Holiday Entertaining Recipes

By Tracey Moro / Photography by Mike Ferdinande

It’s been awhile since we brought you some recipes, so this Winter Edition we gathered some of our foodie friends and asked them for the favorite dish they have served throughout the holiday season while entertaining. Some chose main dishes, others desserts and one gave us an appetizer dressed up for a holiday setting.

These traditional recipes are easy to follow and could be your next show stopper when you host dinner during the holiday season. Be it a Christmas gathering, New Year’s or even a Valentine dinner, these recipes will add some tradition to your table.

Holiday Appetizer

Turn your favorite cheese ball into a Christmas Tree. It’s super simple yet so impressive! Natalie, who has shared recipes with us in the past, followed a theme of stars, shaping her crackers like stars and utilizing her star platter and a star at the top of the tree. This can be prepared up until five days in advance and assembled on a platter when you’re ready to serve – which is wonderful during the holidays.

Look for more recipes from Natalie on her blog – persanatalie.blogspot.com

Arancini can be a great side dish – or even an appetizer if you want. You’ll find another mushroom arancini on the menu at the new Lago Cucina at Macray Harbor in Harrison Township. Opened in late September, you can dine there Wednesday through Sundays. Find Chef Dominic Rubino and tell him you saw his recipe in Macomb Now.

Main Dishes

The ladies at E.Forlini Salon in St. Clair Shores often spend holidays together and gnocchi in a wild mushroom sauce is a favorite dish they all love cooking up together. Liz will make the gnocchi ahead and Julie works her magic on the mushroom sauce.

Desserts

You met Lois when we featured some local bakers a few years ago. She had shared her adventure on Food Network. Now she’s sharing her Judge’s Choice-winning recipe from the recent Netflix Blue Ribbon Baking Championships. Her family loves these and depends on her to bring them to all the holiday gatherings. She’s been asked for the recipe so many times she thought this would be the perfect time to share.

Rosanne’s Grandma Mary hand wrote this recipe for her in 2000. She lived to 101 years old. Rosanne makes these along with other recipes from her grandma’s cookbook every holiday in her honor.

This easy dessert is sure to please any age. Donna claims her mother-in doesn’t remember where she received the recipe but Donna knows she has been making these peanut butter balls every year since she got married and the whole family loves them. “We usually have the whole family involved because you need a few people to roll the balls and watch the chocolate so it doesn’t burn. Now with our adult children, we make almost a batch per family because everyone loves them so much.”