Christmas Party Fare

Every year, I try to put on a Christmas party--not so much for other people as for myself.  I'm only half-kidding about that.  While I most certainly do enjoy having friends over for the holidays, I really do love putting out a table full of delicious eats.

Because I cannot boast a formal dining room, I decided long ago that rather than having only two or three people over at a time for a dinner I would invite more people for drinks and hors d'oeuvres.

The menu this year was as follows:
Heavyset Cheeseball
Cocktail Shrimp
Olives
Sausage Balls (see my earlier post)
Spinach and Goat Cheese Tartlets
Bruschetta (my own make-shift recipe)
Christmas Stollen (purchased)
and a bowlful of Hershey's Kisses

I also served red wine (Espiritu de Chile 2006 Carmenere), and a Chardonnay (2006 Meridian), and the usual array of soft drinks.

I typically try to do this sort of menu with a mixture of homemade and purchased items to make things a little easier on myself.  This was especially necessary this year since I decided to give my Christmas tins as party favors this year. (See next post).

The heavyset cheeseball proved a crowd favorite.  Everyone was initially awed by the presentation, and then loved the flavor.  The recipe seemed a little light on flavor so I added a good bit more dill and a smidgeon of garlic powder.  It was just right.  For the green garnish, I simply used the extra dill.

I've posted before on the sausage balls, and they were yet again a big hit.

My personal favorite was the tartlets.  In this, I may be biased by my steadfast opinion that there is nothing that cannot be improved by goat cheese.  I also made these for a party earlier this year.  They really are incredibly easy to make.  I do recommend using the pre-made phyllo cups.  They are a huge time-saver.  I also use only one teaspoon of lemon zest instead of two.  The first time I made these, I followed the recipe and they were too lemony.

For the bruschetta, I forgot the basil.  In my defense, I had been running around like a mad woman getting ingredients and doing Christmas shopping.  I realized as I began chopping the tomatoes that I had forgotten the basil, and made a decision to go without it.  I did tomatoes, shallots and garlic with salt and pepper, olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  Turned out great.  I do highly recommend getting the bakery to slice a baguette for the bruschetta.  I've noticed many places selling pre-made and packaged bruschetta chips/slices, but nothing beats freshly toasted bread.

Everyone gets bombarded with sweets this time of year, so I chose to keep the dessert simple.  Christmas stollen and Hershey's Kisses fit the bill and looked great on the table.

Now to the more artsy side of my Christmas party.  I couldn't find votive holders I liked at a price I could swallow, so I improvised.  I have a collection of ribbon remnants from previous Christmases, so I had an epiphany.  I bought two plain votive holders at $1 each, wrapped a piece of holly and ivy ribbon around them and voila!  Festive candles!

Originally, I had planned to use paper plates and cups for the party, but I decided against it.  I get to drag out my Noritake so rarely, and this would be so few dishes that I had to go for it.  I'm happy I did.  It really added to the ambience.  I also decided against plastic cups.  I did have to buy some goblets but I got them for practically nothing at Ross and I can always use them.  I also bought a pair of foil red serving plates to add a little extra color to the table.

Overall, it was a very nice evening.  Great company and great food.

Bourbon Pumpkin Cheesecake

I have never been a fan of pumpkin pie, much less pecan pie-which I find revolting.  So at Thanksgiving I'm just screwed.  I will eat pumpkin pie to be polite, but I really don't care for it.  I will under no circumstances eat pecan pie, since I think it would be most impolite to gag.  Solution: Bourbon Pumpkin Cheesecake.  That's right.  Liquor and pumpkin together at last.

I searched for several recipes for this cheesecake, and I have to admit that the decorative properties of this one made the decision for me.

I didn't notice until too late, i.e. after I'd already purchased an 8" springform pan, that she uses a regular cake pan.  Oh well.  I don't think it would make that much difference.

I made the unfortunate error of assembling this cake on a time crunch, so I didn't get to follow the recipe exactly.  Instead of putting the cake in a tented water bath, I put a pan of water in the oven with the cake.  The cake came out plenty moist, but I think the tent would have prevented some of the cracking.  Although the cracking could have been more a result of the cooling "process" I used.  I put it straight in the fridge instead of cooling to room temp in the water bath.

I also did not use the sour cream topping for two reasons: 1) I didn't think I wanted that much extra sugar and calories on something already so sweet, and 2) more importantly, I did not have time.  I didn't miss the sour cream in the finished product, but if I were going to do the decorations (which I intend to do) I would use the sour cream topping just for aesthetic purposes.

So, how did it taste?  Very good.  It is definitely a superior pumpkin dessert.  However, I do think it needed more bourbon.  One tablespoon did seem too little to me, but I wanted to follow the recipe the first time. Or I could try putting some bourbon in the sour cream topping.  We'll see.

She does recommend making your own graham crackers, but come on...Who's going to do that?  I'm sure it does taste better.  I was not wild about my graham cracker crust.  I think next time I'll make the crust with ginger snaps, to add a little more depth to the finished product.

Overall, it was good, but could be better.  I like my cheesecake a little more on the tart side, so I might replace some of the cream cheese with sour cream.