Let The Christmas Countdown Begin

We will now begin the official countdown till Christmas. So if you haven’t finished your decorating,

wrapping:

and baking

time to get to it. In case you have to do it twice.

The tree fainted

The dog ate them

So as the world continues to go insane, remember: you needn’t participate. Jump off the wagon for awhile, I promise it will be a soft landing.

And believe me, the lunacy will proceed without you.

So comment on the world at large if you wish or just kick back and make some holiday appetizers. Either way, there’s still going to be only 9 days till Christmas, and time goes by fast.

Here’s an easy to assemble appetizer that Zephyr tells me some of you were interested in, good any time of the year as they’re pretty quick, make ahead and moderately healthy. Enjoy, whatever you decide to spend the day on.

Melon, prosciutto & mozzarella sticks

Ingredients

• Half a cantaloupe, seeds removed, scooped out into balls using a melon baller (alternatively, cut into cubes if you don't have a melon baller)
• 6 slices of prosciutto, torn into bite sized pieces (Costco’s is great for this – I think it’s San Daniele)
• 5 oz. small mozzarella balls (bocconcini), cut in half
• handful of fresh basil
• toothpicks or small kebab sticks (I like the looks of the bamboo picks with the knot on top)
• balsamic vinegar/syrup

Instructions

1. On each toothpick/kebab stick arrange a ball of melon, then a piece of fresh basil, a half of a mozzarella ball, another piece of basil, a piece of prosciutto, another piece of basil and finally another cantaloupe ball.
2. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar or balsamic glaze before serving if desired.

Cook’s Notes

I skipped the balsamic vinegar and just marinated the bocconcini in olive oil (about half a cup) lemon juice (1-2 tablespoons) crushed red pepper flakes to taste (about 1/8 tsp for wimps) a smidge of dried oregano, kosher salt and pepper. Marinate at least an hour or stick them in the frig where you can leave them for days. You can still add the balsamic if you’d like. Of course you can also sub cherry tomatoes for the melon in which case I would definitely use a balsamic glaze (like Rolands), which makes it very pretty when served on a white plate.

If the basil leaves are yuge, cut them in half, or even fourths. Bocconcini can be left whole if small . I only used 1 melon ball per pick as they seemed more manageable that way.