Cheese Straws! 5 star recipe for the New Years Eve Party!

Tonight we toast! Cheers to the New Year 2013, with good friends and family! Here's to the start of something new and special!

For this special evening I will give you, hands down one of the easiest appetizers you can make, in time for New Years Eve or New Years Day dinner with family.

Since I discovered this recipe several months ago, I have made it more times than I have fingers on my hands to count.  They come out wonderful EVERY SINGLE time.

 

Double Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes

As a final hora to Christmas sweets I made these cupcakes to share for Christmas dinner dessert. One of my favorite bloggers (www.glorioustreats.com) made these for her husband to take into the office. I wanted to make them a bit more chocolatey so I added some bittersweet chocolate chips to the batter. I had also received a bar of the Ghirardelli peppermint bark so I chopped that up and used as garnish on top of these little cakes.

Beef Wellington for New Years Eve!

Nothing says 'special occasion' quite like a traditional Beef Wellington. Its preparation, however time consuming, is not difficult and many steps may be prepared ahead of time. This impressive and delicious meal can be mastered and presented with grace by any caliber chef.

I served with JJ's "Blue cheese and rosemary scalloped potatoes" April 27, 2012 blog.

JJ's Easy Raspberry Braid- Christmas Breakfast

 

Falalalalalalala! Another Family favorite! This beautiful and easy to make braid can be made by a youngster! Look's complicated....NOT! When my children were growing up, we had this every Christmas morning, for sure, but, many times throughout the year. I adapted the recipe from my long time German mentor, Eva Kenly. This one you can have ready for tomorrow morning!

I am linking this recipe to "Foodie Friends Friday"!

http://www.walkingonsunshinerecipes.com/

White Chocolate Coeur le Creme and Bittersweet Dark Chocolate Bark!!

Family favorite every Christmas! This is over the top yummy!

Prime Rib Roast-slow roasted

This holiday season we are enjoying a standing rib roast, also known as prime rib. This amazing cut of meat is sure to dazzle any dinner guests you have during the holidays. Not only is the flavor amazing, but the presentation is quite impressive. I made  this one last Sunday for Wee Bear and I, Wee Bear dug deep into the cellar for an impressive 2004 Napa Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon, and it was a party!!

White chocolate Mousse with Pomegranite sauce!

 My friend and neighbor, Kris (otherwise known in the Hood, as "The Mayor"), created this for a ladies luncheon at Christmas 2007. I ran across the recipe as I was scouring my notebooks for recipes for my "Ugly Sweater Party". It is a light dessert and received lots of praise at her luncheon, as well as my party.

Christmas Cookies -Part Two!

Well, my two-week long cookie making extravaganza has come to an end and I have to say that I am pretty happy with how they all turned out. Time consuming yes! So much fun to make and I can't wait for the next excuse to make sugar cut-out cookies again!! I have a champagne bottle cookie cutter and I'm thinking New Year's!!

I took a lot of photos so enjoy them and I hope they inspire you to make some cut-outs of your own! I have also included some links to video tutorials that really helped me create designs, etc. I am including the basic recipe for Royal Icing which I used on all these cookies. 

Today "It's all about cookies! Two family favorites!"

First your gift to me, my viewers.  I need to say thank you! This Christmas season we are getting over 250 views a day! I have learned most of you like to follow by e-mail and not Goggle, which is my favorite way to follow as well. If you type your e-mail into the blank box at the right, you will get a e-mail everytime we post, with a short description of what is on the blog. You can then choose to delete or take a closer look. Following through Goggle you will get a e-mail in your Goggle account and your picture, in the collage on the right. We have nearly 3000 Twitter followers, many Pinterest followers as well as Facebook. 36,000+ views since I started this blog in March 2012. Thank you for the many e-mails and commenting about making a particular dish that you made and enjoyed with friends and family. Amy and I are thankful to have so many viewers no matter how you choose to follow. 

My friends Ruth and Jim gave me this cute server "Stiletto Server" for a hostess gift! I just love it! She said, "it is all YOU"!! hahaha note- it has the red heel!

Caramelized Bacon Hors D'oeuvres! Cheese and fruit plate!

Our "Ugly Holiday Sweater Party was a huge success on Saturday! Everyone seemed to have a favorite part of the food served, but without question, everyone raved about the "Caramelized Bacon"! This is an amazing and outrageous hors d'oeuvre and from what I saw at my party, the most addictive! The bacon is sweet and spicy and perfect with cocktails!
 
This is one of those posts where I really wish I could give you all one of those little sample tastes in a thimble cup you get at a grocery store or Costco!
 
It is easy with very little prep time, so pop this one in your party line up!

Christmas Cookies Galore! -Part I

The cookie baking/decorating season is in full swing! I have armed myself with cookie cutters and am up to my elbows in flour, sugar and butter!! Ready or not, here is my tutorial on baking and decorating some cute and creative sugar cookies...

First, you gather up the cookie cutters you are going to use. 

Spiced nuts! Wine bag tutorial too!

 Preparations for the "Ugly Holiday Sweater Party" are in full swing. Both nuts that I will serve are done! These are quick, you can have them done for this weekend too! I use mixed nuts, but you can use one type of nut too!

Scroll down for a wine bag pattern, you can whip up today!

Also, 25th Anniversary party pictures, last night with Jack Nicklaus! So fun!!

National Cookie Day!! Extra!!

December 4, 2012 is

National Cookie Day

It’s National Cookie Day! Did you know that the English word "cookie" is derived from the Dutch word "koekje," which means little cake? Dutch bakers used to test oven temperatures on small amounts of batter so that they would not waste the entire cake mix if the temperature wasn't right. It was not long before they discovered that these tiny pieces of cooked batter were actually quite tasty!
Cookies come in all different flavors, shapes, and sizes. To celebrate National Cookie Day, bake a few batches of your favorite variety and invite your friends over for a cookie swap!

Here are some past cookies we have featured on Sew Whats Cooking With Joan! This is an extra post! If you are looking for yesterdays post, just scroll down to the next post "Braised Short Ribs"!

Emma our Grandchild!

Braised Short Ribs...can't stop thinking about them!

Dripping with delicious flavor and goodness....