Hope you all had a lovely Christmas.
For our part, it was a quiet and relaxed one; just the way we like it. I've really come to appreciate not having to deal with all the pressures I used to experience around this time of year.
I spent most of the day doing what I love most: playing with food. Don helped me make sauerkraut, then I worked on dinner while he and his daughter, Amber, who is visiting, did the Tibetan Rites and had a long talk. We also had a nice walk in the snowy landscape - you know, gotta enjoy our Winter Wonderland.
Our Christmas Feast...
I opted for a simple but color-full dinner menu, somewhat inspired by the traditional Christmas fare.
A Cranberry Sauce I came up with
And our complete main course:
My Thankful Turkey served the cranberry sauce and squash rice
We have desserts coming out the ying yang in the freezer these days, so I let Amber take her pick. She chose my Banana Chocolate Cream Cake. Mmmmmmm
I forgot to make Raw Nog, but I'll be serving it this evening with a nice cookie platter.
New Year's Raw-solutions
New Year's Eve promises to be just as low key at our end, but in case you're planning on attending parties to celebrate the arrival of 2008, I thought I'd give you a hand in deciding what raw goodies to take along. In fact, I've been playing with the idea for the last several days, consulting Heathy in the process, as she just LOVES that sort of thing.
There's certainly no shortage of raw recipes that can be easily transformed into bite-size treats, but here's my favorite cool finger food ideas that are almost certain to rawk your party to the bone!
I forgot to make Raw Nog, but I'll be serving it this evening with a nice cookie platter.
New Year's Raw-solutions
New Year's Eve promises to be just as low key at our end, but in case you're planning on attending parties to celebrate the arrival of 2008, I thought I'd give you a hand in deciding what raw goodies to take along. In fact, I've been playing with the idea for the last several days, consulting Heathy in the process, as she just LOVES that sort of thing.
There's certainly no shortage of raw recipes that can be easily transformed into bite-size treats, but here's my favorite cool finger food ideas that are almost certain to rawk your party to the bone!
Veggie sticks with dip of choice
(Try the Raw Deviled Egg-less "Egg" Spread or the Ranch Dressing/Dip - they're both outstanding!)
(Try the Raw Deviled Egg-less "Egg" Spread or the Ranch Dressing/Dip - they're both outstanding!)
* You might want to make round crackers by cutting them with a cookie cutter right before or after flipping them onto the mesh.Mexi-Snacks
Top a cracker with guacamole, 'refried beans' and a dollop of sour cream. (See this post for some great recipes.)Cashew Cheese Au Poivre with crackers of choice
Crab Cakes with Tartar Sauce
And of course pizza is ever the perfect snack! (For pizza topping ideas, see this, this, and this.)
You can make mini ones about the size of your palm...
Or go for a large one cut into teeny pieces.
Below is a gorgeous pizza that Fairygirl/Heathy served at a raw dinner party. She topped it with a sundried tomato sauce, red/green peppers, red onion, parsley, and seed cheese.
And On the Sweet Side...Or go for a large one cut into teeny pieces.
Below is a gorgeous pizza that Fairygirl/Heathy served at a raw dinner party. She topped it with a sundried tomato sauce, red/green peppers, red onion, parsley, and seed cheese.
Desserts can be especially fun to convert into finger food by spreading the batter about 1/2 " thick into a cookie sheet, a rectangular pan or muffin pans. Just make sure to line these with plastic film so your goodies pop out easily.
Fairygirl sure has a knack for making cute little guys...
(Shown here sans banana)
Oh, and let's not forget cookies and nut balls! How about Ani's Donut Holes, Cinnamon Balls or Snowdrop's Chocolate Orange Confection (shown below.)
Not sure what cookies to make? Have a look here for a bunch of yummy recipe ideas. In the meantime, here's a couple of lovely platters to get your creative juices going...
Coonlie's Caramel-Maca Balls, Chocolate-Berry "Candy" Canes, Ginger Swirls and Chocolate Chip Cookies
And Being's assorted Gingerbread Cookies
And lastly, a few other great sweet treats that could be easily made into miniature versions...
Chocolate Mousse Tarts
Snowdrop's Blonde Fruitcake
White Chocolate-Strawberry Cheesecake
Wishing you a Healthy and powerful New Year!
Photo CreditsSnowdrop's Blonde Fruitcake
White Chocolate-Strawberry Cheesecake
Hope you find some finger foods that hit the mark with you and have fun being creative in the kitchen. I know I had such a blast making some of these, I wished we were more into the party thing. Ah well... Guess we'll just have to throw our own.
*~*~*~*~*
Happy Holi-berries! by outnbout
Veggies & Dip, Cucumber Bites, Cheese Topped Celery, Mexi Snacks, Pizza, Brownie and round cheesecakes by Fairygirl/Heathy
Tuna Salad by Ocean
Cachew Cheese by Chad Sarno
Zucchini Roll-Ups by Nomi Shannon and Sheryl Duruz
Chocolate Orange Confection by Snowdrop
3 comments:
I absolutely love your blog and have been raw for seven months. My mom, sister and I are all raw together. Your pictures and recipes are great. Some days I get really bored with raw food and your site just gives me so much inspiration and excitement about trying new recipes.
Thanks for all your great posts. A belated Merry Christmas to you and a Happy New Year.
Our Christmas was relaxing and mellow too, eating raw and relaxing by the fire and watching movies.
Oh, wow! This is amazing. I'm going to be coming back and finding lots of stuff to make. I've had a craving for cheesecake lately, so this is great. Thank you!
Now that's a lot of food. I make Ani Phyo's walnut cranberry squash "rice" all the time. Even non-raw guests enjoy it. I've gotta try that cashew cheese. I think I did a double-take.
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