Hello and happy weekend ahead to you Friends!
Today my Friend Tamy shared her blogmas prompt, from her blog chasing my life, about party foods. So I thought I'd share a few recipes I have made from holidays past that you might enjoy.
The first one I have made and shared on here many times. But it's always a go-to that everyone seems to enjoy. It's a cold crap dip. I often serve it with crackers (including gluten-free ones for my Bro) and veggies too.
It has a cream cheese layer with lemon juice, mayo, worcestershire sauce, and onion in. Top with cocktail sauce and crab meat and chill a bit. You can find the full recipe here.
Next up is a recipe I made last year that was so yummy! It's a warm, cheesy, creamy swiss almond dip. It has flavored cream cheese at the base, swiss cheese, bacon, onion, cranberry & almond slices - and you bake it until it's nice a melty. So holiday and so good with crackers, crostinis, veggies, apple slices. I highly recommend for a fun Christmas gathering - you'll be a hit! The recipe can be found if you click here.
Now on to some recipes from Thanksgiving that I promised to share.
First up is broccoli salad. I think many folks have their own versions of this. This has been a holiday staple side dish in our family since I can ever remember. It's crunchy, salty and sweet - so how can you go wrong, right?
I always "marinate" the broccoli in the dressing the night before. It helps soften it just a little so it's not so hard to chew and too crunchy. I wash and cut up 2-3 heads of broccoli depending on the size. Enough to fill the bowl you want to serve them in 😉 I then make a dressing from mixing 1 and 1/2 cups of mayo with 3 tbsp sugar and 3 tsp of vinegar. Pour the dressing over the broccoli and mix well. If you have too much dressing throw in extra broccoli. Or if too much broccoli add a little more mayo. Then cover and keep in fridge overnight. The day you're serving it add about 6-7 pieces of cooked crisp bacon chopped up. About 1/2 cup of red onion (chopped fairly small), and a handful of raisins and a handful of craisins (about 3/4 cup total) Do all to your taste though. Salt and pepper just a little for taste and toss well and serve.
Next up is the 2 hour turkey Matt made. His family has been doing this turkey for years and it never fails. It couldn't be easier and it literally takes 2 hours or less (we had a 14 lb turkey and it only took 1 hour and 45 minutes!)
He cleaned the turkey and took out the giblets etc in the cavity.
Place the turkey in a roasting pan and be sure to have some liquid in the bottom (water, apple cider, chicken stock). You cook it at a high temp and don't want it smoking up when it drips. You also probably don't want to bake it in a really dirty oven. Lol Then grease the bird with olive oil all over and salt and pepper. That is it! He tucked the wings under and put foil on the small part of the legs. Then he baked it uncovered in a preheated 475* oven for one hour, and at that point he rotated it about 180 degrees and covered it all in a foil dome. He checked it after about 45 mins and it was up to temp. When you take it out to rest just keep it covered it comes up even more in temp (ours was over what was necessary) And it was one of the best juicy turkeys I've ever had!!
And how easy was that? It didn't even take 2 hours! You just need to keep an eye on it to not overcook it (keep a meat thermometer handy) And keep 2 inches or so of liquid in the bottom of the pan.
Couldn't be easier and 2 hour turkeys are a thing you can google it. Here's a recipe I found that's similar to give you more of an idea. Just click here.
I highly recommend it!!
Yay for the holiday season and all the goodies involved! Do you have some favorite snacks or drinks or traditions?
