Merry Christmas’s and New Year’s Days, All the Glamorous Extras

 

 

 

Happy Holidays!

Welcome to our Christmas Home

Whether it be Christmas or New Year’s Eve/Day we are always looking for a place to post a recipe here and there that may not be part of some grand theme that we have going.  Some year’s are not as grand as others.  Those can be either fancy, or plain.  But, for those more “glamorous” occasions I wanted some where to post those recipes and ideas.  Hence, “Merry Christmas’s and New Year’s Days, All the Glamorous Extras.”

We hope you enjoy what we have to offer.

(Smile to the Camera Purse)  🙂

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,

Julie and Gordon

P.S.  In the future when we need somewhere to post those little glamorous holiday things then they will go here.

Pennsylvania Dutch Egg Nog,

sprinkled with Silver Sugar, with some Brownie Bites

——————————————————

A Beautiful Childhood Memory

Charlie Brown and Snoopy making Popcorn, and my Jiffy Pop Popcorn in the forefront for ME!

———————————————————-

My Grinch Cake with Grinch Lollipops, Card and Gift

——————————————————————

Our Christmas Day, 2021

L to R:  Roasted Quail with Lemon, Our 9 Onion Au Gratin, and our Leafy Greens and Salt Pork Gratin

A Close Up of Our Leafy Greens and Salt Pork Casserole

Our 9 Onion Au Gratin

Roasted Quail With Lemon

This was a very nice and easy Christmas Day Dinner for us.

(Recipes Down Below)

———————————————————-

Our Christmas Eve Get-Together, 2018

Brodie and Myself

Kahlua Coffee Martini’s with Kahlua, and Kahlua Candies

This particular Christmas, 2018, Gordon was working overseas and it was just me to set all this up for our children and their partners.  I made some of the foods here, but I also relied on some take out from the grocery store.  There is never anything wrong with that.  🙂

—————————————————————-

This is a Champagne Bucket that I purchased and created this little ‘Wedding Homage’ to our daughter Veronica and her fiance Brian.  They were married on January 19, 2019 but I had set this up the Christmas before.

My fake bottle of Champagne with little ornaments and beads to act as ice.  Their wedding invitation, candles, and lots of little delicious sweet bites to nibble on for our dessert.  And for them to take home as a nice edible gift to snack on later.  (Not all edible gifts need to be home made.)

Beautiful and Delicious

The Desserts, with the Appetizers in the Background

———————————————————-

The Above View

Our Delicious Appetizers

The Coffee Martini’s

——————————————————

Nigella Lawson’s Drunken Devils on Horseback, a Favorite

(This is a very easy recipe.  You just want to marinate some prunes in Brandy overnight, then wrap them in bacon, secure with a toothpick, place on a baking sheet, cook in a 350F oven for about 20 minutes until the bacon crisps up.  We also do this with dried figs and dates.  Same results, always delicious!)

The food on the left are some Asian cocktail sausages that I marinated and cooked, also some Sausage Balls, and some store bought Cheese Straws.  The platter in the center photo is some Olive Cheese Puffs that I made myself.  (See recipe at bottom.)  Also some store bought chicken bites with a BBQ sauce.  And just out of shot at the top are some store bought Cheese Balls with Crackers.

—————————————————–

Brodie and Me

Brodie with Gordon Checking in from Overseas

Happy he could What’s App in!

Brodie and Mackenzie

Veronica and Brian

————————————————————

My Favorite Glamour Girl

She Brings me Gifts and Serves me Drinks 🙂

My Beautiful Silver Decorations

Lots of Glamorous Silver and Gold

—————————————————–

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

———————————————————————-

Recipes:

Nigella Lawson’s Drunken Devil’s on Horseback

and Kahlua Coffee Kahlua Martini’s

I write above, the recipe for Nigella’s Drunken Devil’s on Horseback, and as far as the Kahula Coffee Martini’s are concerned they are also 1/3 part Kahlua Coffee, or any coffee you prefer.  Then 1/3 part Kahlua, and then 1/3 part Vodka.  Just mix together and enjoy!

