Gourmet Food on a Budget
The holiday season is perfect for gathering friends, baking sweet treats, and creating cherished memories. Whether it’s a kid’s sleepover or a festive get-together, these simple recipes bring joy to every celebration. Inspired by a spontaneous idea to host a Christmas party, we turned a quiet day into a baking extravaganza with kids leading the way.
Turkey Taco Tot Hotdish is a spicer version of Tim Walz’s award-winning recipe. The comforting casserole combines ground turkey, cheese, and crispy potato tots. This dish may look complicated, but it’s not. It can be on the table in about an hour.
Salmon croquettes are a delightful twist on a classic comfort food that’s perfect for a cozy family dinner or a special brunch with friends. These crispy and flavorful patties are not only delicious but also easy to make.
These sandwiches with cream cheese, bacon, tomato, basil, and avocado are wonderful for a picnic lunch or to feed a crowd. They are tasty and easy to make. You can even prep them the night before.
This is an elegant and easy to make a dessert that because it doesn’t have brandy, everyone can have. If you are concerned about caffeine, then use decaffeinated coffee instead.
These candied jalapeno slices are so easy to make, you will wonder why you haven’t done this before. We like them on a cream cheese topped celery or cracker for a snack.
This is my potato salad, the one that I make that everyone who has it loves it. It’s simple, and you can make it in the Instant Pot.
Christmas gifts from the kitchen are wonderful to give to your friends, neighbors, family, and co-workers. Yes, it takes a little of your time, but the recipients will love it because it shows that you spent time and effort making the gift. It’s also great to have on hand if unexpected guests arrive, they can always go home with one of your homemade gifts.
When I was a little girl, my mother would sometimes make Pimento Cheese Spread for cocktail parties. My father’s family was from the Texas, my mother’s from New York. At the time, my father was a Captain in the US Army, and we were stationed in Germany. He had aspirations to be a Colonel – and that meant having the Brass over for cocktail parties that my mother had to make all the food – they didn’t have caterers in Germany that made American food that was in my mother’s budget – so she made everything from scratch. Imagine a party scene from Mad Men, and you have an idea of what my mother’s parties were like. Due to my mother’s great talents at entertaining, my father made it to Major before deciding to come home and have the career he always wanted – antique furniture refinisher.
If I was well-behaved and didn’t get in my mother’s way in the kitchen when she was making all these things, she would put aside a plate of appetizers just for me, and if I was lucky, it had Pimento Cheese Spread.
The great thing about Pimento Cheese Spread is that you can put odd bits of hard cheese you have lying around in your fridge. You might have forgotten they were even there. They might have a bit of mold, cut it off and you’re good to go. They might have a dried up outside, just cut that off, too. I usually have a good sharp cheddar as my main cheese, and I might have some pieces of Jack or Swiss left over in my cheese drawer. I wouldn’t put in a pungent cheese that would overbear your main cheese’s flavor. You could put a softer cheese in, too, just put it in after the pimentos go in. Important: don’t use pre-shredded cheese – it has extra ingredients that can affect the flavor and texture of this luscious spread.
