These Christmas Nibblers have been in my recipe box for years and years, many of them dated around 1957 or earlier. Traditions are so comforting at the holiday time, what will you prepare?
Cucumber Rings:
- 1 3 0z pkg soft cream cheese
- 1 tblsp minced chives
- 1 tblsp snipped parsley
- 1 tsp mayo
- 1/4 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 seeded, medium cucumber with peeling on
Procedure:
Combine all ingredients except cucumber. With spoon or apple corer, scoop out inside of cucumber, fill with cheese mixture. Refrigerate until served, and then slice 1/4 inch thick. Double or triple recipe to make lots of slices.
Clam Balls
Ingredients
- 6 chopped, hard-cooked eggs
- 1 tblsp minced chives or onion
- 1/2 cup drained canned minced clams
- 1/2 tsp salt
- dash pepper
- 1/4 c mayo
- 2/3 c chopped walnuts
Combine all ingredients except nuts. Shape into small balls and roll balls into nuts. Refrigerate. Makes about 40 balls.
Variation: Can substitute 1/2 c ground, cooked ham for the clams. Roll balls in crushed corn flakes instead of nuts.
Christmas Balls:
Ingredients:
- Use either soft cream cheese, or a mixture of cream cheese and blue cheese or deviled ham, or even sharp-cheese spread. Add grated onion, curry, tobasco, Worcestershire, or horse-radish to taste. (Go easy, you can always add a bit more but it’s hard to take it away once you’ve added the ingredient, so taste as you go and isn’t that the most fun part??)
- Shape into smal balls or little logs, and roll them in any of the following toppings, coating all sides: Chill well.
Toppings:
- Snipped parsley or chives;
- grated carrots or radishes;
- finely chopped hard-boiled eggs mixed with paprika;
- minced pecans or walnuts or even toasted almonds;
- chopped ripe, green or stuffed olives;
- shredded coconut;
- crushed corn flkes, potato chips or pretzels;
- short thin slivers of salami, bologna, or other ready to serve meat.
Let your imagination soar!
Healthy and delicious Cocktail Prunes:
Remove pits from canned or cooked prunes, or purchase the dried ones, fill with one of the fooling and chill. Really nice with coffee as late evening nibblers.
Fillings:
- Sharp-cheese spread
- Peanut butter, mixed with crisp bacon bits
- Deviled ham, mixed with cream cheese
- Cream cheese, mixed with chopped nuts.
This is a little messy to prepare but surprisingly tasty!
Cream Puff Surprise:
- Just before serving, split part way and fill with chcien, tuna, salmon, turkey, shrimp, or crab-meat salad. This looks homemade, but you can buy prepared salads at the deli and no one will know! A quick treat that can’t be beat!
Roquefort Olives
This has been around a long time, but is a super cheap and delicious nibbler!
Dry well-drained large stuffed olives on paper towels: roll in Roquefort cheese spread, using a knife to coat well, then chopped walnuts mixed with a bit of salt; shape into balls. Refrigerate until served.
Cocktail Salty Hash:
- 1 1/2 c packaged bite-sized shredded wht
- 1 1/2 cups packaged bite-size shredded rice
- 2 cups pretzel sticks
- 1 cup pecan halves
- 1/4 cup salted peanuts
- 1/4 tsp garlic salt
- 2 tblsp melted butter
- (dash of spicy cayenne if desired)
In pre-heated 350 degree oven, place all ingredients in baking pan, tossing to coat well. Bake 15 min and serve cold or warm. Store in tightly covered can to mellow day or so. Yield is about 25 1/4 cup servings. Great to tie up in pretty packages or tins for giving away!
This fbasic, fruity wine is so refreshing and is light on the alcohol, so you won’t feel you indulged too much, unless you DO! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! May all your dreams come true!
Ingredients:
- 1 cup orange juice
- 1/4 cup lime juice
- 1 750 mililiter bottle dry red wine (the better the wine, the better the Sangria, though many people often choose a lower priced wine for this)
- 1/4 to 1/3 cup sugar
- ice
- orange slices
- Lime and lemon slices (lemon optional)
Procedure:
In large glass pitcher, stir together orange juice and lime juice. Add wine and sugar, stirring until sugar dissolves. Cover and chill for 3 to 24 hours.
This Christmas EggNog recipe is an adult version, so keep out of reach of the youngsters. For a nonalcoholic version of Christmas EggNog, just omit the fun and bourbon and increase the milk to 2 and 1/3 cups.