———————————————————-

I sprinkled around the table some Kahlua candies.

—————————————————————-

Hot Olive Cheese Puffs

Ingredients:

(This is my mother’s recipe.  We did veer away from it a bit, but not much.)

1/2 lb. Sharp Cheddar Cheese, Grated

1 Medium Jar of Green Olives (stuffed)

1 Cup Plain Flour, Sifted

1 t. Paprika

Dash of Salt

1/4 lb. Margarine

Add the Salt, Sift the Flour, and place into a bowl with the dry ingredients.

Whisk Together

Allow cheese and margarine to soften, grate your cheese.

Mix all of the ingredients together well.

You want to make sure the olives you are using are dry so that the dough will wrap around them easily.  Form into bite sized balls.

Place the olive cheese balls onto an ungreased baking sheet on a 400F oven.

Bake for about 15 minutes.

——————————————————–

Sausage Balls

This recipe most everyone knows by heart and cooks each year.  Ours is nothing spectacular in the ingredients, but they are my favorite!  Whenever Gordon makes them I can eat them hot out of the oven, luke warm, or my personal favorite, cold right out of the refrigerator.

Recipe:

• 4 Cups Biscuit Mix
• 2 lb. Hot Sausage (sometimes we used turkey sausage)
• 2 Cups Sharp Cheddar Cheese, grated

This is the BEST sausage.

Just dump everything into a bowl and mix together with your hands.  Roll into individual bite-sized balls.  Place onto a cookie sheet and bake in a 350F oven for 15 – 20 minutes or until done.  They freeze very well too.

——————————————————————-

Our Christmas Day, 2021

L to R:  Roasted Quail with Lemon, Our 9 Onion Au Gratin, and our Leafy Greens and Salt Pork Gratin

Our 9 Onion Au Gratin

Roasted Quail With Lemon

This was a very nice and easy Christmas Day Dinner for us.

 ——————————————————————————————-

Our Leafy Greens and Salt Pork Gratin

This is really delicious! 

This recipe made enough for two medium casseroles, so plan on freezing some or having leftover to give away to family and friends.

——————————————————-

Ingredients:

3 bundles of Swiss Chard – stems removed, parboiled, squeezed dry and chopped

4 Zucchini – grated and squeezed dry

~4 Tbsp. Olive oil

1 Salt Pork block – sliced and cut into 1 inch sections

(You can use less Salt Pork, that way it won’t be as salty.  You can also substitute BACON for the Salt Pork.)

2 Large Onions – diced

4 Garlic Cloves – chopped

1 Bag of Baby Arugula

1 Bundle Flat Leaf Parsley

1 Cup Red Cabbage – sliced thinly

4 Eggs – beaten

3/4 Cup Romano Cheese – grated

1/2 Cup Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese – grated

Salt and Pepper to taste

————————————————————

Here is the Swiss Chard we purchased for the recipe.  The stems need to be removed.

  To do this…

fold the leaf in half and pull the stem away from the green leaf.

 

Slice the leafs in large chunks as shown.

Pictured above and below are the ingredients we used.

——————————————————————-

Here is the flat leaf parsley and the Swiss Chard that was previously washed.

Slice the ends off the Zucchini as shown, then grate it into a large colander.

After grating some of the Zucchini, sprinkle a light layer of salt to help the water to drain out of the vegetable.

Set the grated Zucchini off to the side in a place where it can drain.

Chop the garlic thinly as shown.

Place the Arugula on top of the garlic…

and chop them together.

(Sometimes it saves time.)  🙂

Place the mixture in a bowl for later use.

Place the Swiss Chard in boiling water as shown…

We used a large pot with a strainer insert.

when just wilted, remove it from the boiling water and place in a sieve…

and run cool water over it to stop the cooking process.

