Holiday Party Foods

Tonight we had some of our med school friends over for a night of appetizers, desserts, games and fun. It just isn't the holidays for me without throwing a party. I really enjoy planning parties and this was just what I needed to get my party planning in for the season. Being 38 weeks pregnant, I found that I didn't really have the energy to plan a whole dinner, so we had the party later in the evening and I asked everyone to bring a favorite holiday appetizer or dessert. I made wassail, stuffed mushrooms and pecan tarts. I forgot to snap pictures, but these are three of my favorite holiday foods, so I thought I'd share the recipes for the tarts and mushrooms here. The wassail recipe I used is the classic wassail recipe from the Lion House cookbook.

Pecan Tarts
Cream together:
1 Square Butter
4 oz. Cream Cheese
1 Cup Flour

The mixture will be crumbly until you mash it together with your hands. It is a press pastry dough. Press about 1 tsp. into each mini muffin cup being careful not to get it too thin on the bottom.

Mix together and pour over about ¼ tsp. chopped pecans in each shell:
1 egg beaten
¾ Cup Brown Sugar
½ tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 Tbsp. Butter-melted

Bake 325 for 25 minutes. This recipe makes about 24 miniature tarts.

I 'm not usually a huge fan of spray whipped cream, but it goes great with these tarts and I actually prefer the spray whipped cream for these.

Stuffed Mushroom Caps

This is my favorite stuffed mushroom recipe. They are SO easy and SO yummy. They are always a big hit at any party and happen to be a family favorite.

2 Large Containers of Whole Mushrooms
1/2 Lb. (8 oz.) Jimmy Dean Hot Sausage (The hot sausage doesn't taste spicy, but adds a lot of flavor, so buy the hot even if it isn't what you usually buy. The cream cheese really tones it down)
1/2 pkg. (4 oz) Cream Cheese

Wash and de-stem mushrooms. Discard stems. Place mushrooms on a cookie sheet so they are ready to stuff. Put sausage and cream cheese in a bowl and mash together with your hands until well combined. While your hands are sticky, stuff each mushroom cap. This made about 36 mushrooms.

Bake at 375 appx. 20-30 minutes or until the sausage is golden on top.

Happy Holiday Cooking!!!