Menu help for holiday bash

[taxlady]

Beef Stew it is Janet!! Can you share a recipe you'll be using as I'm never happy with mine.

Good idea GG!!

I don't remember exactly what I put in my last beef stew, but it was wonderful. It was pretty standard: browned cubes of beef, root vegis, and 'taters. The thing that was different was that all the cooking liquid was red wine. I think I let the beef simmer for a while before adding the veg and 'taters.

 

[Kayelle]

Wine makes everything better Taxi, thanks for the tip.

Janet, you might want to consider Hot Buttered Rum for your party.
I posted this the first Holiday's I joined back in 2010..

http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f115/happy-new-year-with-hot-buttered-rum-69270.html

 

[GotGarlic]

Wine makes everything better Taxi, thanks for the tip.

Janet, you might want to consider Hot Buttered Rum for your party.
I posted this the first Holiday's I joined back in 2010..

http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f115/happy-new-year-with-hot-buttered-rum-69270.html

I really need to make this. I had some recently that was made with hot apple cider instead of water. Nice variation

 

[Alix]

Oh good lord YES to the hot buttered rum. That stuff is like liquid gold!

I'm a big fan of spinach or artichoke dip for parties. Its easy to make ahead, looks pretty and it is a great grab and go thing. Sort of boosts the veggie count, but not really!

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Stew si a wonderful thing. It already has the meat, veggies, and root veggies built in, surrounded by a flavorful gravy, or sauce. When I'm eating stew, what I want to go with it is some good bread, or dinner rolls. I use it to scrape up every bit of gravy from the plate. If you look online for the original Spudnuts recipe, and make dinner rolls from the dough, you will be treated to one of the finer breads ever created. You could use mini loaf pans, or roll the dough into balls to make hot-crossed rolls in muffin tins.

If you prefer, the dough, once rolled out, can be covered with melted butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and raisins and nuts to make wonderful cinnamon rolls. If you take the dough, roll it into balls, then roll the balls in melted butter, then Cinnamon sugar, you can place stack them into a casserole dish and make monkey bread.

For the straight dinner rolls, simply roll out the dough, cut into rounds with a biscuit cutter, dip into melted butter, then fold in half and let rise on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake until golden brown. Your guests will thank you.

Now here's a strange idea, use the Spudnuts doughnut recipe to make fresh, hot, yeast-raised doughnuts. Fry them up fresh and dip in sugar and cinnamon, or make a simple glaze for them.

I still like the dinner roll idea for the stew though.

Hope your bash goes wonderfully.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[Janet H]

Bash report:

Small disaster here just before bash commenced - the power went out.

So.. no fresh baked rolls - we had some from the grocery instead.
Beef stew was good and since it had been bubbling away in the crock pot all afternoon, was plenty hot.

Hot cider was not hot however... that said, folks mostly drank wine and eggnog and sodas so no real harm done.
Veggie plate with dip - good.
Popcorn - made old school in the fireplace due to power outage.
Gingerbread - awesome!

We lit the house with candles and had a fine time.

The cake report:

 

[Kayelle]

Thanks so much for the report Janet. You're a super star hostess dealing with a power outage! I love the popcorn part!
Your friends are lucky to have you!

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

Bash report:

Small disaster here just before bash commenced - the power went out.

So.. no fresh baked rolls - we had some from the grocery instead.
Beef stew was good and since it had been bubbling away in the crock pot all afternoon, was plenty hot.

Hot cider was not hot however... that said, folks mostly drank wine and eggnog and sodas so no real harm done.
Veggie plate with dip - good.
Popcorn - made old school in the fireplace due to power outage.
Gingerbread - awesome!

We lit the house with candles and had a fine time.

The cake report:

View attachment 23983

View attachment 23984

That sounds like an amazing bash!
Love the old fashion popcorn in the fire, great save!
AND I would love to get your recipe for that yum-o-licious looking cake!

 

[Janet H]

That sounds like an amazing bash!
Love the old fashion popcorn in the fire, great save!
AND I would love to get your recipe for that yum-o-licious looking cake!

The cake is straight from the king Arthur website: Gingerbread Bundt Cake Recipe | King Arthur Flour

The icing is confectioners sugar and water (made thick) with smashed candy cane bits.

It's worth noting that this was on decent cake but not the best ginger bread I've ever had. I'll need to find one with more molasses next time. That said, it was easy to make and sometimes that's a major plus.

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

Already put that recipe in my "bookmarks" to make for a New Year's Eve party we're invited to.