Christmas Oreo Balls

I make these every Christmas and distribute them to co-workers and friends.  They are far too decadent to be an everyday dessert, but once a year, they are worth the indulgence. 

Ingredients:

1 pack of double stuffed Oreos

1 log of Philadelphia cream cheese

1 package of white chocolate bark

Making it happen:

Breakdown the Oreos using a food processor until they are this consistency

Once all Oreos are broken down, add cream cheese.  Pulse until the mixture forms a ball. 

Start rolling the dough into balls and lay on cookie sheet lined with wax paper.  Once all the dough has been used, put the formed Oreo balls into the fridge for at least three hours. 

Next, melt the white chocolate, roll balls through the melted chocolate until fully covered, and drop on wax paper to dry.  Sprinkle with red or green sprinkles. 

Spicy Pecans

The perfect cocktail party appetizer.  

Ingredients:

20 oz of pecan halves

1 tablespoon course salt

2 tablespoons of cayenne

1 1/2 teaspoons of paprika

1/2 cup sugar 

2 large egg whites 

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Mix cayenne, sugar, paprika, and salt in a mixing bowl.  In separate bowl, mix egg whites until foamy.  Slowly add spice mixture to egg whites.  Stir in pecans. 

Spread nuts, in a single layer, on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Bake at 300 degrees for 15 minutes.  Reduce temperature to 250 degrees, turn cookie sheet around, and bake another ten minutes.  Once out of oven, put on a clean piece of parchment sheet to dry.  

- I used aluminum foil and the nuts got stuck, so best to use the parchment paper. 

Once dry, serve along some festive cocktails. 

Chopped Taco Salad

My friend Danielle came over last night and I whipped up this salad.  My mom makes a killer taco salad, but I decided to play around with the recipe.  You certainly could add or take away any of the listed ingredients. Here is what I did.

Ingredients:

1 Romaine Heart (chopped)

Half a Head of Iceberg Lettuce (chopped)

1 Red Bell Pepper (chopped)

1/2 Red Onion (chopped)

1 Avocado (chopped)

4 Roma Tomatoes (chopped)

1 Jalapeno (seeded and chopped)

Bunch of Cilantro (chopped)

1 can of Black Beans (drained)

1 can of White Kernel Corn (drained)

1 lb of Ground Turkey

1 package of Taco Seasoning

Tortilla Chips

Catalina Dressing

Making it happen:

Brown the turkey, drain, and put in fridge for an hour or until cool.  Next, chop your vegetables and put them in a large mixing bowl.  Drain beans and corn, then add to vegetables.  Next, pull ground turkey out of fridge and mix with the package of taco seasoning.  Add this mixture to the bowl of ingredients.  Mix well.  Top with crushed tortilla chips and desired amount of dressing.  Enjoy!

Thanksgiving

This was one of the coldest Thanksgivings I can remember.  I headed back to Belmont on Tuesday and on Wednesday, we had flurries.  The Hukill's arrived Wednesday night and these two rested up next to the fire. 

We headed my my aunt and uncle's for Thanksgiving lunch.

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday.  With Thanksgiving comes family time, football, great weather, and in my case, the one day of the year I eat myself sick.

The photograph below is one of the things I am most thankful for this year: Lee.  Lee decided to quit being stubborn and finally walk over the holiday!  As you can imagine, this had everyone excited.

Although I love pie of any kind, my favorite is sweet potato.  This is my Papa's specialty.  I forgo all other types of sweet potatoes on Thanksgiving to save room for a slice of this pie!

I am now back to work and in the final stretch until Christmas break.