Kaki!

Well, the holiday season seems to have passed, and dreary January weather has rolled in.  Thankfully, I still have holiday memories to share, so we can revel in them just a bit longer. 🙂

We had Cooper’s baby shower just before Christmas, and I volunteered to do the drinks and savory foods.  Since it was children’s book themed, each food went with a book!  For example, Claire made Very Hungry Caterpillar Fruit Salad:

Stephanie brought our desserts, and boy did she do it up right:

And I made Green Eggs and Ham mini-quiches (no pictures, alas!), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs cocktail meatballs, and Peter Rabbit’s Veggie Tray with White Bean Dip:

Now for the recipes!

Green Eggs and Ham Mini-Quiches

(loosely based on the mini-quiche recipes here)

(1 batch makes 12 mini-quiches in a standard muffin tin)

Ingredients:

• 6 eggs, scrambled
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese (or a shredded cheese of your choosing)
• 2-3 green onions, sliced
• 1/2 cup (about 2.5 oz) finely diced ham
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• several grinds of freshly cracked black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil (or dried herb of your choosing)

Pre-heat oven to 350*F.

Thoroughly combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl.  Spray a standard* muffin tin liberally with cooking spray.  Fill each cup of the muffin tray about half-way with the egg mixture, until the mixture has been divided evenly among them.

Bake for between 27-30 minutes.  Remove muffin tin to a wire rack; cool for five minutes.  Using a toothpick and/or fork, loosen the sides of the quiches from the edges and remove them from the tin.  Serve immediately, or cool them completely on the wire rack and store in the fridge until 20 minutes before the party.

To reheat for the party, place all of the quiches you made (I made three batches) in a large 9×13 pan, and heat them in a 350*F oven for 20 minutes before serving.

*Or whatever size you like, really, just decrease the baking time for smaller tins and increase for larger ones, naturally.

Note: I might add some milk or water to the mix before baking next time, to make them a touch fluffier.  These ended up just a bit dense for my taste, though the feta and ham and green onion flavors worked beautifully.

Cloudy with a Chance of Cocktail Meatballs

(recipe courtesy of the back of the Heinz Chili Sauce bottle. Yup.)

(I made two batches and it fed 12 baby shower ladies with a fair bit to spare; I’d think if you made them as a meal over mashed potatoes or something one batch would feed three people.)

Ingredients:

• 1 small bag of frozen meatballs
• 1 jar Heinz Chili Sauce
• 1 can cranberry sauce

Place all ingredients into a large crockpot.  Cover and heat on high for 3 hours, stirring occasionally, until the sauces have combined and the meatballs are heated through.

Peter Rabbit’s Veggie Tray with White Bean Dip

(adapted from Jacques Pepin!)

(again, I doubled the below and we had more than enough)

Ingredients

• 1 15.5 oz can of butter or cannellini beans, drained
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons chopped onion (I used the white parts of the green onions I used for the quiches)
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked pepper

Stir together all ingredients in a medium mixing bowl.  Using an immersion blender, puree the mixture until smooth.  Transfer to serving bowl, or this will keep in the fridge for up to three or so days before the party.  Serve with sliced veggies, crackers, or pita chips.

The shower was a rousing success, and I’m so glad I got to have so much fun with the food!  I think the bean dip was my favorite, it was so lemony and tasty.

Here’s to all of the showers yet to come, Kaki!

–Caitlin

P.S.  A big Thank You! to Steph for taking all of the pictures.  It was so nice to not have to think about that while getting all of the food set up!