Christmas of Course! pt. 1

      After my whole one day off(gotta love being in retail) I had quite the busy day! I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas yesterday, or have/will be enjoying whatever holiday you may celebrate! Time for a recap. After getting off work Christmas Eve, the boyfriend and I went to my parents as is becoming our tradition. Christmas day and eve has always had a special place in my family's heart because Christmas Eve was my Grandpa Wood's birthday. Of course there was plenty of cooking and eating all around! My Mom and I made lots of delicious appetizers and sides while my Dad deep fried the turkey and Mom kept sending the boyfriend to check on him, ha. The couple things that I made by myself were Jalapeno Popper Bites, and fruit pizza for dessert. Dad and my boyfriend don't really like things too spicy, so for half of the poppers I switched out the jalapeno for a small piece of colby cheese but you could use whatever you have in the fridge. You could taste the jalapeno, but they weren't too spicy, just flavorful. The cheese ones tasted pretty good too. ;)

I marked the ones with jalapeno with x's to tell them apart.

      Fruit pizza has kind of become my 'thing' for gatherings funnily enough. I started making them when I was in high school after finding a 'Fruit Fish' in my Mom's Taste of Home and have been making it ever since! Fruit pizza is simple, and tasty for all ages. I wanted to make mine feel more festive, so I used only green and red fruits, but you can use whatever combination you like! Here's what I used to make one in a 9x13" baking pan:

• 2 tubes of sugar cookie dough (or your favorite sugar cookie recipe)
• 2 8 oz. packages cream cheese
• 1/2 C granulated sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 container strawberries
• 1/2 container red raspberries
• 4 kiwis
• handful of pomegranate(Mom had some extra in the fridge so I decided to add some!)

1. Spread the sugar cookie dough evenly in the pan and bake according to the package directions. When done, cool completely.
2. While the cookie is cooling, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until smooth and creamy.
3. Once the cookie is completely cool evenly spread on the cream cheese mixture. 
4. Wash and slice up all fruit and place on top of pizza any way you would like!

Making different designs/patterns with the fruit is always my favorite part!

      I almost forgot, but my Mom also made a rum punch that we all enjoyed. Think I may have to get the recipe from her for New Year's Eve. ;)

      This is it for the food, but I will be making a separate post with what I got for Christmas soon! Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday filled with lots of good times and good eats. See you back here later!