Vegan holiday recipes: http://www.simplyfrugal.ca/2011/12/free-vegan-holiday-recipe-book-download/

Ingredients:

1/3 cup finely chopped almonds or hazelnuts

1/4 cup sugar

1 T. butter

1/4 tsp. vanilla

8 oz. mascarpone

1/2 tsp finely shredded orange peel

1 T. Grand Marnier (can substitute orange juice if preferred)

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1 T. milk (if needed)

Instructions:  Line a baking sheet with foil and butter it.  To make the praline mixture, mix together the nuts, sugar, butter, and vanilla in a skillet.  Cook over medium heat without stirring until the sugar starts melting.  Shake the skillet every so often.  Turn the heat to low and keep cooking until the sugar has turned a golden colour.  Stir often, using a wooden spoon.  Spread coated nuts onto the prepared baking sheet – break up and chop finely.  Beat together the mascarpone, orange peel, and Grand Marnier.  Stir in the cranberries.  Just prior to serving, stir in the praline mixture (and the milk if you feel the need to thin down the spread a bit).  This is delicious served with cookies and/or fresh fruit.

Overnight Eggnog Bread Pudding with Cherry Bourbon Sauce

Ingredients:

1 lb. loaf of French bread, cut into 1 inch cubes

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

4 eggs

1 qt. eggnog

2 T. sugar

1 can (21 oz) cherry pie filling

2 T. Bourbon (can substitute orange juice)

Instructions:  Spray 9 by 13 inch baking dish (glass) with cooking spray.  Fill with cubes of bread.  In a bowl, combine the 1/4 cup sugar and nutmeg.  Add the eggs, whisking well.  Stir in the eggnog.  Pour this mixture over the bread and toss gently to coat.  Cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours (and up to 12 hours).  Remove from fridge and sprinkle with the 2 T. sugar.  Put the glass dish into a larger baking pan – place into a 350 degree F oven.  Pour 1/2 inch of water into the larger pan to create a water bath.  Bake for 40-50 minutes until lightly browned and when an inserted knife comes clean.  In a pan, mix together the pie filling and butter and cook over medium high heat for about 10 minutes, until the butter is melted.  Remove from heat and mix in the bourbon.  Serve slices of bread pudding warm with the cherry sauce.

And go download this free PDF Cookie Swap Recipe Booklet from Cityline TV:  http://site.citytv.com/cityline/cookieswap/2011/cookieswap2011.pdf

1)  It’s vital that you keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold.  Allowing food to sit out at room temperature can create a breeding ground for bacteria.  Use items such as warming trays, slow cookers, and chafing dishes to keep hot foods at a safe temperature of at least 140 degrees F.  Pack cold foods in crushed ice to maintain a temperature of 40 degrees F.  If you must keep food out at room temperature, keep track of how long it’s been sitting out.  After 2 hours, it needs to be thrown out because at that point, the amount of bacteria in the food can begin doubling every 15 minutes.

2)  Remember you don’t have to put out ALL the food that you’re serving at the very beginning.  If possible, keep some in the refrigerator or on the stove/in the oven until you need to replenish the buffet.  This will help place a limit on how long food is being left at room temperature.

3)  Make sure you put out plenty of serving utensils – forks, spoons, ladles, tongs.  There should be at least one per dish and a few extras are generally a good idea.  And yes, you should put them out even for the finger foods (or use toothpicks) and for things like chips and candies.  More people touching the food means more chances to introduce bacteria into it.  Unfortunately, most people have really poor hand washing habits!

As for the recipes, my “to try” list is already filled with such yummy sounding delights as cider glazed turkey, pumpkin eggnog, and roasted sweet potato salad…all in all, I’ve already picked out 15 recipes that I want to try out this holiday season!  The recipes are not only economical but look easy to make and sound so delicious! I should have known this book would be a hit after the number of times I have used her original $5 Dollar Dinner Mom Cookbook (which, by the way, I saw advertised at Amazon.com for under $6 – what a bargain!).  In case you haven’t guessed already, I highly recommend this Holiday Entertaining Guide e-book and suggest you snatch it right up while it’s on sale for the ridiculously low price of only 49 cents! By the way, you don’t have to own a Kindle or other electronic reading device to get this book – it can be downloaded to your computer or iPad as well. 

Check out this link for more information and a coupon code for ordering:

http://www.5dollardinners.com/2011/12/holiday-entertaining-guide-ebook-49-sale.html

3/4 cup eggnog

2 T. light corn syrup

2 T. butter

2 cups sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

Instructions:  Butter and 8 by 8 inch pan.  Also lightly butter the inside of a heavy, medium sized saucepan.  Put eggnog, corn syrup, butter, and sugar in the saucepan.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar has dissolved and this mixture has come to a boil.  Use a pastry brush dipped in hot water to wipe down the sides of the pan to get rid of sugar crystals.  Put in candy thermometer.  Keep cooking until this mixture reaches the soft ball stage (238 degrees F).  Pour into a large bowl.  Allow to cool until lukewarm (about 110 degrees F).  Add the vanilla and beat with an electric mixer until thickened.  Spread in 8 by 8 pan.  Use a knife to score into squares.  Place in refrigerator until firm. 

