The holidays make me think of my favorite food group: APPETIZERS!!!
I thought it would be great for us to share our favorites and get ideas for our Christmas parties and parties throughout the year!
Here are a couple of my favorites:
OYSTER CRACKERS
My mom used to always make these at the holidays. They are SO addictive.
She used to send me back to college with a huge tin of them and I won't
tell you how long they lasted. They are the BEST snack.
Ingredients
Directions
- Preheat oven to 275 degrees F (135 degrees C).
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together vegetable oil, ranch-style dressing mix, dill weed, lemon pepper and garlic powder. Pour this spice mixture over the crackers in a medium bowl, and stir until the crackers are coated. Arrange the crackers on a large baking sheet.
- Bake in the preheated 275 degrees F (135 degrees C) oven for 15 to 20 minutes.
CHOCOLATE CHIP CHEESE BALL
- 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
- 3/4 cup finely chopped pecans
DIRECTIONS
- In a medium bowl, beat together cream cheese and butter until smooth. Mix in confectioners' sugar, brown sugar and vanilla. Stir in chocolate chips. Cover, and chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
- Shape chilled cream cheese mixture into a ball. Wrap with plastic, and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
- Roll the cheese ball in finely chopped pecans before serving. But it can be hard to form a ball so I skipped the nuts and just put the mixture in a bowl. (I think it's better that way!)
