christmas party 2009

It's our favorite time of year again. Christmastime! (Actually, it's been Christmastime for a while now, but we've been busy. Hence, a lack of posts.)

We love the movies, the music, the presents, the parties, the drinks, the decor, all of it! Most of all, we love throwing our Christmas party. We start planning the menu around the first of August, and it's a great chance to get compliments on our food and have a great time with all of our friends. (This year was also our chance to show off our new house and all the work we've done on it.)

This year's party was Saturday night, so we have loads of new recipes to share. I'm going to try to space out the posts, though. If I put all of the recipes up at once, you'd start drooling copiously, and too much drool can be hell on a keyboard.

I'll start with the little bowls that we place on virtually every flat surface in the house. We've found that when people are drinking (it is a cocktail party), they like to snack on something salty. So, we give everyone easy access to popcorn, olives, and nuts.

Fancy Olives

Stuffed olives are great, but they're expensive to buy and a pain in the, um, neck to make. Here's a quick and easy way to modify your olives.

Do this 3 or 4 days before you want to serve the olives. Get a jar of green olives from the grocery store. Drain the brine. (Next year, I'll save it in a small pitcher so we can make dirty martinis.) Peel 4-5 garlic cloves and slice them in half lengthwise. Cut two 1/2-inch slices of red onion into quarters. Put the garlic and onions into the drained jar of olives, and shake 'em all about. Fill the jar back up with olive oil, and let it sit in the fridge for 3 or 4 days. Ta da!

Roasted Pecans

These are awesome. 'Nuf said.

24 oz raw pecan halves
3 Tbs butter
2 Tbs brown sugar
1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbs garlic salt
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350.

Melt the butter. Mix in the brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, garlic salt, cayenne, and cinnamon.

Pour the mixture over the pecans, and toss to coat the nuts.

Bake the nuts on a cookie sheet for about 10-12 minutes, until they start to brown.

Remove and drain on paper towels.

Roasted Walnuts

Kaytie also made roasted walnuts, but she went for a different flavor on them.

24 oz raw walnuts
3 Tbs butter
3 tsp garlic salt
½ tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp ground chipotle pepper
1/8 tsp cumin

Follow the above procedure. Melt the butter. Mix in the garlic salt, cayenne, paprika, chipotle, and cumin.

Pour the mixture over the walnuts, and toss to coat the nuts.

Bake the nuts on a cookie sheet for about 10-12 minutes, until they start to brown.

Remove and drain on paper towels.

**Obviously, you could use either pecans or walnuts for either recipe.