Here are the recipes and food ideas we shared with them:

Best Hummus Ever

1 (540 mL) can chickpeas (rinsed and drained) 1 (19 oz)

25 mL tahini 2 tbsp

45 mL lemon juice 3 tbsp

2 mL salt 1/2 tsp

2 large clovers garlic 2

1 green onion 1

50 mL boiling water 1/4 cup

Directions

In a blender or food processor, combine chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, salt, garlic white, some of the green onion (reserving some for texture) and boiling water. Blend until smooth. Stir in rest of chopped part of green onion.  This dip keeps in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Spread some dip inside a whole wheat pita; fill with raw or roasted red pepper, grated carrots and shredded lettuce.  Or serve with the chips below:

Pita or Tortilla Chips

Cut the pitas or flour or corn tortillas into wedges. With the pitas, you may also want to split them open as well. You can very lightly brush them with olive oil or spray with olive oil cooking spray. The chips can be left plain or you can experiment with your favourite seasonings. Bake at 350-375 degrees. I found the tortilla chips took 5-10 minutes and the pita chips took 12-15 minutes.

Baked Tofu Sticks

Cut tofu into sticks resembling French fries. Arrange them in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with a double layer of paper towels or a clean tea towel. Place more towels on top of the tofu. Place another baking sheet on top of all of this and weigh down with heavy cans for about 20 minutes or up to 1 hour until all excess liquid is gone from the tofu. These sticks can be kept in the fridge for up to 2 days before cooking. Lightly brush a baking sheet with olive oil or spray with olive oil cooking spray. Pat the tofu dry and place on the baking sheet. Tofu can be seasoned with your choice of seasonings if desired. Bake the tofu at 375 degrees for about 12-15 minutes, flipping over half way through the time. It should be crisp and golden brown. These can be served warm or at room temperature.

Vegetable Cheese Spread for Sandwiches

1 cup of cottage cheese, “pureed” in a blender. Add your choice of vegetables – I used 1/2 carrot, grated, and 1/4 cucumber, minced but green onions, peppers, broccoli, and zucchini are other good options.

Chicken and Apple Patties

1 boneless skinless chicken breast, cooked and cut into 2 inch pieces

3/4 cup cooked quinoa

2 T. Applesauce

1/2 medium apple, grated

1/2 carrot, grated

2 green onions, coarsely chopped (if desired)

A bit of olive oil or olive oil cooking spray to coat the skillet

Put chicken (and green onions, if using) in a food processor and pulse until coarsely pureed. In a bowl, mix together the chicken, quinoa, applesauce, apple, and carrot. Form into patties. Patties can be put in fridge for up to 2 days or in freezer for up to 1 month until ready to cook. Brush a thin layer in the skillet or spray on cooking spray. You might even be able to get away without any oil or spray if using a nonstick skillet. Cook patties on both sides until golden brown and cooked through, about 4 minutes per side. Serve warm or at room temperature. You may want to serve with extra applesauce for dipping.

Some other food ideas:

• Make fruit or vegetable/cheese kabobs by threading soft cheese and fruits onto pretzel sticks. You can also use clean popsicle sticks but watch out for the skewers as the points on them can be dangerous. Make sure your children are old enough for these and that they don’t pose a choking hazard.

• Put out a selection of cereals, dried fruits, and so on and let your children make their own trail mix by choosing their favourites and mixing together

• Lettuce bundles: use lettuce as wraps instead of tortillas – fill with things like leftover meat such as chicken, shredded vegetables, shredded cheese, yogurt, fruits, and so on

• Pear salad – use a canned pear half as the body of a bunny; place on a bed of lettuce and add a tail made of yogurt or cottage cheese, shredded carrot whiskers, raisin eyes, dried cranberry nose, a couple small vegetable sticks as the ears….or have your kids come up with other alternatives

• Egg creatures – cut a hard boiled egg in half and lay yolk side down; use things like alfalfa sprouts for hair, pretzels for arms and legs, sunflower seed eyes, and so on. With radish slice ears, you could turn it into a mouse instead of a person.

• Mini sandwiches – use things like cucumber or zucchini slices in place of the bread

• Spiral sandwiches – flatten a piece of bread slightly and spread on something like egg salad; roll up as if making a wrap and then slice into spirals; you can put something like a strip of vegetable or pickle in the middle before rolling up

• Salad in a bag – give your child a baggie and a selection of cut up vegetables, salad greens, cheese, leftover meat, and so on; they can fill the bag with these and put some salad dressing in a little container; at school, they open the bag, pour in the dressing, close bag again and shake to toss the salad – as a variation you can put crushed tortilla chips, cheese, and taco meat in this to have a taco salad

• Parfaits – layer yogurt, fruits, cereals to make a typical yogurt cup extra special

• When you make pancakes, make a few extra silver dollar sized ones and keep in the freezer. Top with fruit or spread with a fruit spread and roll up as a lunch or snack that’s a bit different.