Today was the appetizer/grazing day.  I had toyed with the idea of waiting until my children went to bed before serving up the finger foods, but my husband preferred the “set it out early and we can graze all day” kind of idea.  So we did that.  And it was nice.

Every year we have one of the days designated as the “appetizer day.”  Last year was a little hectic for me and my food all turned out gross looking and quite bizarre.  This year, I managed a bit better by not trying to make a bunch of little dishes in a tight time frame while also getting ready to go to a Christmas party.

I made the Barbecue Swedish Meatballs again this year, and unlike last year, they were not some psychotic looking color and actually didn’t fall apart on me.  Hooray!

I also made a cheese dip (that is supposed to be a cheese ball, but I didn’t make it ahead of time so that I could shape it into a ball.  Big deal, it tastes the same!) that my mom used to make when I was a teenager and it is so freaking good I have a hard time walking away from it!

It’s one of those things where you ask for the recipe and the person says, “Oh it isn’t a recipe you just throw these things together and that’s it!”  It’s in that spirit that I’ll share this with you.

Take 2 8-oz. blocks of cream cheese and let them come to room temperature.  Then finely dice one red bell pepper and one small onion.  Put them in a bowl.  Add a tiny bit of salt (seriously tiny) and a tiny bit of pepper.  Add about a 1/2 Tblsp. of garlic powder. Chop up some dried beef (about 1/3 of a cup) and throw it in the bowl.  Now add the cream cheese and mix well.  If you’re concerned about it being a cheese BALL, then wrap the concoction in plastic wrap, form into a ball and refrigerate at least over night.  If you don’t care if it’s a ball or a spread, put it in a bowl and have fun stuffing your face.

That is pretty much how it was conveyed to me, so have fun with that.

I also made a favorite appetizer of mine that I used to make way back in the days when I would make Thanksgiving dinner for my husband’s family and my family.  We would eat dinner at around 4 p.m. but I would have appetizers and finger foods set out so people could munch all day.  Again, it’s a simple dish.

Crisp Cucumber Rounds

An Easy Everyday Cooking Recipe

2 medium cucumbers

12 oz. cream cheese, softened

4 green onions, finely chopped

1 tsp. salt

¼ tsp. pepper

1 loaf soft white bread (about 32 slices)

Peel cucumbers and cut lengthwise into quarters.  Remove seeds.  Chop cucumbers very finely.

Place chopped cucumbers in a large kitchen towel and wring to remove all the liquid.

Combine cream cheese, cucumbers, green onions, salt and pepper in a medium bowl; mix well.

Cut 2 rounds from each slice of bread with a small round cookie cutter (1-1/2 inch or less).  Spread with cucumber mixture.  Serve immediately.  YIELD:  64 rounds.

Since I made the cheeseball, I decided that this might be too much cheese (if such a concept exists…) so instead of cream cheese, I made this with sour cream.  Not AS good, but still good.  And instead of using white bread, I used pumpernickel bread…just because I had it.

The only other things that I made were cocktail weiners in barbecue sauce.  Almost every buffet style party I have EVER been to in all my life always has these things sitting in a crock pot and smelling up the place.  My husband loves them..

I just made a mixture of 50% ketchup (mine is homemade, so not as sweet as store bought) and 50% dark, sweet store bought barbecue sauce.  It was a big hit.

Here is a picture of the cheese spread (should be a ball) and the cucumber sandwiches.

To avoid having the whole thing turn pink on you, don’t use a mini-food processor to chop the red bell pepper.  I rather like it, though.

And here is a picture of the weiners and meatballs.  Notice the normal look of the meatballs as opposed to how they looked last year.

There is a reason why I make those meatballs every year.  THEY ARE DELICIOUS!  God, I love those things.  They are so sticky and sweet and spicy and wonderful!

Now, it’s still early for me here so I’m going to go clean my kitchen, light a fire, and drink my favorite winter-time cocktail, the Cosmopolitan!

Ok, I’ll share that one with you too!

1 oz. vodka

1/4 oz. Cointreau

1/4 oz. fresh lime juice

2 oz. cranberry juice

shake with ice in a shaker and drink while it’s cold.

Very easy.  I had this drink at a nice bar in Seattle once, only they made it with white cranberry juice and I’ve been addicted to it (in the winter time only) ever since.

I can’t really explain the taste of cocktails in a manner that is universal because tastes are so different. You CAN taste the alcohol in a drink like this, but that’s not totally bad.  It’s tart and cold and lovely and somehow always makes me think of snow.  Sex and the City gave this drink (and many other things) a bad reputation, but it really is quite good.

Day Four won’t be until Friday, but I am making Duck L’Orange and orange martinis!

Happy Holidays!