HAPPY NEW YEAR

The Schumacher household grew this Christmas, with our new puppy, Baldur arriving just before midnight.

 What a busy time of year! Not much time to cook or blog right now!! Take it easy on yourself this week! It is time to relax and regroup in the next couple of days before the New Year. If you are like us, you probably still have a few parties ahead of you.  Whether you are staying in, or going to someones home for New Years Eve, you very likely still have some food preparation to do!  We have a recommendation that worked really well this festive season in our house - cook in bulk!
 Knowing that we had a new puppy arriving Christmas Day, we decided to simplify our food preparation for our family gatherings. During the day of Christmas Eve, we smoked 3 large sides of salmon and used that in multiple menus over the next few days. First, we included it on the buffet table for our large Christmas Eve family gathering. The next day, we used one to make a traditional smoked salmon appetizer of smoked salmon, red onion, capers and dill on pumpernickel for Christmas Day. Finally, we used the third piece to prepare this Smoked Salmon Dip, to bring as a hostess gift to a Boxing Day party that we were invited to. We simply cut up some tart red apples to serve with it.
 

Smoked Salmon Dip with Apple Slices

1 lb   boneless smoked salmon ( approx 1 1/2 cups of smoked salmon)
1/2 cup cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup greek yogurt
1 tbsp prepared horseradish
1 tbsp minced red onion
1 tbsp minced celery
1 tbsp minced parsley
1 tbsp mince dill
1/2 tsp tabasco sauce
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

2 red empire apples
1 pkg pumpernickel squares

Combine smoked salmon, cream cheese, greek yogurt, horseradish, minced red onion, celery, dill, parsley and tabasco sauce in a large bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon, until smooth, but there should still be chunks of smoked salmon in the mixture. Add lemon juice and salt & pepper to taste.

Kris got what she wanted for Christmas!!