The Holiday season can be so busy as we all know, and lots of times you find yourself hosting an unexpected visitor or two such as when a neighbor bops in to deliver fresh homemade cookies, or when a friend hand delivers a Christmas card. Well, of course, you welcome them in but now what?
Here are simple Holiday cocktail and snack recipes you can whip up using ingredients you probably already have on hand.
First up, let's talk cheese.
Here I had two bricks of cream cheese already in the fridge and this amazing Trader Joe's Everything but the Bagel Sesame Seasoning Blend.
Mix your cream cheese so it's soft and formable.
I like to lay out a piece of parchment paper and then sprinkle the seasoning down or use what you may have on hand (I added sliced almonds to this too), if I had dried cranberries I would've added them as well.
Just roll those cream cheese balls into the mixture and voila! Easy peasy, instant cheese ball you can serve up with crackers.
Next up, cocktails! Here I made an easy champagne libation that's festive and I'm sure you and your guests will enjoy!
Here's what you'll need:
Champagne
Cranberry-orange liqueur (or you could substitute cranberry juice)
Bitters (I use Aromatic Bitters)
1/2 lime
Cranberries
Rosemary
Sugar
Since I recently had made some sugar cookies I had some leftover sugar and thought it would be fun to rim the glasses. Run your lime around the rim and then dip into the sugar like this.
Tip: Don't have a lime on hand? Just use water.
Directions (makes one cocktail serving):
Pour 4 oz. Champagne (or eyeball it up to near the rim of your glass but leave about a 1/2 inch at the top)
Add 1.5 oz. Cranberry-orange liqueur
Add a couple of dashes of bitters
Taking your rosemary sprigs, remove the leaves about 1/2 way up the stem like this:
Slide the cranberries on the bottom of the stem, like this:
dip your rosemary into water (gently shake off) and then roll into the sugar you have on hand for the cocktail rim, like this:
Cute right?
(yes, I switched sugars, the finer granule works better).
Add the sprig to your cocktail to garnish and cheers!
Serve with your cheeseball.
And enjoy!
Happy Holidays!
Lea
