And This Is Why We Test Recipes, Ladies and Gentlemen

In advance of the White Elephant party, Denis and I usually like to do a test run of recipes we find that don’t seem like no-brainers. This weekend we each tried one – both failed.

In Denis’s case, he made vegetarian cucumber rolls and while they looked fantastic and he said they tasted good, he tested their longevity by putting them in the fridge for a couple hours – sure enough, the cucumber got mealy and weak during those two hours and, while edible, proved to be too troublesome to be able to make in advance of the party starting. We can’t very well assemble hors d’oeurves while our guests are mingling.

As for mine, a co-worker swore up and down that her family loves rumaki, which is chicken livers and water chestnuts marinated in teriyaki for a few hours, then wrapped in bacon and fried. I know, you are turning your nose up at chicken livers, right? Well, I gave it a shot, and while I thought it was okay, it wasn’t a homerun. It was actually kind of bland. Not only that, but the individual hors d’oeurves pieces flash-fried in the pan way too fast and got really dark – which is NOT appetizing in appearance. Miracle of miracles – I actually got Denis to try one (he hates chicken livers) but he spit it out the minute the liver flavor touched his palette.

And so we need to try and find two new recipes – one vegetarian and one chicken. I’ll leave out the livers on the next attempt.

1. Bruschetta – two types (Veggie)
2. Crab Meltaways (Seafood)
3. Sweet Potato Soup (Soup Veggie/GF) (NEW)
4. Fig and Stilton Squares (Veggie)
5. Spinach/Avocado Stuffed Mushrooms (Veggie/GF)
6. Coconut Shrimp (Seafood/GF)
7. Some type of meatballs (lots to choose from) (Beef/Lamb/GF)
8. Brown Sugar, Brie and Bacon Crescents (Bacon) (NEW)
9. Herb and Cheese Stuffed Brussels (Veggie/GF) (NEW)
10. Cucumber Rolls (Veggie/GF) (NEW)
11. Mini Lobster Rolls (Seafood) (NEW)
12. Rumaki (Chicken/GF) (NEW)
13. Philly cheese bites (Beef) (NEW)