Holiday Party and Recipe list

Happy Holidays! It's hard to believe the holiday season is here already. Where has this year gone? Mitch is 10 months old, almost 11 and time is flying. So before all of the holiday craziness this year, we decided to have a Holiday party with some friends. A few friends that turned into 17 wonderful friends, not including ourselves.

We had a great night, wonderful food, and even better company. Thank you everyone for sharing the busy holiday season with us!

Everyone expressed such delight over the food, that I thought I would include a few recipes from the evening. We had Spinach and artichoke dip, Charleston Cheese Dip, Grape vine bread, Pork Tenderloin, Beef Tenderloin with a horseradish cream sauce, Green bean salad with Feta Cheese, Pasta Salad, Black Beans and Rice, Twice Baked Potatoes, Cheesecake, and Pumpkin Gooey Cake. Feel free to use any of the recipes as your own ;)

I also made a quick centerpiece with Cranberries and Holly from my front yard, ideas from Better Homes and Garden.

Charleston Cheese Dip

1 Block Cream Cheese

1 Cup Sharp Shredded Cheddar

1/2 cup mayo

8 slices precooked and crumbled
Mix and put in a pie dish, cover with Bacon

Bake at 350 for 30 min, and serve with Crackers.
Green Bean Salad
2 pounds fresh green beans, trimmed
1 small purple onion, thinly sliced
1 (4-ounce) package crumbled feta cheese
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans, toasted
3/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Preparation
Cut green beans into thirds, and arrange in a steamer basket over boiling water. Cover and steam 15 minutes or until crisp-tender. Immediately plunge into cold water to stop the cooking process; drain and pat dry.
Toss together green beans, onion, cheese, and walnuts in a large bowl. Cover and chill 1 hour.
Whisk together olive oil and next 5 ingredients; cover and chill 1 hour.

Regency Beef Tenderloin with Horseradish Butter

Prep time: 10 min Marinate: 8 hrs Cook: 55 min

1 cup soy sauce

2/3 vegetable oil

3 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons Dijon Mustard

1 tablespoon white vinegar

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 (5-6 pound) beef tenderloin, trimmed

Horseradish Butter

-Combine first 7 ingredients; stir well

-Place tenderloin in a large heavy-duty, zip-top plastic bag or shallow dish. Pour marinade over tenderloin 8 hours, turning occasionally.

-Remove tenderloin from marinade, reserving marinade. Bring marinade to a boil in a small saucepan, set aside

-Place tenderloin on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Bake at 400 for 45 to 55 min or until meat thermometer inserted into thickest part registers 145 mid rare or 160 medium, basting accasionally with marinade. Let stand 10 min before slicing. Serve with Horseradish Butter.

Horseradish Butter

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 8oz package cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup mayo

1/4 cup prepared horseradish
Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl, beat at medium speed with electric mixer until blended, serve at room temp.

Cheesy Twice-Baked Potatoes

(This is an awesome recipe, make it your own. We do. We add more of what we like, and sometimes bake the potatoes in the microwave to save time.)

4 large russet potatoes, scrubbed well

6 slices turkey bacon or use Bacon Bits, which we find to be just as good, and much easier

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup Sour Cream

1/2 cup Milk

Salt and pepper

1 cup shredded Cheddar

2 scallions, chopped

Line a baking sheet with foil. Preheat broiler, placing oven rack directly beneath heat source. Pierce potatoes with a fork all over and cook on high in microwave until tender, about 20 minutes, turning once. While potatoes are cooking, sauté bacon in a small, heavy-bottom skillet over medium-high heat until crisp and brown, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer bacon to paper towels to drain. When cool enough to handle, crumble bacon and set aside. (Or skip this part and use Bacon Bits)
Put butter and milk and sour cream in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 2 minutes. With hands covered to protect from heat, cut potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop out flesh with a spoon. Place potato flesh in a medium bowl and break up with a fork; set aside potato skins. Add milk mixture, salt, pepper, 3/4 cup cheese and scallions to bowl with potato flesh and mix well. Stir in bacon. Divide potato mixture among potato skins.
Place potatoes on prepared baking sheet and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup cheese. Broil potatoes until tops are crisp and bubbling and mixture is heated through, about 4 minutes.

Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake

Ingredients
Cake:
1 (18 1/4-ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 egg
8 tablespoons butter, melted
Filling:
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
8 tablespoons butter, melted
1 (16-ounce) box powdered sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
Serve with Whip Cream (the icing on the cake) ;)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine the cake mix, egg, and butter and mix well with an electric mixer. Pat the mixture into the bottom of a lightly greased 13 by 9-inch baking pan.

To make the filling: In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and pumpkin until smooth. Add the eggs, vanilla, and butter, and beat together. Next, add the powdered sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and mix well. Spread pumpkin mixture over cake batter and bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Make sure not to overbake as the center should be a little gooey.
Serve with fresh whipped cream.

Variations: For a Pineapple Gooey Cake: Instead of the pumpkin, add a drained 20-ounce can of crushed pineapple to the cream cheese filling. Proceed as directed above.
For a Banana Gooey Cake: Prepare cream cheese filling as directed, beating in 2 ripe bananas instead of the pumpkin. Proceed as directed above.
For a Peanut Butter Gooey Cake: Use a chocolate cake mix. Add 1 cup creamy peanut butter to the cream cheese filling instead of the pumpkin. Proceed as directed above.

Happy Holidays Friends, I hope you enjoy the recipes!