Golden Wedding (or shower) Punch

I'm hosting a baby shower in a couple of nights, so I thought I would share some of the recipes for items that I plan on preparing for that night.

INGREDIENTS
1 (12 fluid ounce) can frozen orange juice concentrate
1 (46 fluid ounce) can sweetened pineapple juice
1 3/4 cups lemon juice
2 cups white sugar
1 gallon water

DIRECTIONS
In a 2 gallon punch bowl, combine orange juice concentrate, pineapple juice, lemon juice and sugar. Stir in water.

Cucumber sandwiches

INGREDIENTS
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoons sour cream
1 (.7 ounce) package dry Italian-style salad dressing mix
1 (1 pound) loaf cocktail rye bread
2 cucumbers, sliced

DIRECTIONS
In a small bowl, blend cream cheese, sour cream and dry Italian-style salad dressing mix.
Arrange cocktail rye bread slices on a medium serving dish. Spread with the cream cheese mixture. Top each with a cucumber slice.

Microwave Spiced Nuts

INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons water
3 cups pecan halves

DIRECTIONS
Melt butter in a 4 quart glass casserole dish in the microwave. Stir in the brown sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon and water. Microwave on high for 1 minute. Stir in the nuts so they are well coated. Microwave for 4 to 5 additional minutes on high, stirring every minute. Spread cooked nuts out onto parchment or waxed paper to cool.

Mini Ham and Cheese Rolls

INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons dried minced onion
1 tablespoon prepared mustard
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
1/2 cup butter, melted
24 dinner rolls
1/2 pound chopped ham
1/2 pound thinly sliced Swiss cheese


DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
In a small mixing bowl, combine onion flakes, mustard, poppy seeds and margarine.
Split each dinner roll. Make a sandwich of the ham and cheese and the dinner rolls. Arrange the sandwiches on a baking sheet. Drizzle the poppy seed mixture over the sandwiches.
Bake for 20 minutes, or until cheese has melted. Serve these sandwiches warm.

Sauteed Fennel and Carrots

Fennel was our "veggie of the day" that we tried the other night. It was very, very good. This is one that will become a regular in our dinner rotation.

1/2 bag matchstick carrots
1 large fennel bulb (white part only)
1/4 cup white cooking wine
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon sugar
1/8 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp olive oil
cooking spray

cut a slice off fennel bulb base. trim stalks to within 1 inch of bulb. discard stalks. cut bulb vertically into thin slices, and cut slices into this strips.

heat oil in a large skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. add fennel and carrots, and saute 8 minutes until lightly browned. add wine and remaining ingredients. bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 4 minutes. uncover and cook 3 minuts or until almost all liquid evaporates.

Grilled Ham Steaks with Pineapple

So, I drug out our George Foreman Grill the other night to whip this up! It was delish!

1 package ham steaks (I used extra-lean ham slices...there were 5 in the package, so they were quite thick)
1 can pineapple rings
Teriyaki marinade (I used Tastefully Simple Honey Teriyaki sauce, but Kikkoman also has a good one)

Brush one side of the ham with teriyaki marinade and place on indoor grill. Place a pineapple ring on the upside of the ham and brush with marinade. Since my ham steaks were pre-cooked, I just grilled them until they browned a little. Careful not to burn the pineapple.

I brushed the remaining pineapple rings with teriyaki and grilled them also.

Spinach salad

I served this salad with the soup we had last night. Yum!

8oz baby spinach
1 can mandarin oranges (drained)
1 small red onion sliced
1/4 cup honey roasted almonds (Almond Accents-usually found in produce dept)
1/4 cup orange juice
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp soy sauce

Combine first three ingredients in salad bowl. Combine OJ, ginger, oil, sugar and soy sauce in a small bowl. Pour over spinach. Sprinkle with almonds.