Open house parties abound during the holidays and with them, the eternal question of what to serve. We're turning to you for inspiration: whether you're playing host or toting your hors d'oeuvres across town, we're looking for festive dishes that will hold up to keep milling guests happy from start to finish (or...
These are not your usual contests. We have a slightly nutty system but it works. Together, the Food52 community has created two cookbooks this way -- there’s no stopping us now. Read about it
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Ingredients, from left to right: blue cheese, butter, flour, fig jam and black pepper.
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Use a good, firm blue cheese -- nothing too creamy, or the dough will be sticky.
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Consulting about cookie cutter sizes.
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Checking to make sure the dough is just coming together in a ball.
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It's essentially a shortbread dough, but with cheese!
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If you're nervous, you can chill the dough for a little bit before rolling it out.
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You can use your thumb or the end of a wooden spoon, like we did, to create little troughs for the jam.
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1/4 teaspoon is just right -- otherwise, you risk spillover!
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Isn't Amanda's Christmas tree pretty?
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Galangal (optional -- it's the odd shard in the upper left!), cinnamon, cocoa, pear, ground ginger.
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Core the pears first, then slice them on a mandoline. You want them slightly thinner than 1/8 inch.
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Amanda cuts the cores from a few slices of pear. It's easier to do this to an entire half, rather than slice by slice. Amanda likes a challenge.
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Merrill grinds the galangal in a coffee-cum-spice grinder.
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The sugar-and-spice mixture.
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Walker stealthily snags some pear scraps while we consult on the recipe.
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You lay the pear slices on cooling racks set atop a baking sheet.
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Merrill arranges the pears. That's Amanda's family's Christmas tree in the distance.
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Sprinkling the pears with the cocoa mixture. We're about 5 minutes into the recipe and we're almost done all the work.
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Pre-oven.
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Post-oven.
