Ingredients:

• 1.5 litre shiraz (but you could use other red wine)
• 1 juicy orange cut into chunks
• 1 ripe mango cut into chunks
• 1 quart sweet strawberries cut into chunks
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp cayenne
• dash white pepper or a few white peppercorns (optional)
• Note: If I had cloves I would have added those.
• Note: I probably would have added a splash of brandy if I had that too.

That is a lot of sugar, but you need it all! Put it all together and let it sit overnight.

We started cracking into chips, salsa and guacamole at 11am so we figured we better add the Sangria! Yes, that’s Sangria served in a coffee mug (whatever works!) We streamed in a little mariachi bands on last.fm for the occasion. I think you’re supposed to serve the Sangria with a splash of soda water or other bubbly over ice, but we just drank it chilled. And enjoyed it immensely.

We used Crayola crayons to decorate and draw on the eggs, then dipped them in the (now non-toxic) colored baths. Some creative folks also used food coloring and markers. Fun stuff.

There weren’t strict rules at this cookie exchange. Basically, if you brought cookies, you could select some other cookies (in about the same amount) to take home with you.

We gave out “awards” in five categories: picture-perfect, most ambitious, best-tasting, most festive and weirdest. (The Oreo cookie and Hershey kisses mice won the category of “picture-perfect”.)

It was fantastic. And sugar overload to the max.

(Note: thanks to Kifaru for the pics!) 

Seriously, who can resist the coconut beard, raisin eyes, and rosy cheeks?  Take it as a compliment when you see your guests chomping into these santa heads.  But do be forewarned about the time commitment.  Which is why it’s worth taking photos of your creation before the gobbling begins.

Mint Chocolate Brownies
The mint chocolate bits were sprinkled on top of chocolate frosted brownies.

White Chocolate Peppermint Bells
The peppermint white chocolate chunks were sprinkled on top of white frosted bell-shaped sugar cookies (with a few other red sprinkles for color). Here’s the sugar cookie recipe.

Both minty desserts are very tasty and festive for holidays and snowy winter days.

A couple of things to note: The color of both types of chocolate pieces was more dull than shown on the Andes packaging. (I heard the amusing comment that the white chocolate peppermint pieces looked like bacon bits.) I only used about 1/4 of the package for each dessert option — a little goes a long way with these minty chocolatey crumbles.

• Butternut squash soup
• Salad with pears, cranberries, pecans and blue cheese crumbles
• Meat balls with red sauce
• Roast beef served with mushroom gravy
• Turkey breast with roasted veggies and gravy
• Mashed potatoes
• Lightly steamed fresh green beans
• Crescent rolls and fresh-baked dinner rolls

We sampled dessert last night, and devoured the sweets today on Christmas day: five kinds of cookies, chocolate brownies topped with mint-chocolate chunks, apple pie and pumpkin pie. Cookies included gingerbread men, frosted sugar cookies (trees, bells, circles) with sprinkles and peppermint chips, chocolate chip, peanut butter chip and chocolate chocolate chunk.

Pecan Pie Filling Ingredients:

• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup Earth Balance (or butter), melted
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon Rice Milk or Almond Milk (or cow’s milk)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cup chopped pecans, as fresh as you can find

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°
2. In a large bowl, beat eggs until foamy (about 5 minutes). Then stir in melted Earth Balance.
   
3. Stir in the brown sugar, white sugar and the flour; mix well.
   
4. Last add the milk, vanilla and nuts.
5. Pour into an unbaked 9-in pie shell. (I like to use a dairy-free whole wheat pie shell by Wholly Wholesome. You can find it at health food stores in the frozen section.)
6. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes at 400°, then reduce temperature to 350° and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until done.

“K’s” cranberry sauce

roasted yams with walnuts

mashed red potatoes

german chocolate pecan pie