Holiday Appetizers

Between hosting and attending Christmas parties, dinners and lunches this year I've made a few new festive recipes. I'm always looking for new recipes and new ways to present dishes. Of course Pinterest is considered my entertaining bible especially this time of the year! Here are a few that have been big hits that I've made recently.

Christmas Cranberry Pine cone Cheese ball

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

8 ounces sharp white cheddar, shredded

1 Tbs milk

¼ Tsp salt

½ cup chopped pecans

1 cup dried cranberries

Rosemary sprigs for garnish (optional)

Assorted crackers for serving

Mix cream cheese with an electric mixer until smooth. Add cheddar, milk, salt, pecans and cranberries.

Line a small round bowl with plastic wrap then spoon cheese mixture into bowl. Bring plastic wrap around the mix to form a ball. Refrigerate at least for 4 hours. Once it is firm you will be able to shape into the form of your pine cone.

After cooling, shape into desired pinecone shape and place almonds to form your look. Serve with crackers.

Crock pot BBQ Chicken Sliders

 

1 ½ lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 cup bottled BBQ sauce

½ cup bottled Italian dressing

2 tbsp. yellow mustard

Slider buns

Place chicken breasts in the bottom of your slow cooker.

In a small bowl, stir together the BBQ sauce, Italian dressing and mustard. Pour mixture over chicken and toss to coat.

Cook chicken on low for 4-6 hours, occasionally basting with sauce. Once chicken is cooked through, remove from slow cooker and shred or chop.

Return chicken to slow cooker and stir chicken and sauce together. Feel free to add more BBQ sauce if you think it needs it.

Serve chicken on slider buns.

Hot Corn Dip

    

1 8 ounce block of cream cheese, at room temperature

1 11 ounce can of white shoepeg corn, drained

1 10 ounce can of Rotel, or diced tomatoes, undrained

1 cup Mexican cheese blend

Diced tomatoes and green onion, optional 

  

Over medium heat, mix cream cheese, corn and Rotel in a large pot until well blended.

Pour mixture into a dish and top with cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted.

Top with tomatoes, green onion and serve with chips!

I made the cheese ball for our office Christmas party today. I wanted something cute and festive but different. I ran across this pine cone on Pinterest but with no recipe. I just ended up combining a few different recipes I had found and came up with this. I got lots of compliments so I chalk it up as a success!

The sliders I ended up actually serving this for dinner one evening. They were super easy, quick and yummy. I served ours with sweet potato fries. They for sure got Kyle's approval!

After seeing the hot corn dip on Christina's blog I knew I wanted to make it, it looked so yummy! I made the dip for a girls night and it was the first dish gone! Another easy and quick appetizer. Thank you North Carolina Charm for the yummy recipe!

I also made this cute cheese and grape Christmas tree as an appetizer for a Christmas party I hosted last week. You can find it in my post from yesterday, here.

What kinda of festive appetizers have you made this holiday season? I want to hear your ideas also! One week until Christmas Eve!!! XOXO