www.horsdoeuvres.com has you guessed it, horsdoeuvres! This site which, Terresa, one of our members and friends pointed out, has lots of excellent links to horsdoeuvres sites.
Balatong is my favourite dish that Roland's mum, Sofia, makes. It's a hearty pork and mung bean soup that really sticks to your ribs on rainy winter days like today. This is my version of the soup. It's great on its own but Roland likes eating it with a mound of steamed rice.
This recipe makes a large pot of soup, so you might want to scale it back. But if you're a soup addict like we are, the quantities are fine!
My dad is quite the foodie. He has great taste in food and can come up with some creative dishes. This is my dad's recipe for smoked salmon potato cakes. He didn't give me any quantities, since he likes to cook by feel rather than by recipes...pretty good for a fellow who was once known as a one dish wonder (chicken a la king)!
These latkes (courtesy of Scripting News) are the kind of stodgy, heavy food that keep you going on snowy or rainy winter days like today in Vancouver.
Here's another cookie recipe for last minute Christmas baking. This shortbread is a nice variation on regular shortbread. The brown sugar gives the cookie a nice butterscotch flavour. For a milder flavour, use light brown sugar.
I served these savoury choux puffs at our Winter Warm-up and they were a hit. You can make these ahead of time and just warm them up again when your guests arrive. These might be an elegant nibble to serve with champagne as you ring in the new year!
Teresa served this delicious sundried tomato and pesta torta at her Christmas party in Toronto on the weekend. Like the eggnog cookies from yesterday, this was also a big hit.
Our friend Teresa made these cookies at her Christmas party on the weekend.
Here's her description: "I got this recipe from a woman at my gym (and you thought I went there to work off the calories!). I served them at our Christmas Open House yesterday and they were a hit. I apologize for using metric weights instead of the standard measurements. That's how the recipe came to me and I didn't check the amounts when I made them."
Coconut macaroons are one of my dad's favourite cookies. I don't know where I got this recipe...since it's a classic, I'm sure there are many variations on it.
I'll often form them into neat little mounds or cone shapes and bake them without the marachino cherry garnish. When they're baked and cooled, I'll drizzle them with melted bittersweet chocolate. Mmmm!!
Here's a lovely pound cake to serve during the holidays (or any time of the year!). It freezes really well when wrapped in plastic wrap and foil.
For a nice gift, you can bake this recipe in 4 mini loaf pans and glaze the tops. Wrap in plastic, then some coloured cellophane and a big bow...sure to get big smiles!