Ingredients:
- 4 beaten egg yolks
- 2 cups milk
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 cup whipping cream
- 2 tblsp light rum
- 2 tblsp bourbon
- 1 tsp vanilla
- dash nutmeg
Procedure -
- In heavy saucepan, combine the egg yoks, milk and sugar. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture just coats a metal spoon. Remove from heat, being careful to not overcook.
- Place the pan in a sink of ice water and stir for 2 minutes as it cools. Stir in whipping cream, rum, bourbon, and vanilla.
- Cover and chill for 4 to 24 hours. Sprinkle with nutmeg in each glass or cup as it’s served.
Enjoy this delicious drink that speaks “Holiday” with every sip!
Cooking Memories…I often remember my aunts and our cooking adventures when I was growing up. It seemed to me that my aunts just automatically knew how to bake everything. I never saw them look at a recipe, but they had written many of them down, and passed them down to me when I’d ask for one.
I can see them today, stirring a bowl in the crook of their arm and walking around the kitchen talking with every step. This recipe must be old…they claimed to have no knowledge as to how the puffs got their name, and swore the recipe was not even theirs, but could not remember how it was passed down.
All I know is, they’re delicious, so make them tonight! Right now! Get off that couch and surprise your guests, the dog, the cat, or just secretly enjoy them alone. Easy, make them often!
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 cup milk
- 3/4 cup flour
- 4 eggs
- 1 tblsp sugar
Procedure:
- Grease muffin cups generously and include the edge and around the top of the cups.
- In saucepan, melt butter (do not brown it) and add milk. Bring to boiling. Add flour all at once, stiring vigorously. Cook and stir until mixture forms a ball that does not separate. Remove from heat and cool for 5 minutes, timing exact.
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating for one minute with a wooden spoon after each addition or until smooth.
- Divide dough evenly among prepared muffin cups, filling cups about 2/3 full, and sprinkle with sugar.
- Bake in 375 degree oven about 30 minutes or unbtil lightly golden brown and puffy. Remove from pan and serve immediately. Great with butter and honey!
This is so quick and easy, and smells yummy, you will be the hit of the party. You are having a party, aren’t you?
More than Five Ingredients, these Homemade muffins are so quick and easy, you’ll never buy the boxed recipe again. Are you a new cook? Dive into this recipe, it’s simple!
Ingredients:
- 1 & 3/4 cups flour
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 beaten egg
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1/4 cup cooking oil
- Streusel Topping, optional
Procedure:
- Prepare muffin tins or line them.
- In mixing bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Form a well in center of flour mixture and set aside.
- In separate bowl, mix egg, milk, and oil. Add this egg mixture all at once to flour mixture and stir just until moistened. Batter will be lumpy.
- Spoon batter into prepared, greased muffin tins or those that you have lined.
- Srinkle Steusel Topping over muffin batter in cups, if desired.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 18 minutes, testing center for doneness.
- Cool for 5 minutes out of oven, and then serve.
Different Type of muffins:
Blueberry: Prepare as above, except add 1/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries and 1 tsp finely shredded lemon peel into batter.
Cranberry: Prepare as above, except add 1 cup coarsely chopped cranberries and 2 tblsp additional sugar. Fold into batter.
Oatmeal: Prepare as above, but reduce flour to 1 1/3 cups and add 3/4 cup rolled oats to flour mixture.
Poppy Seed Muffins: Prepare as above, but increase sugar to 1/2 cup and add 1 tblsp poppy seeds to flour mixture.
Banana Muffins: Prepare as above, but do not use paper liners, grease muffins tins instead. Reduce milk to 1/2 cup, stir 3/4 cup mashed banana and 1/2 cup chopped nuts into flour mixture along with the egg mixture.
Streusell Topping: Mix together 3 tblsp flour, 3 tblsp brown sugar and 1/3 tsp cinnamon. Cut in 2 tblsp butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in 2 tblsp chopped nuts, optional.
Low in sugar, High in cool flavor!!
Four Ingredients
- 1 small 4 serving size package of sugar-free instant pudding (lemon, vanilla, or white chocolate)
- 1 1/3 cups fat-free milk
- 1 c fresh fruit: blueberries, sliced kiwi, sliced strawberries, raspberries or sliced bananas
If arugula is a bit bitter for you, substitute mesclu salad mix or even baby spring greens. All-white canned lump crabmeat, well drained is almost as good as fresh crab meat, almost. However, it’s expensive if you get “real” lump crab meat, so be prepared.
