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3B LIFE/ tCte ClarUint $oft Thursday, December 1, 2005 Vegetarian: Martini, punch, skewers, and stuffed peppers By J.M. Hirsch THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CONCORD, N.H. - Forget pairing foods and wine. I need help matching up appetizers and cookies. This will be our second year hosting a holiday cookie-swap party a festive, if fattening, way to get together with friends while eiyoying good food and drink without hav ing to do all the heavy lifting in the kitchen. The concept is pretty sim ple: Invite a dozen or so friends or couples, asking each to bring two to three dozen of their favorite hohday cookies (depending on the number of intended guests). During the party, your guests can sample the various cookies. At the end they get to take home a few of each It’s simple, but it still bene fits fix)m a bit of planning. For example, be sure to ask guests to include in their R.S.V.P. the type of cookie they will bring. This will make it easier to avoid a dozen batches of chocolate chip cookies. Also, we learned that left to their own devices, guests sometimes are too polite to assemble their own cookie assortments at the end of the evening. Thus were we left with dozens and dozens of cookies after last year’s gath ering. Our solution this year relies on pastry boxes we bou^t fix)m a candy and baking sup ply shop. Now as guests arrive, we plan to set aside half their cookies ri^t away and divide them among the boxes. As guests leave, we will hand them variety boxes ready-to-go. And though I wasn’t orga nized enough to do it this year, I also like the idea of asking guests to send me their recipes ahead of time. Especially if the recipes are e- mailed, it’s quick work to arrange them into a booklet to send people home with So that’s the party plan. But bads to my original problem _ what to serve with aU those cookies. Obviously, the first rule must be _ nothing sweet. And since this isn’t a sit-down party, everything should be finger-fiiendly Coming up with comple mentary foods can be tou^ since you don’t have control over a good chunk of the menu (and some guests likely won’t tell you until the last minute what they are brii^- ing). Start with drinks. Soda and wine are our party staples, but for this gathering we also like to offer guests a choice between two mixed cocktails. Last year our invitation offered guests the chance to vote between several options and we served the two most popular. This year we’re being less democratic. Tb go well with everything, and help cut throu^ the sugar rush, cock tails should be mildly sweet and acidic. Cranberry juice- based drinks are a nice choice, and have the benefit of being festively colored. This year we’ve opted for a cranberry, tangerine and pomegranate Champagne punch and a dierry martini, the idea being that only the martini will require actual bartending once guests arrive. For food, I wanted to keep it simple. The day of the party there will be little time for complex preparations, as we’ll likely be cleanup and baking last-minute additions (to roimd out the party my wife and I usually each make sev eral varieties of ccx)kies). Sticking with the color theme set by the drinks, we’ve decided on skewers of cherry' tomatoes, tiny mozzarella balls and fi^h basil, and mini sweet peppers stuffed with heihed goat cheese. Both can be made ahead of time and are easy to eat. Next week: the cookies! Cherry Martini (Start to finish 5 minutes) 172 teaspoon cherry-flavored syrup 1 maraschino cherry 2 teaspoons chopped papaya or mango 1 oimce vodka Small ice cubes or crushed Pour the cherry-flavored syrup in a martini glass and place the cherry on top. Tbp with papaya or mango. Carefully pour the vodka over the fi*uit. Tbp with a bit of ice. Makes 1 serving. (Recipe fi:om Better Homes and Gardens magazine, December 1999) Cranberry, Tangerine and Pomegranate Champagne Punch With Fresh Cranberry Swizzle Sticks (Start to finish 1 hour, 10 minutes active) 12-ounce package fresh cranberries 1 bunch fiesh mint leaves 2 cups pomegranate juice 3 cups tangerine juice (about 7 tangerines) 5 cups cranberry juice cock tail 2 bottles chilled Champagne (or other sparkling wine) Tb make swizzle sticks, spear three cranberries alter nately with two mint leaves on wooden skewere. Prepare 15 to 20 skewers. Place skew ers on a baking sheet. (Dover with damp paper towels and refiigerate up to one horn*. In a large punch bowl or pitcher, stir together* the fi'uit juices. Fill glasses with ice and ladle about 1/2 cup punch into each glass. Tbp with (Dhampagne. Garnish each glass with a swizzle stick. Makes 20 servings. (Recipe fi'om Martha Stewart Living magazine, January 2005) Tomato-Basil Skewers (Start to finish 5 minutes) 5 cherry tomatoes 5 small mozzarella balls 5 fiesh basil leaves Extra-virgin ofive oil Kosher salt and freshly gi'ound black pepper Slice each tomato in half. Thread one half several inch es down a bamboo skewer, cut side facing up. Next thread a basil leaf, followed by one mozzarella ball. Finish with the second half of the tomato, cut side down. Arrange the completed skewers on a serving plate. