Any Recipe Suggestions for Work Holiday Party?

[corispice]

So, the work holiday party is on Monday, at work (oh the joy!) and this year a core group of us are determined to make it much nicer than last year. I was wondering if any of you have any fun recipes (easy to make, especially) for finger foods or alcholic punches. I have been on Allrecipes and Foodnetwork.com for the last hour or so... so any help would be appreciated!

[mommymakesstuff2]

1pkg cream cheese

1pkg fake crab

1pkg square wonton wrappers

mix cream cheese and fake crab

put a spoonfil in wonton wrapper fold over wrapper do they are triangles, seal closed with water

fry until golden brown...

my kids love these...

Strawberry nachos...

cut tortillas into triangles...like chips...fry in vegetable oil...until golden...sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar

cover with strawberries/sugar/ cinnamon and whip cream....

fry fry fry...

or you can go to spam.com..you will love the site it is totally kitchy and spam rocks!

[Pipertml]

Pizza Bread! This stuff goes over very well at parties. Here's my mother's recipe:

Cathy’s Pizza Bread

1 loaf of bread dough (doesn’t need to be pizza dough. My ma uses frozen bread dough; I save out a little of the dough I use when I’m making loaves of bread)

Your favorite sauce

Mozzarella Cheese

Parmesan Cheese

Favorite Pizza Toppings

Olive Oil

A Cookie Sheet or a Baking Stone (I prefer the stone, it just makes the dough cook more thoroughly)

1 egg, whisked

Preheat your oven to 375°F. Oil your cookie sheet or stone (just a little, not a lot).

Roll out your bread dough in a rough rectangle. Pour your fav. sauce down the center of your dough rectangle, covering as much or as little of the dough as you like (some people like very saucy pizza – like me) but leave an inch or so of clean dough on one side down the length of your rectangle. Spread the mozzarella cheese and parm over the sauce (I sometimes throw a little cheddar into it and my pizzas to add a different flavor – I know others who use every cheese under the sun, but those are my favs). Layer your toppings over the cheese, but don’t pile them too high. Roll the long side of your dough like a jelly roll and press that long edge to seal it, creating a seam down your rectangle. Put the pizza bread on your cookie sheet or pizza stone, seam side down. Brush entire thing with a bit of the egg (gives it a nice glossy, golden sheen). Bake it at 375°F for 18-25 minutes or until light golden brown (a little longer w/ the stone - you just have to keep an eye on it). Let it stand for about 5 minutes or so and cut widthwise into slices.

When it’s hot out of the oven, I serve it with cold pizza sauce for dipping. If it’s the next day, I eat it cold w/ warmed pizza sauce. My Ma makes this for most holidays and every year for the Christmas party where my Dad works...and the one year she didn’t make it, man did my Dad ever hear about it from his co-workers…for like weeks after! That next year, for a month, his coworkers would come up to him and ask, “Cathy’s making pizza bread this year, right?”

It's great to make for little kids, too - my friend's two little girls love it! Enjoy!

[Petite Crafter]

This one has a little something for everyone:

ANTIPASTO PLATTER

This colorful presentation of cheese, vegetables and meats will be a focal point of any appetizer buffet table.

Preparation 25 min.

Chilling 2 hrs.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Italian vinaigrette salad dressing

• 16 cherry tomatoes

• 16 small fresh mushrooms

• Leaf lettuce

• 1 pound (2-inches thick) chunk deli LAND O LAKES® Provolone or Chedarella® Cheese, cubed

• 1/4 pound thinly sliced deli roast beef, cut into 1-inch strips, rolled up*

• 1/4 pound thinly sliced deli hard salami, rolled up

• 2 (6-ounce) jars marinated artichoke hearts, drained

• 1 (6-ounce) can large pitted ripe olives, drained

• 12 green pepper strips

• 10 to 12 pepperoncini salad peppers or cherry peppers

Instructions:

Combine Italian dressing, tomatoes and mushrooms in medium bowl. Cover; refrigerate at least 2 hours.

Place lettuce leaf lettuce on large serving platter. Drain marinade from tomato mixture. Arrange tomato mixture and all remaining ingredients on platter as desired.

*Substitute deli turkey or ham or your favorite deli meat.

TIP: If desired, secure each slice of meat with toothpick.

Yield: 12 servings

If you have certain ingredients you have on hand or would like to use, let me know - I have hundreds of finger food recipes!

[Deb]

And then there's the green chili and cream cheese pinwheels. Those are sooooooooo easy to do and you can do them a day ahead of time.

Mix some mild, chopped and drained green chilis into softened cream cheese. I use one to one and a half cans of green chilis per box of cream cheese. Since it's Christmas, you can add some drained and chopped pimentos for a nice holiday look of red and green confetti. Spread the cream cheese mixture onto flour tortillas and roll them tightly. As you can tell, I don't really measure when I cook so I'm not sure how many tortillas it'll fill, it depends on how thick you spread the cream cheese mixture.

