Christmas Eve Dinner

And, the rest of the story is...  That in addition to beef tenderloin we had a yummy assortment of food.

Appetizers to start with.  

Dill dip with veggies
Salsa with chips
Wrapped waterchestnuts
Lil smokies with bacon

Beef tenderloin
Blender Bearnaise sauce
Creamed spinach
Carrots with orange
Roasted cauliflower
Potato gratin
Yorkshire pudding
Oatmeal bread
Cranberry Sauce
Persimmon pudding

Here's the appetizer table - after they started being inhaled:

Dill Dip

This is a long-time family favorite.  I dearly love my green tapenade from Bert Green's Store Cookbook (here's the link:  Green Tapenade) but most are not equally fond of the anchovy/herb flavor.  So, dill dip it is.  This is best made a day before.  It's fine to use dried chives and dill but the parsley is really better fresh. 

Ingredients:

1 c mayonnaise
1 c sour cream
2 t seasoned salt
2 t chives
2 t dill
2 t parsley


Salsa

Nine years later and this is still my go-to salsa.  So much better than the stuff you buy in a jar and it doesn't take much more time to toss together than opening a jar does.  Here's the link:  Salsa

Bacon Wrapped Waterchestnuts

This is a REALLY old recipe of mine.  I got it from a co-worker  when I worked at Lincoln National Bank in Fort Wayne, IN.  It's great party food!  

Ingredients:

1 can whole water chestnuts, drained

1 lb. bacon

1 jar chili sauce

½ c dark brown sugar

2 tsp. mayonnaise

Directions:

Wrap each water chestnut in ½ strip bacon and secure with a toothpick. Place on a broiler pan and broil until lightly browned (turning once.)  It’ll take 4-6 minutes per side.  Mix chili sauce, brown sugar and mayonnaise.  Place water chestnuts in an oven-proof baking dish and pour sauce over.  Mix until all are coated.  Bake at 325^o for 30-40 minutes.  Serve warm.

Lil Smokies with BBQ Sauce

Mary, who is one of our wonderful co-workers, said she takes this to parties and it's always the first thing gone.  Yup, that held true at our house.  I cannot believe I did not know about this recipe before.  It's easy and it's fabulous.  

Ingredients

1 package lil smokies

thin sliced bacon cut in 1/3rds 

BBQ sauce (we use Sweet Baby Ray's)

brown sugar

Directions:

Wrap the sausages with bacon and put them in a 9x13 pan in ONE layer.  Drizzle over BBQ sauce then sprinkle with brown sugar.  Bake at 350 for about an hour.  

And of course, photos of our family enjoying the appetizers!