Recipe Wednesday – Christmas Party Edition

We hosted a Christmas Party last week for friends and I wanted to share some of the recipes that I made.  Most of the food was catered but I did contribute a few things!

White Chocolate Covered Cranberries

Tips:
These were very hard for me to dip into the chocolate before my white chocolate started burning.  So I ended up just mixing them all into the chocolate and then breaking them apart.  Not the prettiest, but they still tasted good.  My kids loved them so this might be a good way to get the superfood in them with just a little chocolate!

Georgia Pralines

Tips:
A very easy recipe that is really good.  I might use more pecans next time because my pralines seemed to be light on the pecans.  And I think I let them cool too much in the pan before putting on the wax paper to cool because mine didn’t fall into what I think of as the typical praline shape.

Sugar Cookie Cheesecake Bites

Tips:
I made this in regular sized muffin pans and in a mini muffin pan and I preferred the small ones.  The small ones were especially good for a party because you could pick one up and pop the whole thing in your mouth.  In the mini cups you will probably only use 1/4 to 1/3 of a thin slice of dough for the bottom.  I ended up rolling my dough into a ball and then pressing it into the bottom of the cup with my thumb.  Even with that small amount of dough you might have to tap the pan to the oven top to have the dough fall down into the cup so that you have room to put the cheesecake.  These really were a hit though and look way nicer than they actually are!

White Chocolate Cinnamon Sugar Pretzels

Tips:
Another HUGE hit that got rave reviews.  It’s a fairly straightforward recipe that I did basically as directed and they turned out great.  Just be prepared that you will have a lot of sugar come off as the pretzels sit so be prepared for a mess on your counter!

Edamame Salad

Tips:
I didn’t try this but saw a lot of people eating it at the party.  I think it was good for a healthy-ish dish on the table although I was disappointed in how it presented.  Maybe it needed more cranberries and feta?

Black Bean and Red Pepper Salad

Tips:
This recipe was hard because it called for the avocado to go in right before serving which put me in a tizzy right before guests arrived.  But I don’t think I should have worried as much.  With the lime juice in it, my avocado’s are still green even the next day in the salad so I wouldn’t worry at how much time it too much before serving to add the avocado’s.

Vegetable Dip

Tips:
This veggie dip was great and was very easy!