This Christmas, I spent a lot of time at my sister-in-law's house. As they had been hosting us for a week, when New Year's Eve rolled around, Jaime and I offered to make some party snacks to celebrate with.
It was really fun for us for several reasons:
a. We were in Portland and could find anything we wanted at the grocery store.
b. I got to make some sweets
c. We got to do something nice for our wonderful hosts!
I decided to just make some things that taste good and I thought everyone would like. The "appetizer" menu?
-brownies
-drop sugar cookies
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ham and cheese puff pastry
-
savory palmiers
The sweet treats were (of course) family recipes. The savory treats come from none other than the Barefoot Contessa herself. Check out the links above to see the recipes.
Here are some shots of the cooking process. It was so fun to bake for the newest members of my family--especially my mother-in-law. She was very appreciative. By the way--these photos are in the order I made things---so there is going to be a back and forth.
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| Mixing up the sugar cookies |
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| Pretty sugar cookie dough |
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| Alas--what are these? Ingredients for savory palmiers! Puff pastry, goat cheese, pesto, and sun-dried tomatoes! |
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| Back to the cookies--you just drop them on the sheet and sprinkle some sugar on top! |
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| Palmiers in action--rolling out the puff pastry |
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| It was a tough job! |
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| Jaime gets in on the palmier action |
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| Spread that pesto! Yummy! |
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| Adding the sun-dried tomatoes and goat cheese |
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| A festive holiday delight |
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| Fold the side in toward the center |
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| Now fold the other side |
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| Fold both sides over once more |
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| Roll it in parchment paper and refrigerate |
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| This is the first step of the ham and cheese puff pastry--roll out the puff pastry to fit your pan and spread it with mustard. |
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| Here is Aura adding some ham to the puff pastry |
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| Then put some cheese on top! We used gouda (I think) |
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| Put the second sheet of puff pastry on top |
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| Add an egg wash to the border and crimp it with a fork |
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| Fresh cookies, anyone? |
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| I didn't get the brownies in progress, but here's my mom-in-law arranging everything on a tray! |
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| Puff pastry anyone? |
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| Here are the palmiers sliced and on the pound |
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| Check out this! The little containers are full of grapes--there are 12 in each. You eat one grape for each month of the year and make a wish for the month before you eat it! |
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| The spread! |
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Champagne, anyone?
Happy New Year to you all! I will post the super secret recipes later! |
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