<p>Help, I need something red and green that tastes as good as it looks…and is an appetizer. I am pretty sure that someone out there gets Sunset or Southern Living and has the perfect Christmas appetizer for me…Help!</p>
<p>This one is good and easy. It is my Mom’s dish but she almost certainly got it from Sunset Magazine!</p>
<p>You take a block of cream cheese; do any shape you like out of it-- use a mold or do a freehand Xmas tree, wreath, star, etc. If it is for a crowd use several pkgs of cream cheese.</p>
<p>Then buy two kinds of pepper jelly-- one red & one green. The jellies have sort of a sweet-hot flavor. Drizzle the red & green jelly over the cream cheese in an artistic way.</p>
<p>Then serve with crackers & little spreader knives. Et voila: red & green app. It tastes great too. And it could not be easier.</p>
<p>If they do not sell pepper jelly where you are PM me and I will send you some. :)</p>
<p>Alternative #2:</p>
<p>Cherry tomatoes, nuggets of buffalo mozzarella and basil leaves on toothpicks = red & green</p>
<p>If you are not looking for quick, this Christmas Torta (or Sun-dried tomato and pesto torta) is a beauty and delicious. My recipe uses a bread loaf pan and has an additional layering item of thinly sliced fontina cheese. More beautiful as it’s cut into and the “cross-section” shows. I serve it on a large platter with live holly as a garnish (not edible, but beautiful). For ease, you can buy the pesto and the chopped sundried tomatoes ready-made.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/102634[/url]”>http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/102634</a></p>
<p>Thanks- I really have to remember to bring back jalapeno jelly on my next trip to the states. We can get a lot of US food products here, but not that ,and if it were here it would be about $10 a jar! Others are all doable, and perfect! Happy eating</p>
<p>Marinated cheese.</p>
<p><a href=“http://syv-online.com/showarticle.php?id=64[/url]”>http://syv-online.com/showarticle.php?id=64</a></p>
<p>The marinade is generally green, with the pimentos adding a nice dash of red. And it tastes fantastic.</p>
<p>This looks yummy too…I have never seen this one…thanks lderochi…bytheway, usually buy our hot pepper jelly at the place at the Rehoboth Outlets in the summer!!</p>
<p>The fad down here is putting raspberry chipolte sauce (we get it at the grocery here) over the block of cream cheese. Very tasty!</p>
<p>I love raspberry chipolte sauce
I put it on chicken but cream cheese would work</p>
<p>My martha cookbook has caprese salad on crostini that looks good.</p>
<p>But my raspberry chiplote sauce is more purple than red! (SIL brings it to us from Arizona)</p>
<p>Guess I’ll use mine for Easter hors d’oeuvre ;)</p>
<p>The best I’ve had comes from Kitchen Kettle Village in Pa. The first time I had it, probably close to 20 years ago was at a restaurant near there, as a complimentary appetizer. Delicious. It’s a Christmas tradition in our family to have it every year. The non-jalapeno one is best (not even sure if KKV makes the ‘hot’ one) over cream cheese and served with water crackers. Mmmm. :)</p>
<p>I think I will add the raspberry chiplote sauce to the summer shopping list for next year, but only if I can learn to say ‘chiplote/chipolte’ in the interim.</p>
<p>The shopping list has changed a lot over the years…
Funny, as I write this I am thinking about the Kingsolver book in which the family goes to Africa. How ill prepared they were from all perspectives, but they still had jello! </p>
<p>We still don’t have many of the products I would have considered ‘essentials’ 13 years ago, some are best not mentioned, the one that stands out (especially when quick appetizers are needed)=Pillsbury crescent rolls in those nice round tubes…</p>
<p>haha robrym…I’m passing out Jet Puff marshmallows as Xmas gifts. H brought back from States. The down under crowd goes camping on Bosing Day but their marshmallows are pitiful little things.</p>
<p>One guy asked how he would know when the marshmallow was done or not. <em>pictures his quizzical face as the marshmallow bursts into flame and turns into a charcoal crisp. Will he know it’s still delicious?</em></p>
<p>The things you don’t learn if you don’t grow up in North America!</p>
