Christmas Popcorn Mix & Babble Cookies

I'm a huge fan of Christmas cookies. I'm not joking - just take a look at what I did last Christmas for my co-workers. This year, instead of baking hundreds of cookies, we did a "Bake Luck" at work and everyone brought in something to share.

These were my contribution:

So since we had the "Bake Luck", I decided to skip (some of the) cookies baking this year. Instead, I made this Christmas Popcorn Mix for everyone to enjoy. check out a few things I bought for the packaging: Avery® Easy Peel® Print-to-the-Edge White 2" Round Labels from Staples, and Cellophane Bags from N.Y. Cake.

And here are the "ingredients" I used for the Christmas popcorn mix: red and green milk chocolate M&M's, red and green mint chocolate M&M's, Planters honey roasted peanuts, Popcorn Indiana Original Kettlecorn, Nestle Toll House Milk Chocolate Morsels (not the best to use but that's what I had), Snyders Mini Pretzel, Toll House Premier White Chocolate Morsels, and some red and green sprinkles.

Extra: Thanksgiving Dinner 2012

After weeks of preparation, I had successfully hosted a Thanksgiving dinner party! That should go on my resume as a skill. Even though it was a lot of work, I really did enjoy every bit of it – from picking table cloths to hunting for the perfect recipes. The food was absolutely delicious and it was an perfect evening to spend with family and friends.

We had a snack table set up shortly after breakfast with cheese and crackers, cured meats from Little Italy, olives, and grapes. And then, of course, there was the booze (a lot of it). Our friend Ian brought over a great bottle of bourbon – brewed right here in Brooklyn – called Widow Jane. He also brought another malt scotch whisky called Ardbeg from the Isle of Islay in Scotland. On the table, there was also this really good hard cider that Adam bought from the Fort Greene market called Bad Seed, which is a local cider from the Hudson Valley. And then... there was the Hennessy.

While Adam mastered the turkey I was busy cooking all the trimmings. Our 10 pound turkey ended up taking a little longer than we thought but that was a-okay because it gave us more time to enjoy watching football. Check out the fancy little menu and the amazing line-up :) Also check out these recipes you can try to make next year – Italian Sausage Stuffing, Green Beans and Walnuts with Lemon Vinaigrette, Corn Bread Pudding, Sweet-and-Tart Cranberry Sauce.

So happy that we got to finish off our meal with a Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie from Baked in Brooklyn, and the famous (blueberry) crumb cake from Carlo's Bakery in Hoboken, thanks to Ian and Petra!

Corn Bread Pudding

Here is a side dish to die for – Corn Bread Pudding. It's so good, I could eat it everyday. It's super easy to make, share, pack, and re-heat. The recipe is also very versatile – try throwing in some jalapeño or pepperoni. Be adventurous!

Check out my other favorite Thanksgiving recipes:

Corn Bread Pudding

Servings: 8

You'll need:

  • 1 16oz sour cream
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 cans of cream corn
  • 2 cans of regular corn, drained
  • 2 boxes of Jiffy corn muffin mix
  • 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Approach:

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. Start with sour cream, beat in eggs, then add the cream corn and regular corn.
  3. Mix in the Jiffy corn muffin mix.
  4. Pour mixture into a 9x13 baking dish.
  5. Pour melted butter on top of the mixture, and bake for 1 hour.
  6. Spread some shredded cheddar cheese on top and bake for another 10 minutes for the cheese to melt.

Green Beans and Walnuts with Lemon Vinaigrette

This green beans recipe blew everyone away on Thanksgiving! It's refreshing and the lemon vinaigrette made the dish light among other heavier traditional dishes.

Check out my other favorite Thanksgiving recipes:

Green Beans and Walnuts with Lemon Vinaigrette

Servings: 8

You'll need:

  • 1 lemon
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 1/2 pounds green beans, trimmed
  • 2/3 cup walnuts, toasted, coarsely chopped

Approach:

  1. Remove peel from lemon with vegetable peeler and cut into very fine strips.
  2. Cut lemon in half. Squeeze enough juice to measure 2 tablespoons; transfer to small bowl. Whisk in mustard, then oil. Season with salt and pepper.
  3. Cook green beans in pot of boiling salted water until crisp-tender, 5 to 6 minutes. Drain; pat dry. Combine beans, walnuts, and lemon peel strands in large bowl. Add dressing; toss to coat. Season salad to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

This recipe is adopted from Bon Appetit.