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Thread: Holiday (party) foods: What worked and what didn't

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    Holiday (party) foods: What worked and what didn't

    I made cheese straws and they were completely not worth the effort. Not great. Puff pastry and parmesan cheese.
    On the other hand, I just made a terrific dip with cream cheese mixed with hot pepper jelly rolled in crushed walnuts.

    Sesame chicken strips good.

    (I haven't cooked this way for years, so my skills are rusty)
    Any successes, any food fails?

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    Senior Member iris lilies's Avatar
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    Oh yes, I have made a version of sesame strip chicken, it was chicken strips with peanut sauce on skewers. thanks for reminding me of this, I forgot about it and need to keep this on a food rotation list.

    deviled eggs is a current go to dishes for potlucks because people like them, and they’re inexpensive.

    The potluck we attended 10 days ago was one where I had to provide “the meat “because for some reason it is incumbent upon the president of the organization to provide “the meat.” I find this assumption of a main course meat irritating, but I’m not willing to change it yet. Anyway, it was very easy to buy a pre-cooked ham and dump brown sugar and pineapple juice on it and slice it after being in the oven for an hour. People said the ham was very good. I am not a fan of salty ham and can’t eat it at the moment anyway as I am avoiding beef and pork.

    years ago, I made spring rolls for a few neighborhood events and people absolutely loved those, but those are a lot of work. an easy version of spring rolls is to buy little wonton squares and put spring roll filling in them. I put them in mini cupcake pans and bake in oven for a few minutes.

    As for dishes that are not worth it: last year I made the potato casserole known as “ funeral potatoes” which is a casserole of shredded potatoes and cheese with creamy stuff topped with crunchy stuff. It was not at all good. But then someone at the potluck last week brought their version and it was much better.

    Last week for the ham event, I also made a side dish of scalloped potatoes, and they did not travel well at all, and they were just not good when cold.

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    Senior Member Tradd's Avatar
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    Big wheel of Brie and crackers. Can never go wrong with this.

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    I recently attended a holiday open house in the neighborhood where everyone brought something. Among all the sweets, there was one savory item - deviled eggs. They were gone in five minutes and the sweets not so much other than some fudge.

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    Quote Originally Posted by pinkytoe View Post
    I recently attended a holiday open house in the neighborhood where everyone brought something. Among all the sweets, there was one savory item - deviled eggs. They were gone in five minutes and the sweets not so much other than some fudge.
    Wow, the deviled eggs seem to be a winner! My son told me yesterday about a variety called Drunken Eggs--should look this up.

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    Senior Member iris lilies's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tybee View Post
    Wow, the deviled eggs seem to be a winner! My son told me yesterday about a variety called Drunken Eggs--should look this up.
    One of my friends used to make them with blue cheese mixed in.

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    For every potluck I had to attend, I usually made my pasta salad with a vinaigrette dressing. It has pasta, cubes of white cheese, walnuts, broccoli, and kidney beans so it is very colorful. Serves well cold or room temp and leftovers are great.

    If a dessert was needed, a bundt cake was easy and did not require icing. Or my nobake fudge was easy. Lost that recipe unfortunately.

    Last huge bbq we went to had 3-4 people bring the same Chinese noodle salad.

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    I need to find my old no bake fudge recipe. I tried making fudge and that was one of my fails--it never set. I guess it will because hot fudge sauce. Which is something that I don't like, but maybe others in the family will.

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    Tybee, I did some research and here is the Fudge Nougat recipe (use the original one) that I used for decades. Isn't the internet a wonderful thing.

    Note: The rolling boil will help smooth out the mixture since the sugar will really dissolve and start to carmelize. Does not get hard and stores well.

    https://grandmaloyskitchen.blogspot....e-nougats.html

    Next year I think the fudge and some orange flavored candied pecans will be Xmas presents.

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    Senior Member rosarugosa's Avatar
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    We went to our cousins' house last night and they put out a nice little spread. My personal favorite was caprese-on-a-skewer, with cherry tomatoes, tiny mozzarella balls, and fresh basil leaves, with a balsamic drizzle.

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