3 Ingredient Citrus Dressing:
- 2 tbsp fresh orange juice
- 1 tbsp fresh lime juice
- 1 teaspoon honey
4 Ingredients for Salad
- 4 cups firmly packed salad greens
- 4 – 6 oz lump crabmeat, fresh or in container from deli, flaked carefully in bite-sized chunks
- 1 ripe avocado, peeled, pitted and chunked
- 1/2 tsp finely shredded orange zest
Dressing: Whisk together the orange juice, lime juice and honey, set aside.
Salad: Divide the salad greens, or arugula among individual plates. Arrange the crabmeat and avocado chunks on each serving, and dizzle the dressing with the citrus mixture. Sprinkle with orange zest and enjoy!!
Bread sticks or hot buttered bread are a perfect accompaniet to this light but filling mal. And guess what? The salad and dressing only contains 8 grams of fat without the bread addition!
You can enjoy the taste of homemade breakfast sausage in a matter of minutes, without the excessive fat, salt or preservatives of many store-bought varieties. If you refrigerate the sausage mixture, for one to two hours before cooking, or store it for 1 day, the flavor improves.
For an interesting variation, try adding 1 teaspoon caraway or dill seeds. Or, even omit the maple syrup and spice up the mixture with 1 small fresh red or green chili pepper that has been seeded and minced. That is my favorite!
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp low-fat milk
- 2 tsp maple syrup, sugar-free if desired
- 2 tsp grated orange zest
- 2 tsp finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 1/2 tsp sweet paprika
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
- 1 lb lean ground pork, minced and broken into small bits
- 1/4 c fresh white bread crumbs
Procedure
- Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl, and using your hands, mix well. Divide into about 12 small balls. Moisten hands and form into small patties. A good sized patty for frying is about 1/2 inch thick and about 2 inches round.
- Place the patties in a hot skilled that has been sprayed with cooking spray and fry, turning only once and cooking about 5 minutes on each side over medium heat. Keep warm until all are cooked.
Eggs and hot biscuits with sausage gravy, YUM. Fruit is an excellent finish.
A quick and easy appetizer, anytime snack!
Ingredients
- 1 lb bulk sausage or ground beef
- 2 c biscuit mix, or refrigerated crescent rolls
- 1/c milk for biscuit mix
- 1/4 c butter, melted
- 1/4 portion of cream cheese block
Procedure:
- If using biscuit mix, combine the mix, milk and butter in large bowl, blend and then refrigerate for 3o minutes so the dough is more pliable and won’t break apart in cooking or handling.
- If using crescent rolls, unfold and press creases together to form a rectangle for rolling up over filling.
- Brown sausage or ground beef lightly, do not over cook. Drain. Stir in chunks of cream cheese and salt and pepper to taste.
- Spread dough (rolled out biscuit mix as you would for biscuits) with meat and cheese mixture and roll lengthwise into one long roll.
- Freeze until hard enough to cut easily, but not frozen solid.
- Preheat oven to 400F and cut rolls into thin slices. Place on baking sheet covered in baking parchment paper for ease of removal.
- Bake 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve hot, refrigerate leftovers or freeze for reheating.
You can double this recipe and even freeze after slicing, to bake later.
This flavorful sauce will complement all sorts of savory breakfast of brunch dishes, and pasta, too!
Plum )Roma) tomatoes are your best bet for flavor year-round. I think peel the tomatoes before seeding and chopping them works best.
Ingredients:
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
- 1 lg Roma tomatoes, seeded, peeled and chopped
- 1 tsp sugar or Splenda
- 2 tbsp slivers of fresh basil leaves
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf Italian parsley
Procedure
- In fryaing pan, warm 2 tbsp olive oil over medium-high heat
- Add garlic and as it sizzles, stir in the tomatoes and sugar
- Saute, stirring until the juices gegin to thicken which should be about 6 minutes.
- At the end, stir in fresh basil and parsley and season to taste with salt and pepper.
The sauce is delicious over eggs, breads, or breakfast rice dishes.
December 7, 2009 7:17 pm | 
Five Ingredient Appetizers, Holiday Appetizers, More Than Five Ingredients | 
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