Take Note

Last night I hosted my first dinner party of the holiday season. My mom came over until the very last second helping me put all the finishing touches on my Christmas decor. I must admit, it looks pretty darn festive. I hope to post pictures soon - the problem is that all I have is this stupid little camera phone because my real camera has been broken for at least 3 months. Anyhow, it is always so nice to eat and fellowship with sweet friends ... and the holidays make it even more special. We have many-a-party to attend in the next 2 weeks so lots of my posts will likely be about food. I love everything about holiday party food! I have a pile of loose papers right here beside my desk with recipes that I have jotted down from all of your blogs. Please keep the recipes coming!

Okay, here is where you should take note. I do not cook low-fat, reduced-fat, non-fat (none of that non-sense:) ) when cooking for guests. Like everyone else, I have ways of trying to keep a semi-slim and trim figure but skimping when guests come over is not one of them! So, if you should ever dine at my home ... you have been warned! haha. I promise it will be tasty though. Last night was no exception to this rule. I had an appetizer, salad, pasta dish and dessert ~ it was hard to accept compliments though because everything was soo easy.

For something to snack on while the pasta was in the oven I made a Holiday Cheese Ball. My friend's mother (hey Fran!) is notorious for making this cheese ball and it is always a hit. It takes about 2 seconds. Here are the only 3 ingredients you will need ... oh yeah you will need some Ritz crackers to serve too!

Mix a dry ranch dressing packet in with 8 oz. of softened cream cheese. Form in to a ball. Roll the ball so that it is completely covered in the bacon. Serve with crackers. **So sorry the picture quality is so terrible**

I made a Mandarin Orange and Kiwi Salad and the recipe is in this post.

For the main course I made a Creamy Chicken Pasta that I got from my town's newest Junior League cookbook .... these cookbooks always have the best recipes. This dish was delicious and easy as pie. It is kind of a different take on poppy seed chicken - surely all you Southerners are familiar with poppy seed chicken! Didn't have time for pics ... I was running out of time but here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

12 oz. angel hair pasta, 2 cups cooked diced chicken, 1/2 cup softened butter, 2 cans of cream of chicken soup, 2 cups of sour cream, 1 tsp. garlic salt, 1 tbsp. parsley flakes, Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Break pasta in half and cook according to package directions. Meanwhile, in large bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Stir in cooked pasta, then pour in to a greased backing dish. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 60 minutes or until bubbly.

Dessert was probably the biggest hit of the night. It is a recipe that my mom has been making for years and she calls it Peach Yums. What you will need:

All you do is crush up all of your coconut bars (I am not even sure why these cookies are called coconut bars because they taste nothing like coconuts) and pour one stick of melted butter over the crushed cookies and stir. Then drain your peach halves and keep juice. Pour half of the peach juice in the bowl with the crushed cookies and butter and pour the other half in to the bottom of a baking dish. Arrange the peach halves on the baking dish and scoop the cookie mixture in to the pit of the peach. It will look something like this:

Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 20 minutes. Best served with vanilla ice cream!

EAT, DRINK & BE MERRY!

xoxo~