After you've rolled them, wrap them in saran wrap and stick them in the fridge to chill. Once the cream cheese has set back up, take them out and slice them into 1 inch thick pinwheels. (the best part is that you get to eat the ends that you cut off) Put the pinwheels in an airtight container and stick 'em back in the fridge. They actually taste better the second day so you can definitely make them the night before your party. People love 'em.

Deb

[heidiiiii]

-You should have a cheese platter and a crudite platter to nosh on.

-You could make a spinach artichoke heart and cheese dip. I have copied this recipe for my own stash since I saw it made on tv.

- You could either make or buy hummus and babbaganush and serve with warm sliced pita triangles, greek olives, and cubes of feta cheese.

-I saw this on Paula Dean`s show yesterday: Shrimp Mold.

Let us know how the party turns out!

[havanaholly]

One recipe I take to Christmas parties that rarely bring home leftovers is

JALAPENO CORNBREAD

2 cups self-rising cornmeal + 1 cup self-rising flour

1 can cream-style corn

1 egg

2-3 chopped jalapeno peppers, green & red (or 3 chopped green jalapenos and half a chopped rep sweet pepper)

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1/2 cup milk

(you can use egg substitute, 2% cheese and fat-free milk for a guiltless version; I use 1/3 cup milk and 1/4 cup fat-free plain yogurt)

Whisk everything together in a mixing bowl and pour into a preheated iron skillet (frying pan) sprayed with cooking spray and bake at 350 degrees until the top is golden-brown and sounds somewhat hollow when you tap it lightly with a tableknife handle, about 35-40 minutes. Very festive colors.

I also had to whomp up something for "cocktail time" hors d'oeuvres on the "Big O" hike that would use the perishables before they spoiled when our travel trailer's fridge died.

CHEESE PUFFS

3 cups "heart healthy" Bisquick (in the white box)

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1 1/2 tsps cayenne pepper (trust me)

enough milk to make the dough hold together

Stir the dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl with a fork, adding milk gradually until the dough hangs together into a ball.

drop by half-icedteaspoonsful onto a baking sheet sprayed with cookingspray and bake at 400 degrees about 6-8 minutes, until golden brown and smelling heavenly. The trick here is keeping them from getting eaten until you get them to the party.

[Muriel]

-You could make a spinach artichoke heart and cheese dip.

Mmmmm yummy! I love artichoke dip! And of course jalapeno cornbread...

[Pipertml]

One recipe I take to Christmas parties that rarely bring home leftovers is

JALAPENO CORNBREAD

Ooooh, jalapeno cornbread....mmmmmmm....with a mountain of pulled pork doused in a sweet and tangy bbq sauce - *drool*. It's not even 9 am and my stomach is already growling!

[corispice]

Thanks everyone, I see alot of good ideas (I think my boyfriend would scarf down jalapeno corn bread!).

For the punch, I found a recipe that I'm going to doctor up a bit, it calls for champagne, ginergale, and oj. I'm going to add some sherbet (orange and or raspberry) and some raspberry or berry type vodka.

I've been getting into baking recently, and cooking, and entertaining type stuff, so I think the party will be a fun way to incoroporate that. I bought a 5$ cookie book from the bargain bin at Borders (say that 5 times fast!) and tried out a bunch of recipes, and have been modifying here and there, and learning as I go. The best thing I've made so far, I think, is a toffee shortbread with a pecan caramel layer over the top.

[Anna]

. The best thing I've made so far, I think, is a toffee shortbread with a pecan caramel layer over the top.

This sounds yummy as well!!!!

Hugs and good luck!

[CJEP]

I have three holiday or at least this time of the year favorites for parties. The first is really easy, but needs to be warmed up, it is Salsa baked goat cheese. I have made it many times and everyone loves it even if they don't think they like goat cheese.

The second is a pesto, olive, roasted red pepper goat cheese torta. Again, easy and colorful. You probably don't want to serve both of these the same time though.

The third is a pesto cheesecake. Not quite as easy but can be made ahead. I will attach a copy of the scanned recipe.

Oprah did a show today on throwing a holiday party with recipes by Rachel Ray. The recipes are suppose to be on the show's website. It included Oprah's recipe for pomengranite margaritas and Rachel's famous five minute fudge.

[corispice]

Wow, thanks for the links... 5 minute fudge... that sounds like a good (and easy) idea!

And I'm so hungry right now that everything else sounds divine! (mmmm... salsa baked goat cheese!)

[havanaholly]

Carrie, is that the pesto cheesecake recipe Gourmet Magazine ran several years ago? I made it once and we all ained obscene amounts of weight and I have never made it again (and FYI, y'all, the stuff is WONDERFUL!!!).

[bookmarm]

Rum balls! This gives you alcohal and finger food in one fell swoop! Our favorite recipe:

1 (6 oz) pkg semi sweet choc chips gently melted

1/2 c. dark rum

3 T. corn syrup

2 1/2 cups vanilla wafer crumbs(run the cookies through the cuisinart, then measure out..or mash them with a rolling pin)

1/2 c powdered sugar

1 c ground/chopped pecans

granulated sugar to roll them in

mix all (except gr. sugar) and then roll in to small balls. Roll balls in gr. sugar.