Garlicky Cocktail Meatballs

These may not look very pretty, but they are a great cocktail meatball to serve when you're looking for something other than the often too-sweet jelly style meatballs or traditional marinara sauce. I wanted to try these when I had some friends coming over and they were a hit. Again, they're not the nicest looking, but my friends tend to trust what I make and were pleasantly surprised by these. You can roll out the meatballs a day prior to making this and have a quicker prep time the day you serve them.

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Pineapple Juice & Clove Poached Pears

I never realized how easy it is to make delicious poached pears until I gave this recipe a try. This is an old family recipe that my mom has had for over 30 years. She got the recipe from our family friend's mom who has been making this even longer. This is just the recipe for the pears, but they would be delicious served with vanilla ice cream, custard or cream.

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Simple Italian Style Pasta Bake

I was having friends over during the week and was looking for a quick and easy dish that I could make after work. I wanted something I could prepare ahead of time that would be a crowd-pleaser for all my guests. I found a few pasta bake recipe and wanted to give it a try with my own twist (and to make it simple). This was a very easy dish which I prepared the night before and baked prior to my guests arriving. Everyone loved it and it made for a great, quick weeknight main course.

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5 Layer Dip

Five layer dip is one of those tried and tested appetizers that I have loved for decades. You can easily put your own spin on it by adding additional items (I sometimes like to add black olives) and adjusting the amount of each layer to meet your preferences. I tend to love a lot of guacamole and sour cream, but I kept the ratios a little more traditional in this recipe. This is a very easy dip to whip together, and you can cheat by using pre-made guacamole to make it even simpler.

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Strawberry Lemon Spiral Cookies

With the weather getting colder, baking has finally resumed in my kitchen. I was looking for a recipe for a bright, flavorsome cookie and came across this recipe. It does have a few steps involved where chilling the dough is required, but is otherwise fairly easy to make. You can also make these ahead of time and freeze the dough once you have rolled it in to 2 logs. If you have a big crowd coming over I would suggest doubling the recipe since I made about 32 cookies from this recipe.

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