HOLIDAYS
HOLIDAYS
- 1 medium brown onion, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon bacon grease
- 2 (16-oz.) cans black-eyed peas, drained
- 1 cup cooked ham, diced
- 1/4 teaspoon Tabasco or hot pepper sauce
- 3 cups cooked white rice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Add onion and bacon grease into a large saucepan over medium-high heat, and sauté until tender, about 3 to 5 minutes.
- Stir in black-eyed peas, ham, and pepper sauce. Simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in rice and salt.
- Serve warm with pepper sauce on the side. Makes about 5 cups.
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- 3/4 lb. ground pork, lean
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 5 tablespoons soy sauce
- 5 tablespoons sesame oil
- 2 ablespoons Grand Marnier
- 1 1/2 cups minced green onion
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger root
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- 1/2 cup minced water chestnuts
- 2 cups chopped green cabbage
- 1 (50 count) package wonton wrappers
- Vegetable oil
- Line 2 baking sheets with wax paper and sprinkle cornstarch over paper.
- Combine pork, salt, soy sauce, sesame oil, Grand Marnier, green onion, ginger, zest, water chestnuts, and cabbage, in a large bowl. With clean hands, mix ingredients until fully incorporated.
- Moisten edge on one side of wonton wrapper with water. Place 1 heaping teaspoon of pork mixture in center of wonton. Fold wonton in half and pinch together edges to seal. Place on prepared baking sheet and refrigerate, covered, until ready to cook.
- Place wok on wok ring set over burner on stove. Add 3 inches water to wok bottom. Set double layer bamboo steamer basket inside wok. Heavily oil the inside of each level on bamboo steamer. Arrange dumplings in steamer so that they are not touching each other. Place lid on steamer and cook over medium-high heat for 15-20 minutes until won-ton wrappers have shrunken around pork and appear crinkled. Gently remove dumplings and serve hot with dipping sauces.Makes 50 dumplings.
- 1 cup unsalted butter, melted, cooled
- 2 cups sugar
- 5 eggs
- 1 tablespoon Stolichnaya Ohranj Vodka
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 2 tablespoons fresh grated orange zest
- 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- Screwdriver Glaze
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons Stolichnaya Ohranj Vodka
- 2 tablespoons orange juice
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- Preheat oven to 350F (170C). Butter a 12-cup Bundt pan.
- Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl until combined. Add eggs, vodka, milk, and orange juice and zest and beat until smooth. Sift together dry ingredients and beat into mixture until blended. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until knife inserted comes out clean. Cool in pan for 5 minutes and invert cake on to wire rack. Cool completely.
- Meanwhile make Screwdriver Glaze. Mix together powdered sugar, vodka, orange juice and orange zest until smooth. Place cake on to serving platter and drizzle 1/2 glaze over top and down sides of cake. Allow glaze to set for 10 minutes and drizzle remaining glaze over cake.
- Cut into cake and place slices on plates to serve. Store covered at room temperature for up to 1 week. Makes about 15 servings.
- Note: If Stolichnaya Ohranj Vodka is not available substitute regular vodka.
Peppermint Pig of Promises
Here's a smashing idea for your New Year's Eve party! Victorians believed that pigs symbolized good luck. Our friends at Plow and Hearth sell a candy Peppermint Pig that comes with its own velvet pouch and hammer. Guests crack the pig with the hammer, and share the pieces to assure health, happiness, prosperity...and kissing-sweet breath at midnight. This happy hog is sure to be a big hit at your celebration.
Balloon Tree Bursting with Fun and Fortune
Many folks who celebrate Christmas leave the tree up, until the first week in January. Swap out the holiday balls for balloons for your New Year's Eve bash. Strip the tree of all its adornments, except for the lights, and re-decorate with small balloons that contain fortunes. Write fortunes on a small piece of paper, just like the ones in a Chinese fortune cookie. Roll up the paper strips, and insert each one into a small balloon. Blow up the balloons, knot the ends, and attach them to the tree with silver ribbon. The guests have to pop the balloon with a pin to get the fortune inside.
You Crack Me Up!
Celebrate the New Year like our friends "across the pond" with British party crackers. Crackers are cardboard tubes wrapped "tootsie roll" style with gift paper, and contain a little trinket or sweet treat inside. When pulled apart, the cracker "pops" and out pops the party favor.
Good Luck Grab Bag
Surprise guests when they step through the door with a Good Luck Grab Bag. Go for the classics in your bag-of-chance like rabbit's feet, lottery tickets, shamrock-themed items, "Lucky 7" casino chips, Chinese dragons, and jewelry charms symbolizing luck. Or, have guests pick a number from the bag, and raffle off a "big ticket" item.
A Party of Predictions
Spark guests' superstitions by setting out games of chance and fortune-telling activities. Who can resist the "Magic 8-Ball," with its prophetic little phrases? Another classic foreteller of the future is "Ouiji," which always adds an element of suspense to any get-together. A deck of tarot cards on the coffee table and a crystal ball will keep guests gazing and guessing until midnight! Include a collection of traditional board games as well, such as these nostalgic game bags containing old-time favorites like jacks and marbles, or this game board with 100 possibilities for fun.
Dinner Party
the Kiss:
Celebrati...
Year Party
