Today’s post is about more recommendations (check this for more) that you can make for holiday parties (i.e. I’ve lost my mind and don’t want to talk about it). I love these recipes and loved recipes deserve attention and a place on the table.
On a completely different note, I finished a very hard puzzle. (Yeah, the kind with the pieces that you put together to make a picture and yes, I do love puzzles, no matter how boring that may seem.) Greg and I probably put together 3 or 4 puzzles a year; they are challenging and it’s a family tradition. My mom is a puzzler; my dad became one by association (although I think she works on them more).
The “finished basement side” of my parent’s home proves (or used to prove rather) this because once some of those were complete, she would glue and place them in a picture frame. Still do this day, when I see a puzzle as artwork I think of home, growing up (where I, or one of my sisters, would hold onto the last piece so that we could say we put it in), pets (I’m pretty sure most of our beloved pets have attacked or eaten a piece) and family. Try making fun of us now for doing this…I bet you feel bad if you were.
So below is the picture of our most recent puzzle and I think it’s in the all-time top 3 hardest we’ve ever done. I tore it apart but I made sure to take a picture. (I know it doesn’t look that difficult; I underestimated it too until my tactic of putting the edge together first didn’t work and I’d never failed to have that done first ever.)
If you zoned out about my puzzle talk, you can jump back in here where I begin the recommendations:
Bacon wrapped jalapeno poppers with vintage cheddar from the Cooking Photographer
Cheddar loaded potato poppers from What’s Cookin, Chicago?
Black pepper–manchego cheese puffs from Aida Mollenkamp on Chow
Don’t forget breakfast for Christmas and New Year’s Day or brunch with friends or family (breakfast for dinner works around here):
Apple cake or chai-apple coffee cake
Blueberry scones from Martha Stewart
Rosemary baked eggs w/ toast and jam (one of my favorites)
Tomato and feta strata from the kitchen sink recipes or savory bread pudding
Country Hash from Gourmet
Rosemary bacon quiche with hash brown crust from Imperrfections
Cinnamon rolls from Saveur
Dips great with pretzels, crackers, baguette slices, pita, vegetables and more:
Tzatziki (Greek yogurt sauce)
Bean dip with a kick
Warm piquillo and crab dip from Food People Want
White bean dip from Giada
Check back soon for more recommendations for drinks, treats and desserts. You can always check out my site for more ideas or tastespotting which is uber-helpful and never disappoints with their collection.