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper*. Makes 5 skewei*s. (Recipe from EatingWeU magazine, January 2006) Cheese ‘n’ Herb Mini Sweet Peppers (Start to finish 25 minutes) 30 mini sweet peppers (about 12 ounces), mixed red, yellow and orange 18 ounces semisoft goat In a bowl, combine the goat dieese and herbs and mix well. Gently squeezing the pepper's to open, carefully spoon in tlie cheese mixtme, allowing some to show outside the pepper Arrange stuffed peppers on a platter tuid gar- nisli with fiesh herbs. Makes 30 pepper's. (Recipe fi'om Better Homes and Gardens magazine, Derernber 2001) 1/4 cup finely chopped fiesh chives, tarragon, basil or thyme Leaving the stem intact, cut. a sht fi’om the stem to the bottom tip of each pepper. Squeeze gently to open and remove and discard seeds. Set aside. Providence Family PracdcePA (Dharlotie Dr. /\iiiijiistiiu‘ ( ItiwiiUwx' • Dia^ostic Service* • Preventive Services ‘ Urgent Care Services ’ AJiJt & Pediatric Services ’ Pkysical Tkerapy • Occupational Healtk All Instirances WELCOME 427N. WenJover RiL' Charlotte^ NC28211 (Acroai tke itxeet (rom tke Mecklcnlnir^ Hcaltli I^)cpaiimcnt) 704362-2041 • 704362^)84 ''We care (or you, one patient at a time'’ Upside down tree turns & flips holiday THE ASSOCIATED PRESS LAWRENCE, Kan. —Tbdd Brabender remembers the December nearly 20 years when he and some University of Kansas fiiends gathered around a Christmas tree hanging upside-down fi*om a water pipe in his apartment. It seemed like such a crazy idea then. But not anymore. The centerpiece of holiday decorating is more often being inverted—hung fi’om the ceiling or mounted bottom-up on the wall—by those looking to save space, more prominently display pricey ornaments or simply distinguish their Christmas tree fix>m so many millions of others. Upscale retailer Hammacher Schlemmer sold out of its $599.95 pre-lit inverted tree, a 7-foot evergreen that rises fium a we^hted base, before the end of October. Online tree sdler ChristmasTVeeForMe.rem has sold out of two of its four upside- down models. Tree importer Roman Inc. sold out, too. “This has turned into a woridwide deal,” said Bill Quinn, owner of Dallas-based ChristmasTVeeFor^fe. Odd as it may sound, the trend may have originated long ago. L^;end has it that a seventh-century En^ish monk went to Germany and used the triangular shape of the fir t^ee to explain the Christian belief in a Holy Trinity ConvCTts came to revae the fir and by the 12th century, the story goes, it was being hung fium ceilings at Christmas. But few believe history is moving the trees out of warehouses and into living rooms. “My suspicion is that the vzist majority are buying them because they seem to be nontraditional,” said Edward ODonnell, an expert on Christmas traditions and history pro fessor At (DoUege of the Holy (Dross in Worcester, Mass. “It’s funny and it’s off the wall. Or off the ceiling.” Consumers began buying overturned trees after seeing them on display in stores, said Dan T^ughman, a vice presidait of product development at Roman Inc., which stocks about 200 kinds of trees. Retailers use the trees because they take up less floor space, Please see UPSIDE /4B Good neighbors. Great prices. Stock-Up • r-v-" Boneless Chicken Breast MvP... Boneless Pork Half Loin MVP. $1^99 $Q99 200 Ounce Liquid Or 63-80 Use Powder « Tide • Detergent Without Mvr Card *13,7t) Lb, Without MVP Card $4.99 Canadian Maple Ham Without MVP Card $3.99 (isk/ f I 'll 8 Rolls A ^ 4-9 Bounty' mvP , " Paper Towels Wilhou! MVP Card $7,99 Available In The Deli Mvf„u m. M Lb. Without MVP Card $5.99 Lb, Select Stores Mountain Grown Fraser Fir Christmas Trees 3 Lb. Bag Sweet, Juicy Tangerines MvP,. 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The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Dec. 1, 2005, edition 1
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