Running on Empty…Calories

Okay, Okay. The fact of the matter is that I cannot be trusted to blog when I say I will. I even wrote this post on the 23rd, but got distracted and never posted it. And I apologize that photos didn’t happen this week either. It’s so difficult to hold your laptop up to food! So, let’s rewind a few days to the 23rd. Are you there? Ok. Go.

Hello everyone! I know tis the season to stock up on sweets and rich and delicious food, but wow. I’ve seemed to have really taken that seriously. On the menu tonight for my holiday gathering, we have sausage balls, spiced nuts, left over cookies from my last post (yeah, they keep for about a week), and Hershey’s Especially Dark Cake (it’s my usual chocolate cake recipe, but with Special Dark cocoa powder, rather than the regular. Everything is sort of doing its thing in the oven right now (balls and nuts, haha!) or cooling on my counter (cake). Since I’ve already talked so much about this cake (in previous posts), I’ll just go into detail about these two newer recipes. For the record, all three of these recipes are terrible for you, but very special for the holidays.

Sausage Balls:

Hilarious name aside, these little bundles of amazingness are super easy to make. The recipe comes from my Aunt Suzy, who adapted it from Paula Dean’s recipe. The recipe itself is: 2 pounds of pork sausage, 3 cups shredded cheese, 1 cup of Bisquick, fresh herbs, salt and pepper to taste, and a little milk to moisten. You mix all of this together in a bowl, and on an ungreased cookie sheet, you form them into little balls and bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes, turning once. Easy, right? My variations (same measurements): Italian sausage instead of pork, 3 cups of sharp cheddar, Bisquick, basil and parsley, salt and pepper, and a little milk. So delicious. If you don’t eat all of them, freeze them and just pop them into the microwave when you’ve got a craving. These are also great to serve at breakfast.

Spiced Nuts:

Another from Aunt Suzy, these are packed with flavor and so easy. I’m using pecans and almonds, but you can use whatever raw nut you like. First you oven roast the nuts (I’m using a cup of each) on a cookie sheet at 350 for ten minutes or so. Just don’t burn them! Meanwhile, melt half a stick of butter and put it in a bowl with your spices. These are all to taste, so the measurements kind of change. And use as much of any flavor as you like. I’m using salt, cayenne pepper, brown sugar, and a couple tablespoons of fresh rosemary. Toss with the warm nuts and serve warm or room temperature. They keep in a sealed plastic bag for about a day.

Sorry about the lack of pictures, again. Merry Christmas.