ottawa foodies

I can't take credit for this inspired idea, but wanted to share. Next Tuesday, one of my friends has arranged a Christmas get together for 6 of us foodies. We are each going to prepare courses in advance to enjoy at the dinner. The fun part is that in addition to bringing enough for the dinner, we each bring 5 more of the same thing, so that each of us has a complete multi course dinner for 6 to take home and enjoy later. I'm bringing apps: a pate, a wasabi cheese ball, homemade melba toasts and fennel raisin rolls. Yes it's kind of daunting to prepare what amounts to 30 servings, but it's 30 servings of only one course, and I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone else comes up with.

Would also be interested in knowing what kinds of home made gifts the rest of you are doing this year...

I always make a variety of biscotti and I like to gift them in vintage kitchenware. ;)

So far:

Cajun spiced nuts
Muddy buddy (aka puppy chow)
Chex Mix. Not sure what flavour yet
Sweet and spicy popcorn

I make Almond Butter Crunch for everyone. 1 Cup Butter, ! cup Brown Sugar, ! cup slivered almonds. Cook to hard ball atage, spread on cookie sheet, cover with semi sweet chocolate. Cool, break up. Its like Skor but MUCH better. My mother did it for the first 20 years and I have done it for the last.

southshore, that sounds so good! I am going to give it a try. thank you!

blubarry....I did not give details...
I use a deep, heavy frypan.
IMPORTANT to keep stirring the whole time
Takes about 10 minutes on med/high.
I cook untill it just begins to scorch. If not long enough the candy will not "snap".
spread on cookie sheet
Cover with ss chocolate chips. let sit till melted, spread with spatula.
Refrigerate till set. Store in fridge or freezer.

Homemade cookies to give out as hostess gifts. I admit I'm not much of a baker so the cookies I make are pretty standard ones - chocolate chip cookies, chocolate drop cookies, standard drop cookies with festive sprinkles on top. Ironically the chocolate chip cookies are easiest to make but most popular.

Vodka infused with obscene amounts of garlic. I consider it my specialty :)

Really? Garlic vodka? For use in sauces? I'd hate to be the guy that made a caesar with it...or would I? haha. Hmm, now I'm curious...

A few years ago there was a group of us who went out drinking on a regular basis. One of our number had a lovely wife who we all adored, him included. Problem was that when he was drunk he started thinking with his little head, so in order to prevent indiscretions that we would then have to pretend didn't happen we used to make him have a shot of garlic vodka at the beginning of the night. (Our starting point was always the same cocktail bar which had a ridiculous amount of flavoured drinks.) As a result he started the night with the most foul smelling breath imaginable, and we didn't have to worry about him pulling a woman because none of them would get close enough to talk to him.

I can think of no other use for the stuff. It's utterly foul.

Ha! Sneakily clever, Johnny.

Bobby: It's definitely not for everybody (or most people, really :), and you need to really really be nuts about garlic.

And yes, as Johnny demonstrates above, do NOT expect to have any successful romantic encounters that day unless your partner drinks it too.