Pictured is the water left over from the boiling of the Swiss Chard.

(Lots of nutrients in that water.)

Peeling The Onions to be Sliced/ Our Salt Pork

————————————————————

Place your Olive oil in a large fry pan and heat to medium.

Slice your salt pork thinly as shown then slice into 1 inch sections.

(We recommend using about 3/4 of this block.  Although the casserole was delicious, it was also a bit salty.)

Place the salt pork sections into the pan and cook until some of the fat is rendered.  You want it to lighten in color, about 15 minutes.

Slice and chop your onions as shown.

Place the onions in with the salt pork.

Cook the ingredients until the onion are translucent…

slice and chop the red cabbage and add them to the mixture. 

Saute them until slightly browned.

Add some pepper to taste.

(Turn off the heat and set aside.)

—————————————————————

Gather the Swiss Chard in your hands and squeeze until dry.

Slice the Swiss Chard into chunks and place in a large mixing bowl.

Here I removed the grated Zucchini from the colander and placed it into a sieve.

Gather the Zucchini into a clean dish towel and ring out the water.

Place the dry Zucchini into the bowl with the Swiss Chard.

——————————————————————–

Continue to do this with all the Zucchini and then add your chopped garlic and parsley.

————————————————————

Shown is the sauteed salt pork, onions, and red cabbage.

Grate the cheeses over the bowl of Swiss Chard, Zucchini, and Parsley mixture.

 

Add the Cabbage mixture to the bowl.

—————————————————————

Crack your eggs into a medium sized bowl and whisk until combined.

Pour the eggs into the bowl of other ingredients.

Mix all the ingredients well.

Here, we had some leftover parsley so I quickly chopped it and added it to the bowl.

————————————————————————–

Add a touch of salt if needed. 

We thought the dish was a touch salty when it was done… so use sparingly. 

Place the mixture into your greased casserole dishes and pack down with your utensil.

———————————————————

Here we topped with a little bit of cheese….

 and a drizzle with some olive oil.

———————————————————————-

Place Into The Pre-Heated Oven

Bake the Gratins in a 350′ oven for about 25-30 minutes or until browned.

Here are the finished gratin dishes.  Enjoy!

—————————————————————–

Our 9 Onion Au Gratin

This recipe makes enough for 1 large and 2 medium casserole dishes.

———————————————————–

Ingredients:

~20 Each – Red, White and Yellow Pearl Onions

(Or one bag each of the Pearl Onions)

3 Red Onions – sliced thinly

3 White Onions – sliced thinly

3 Vidalia Onions – sliced thinly

6 Shallots – sliced thinly

10 Eggs – beaten

~15 Green Onions – sliced to a medium thickness

Non-stick Spray

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 Tbsp. Roasted Garlic Powder

1 Tbsp. Sweet Paprika

3 Cup Manchego Cheese – grated

1 Cup Asiago Cheese – grated

1 Cup Cahills Cheddar-Irish Whiskey – grated

8 oz. Pure Irish Butter

~1 1/2 Cups Chardonnay Wine

~1/2 Cup Plain Bread Crumbs

~ 1/2 Cup Panko Sweet and Spicy Crispy Bread Crumbs

A Sprinkling of Chives

———————————————————————–

Use a mandolin on its thinnest setting to slice a majority of the onions.

Our Ingredients

For all the pearl onions, slice off the root and stem ends of the onion, then peal off the outer layer of the skin.  You could also par-boil the onions for about 5 min. to loosen the outer skin.  After boiling, slice off the root end and squeeze out the onion.

Our WHITE,

Once peeled, place the pearl onions in a medium bowl.

PURPLE,

and YELLOW PEARLS.

——————————————————————–

Now, slice off both ends of the red, white, and Vidalia onions.

————————————————————————

Now, most of the onions are ready to be sliced on the mandolin.

Slice both ends off the shallots and place them in a bowl to be hand sliced later.

