprite.
1 bottle (32 ounces) cranberry juice
1 can (32 ounces) pineapple juice
1/3 cup red-hot candies
1 cinnamon stick
Additional cinnamon sticks, optional
In a slow cooker, combine juices, red-hots, and cinnamon stick. Cook on low for 2-5 hours. Remove cinnamon stick before serving. Use additional cinnamon sticks as stirrers if desired.
Sophie's grandma is visiting from Idaho. We thought it would be fun to go to the beach. Sophie had a great time running and wriggling her toes in the sand. It wasn't long before she was wet and sandy and she wanted to take off her clothes. Luckily it wasn't too cold so she could run around comfortably in her Pull-Up. She was quite independent and took off on little walks by herself. She would come back and tell us that she went geocaching. She doesn't have a word for hiking...she uses geocaching instead. Fair enough. We got the GPS last year for Christmas, so all she knows really is geocaching...hiking with a purpose. Kenny was amazed that she walked all the way up the hill to the car. He thought for sure that she would ask to be carried. She was a big girl.
