Party Food: Spinach Balls

After all that talk the other day about parties and my Aunt Lynn's recipes, I thought it might behoove me to add her spinach ball recipe here.

I have the little newspaper clipping that she used with her notes scribbled on the top of when she first made these.... 1990 to be exact. They're very good and flavorful, I did tweak the recipe just a tiny bit as I had a spinach ball recipe, too, and enjoyed mine. So I married the two together. But to be fair, it's mostly her recipe that I use.

I mentioned before that while these are a great appetizer for parties big or small, they also make a great side dish! Kids love eating finger foods and this does have spinach in it! Give it a try... you make a big batch and keep them in the freezer and whenever you need a side dish to go with those nuggets, throw these in the oven with them!

Spinach Balls
sent into a local Pgh. paper back in the early 90's

2 boxes frozen spinach, well drained (the recipe says to cook it, why? I've never cooked the spinach and they turn out great)
2 cups Pepperidge Farm herb seasoned stuffing mix- might need to break up the larger pieces
4-5 eggs, beaten
4 green onions, chopped - I used white parts and green parts
1/2 cup butter, melted - this I changed from margarine
1/2- 3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp thyme
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp dried parsley (or 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley)

Combine all the ingredients, mix well and form into small balls- about 1" in diameter (think one bite).
Place on a cookie sheet and flash freeze, then place in plastic bags in the freezer until needed.
Bake frozen in a preheated 375° for 12-15 minutes- you want them a little browned, but not burnt. I usually use parchment or a silpat as it's quick cleanup when you're having a party! You certainly don't want to washing dishes the whole time, right?

ENJOY!

Eggnog Muffins~ 1.12.13

One of my favorite things to on the weekend is to rise just a bit earlier, grab a cup of tea, muffin and a good book and ease into my day. Usually that lasts for all of 10 minutes as my kids are ridiculously early risers (why!?! why?!?!). However, from time to time, I do get those few early morning moments of peace and quiet. This is especially lovely during the Christmas season.

Every year we buy the traditional quart of eggnog and every year, we're left with 3/4 of the quart still full. So, I'm always looking for ways to use up that extra nog.
This year it was a toss up between these muffins and eggnog pancakes. Both recipes are winners and this one was made three times, which required the purchase of MORE eggnog specifically to make it!

This comes from the files of my deceased Aunt Lynnie. She had many wonderful muffin recipes that I've grown to love and make over the years and it I'm glad I gave this one a try. The original recipe called for dark rum in place of some of the eggnog, but as she suggested, I went with all nog.
She also added a streusel topping to her muffins which was a lovely addition to these rather "white" looking muffins. My kids and husband thoroughly enjoyed these!

Eggnog Muffins
adapted from Bon Appetit, it appears (I only have a small clipping, but I recognize the style of the recipe from their magazine)

2 cups of all purpose flour (or 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour and 1 cup all purpose)
2/3 cup sugar
1 Tbs baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup eggnog
5 Tbs butter, melted
1 egg, beaten
1/4-1/2 tsp nutmeg (depending on your taste, I go a little less than 1/2)

Streusel topping
2 Tbs Flour
2 Tbs brown sugar
dash or so of nutmeg
1 Tbs butter

For the muffins, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 12 cup muffin tin or use papers.
Sift flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl- I simply measure into the bowl then stir to incorporate with a wire wisk.  Stir in eggnog, butter, egg and nutmeg. Spoon into prepared tin. Top with streusel topping. Bake until tester comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool on wire rack.