I cringe to put this photo here; for gorgeousness to define this recipe, hop over to Pinch My Salt.

I ran out of time to take a brilliant photo; I made this recipe, skipped the whip topping (no time), cut these beauties out of their muffin tin, dumped them on a plate and ran out the door. Shocking I even snapped a photo, though if I hadn’t taken that extra 29 seconds to snap these cheesy wonders (the other 31 seconds of that minute involved a micro planer and an orange—a rapid attempt at ‘presentable’), you might not have believed me when I told you 1. I made them, 2. they are heavenly—I tried them myself, and 3. they won a prize.

Our kids’ school has frequent fund raising events, and this particular one asked guests to ‘please bring an appetizer or dessert.’ Since I had printed out this recipe just a week prior (lucky recipe, didn’t have to get in the back of the recipe line—it never made it into my binder), it was perfect timing for this event.

People tried the desserts and voted on favorites; these cheesecake bites won, and I was given a token bottle of wine.

Thank you Nicole, for this award-winning recipe:

Orange Mini Cheesecakes with Grand Marnier Cream

Crust:
1 C. graham cracker crumbs
2 T. brown sugar
1/3 stick melted butter

Filling:
1 8 oz. package cream cheese, room temperature
1/3 C. sour cream
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
1/3 C. sugar
finely grated zest of one orange

Topping:
1 C. heavy cream
1 T. Grand Marnier
2 T. powdered sugar

Oven to 375 degrees. In bowl, mix graham cracker crumbs, sugar and butter with a fork until well combined. Divide crumb mixture evenly between the 12 cups of your mini-cheesecake (I made 15 in a mini muffin) pan. Press crumbs firmly onto the bottom and partially up the sides of each cup; set aside. Blend sugar and orange zest in a mini food processor (optional). In electric mixer, blend softened cream cheese, sour cream, egg, sugar and orange zest. Spoon cream cheese mixture evenly into the twelve cups; bake for 14 minutes. Remove from oven and place on rack to cool for 20 minutes then carefully remove cheesecakes from pan and let cool completely on rack. Put cheesecakes in refrigerator and chill until ready to use. (Here is where I ran out of time): just before serving, make whipping cream. In cold bowl, whip cream, grand marnier and sugar until soft peaks form. Top mini cheesecakes with dollops of grand marnier cream and serve.

notes: I didn’t have a mini cheesecake tin, so I used a mini muffin tin. They still tasted fabulous, but I think they woulda been prettier coming out of an official cheesecake tin. Go look at the photo already!

Core-eezo? Chore-eezo? Empa-what?

Skip filling your mouth with fancy ingredients or tell-tale titles. Just open wide and insert a few of these pastry and sausage bites.

I made these for a special holiday dinner, and it was all I could do to slow down and save some room for the main event. I am SO making these again; they were delightful, unusual and easy to make in advance. And I adore it when food can be made before the party starts.

Pronunciations aside, I actually enjoy learning about new foods. Here is the Wikipedia info about chorizo:

Sometimes mispronounced as “choritso”, it can be a fresh sausage, in which case it must be cooked, but in Europe it is more frequently a fermented cured smoked sausage, in which case it is usually sliced and eaten without cooking. Spanish chorizo and Portuguese chouriço get their distinctive smokiness and deep red colour from dried smoked red peppers (pimentón/pimentão or colorau). Chorizo can be eaten as is (sliced or in a sandwich), simmered in apple cider or other strong alcoholic beverage such as Aguardente, barbecued or fried. Like breakfast sausage, it is used as an ingredient of other dishes. It also can be used as a partial replacement for ground beef or pork.

It is a bit spicy; I used the cured version, so no cooking required. I just cubed, cut and pasted:

Chorizo Empanadillas
chorizo sausage, about 1 cup in 1/4 inch dice
9 0z (1 sheet) puff pastry
flour
1 egg, beaten
paprika, to garnish

Preheat oven to 400. On floured counter, roll out puff pastry dough. Cut dough into 3 inch circles. Dampen edge of each round with water, fill with 1 heaping tsp chorizo, fold into half moon and press to seal [with fingers]. Use fork to crimp edges. Cut tiny slit in side with knife. Brush tops with beaten egg for glaze; bake for 12-14 minutes, topping with sprinkle of paprika to serve. Serve warm.

Answer: they are all a wrapped in Greek.

My latest favorite salad is this Greek salad, pictured here. One of our favorite family movies is: My Big Fat Greek Wedding. And my sixth grade son just started a new social studies unit on Greek culture.

My son is learning everything from Greek religion to dress, history and geography. The ‘dress’ part of which added a twin size white sheet to my errand list (I often crack up when I consider what lands on my errand list, it is so random and often so unusual and so very mismatched that it warrants a chuckle. But I will talk about that more on another day). What you need to know: I bought a big white sheet so my son, like every other child in the sixth grade, can make togas to wear daily to class. Errands aside, this new dress code is worth a chuckle. And Target will wonder why they are out of flat, twin, white bed sheets. They will never know what hit them. Maybe I will buy a Queen white sheet and wear a togo myself; that would be cause for erupting chuckles in various circles…

Well, if you aren’t going to wear a toga, and you don’t have time to watch a movie (though, try to make time for this one, it is a hoot), you might as well make this simple, good for you salad. Course, you could upstage me: wear a toga while eating Greek salad and simultaneously watching My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Hands down: you win.

I wonder if I should pack this salad, along with some pita wedges, in my son’s lunch during their Greek days?

