I hope everyone had a Happy New Year! May the New Year bring you good health happiness and prosperity! Life is not the destination, it’s the journey. May you enjoy each day of your adventure!
I try to create this holiday spirit almost on daily basis for my family; beautifully served with loved meals that we always eat together.
The holidays don’t create so much excitement for us, but still, I try to create s special atmosphere and change the theme for our holiday meals. Each holiday, new menu, new setup!
My crew loves it and appreciates all the extra touches in the home!
I didn’t plan on cooking a lot for New Years since just a week ago, I cooked a Fancy Christmas Dinner. A few days ago we finished the Amazing Chocolate cake, no one wanted extra calories. So I’ve made just a few dishes.
I cook with an International Flair! Our New Years table had everything from French to traditional Russian dishes.
New Year’s Dinner Menu
Escargots – French
Spanakopita triangles – Greek
Garlic Shrimp and Crawfish pasta with stewed tomatoes and onions – Italian
Caprese Salad – Italian
Teriyaki Chicken meatballs with peppers and onion – Chinese
American Ham and Cheese platter
Roasted Parmesan potatoes
Traditional Russian dishes:
Delicious Salad Olivier and Chicken Liver pate (mother-in-law brought)
Shuba Salad
Deviled crabmeat eggs with Red Caviar
Assorted Smoked fish from the Russian store
Cucumber/Radish salad!
Deviled crabmeat eggs with Red Caviar
Yield: makes 12 appetizers (6 eggs)
6 Large Eggs
1/4 cup Whipped Cream Cheese
1 Tbsp. Plain Greek Yogurt
2 to 3oz. canned Crabmeat (or tuna)
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. dill paste (or fresh dill)
1 tsp. smoked paprika
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Hard boil eggs for 10 minutes.
Rinse under cold water to cool, then peel.
Remove the egg yolks gently.
In a medium bowl, combine all of the ingredients, mixing until smooth.
You can make these a day in advance or store in the refrigerator in an airtight container or in the plastic bag and pipe the next day.
Decorate with red caviar, sliced cucumber and radish.
Delicious Salad Olivier
2 pounds potatoes, boiled, peeled and finely diced
2 eggs, hard-boiled, finely diced
1 onion, finely diced
3/4 cup mayonnaise
3 small dill pickles, finely diced
1 cup canned peas
Salt and pepper
Mix all ingredients and enjoy!
Caprese Salad
Russian Shuba Salad
How to make Shuba
It’s very difficult to give precise measurements since I make it different sizes every time. You will need to estimate how big or small you want your salad to be and have enough ingredients ready.
Place a food mold or the ring from a Spring Form.
From the bottom, let’s start layering
- Seledka thinly sliced
- Marinated onion
- Grated or chopped potatoes
- Grated carrots
- Mayo
- Grated Beets
- Mayo
- Grated egg whites
- Mayo
- Grated egg yolks (or combine egg white and yolks with mayo and spread evenly)
Decorate as you like.
Again you don’t have to follow this exact order, you may want your beets mixed with mayo to be your top layer.
There are so many variations of this popular salad, just have fun layering it.
Teriyaki Chicken meatballs and veggies recipe
2 Lbs. Ground Chicken (You can use Any Ground meat for this recipe)
2 Eggs
3 Tbsp. Seasoned breadcrumbs
2 Tbsp. Soy Sauce
2 Tbsp. Teriyaki Sauce
1 Tbsp. Garlic powder
1 Tbsp. Onion powder
1 Tbsp. Poultry Seasoning (optional)
3 diced scallions/green onions (optional)
sesame seeds
Directions:
In a large bowl, mix Ground chicken, Eggs, Breadcrumbs, Soy and Teriyaki sauces, Garlic and Onion powder, seasoning, and scallions.
Add about 3 Tbsp. of Olive oil and 2 Tbsp. of Teriyaki Sauce to the bottom of the baking pan. Add peppers and sliced onion on the side. Shape the meatballs and arrange them on top. Brush each meatball with a Teriyaki sauce and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Bake in the preheated 350F oven for 35 – 45 min, depending on the size of your meatballs.
For the dessert, I was planning on making Tiramisu, or Napoleon or Pavlova, but since my son would not eat those and I need to spend time making it, I thought my family’s favorite Blueberry cake would be a perfect fit! In addition, Joshua almost entirely made it himself! Proud Mom!
I’ve used the same recipe as for my delicious Cinnamon Coffee Cake with Pecans and Raisins, but instead of Cinnamon, Pecans, and Raisins, added 2 Cups of Fresh Blueberries coated with 2 Tbsp. of Flour. It didn’t last long!!! Check out these Bundt pans below, they are the ones I love and use!
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I had leftover heavy cream, so I’ve made an easy Chocolate mousse with strawberries. Made Ricotta cheese blintzes and a delicious fruit jam with a bit of wine added! Yummy!
My mother-in-law takes care of her hubby that is on a special diet, and rarely cooks anything nice for herself. It is such a treat for her to eat fancy meals. She is my biggest fan, after my crew!
I always pack meals for several days, so she can enjoy it at home as well. Glad to see a smile on my in-laws faces each time they come!
My Loving Crew!
Have a Happy and Healthy New Year, my friends!
Anna i asked you a while ago if you can share a recipe of your mother in law chicken pale but still did not receive any answer from you. Is it possible to have this recipe? Thank you!
Hi Jessica, I apologize, just asked her. Here is her recipe, that is by the way Absolutely Delicious!
Blend together:
1 pound chicken livers, rinsed and trimmed
fried 1 onion and 1 carrot
1 hard boiled egg
1 Tbsp. of mayo (or to taste)
vegetable oil to taste
salt and pepper to taste
Enjoy!
So chicken liver is not included in the recipe?
hehe Jessica, obviously main ingredient! Just added to the original: 1 pound chicken livers, rinsed and trimmed Enjoy!