The Holiday Season Approaches

It suddenly dawned on me yesterday that is it less than a month to my now annual Holiday Open House.  The first year, we had quite a few friends over and kept the menu fairly simple and friends brought much of what was served.  Last year, I decided I need to make a full turkey dinner for 20.  This year, I want to take it to the next level but in a completely different direction.  With that in mind, I've decided to have a cocktail and appetizer event (I like the name `Dinnoire`) and have invited a number of friends from diverse groups.

As such, the month of November will be dedicated mostly to posts regarding me testing out new recipes for menu items leading up to my party on Dec. 4.  Hopefully that will give any friends and readers ample opportunity to learn from my mistakes and come away with some new and interesting ideas for this holiday season.

I also have a number of dietary issues that I have to build solutions for when constructing my menus.  Serious allergies I need to consider are: peanut, parmesan, asiago and feta cheese, garlic and gluten (luckily both individuals have sensitivity and not an allergy).  I also have a vegetarian and a border-line vegetarian to consider.   Dislikes of some are onions and green peppers.

Yesterday afternoon I flipped through my recipes, a couple of new magazines that I purchased at Costco (food hoarder's mecca), some recipe books that are all old favourites, and I consulted a few blogs that I have been following lately.

So here is the list of what I plan to test over the next month (some of these I have recipes for some I still have to hunt down and modify or come up with myself):

Smoked Salmon with Capers, Red Onion, Dill and Mustard Vinaigrette (many have had this already)
Tandoori Chicken Skewers (recipe required)
Mini Lamb Shawarma (from one of the mags)
Pulled Pork Sliders (our recipe)
Jamaican Jerk Shrimp with Tropical Fruit Salsa (made with my friend Lauren`s husband`s awesome jerk)
Trio of Hummous - Edamame, Beet and White Bean and Rosemary (making these up)
Stuffed Baby Potatoes (need ideas here)
Stuffed Wanton Crips (thanks Big Girls Small Kitchens for this idea)
Avocado Pesto Stuffed Tomatoes
Stuffed Mushrooms of Some Variety (ideas again)
Endive Spears with.....who knows what (ideas accepted once again)
Flatbread Pizzas (I make a huge variety of these already)
Crostini - Butternut Squash & Sage, Onion and Gruyere and Roasted Cherry Tomato with Basil

I also plan on doing a cheese tray with probably 5 cheeses.  Need a few more substantial vegetarian ideas still.

So wish me luck!