Simple Greek Salad
1/2 red onion
kalamata olives, pitted (about 2/3 cup)
cherry tomatoes, halved (about 2/3 cup)
feta cheese, sliced into 1/2 inch dice (about 1 cup)
2/3 cup cucumber, peeled/seeded/sliced into half moons
1/2 lemon
Olive Oil (just under 1/4 cup)
kosher salt, course pepper (KSCP)
optional good idea: add handful of fresh parsley or mint and/or dried oregano, to taste

Slice the red onion into bite size wedges; let sit in bowl with ice and icewater for an hour (takes out the extra zing so the flavors can meld); meanwhile, place olives, tomatoes, feta, cucumber in a bowl. Mix juice of the lemon with twice as much olive oil and pour over salad. Let marinate, occasionally stirring, at room temperature 1-2 hours. After 1 hour, drain onions and squeeze out water from onions. Add onions, KSCP, herbs to salad. Toss and let sit at least another hour, and more.

Why don’t you just bring an appetizer? Maybe a dip and some veggies? Sure, you think, wondering why you were left with the boring alternative. I can bring the 1950’s veggie platter. But it is true, people crave the green crunchy alternative to the creamy, oily, cheesy, bread-crusted delights we hide under the diminutive term ‘appetizers.’ I spent a whole weekend eating holiday meals; and thanks to the innovative, seductive, often large and beyond-a-bite appetizers, I was consistently full by the time dinner arrived.

BUT if you are going to eat and eat, it is good to insert some of these under-appreciated vegetables. And the good news is, once you find a great vegetable dip, you have conveniently expanded your lunch-making arsenal for the rest of the year. Ranch and carrots don’t always cut it. Sometimes, adding in sliced cucumbers, red peppers, cauliflower, snap peas and cherry tomatoes—with a fancy dip—are just what you need. So, holiday or otherwise, here are three options:

I often make Sundried Tomato Dip (from Barefoot Contessa). The Weekly Dish provided a Feta twist on the Sundried Dip, and I recently found this curry dip from Epicurious. All the reviews [for the curry dip] are thumbs up, with a recommendation to make it one day in advance, so the flavors have a chance to wrangle. Oh, and upon making these dips, I did some tweaking. My recipe twists are below, but for the original recipes, just click on the respective source.

From The Weekly Dish

Sundried Tomato and Feta Dip
1 5-ounce jar of sundried tomatoes, packed in oil, drained
2-3 ounces feta cheese
1 cup sour cream
3 green onions, white and green parts, sliced
Sea salt, to taste
A pinch or two of cayenne pepper

Place all in blender; blend.

From Barefoot Contessa:

Sundried Tomato Dip
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and chopped (8 tomatoes)
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup good mayonnaise
10 dashes, hot red pepper sauce
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 scallions, thinly sliced (white and green parts)

Puree the tomatoes, cream cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise, red pepper sauce, salt and pepper in a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Add the scallions and pulse twice. Serve at room temperature.

From Epicurious (and Gourmet magazine, 2002):

Curried Vegetable Dip
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayonnaise
3 oz cream cheese at room temperature
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice, or to taste
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1 scallion, trimmed and finely chopped

Garnish: scallion greens, sliced diagonally

Place all in blender; blend.

Things to do today: buy Christmas gifts for kids’ coaches & teachers, buy packaging tape and boxes, call eye doctor, clean out email in box, make eggnog. Top priority: make eggnog.

When I read Brandon Eats‘ message to make your eggnog now or it is too late, I knew I had to put it on top of my ‘to-do list.’ It takes a minimum of three weeks for the eggnog flavors to marry and marinate in your fridge… or up to a year. So in theory, I could have started my Christmas Nog in July.

If my mom is reading this, she is smiling, because I DO have a tendency to begin planning for Christmas in July. But not this year. This year I really did leave the Christmas planning/buying/frenzy for December (other frenzies were a priority in their respective months; July was consumed with selling our house).

But back to December: I have always wanted to make eggnog from scratch. So when I was alerted to this recipe (from CHOW), I knew I needed to grab my just-emptied glass jug (the apple cider was delish), and start cracking… eggs that is.

And then wait.

I think I am a sucker for drinks that take time to mellow and perfect; my limoncella recipe takes 80 days. And it is divine. Last year I actually DID start making that in July, and even had a bottle or two left in December for Christmas gifts (a hazard of beginning Christmas limoncella in July is that come September when it is ripe and ready one feels the need to taste it, share it, re-taste it and otherwise fail to save it until Christmas). You can only wait so long. And that was too long.

But if you make this eggnog now, it will be perfect for New Year’s Eve. OR if you are not a waiter, crack it open a bit early, perhaps on the eve of Christmas (just save some for later, to taste when it is in its prime). If you do, know that I am too. A few big cubes of ice, a short glass and cheers: to Christmas and to You!

EGGNOG worth waiting for
12 large eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1 quart whole milk (4 cups)
1 liter (about 4 cups) bourbon
1/2 cup Meyer’s dark rum
1/2 - 1 cup good Cognac or brandy
pinch kosher salt

To serve (optional—depends on your ability to wait even longer):
one whole nutmeg
10 egg whites
1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Separate yolks and whites; discard whites or use for something else. Mix yolks and sugar until creamy; add remaining ingredients. Bottle right away and refrigerate. Stir or shake occasionally. Serve on rocks with freshly ground nutmeg. Optional: whip 10 egg whites and 1 1/2 cups cream to soft peaks and fold into eggnog. Serve garnished with fresh nutmeg.