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SALT LAKE CITY -- With all the hubbub that the holidays bring, why not serve simple, yet scrumptious food?
No matter how hectic my holiday schedule gets, my favorite celebration activities are serving food to guests and taking gifts of food to neighbors. Within these festive weeks when time is tight and demands are great, I rely on several timeless recipes that I’ve come to depend on for three reasons. They are quick to prepare, comprised of a few simple ingredients and are versatile in their application.
The following recipes are among the staples of my holiday fare because of their ease of preparation, and the fact that they also earn regular compliments from my guests.
Three-Ingredient Cheese Ball
This flavorful cheese ball takes only minutes to make, and yet tastes as if it contains a multitude of ingredients. Many of my neighbors say it’s their favorite neighbor gift that I bring. It’s also a regular feature on my holiday table, paired with a plate of favorite crackers.
- Two 8-ounce blocks of cream cheese
- 1 envelope powdered Good Seasons Italian salad dressing
- 3/4 cup chopped pecans
Using your hands, simply mix the cream cheese and dressing powder together, form it into a ball, and roll it in the nuts. It couldn’t be easier. The process is even simpler if the cheese has been left out for a while to soften slightly.
Party Chicken
This simple yet elegant main dish recipe combines the flavors of three savory meats. Its sumptuous sauce also provides instant gravy, should you choose to serve it with mashed potatoes. This casserole goes into the oven three hours before dinner, leaving your time free to prepare other dishes or arrange your holiday table.
It’s surprisingly versatile. You can make it exactly as listed below, or vary the mushroom soup with cream of chicken soup. If you choose to use cream of chicken, consider melting Swiss cheese slices on top at the end to create your own chicken cordon bleu. My friend, Nila Merchant, also adds a half teaspoon of Dijon mustard (or Dijon mustard to taste) to the soup mixture when making the cordon bleu variation.
No matter which version you choose, it’s easy to vary the number of chicken breasts depending on the number of guests who are invited. Simply add another can of soup or two and a corresponding amount of sour cream.
- 6 boneless chicken breast halves
- 1 package Buddig dried beef sandwich meat slices
- 6 slices bacon
- One 8-ounce carton sour cream
- 1 can cream of mushroom soup
- You may want to consider using one-and-a-half cans of soup and one-and-a-half cartons of sour cream if you plan to use the sauce as gravy.
Grease a two-quart casserole dish. A 9"x9" casserole dish is usually big enough for a single recipe. Use a 9"x13" if you add additional chicken breasts. Line the dish with a single layer of Buddig dried beef slices. Place chicken breasts on top of dried beef. Place a slice (or half a slice, if you choose) of bacon atop each chicken breast. Mix soup and sour cream together and spread over the top of the casserole. Bake at 275 degrees for three hours. If you plan to melt the cheese on top, do so during the last five minutes.
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Super Easy Stuffed MushroomsThis makes a great appetizer and also works well as an accompaniment to meat dishes. These stuffed mushrooms are very flavorful and easy to make at the last minute. This recipe makes a lot and can be easily adjusted to make more or fewer mushrooms.
- 1 lb. Jimmy Dean pork sausage
- One 8-ounce block of cream cheese
- 1½ lb. whole mushrooms
Remove mushroom stems by twisting them until they break off. Simply stir together equal parts of sausage and cream cheese and fill center of mushrooms. Place under heated broiler until sausage mixture is browned.
Peanut Butter Caramel Popcorn
When the ingredients in this recipe are combined, the peanut butter unsticks the stickiness of the Karo syrup, making it especially easy to form into popcorn wreaths and popcorn balls. The peanut butter flavor is quite mild, and I’ve had people say they thought these were traditional caramel popcorn balls.
Sometimes I use this recipe to make peanut butter popcorn wreaths as neighbor gifts, placing them on a paper plate and filling the center of the wreath with red and green Hershey kisses to add a little Christmas color. This recipe is also quick to make and always delicious, whether the popcorn is shaped as a ball or wreath or simply eaten from a bowl.
- Holiday recipes and party planning ideas at foodnetwork.com.
- Holidays and event recipes at allrecipes.com.
- Find holiday recipes and healthy cooking tips at tasteofhome.com.
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup light corn syrup
- 1 cup peanut butter (creamy or chunk style)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla (optional)
- 3 quarts (12 cups) popped popcorn
Measure popcorn into a big pan with tall sides. Pour corn syrup and sugar into a heavy saucepan or cast iron pressure cooker. Bring syrup and sugar mixture to a vigorous boil and cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Remove pan from heat and add peanut butter and vanilla. Stir mixture briskly with spoon until smooth. Pour syrup over popped corn in the tall pan. Stir syrup through corn quickly, before syrup cools. With a long handled spoon in each hand, mix syrup through popcorn as you would toss a salad. Work from the outsides of the mixing pan toward the center, lifting the popcorn and then dropping it gently back into the center of the pan. Count 200 strokes, until each floweret of corn is coated with syrup. With a pan of lukewarm water at your side to wash your hands as needed, form popcorn into balls or wreaths. Makes about 10 small popcorn balls.
Easy Red Holiday Punch
This is another very easy recipe that looks festive in a holiday punch bowl.
- 4 cups cranberry juice
- 4 cups pineapple juice
- 1½ cups sugar
- 2 quarts ginger ale
Mix first three ingredients. Stir until sugar dissolves. Add ginger ale before serving.
Carolyn Campbell is the author of three books and 800 articles.
