Eat and be merry!

Many people head into their kitchen around Christmas time.  But I don't like cooking, so I was thrilled to hear that my husband's Christmas Eve tradition is a buffet with hors d'oeuvres.

We host relatives for a luxury buffet on Christmas Eve and head to my parents' house on Christmas Day for my Dad's signature turkey.

Below follow some non-cooking recipes for scrumptious hors d'oeuvres and links to more intricate Christmas recipes.

Apple slices with Pate

You'll need:
Nice red delicious apples
French pate
Fresh parsley

Wash and core apples, slice into thick flat slices.  Sprinkle lemon juice on top to prevent the slices from turning brown.

Smear pate on top of slices and garnish with a sprig of parsley

Filled dates

You'll need:
Dates, pitted preferably
Cream cheese

Cut dates lengthwise, fill with cream cheese.

Filled Cherry Tomatoes

You'll need:
Cherry tomatoes
can of white crab meat
ketchup
mayonnaise
dry sherry (optional)

To prepare filling:   Mix ketchup with mayonnaise until mixture has a nice pink color (add a splash of sherry if so desired).  Drain can of crab.  Add sauce to crab until crab covered.

Slice top off tomatoes, set aside.  Spoon seeds out of tomato.  Spoon in crab mixture and replace tomato top.

Salmon salad

You'll need:
One large can of pink salmon
one large onion
mayonnaise
Worcestershire sauce
pepper
small onions/pickles for garnish

Drain can of salmon, put in large bowl.  Add mayonnaise by the teaspoon and a splash of Worcestershire and a dash of pepper.  Mix until salmon is as smooth as it can get, add mayonnaise if necessary.

Chop onions very small, add to mixture.
Put big lettuce leaf on large plate.
Spoon salad on plate and smooth into an oval or round shape, if necessary add mayonnaise for "icing".
Garnish with onions, pickles and ketchup (you can write "Merry Christmas" or "Happy 2000" over the top with ketchup or cut-up pickles)

Some Scrumptious Sites

• Vegetarian recipes

• The Azores's Christmas recipes

• Christmas recipes from the Southern U.S.A.

• Visions of Sugarplums and Cookies for Santa

• Prince Edward Island Christmas recipes

• The twelve tastes of Christmas

• Santaland recipes

• Easy recipes to make with kids

 

{main Xmas page}[crafts][songs][traditions]