Holiday Entertaining with Quick and Easy Recipes

Y’all…….  Are you ready to talk entertaining and recipes?

I am so excited!  I’m partnering with Kroger to help make holiday entertaining easier on you.  We’re going to show you how entertaining over the holidays can be fun and delicious, without being stressful!  These entertaining tips and recipes are easy, impressive, and will help you to have a WOW holiday, without all the stress.

These recipes, like the Chocolate Dipped Chips,  are perfect for whatever holiday you’re celebrating!  Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Spring Equinox, Superbowl Sunday etc… the list goes on and on!

As a part of this partnership, I was on Great Day Houston where I shared these recipes and talked all about making entertaining easy, delicious, and fun!

Y’all, Great Day Houston was SO MUCH FUN, y’all!  Everyone from the security guard to the producers, to the assistants, other guests, and of course, the adorable and sweet, Deborah, was lovely, kind, helpful, encouraging, and genuinely nice.  I had an absolute blast, and can’t wait to do it again!!

Entertaining and Recipes with A Southern Fairytale and Kroger

 

 

This post is part of a partnership with Kroger to celebrate the Holidays and easy and fun entertaining.  All the ingredients for these recipes can be found at your local Kroger or through ClickList, Kroger’s new online shopping service.

Everything about the holidays; from the food to the friends, to the lights, and the decorations are my favorite.  I have an arsenal of great recipes that I bring out each holiday season to serve friends at parties and give as gifts to teachers and neighbors, and the key to each of these recipes is that they’re easy to make, the ingredients are easy to find, and they’re appealing to pretty much everyone.

Other than my bacon pecan brittle,  my chocolate dipped potato chips are the number one requested treat during the holiday season.  I started making these 4 or 5 years ago on a whim, and within the first couple of days, I’d gone through a dozen bags of chips and countless bags of melting chocolate.  These things are crazy delicious, and they pretty much satisfy every kind craving.

Chocolate Dipped Potato Chips

A couple years ago, a teacher that we’ve given these to for several years sent me a text from the store and said: “look, they’re copying your idea!”  A brand was making chocolate dipped potato chips and selling them during the holidays 🙂

The only thing… their chocolate to chip ratio is off 🙂 #justsaying

The magic to these is their simplicity –  A bag of classic wavy potato chips, a bag of high quality melting dark chocolate wafers, and if you’re feeling fancy…  1/4 bag of white chocolate chips

Melt the chocolate wafers, dip a portion of the chips in the chocolate, lift up from the chocolate, gently shake off the excess chocolate, and lay them on parchment paper, and drizzle with white chocolate

BOOM! Salty! Crispy! Chocolatey! Delicious!

 

Another recipe that’s a family and friend favorite is one that was shared here by a friend a few years ago: 4 ingredient Oreo Peppermint Bark

Chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, chocolate sandwich cookies, and crushed candy canes – with those 4 ingredients, you can have a delicious and easy treat on the table for your party, as a gift for neighbors, or even a treat for Santa!

This candy cane bark is so easy that your kids can make it! 

I had so much fun sharing these recipes with the Great Day Houston family!! (watch the clip below to see how much these treats were enjoyed!)

While desserts are always a favorite around the holidays; when I’m at a holiday party, there are two things I’m looking for… snack/appetizers, and something unique.

If you want to win this southern girl’s, heart – let’s talk meat and cheese trays: When we had Thanksgiving out at my Aunt and Uncle’s in Wimberley, it was pretty much guaranteed that they’d have some delicious cheeses and meats paired with fruits, honey, and local fruit spreads alongside some bread and crackers.  Hello gorgeous.  I could spend my whole day there <3

 

One of the keys to a delightful meat and cheese tray is different textures, a blend of smooth and hard, salty and sweet, spicy and soothing.  I aim to surprise with each display – I love going to Murray’s counter at Kroger and talking with the guys who work there, they are legitimately passionate and knowledgeable about what they do.  I would never have thought to drizzle honey over a pecorino romano and pair it with a soppressata and baguette, but oh my word, y’all! <3  They also introduced me to the salty delight that is the olive salad, and I have to say, an olive salad is a gift to a cheese tray.  The saltiness of the olive salad is a gorgeous pairing with the triple cream brie and the surprise fruit pairing that I’m shared …..

Holiday Entertaining and Recipes made easy with these delicious additions to a meat and cheese tray

Since I’m happy to center my world around a meat and cheese tray, and I have a lot of vegetarian friends (seriously, I do) I like to have a lighter option and something that will appeal to them, too.  A hearty winter salad bursting with colors and flavors, paired with a tangy homemade dressing is always a crowd pleaser, and leaves you satisfied, without feeling that holiday regret, because… salad.

I can’t wait to share this salad with y’all!

Crisp, sweet red pears, crisp walnuts, sweet dried cranberries, juicy blueberries, and creamy feta cheese over a bed of greens and paired with my homemade tangy dijon wine vinaigrette dressing – this is the ultimate quick, delicious, winter salad.

 

 

 

Disclosure: This holiday entertaining and recipes post is brought to you in partnership with Kroger.  All opinions expressed are my own. Sponsored posts help me pay for the costs associated with this blog (like the groceries…so very many groceries,y’all), and help support me as I follow my dreams of recipe development and food photography. All opinions are 100% my own. Thank you for supporting the brands and companies that support A Southern Fairytale.