<p>Where do you find the graham crackers for smores? All the crackers here are wilted (at best) by the time we see them…</p>
<p>Had book group last night. Marinated cheese a big hit! Will save torte for Christmas Day brunch…Thanks…in addition I made the very simple- red and green hot peppers (not the tiny ones, the 4"long ones) stuffed with cream cheese, wrapped in bacon and then broiled. Extremely messy and ‘pedas’(spicy hot), but yummy. Seed carefully! (kind of like roasting marshmallows carefully- notice to the uninitiated!)</p>
<p>Here are a couple of recipes to make graham crackers. <a href=“http://www.post-gazette.com/food/20010809grahamsd.asp[/url]”>http://www.post-gazette.com/food/20010809grahamsd.asp</a>
<a href=“http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/000126.html[/url]”>http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/000126.html</a></p>
<p>I’ve never made them, but wanted to contribute and the only red and green I can do is Holiday M&M’s.</p>
<p>Thanks…we can get the ingredients (here in the spice islands!) just not the finished product- or not until they are ready to expire!! If these work, I can start making cheesecakes again regularly, too…just in time for holiday baking.</p>
<p>Someone had those minty red and green m&m’s last night at book group…and they were devoured…tis the season!</p>
<p>A friend had this at her Christmas Open House last week: She took a cone-shaped styrofoam “tree” and covered it with Saran Wrap, then using toothpicks, covered it with leafy lettuce. She attached (also with toothpicks) red, white and green vegetables: She used broccoli, cauliflower, and radishes (but I would think you could use cherry tomatoes just as well.) It was a real pretty centerpiece tree, and she had a bowl of spinach dip next to it.</p>
<p>Robrym, here in Germany we have a cookie called Butterkeks – actually looks kinda like a square Ritz cracker – that tastes a lot like graham crackers. Fortunately there is one store in town that has recently begun selling marshmallows.</p>
<p>Binx!
The winter holiday equivalent of a cornucopia! Thanks. Yes, there are local cookies (or imports from Australia) that are graham cracker like in flavor- none have the right texture. Glad to hear you are on to a source of marshmallows…does one hoard in Germany as we do here periodically? (I still have a year supply of marinated artichokes from 2 years ago!!)…Must be fun to have Christmas in the center of it all!!</p>
<p>Robyrm,
I have access to graham crackers here in the states…but, when I do s’mores I used Pepperidge Farm cookies instead…they make a cookie with chocolate, topped with Nuts, called “Geneva” and while it is a bit thicker…it is a great gourmet treat…Bahlsen makes some nice cookies and may be more readily available where you are?? Their Afrika cookie is available in milk chocolate and dark chocolate (our personal favorite!!)
my girlfriend marinates her marshmallows in a liqueur…unfortunately I cannot remember which one…needless to say, we do not serve those to the kids!! This same friend did an appetizer this summer with cherry tomatoes, mozzarella balls, black olives, with a touch of basil and they were beautiful…could do tomatoes, mozzarella and green pepper??</p>
<p>Yes, we hoard. My H is now concerned that we won’t use everything up before we leave in August! My boys are coming over for Christmas, and I’ve sent them both grocery lists. Peanut butter. Chocolate chips. Grape jelly. Cake and brownie mixes. Cream soups. Brown sugar. Etc. </p>
<p>I have learned to make lots of things from scratch, but look forward to the convenience. I had to completely revise my cooking style, to do without creamed soups! My German friends enjoy my American cooking. They are especially fond of banana bread and Rice Krispies Treats. We CAN get some Pillsbury dough here – crescent rolls (croissants?), but not biscuits. (Since everybody learns British English here, they all think biscuits are cookies.) We’ve been here long enough that now I’m worried that we’ll have to stock up on German food to take back with us. </p>
<p>Christmas is my favorite part of Germany. We’re going broke because I keep buying more decorations. My last chance.</p>