My theme-less blog continues.... though it seems the majority of what I post is food related - this is ironic because since living with my in-laws, this is the least amount I've ever cooked. That said, when I AM in the kitchen, I do love it - especially because I have Mimi's help with watching over you know who....
I have some great new pieces of jewelry that I'll blog about soon - cute, affordable pieces that make great gifts for yourself or for friends! Perhaps you can go ahead and start your Christmas shopping early! I actually did that one year - maybe not in January, but in June, I made my list and started buying a few presents a month so that as Christmas neared, I only had the kids to buy for. It was fantastic! And then there was the year when I ventured out at 7:00 AM the day after Christmas (7:00 AM years ago was really early in retail land but not today....) to load up on fun Christmas "stuff" for the following year. These efforts do pay off, literally - less hectic shopping before Christmas and less money spent before Christmas. Anyway, I did none of that this go around - I don't know if it's the third child or my age or the fact that I work... but honestly, I was just too tired! So.... that said, I am going to make my list and start buying as I go through the year. Perhaps I will inspire you to do the same!
Anyway, I wanted to share with you a recipe that I received from our VP of Total Rewards at Children's. I told her that I needed a knockout appetizer to take to a party - pressure was on to take something good, and she sent me two recipes - one for mini crab cakes with an aioli sauce (which I have not yet made but when I do, I'll let you know!) and the other for Olive Cheese Puffs. She told me that they were always a hit when she made them. I took a peek at the recipe and imagined what they might taste like, and honestly, I wasn't all that excited about making them (but she's the kind of person who, when she gives you a recipe or a recommendation, you know it's got to be great). I really wanted to make the crab cakes but they are more labor intensive and time was of the essence. Turns out I didn't go to the party (due to a cold), but I made the olives on New Year's Eve. Let me tell you that these are EXCELLENT! Oh... the way the cheddary dough bakes to a nice crisp tender consistency and the little splash of salty green olive inside - mmm mmmm - they are the perfect marriage of tastes. It took me hardly any time to make these AND you can make them ahead! How great is that!?! I would make these as an appetizer before having people over for dinner - I would take them to the nicest of parties. Easy, elegant and down right TASTY!
First, you make the dough out of freshly shredded sharp cheddar cheese, flour, butter, salt and paprika.
Combine everything and knead it into dough. Then you take a teaspoon (I probably used 2 tsp per every olive) of dough and wrap it around your olive.
Place the wrapped olives on wax paper on a cookie sheet and freeze until you are ready to bake them.
How easy is that?
I baked them and they looked like this...
My mouth is watering just looking at these! The recipe says to wrap 1 tsp of dough around each olive, but I probably wrapped twice that amount. We all agreed that we'd do them the same again. I don't have a pretty picture of these on a platter with a sprig of greenery because they never made it to the serving dish. We gobbled them up straight from the cookie sheet. They were magnificent!
Olive Cheese Puffs
2 cups finely grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup flour
1/2 cup soft butter
1/2 tsp salt (I used less)
1 tsp Paprika
50 small/medium olives, drained
Combine everything except olives and form into dough. Wrap 1 tsp around each olive and place on a piece of wax paper. Freeze until ready to bake.
Spray cookie sheet with Pam and bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Let cool for 2-3 minutes before serving.
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Here she is standing with Sandy and Sandy's "mini me" - Sandy is a lab and "Mini me" is a chihuahua - the running joke is that Sandy had a one night stand and then came "Mini me." :)
