Merry Christmas!

"J" and "A" have been entertaining a lot the past few weeks, so I thought I'd give them a well-deserved break and host this past Monday.  Another motive, for myself, was wanting to do something nice for them.  They host me each and every Monday, and having them over for one Monday out of the year is the least I could do. 

This night was also our Christmas celebration, together.  So, although I originally told them I would just have a few appetizers for us to snack on, I wanted to make it extra special. 

The evening started out with two appetizers.  The first was a bacon wrapped stuffed date.  You take dried pitted dates, almonds, cheese and bacon. 

Cut a slice in the date, and stuff the cheese and almond inside.

Then wrap with the bacon, and bake for 20 minutes.  Easiest, yummy, appetizer you'll ever make.

Next appetizer starts with fresh asparagus.  My favorite.

Prosciutto.

Slice the prosciutto in half.

Add some cream cheese.  I just used regular cream cheese, but a flavored one would be yummy with this as well.

Lay the spear down on the prosciutto.

And wrap-up!

These go in the oven, with a little oil and salt, to bake for 20 minutes or until crispy.

Dates out of the oven and ready to enjoy.

Asparagus out and ready to enjoy.  When they come out, I squeezed a fresh lemon over them.  Gives it a nice punch!

The special surprise I did for "J" and "A" was cooking them a real dinner.  Let's face it folks, I had to make up for my last attempt (remember, the beans?).  :)  The meal starts with ground turkey.

Sour cream and cream cheese.

Green onions and garlic go in.

This is the cheese mixture.

Butter ready for the ground turkey.

Ground turkey cooked down with tomato sauce.

Yep, lasagna.  You layer the noodles with the meat sauce and cheese mixture, then top it off with some cheddar cheese.  Bake in the oven for 30 minutes. 

The lasagna done.

Meal ready.  Next time I would double the meat sauce, as the cheese mixture was too rich.  It definitely overpowered the dish. 

"J" and "A" brought dessert.  Homemade marshmallows!

Which went perfectly in hot chocolate.  We loaded the car, "J", "A", myself and our two dogs and drove around looking at Christmas lights and signing caroles.  It was a great night! 

Merry Christmas to all, and Happy New Year!  May 2012 bring you all the happiness one can handle! 

Until next time.....A la cuisine!