———————————————————————-

Slice the White, Vidalia, and Red onions using the mandolin.

——————————————————————–

I can slice the onions thinly by hand, but the mandolin is much faster and more precise as you can see.

—————————————————————–

—————————————————————-

You can see how thinly the onions are sliced here.

Place the sliced onions in a large bowl.

————————————————————–

Hand slice the shallots as they are hard to do on the mandolin, because of their size.

Place the sliced shallots in a bowl.

———————————————————————————–

Green Onions/Spring Onions

Hand slice the green onions as shown.

Slicing The Chives

———————————————————————

Beat four eggs in a large bowl for the large casserole and three each for the medium casseroles when ready.

Spray each casserole dish with cooking spray.

Add some of the chives to the beaten eggs, then add some freshly ground pepper and Roasted Garlic powder.

Now, add your salt (Himalayan) and Sweet Paprika to the bowl.

————————————————————————

Place a thin layer of sliced onions in your casserole dish as shown.

Remove the outer skin if needed and grate your cheeses into a large bowl.

Mix all the grated cheese together.

Layer the onions and cheese in the casserole as shown.  I liked keeping the types of onions separated.

—————————————————————————

When at the top of the casserole, place the sliced shallots on top.

Now, add some of the pearl onions and green onions.

As this is the large casserole, pour the 4 beaten eggs and other seasonings into the casserole evenly.

—————————————————————————-

Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter

(You can use whatever brand you like.)

Slice the butter into Tbsp. sized pieces and place them over the top of the casserole.

Like so.

Robert Mondavi

Buttery Chardonnay

(We thought this buttery chardonnay would add to the flavor more than a regular chardonnay.)

Add about 1/2 Cup of Chardonnay to the casserole, then sprinkle enough bread crumbs to lightly cover the top of the onions.

Then sprinkle some of the Panko over the top of the casserole.

Ready For The Oven

Place the casserole on a sheet pan and bake in a 400’F oven for about 30 min. or until browned as shown below.

——————————————————————————

Do the same process for the remaining medium casserole dishes.

Enjoy!

——————————————————————-

The Quail

———————————————————————-

Ingredients:

 Quail, (however many you like.)

We purchased these from the grocery store.  They came 4 in a box.

6 Tbsp. Peanut Oil

1/2 Cup White Wine – Robert Mondavi Buttery Chardonnay

2 Lemons

Salt and Pepper to taste

————————————————————–

These quail came four to a packet and you will need this many as they are small.

They are also pre-seasoned, but I still felt they needed a little help.

Place about 3 Tbsp. of peanut oil into each cast iron skillet then move the quail into place cut side down into the skillet.  Move the quail around the skillet to spread the oil.  Then place the other three quail in the skillet as shown.

Here I am getting the other cast iron skillet ready for the quail.  I used cast iron skillets in this preparation as they retain their heat and evenly cook the items in it.

Slice two lemons lengthwise into quarters and place them around the quail.

Pour 1/4 cup of the Chardonnay into the skillet then add your freshly ground pepper and Himalayan salt.

——————————————————————–

Place the skillets into a 400’F oven for about 25 min. or until the quail are cooked at a temperature of 160’F.  Letting the quail rest for about 8-10 min. will allow the super heated outside juices to return to the center of the meat evenly cooking the quail which will bring the internal temperature up to 165’F.

When cooking most fowl, it is normal to heat the cast iron skillet or other in order to brown the bird then place it in the oven to finish the cooking.  Since these quail are so small and thin, I thought that application would overcook the bottom of the bird while the top wasn’t.  This would then require me to overly use the broiler function of my oven possibly again over cooking the quail.  I also used the wine in the beginning to gently steam the meat, as the browning process might again over cook the meat.  I did use my broiler a little to quickly brown the top of the bird.  Though these were small and a little hard to eat, they were quite tasty!  The quail’s juices combined with the wine and lemon created a nice sauce for the birds.

—————————————————————————

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Julie and Gordon