We’re going to have a great spread at this cocktail party, aren’t we? Lots of cheese too, heh. Has anyone noticed that nearly all party food has Worcestershire sauce as an ingredient? Hmm.  Here are a few final recipes to round out your menu and a nice beverage at the end. Holiday cocktail parties are always so spirited and happy, people who haven’t seen each other in a while catching up and new friends enjoying time together. As reader Diane B said, I need to go to a party, quick! Click on the images to enlarge.

What’s a cocktail party without canapés? Well, most cocktail parties I’ve ever been to did not have canapés, as it turns out. Canapés traditionally consist of a bread base cut into a decorative shape, a flavored spread, such as a cream cheese, a main item, such as caviar or meat, then a garnish like a vegetable or parsley. They are generally salty to encourage party goers to drink more. Who knew?

Lobster Canapés

2 1/2 dozen bread rounds, cut from thinly sliced bread

Salad oil

1 5-ounce can (1 cup) lobster, shredded

1/2 cup canned condensed cream of mushroom soup

2 tbsp cooking sherry

1 tbsp chopped pimiento

1/4 tsp salt

Few drops tobasco sauce

1/4 cup buttered fine dry breadcrumbs

Brush bread rounds lightly with oil, put on cookie sheet. Heat in extremely slow oven (225) 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours or til dry and crisp. Combine remaining ingredients except breadcrumbs. Spread mixture on toasted bread rounds. Sprinkle with buttered breadcrumbs. Broil 2 to 3 minutes or until breadcrumbs are browned.

Party Mix

6 tbsp oleo

4 tbsp Worchestershire sauce

1 tsp seasoned salt or 3/8 each salt & garlic powder

6 cups Chex (wheat, corn, rice)

3/4 cup salted nuts

Heat oven to 250. Slowly melt butter in shallow pan. Stir in Worcestershire sauce and salt. Add Chex and nuts. Mix until all pieces are coated. Heat in oven 45 minutes. Stir every 15 minutes.

Yield: 6 3/4 cups

For this recipe, if you can’t find Old English cheese, it is a spreadable sharp cheddar cheese spread, so another type of spreadable processed sharp cheddar would be a substitute. Secondly, Windsor cheese is port wine cheese.

Cocktail Cheese Roll (Marjo Davis)

1 lb Old English cheese

1/2 lb cream cheese

1/2 lb Windsor cheese or sharp Cheddar cheese

1 large garlic clove

2 tbsp grated onion

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

6 drops Tobasco sauce

Salt & pepper

2 tbsp mayonnaise

Chili powder

Process or grind cheeses. Mix in everything else except the chili powder. Roll into 1-inch tubes or roll. Then roll in the chili powder to coat the outside and ends. Chill and slice into thin layers. Serve on Ritz crackers.

At Christmas, an informal party, a large round ball for serve yourself nibbles is fun.

Wassailing is a tradition mainly in England which consisted of having a bowl of warm spiced ale available throughout the holiday season for guests to partake. Traditional recipes are based on ale, with some more modern ones using wine, with seasonal fruits floated on top of the warm drink. It’s become synonymous with spreading cheer, and there are even special wassail bowls you can buy. This wassail punch looks harmless, alcoholically speaking.

Wassail Punch Bowl

1 qt hot tea

1 qt cranberry juice

1 qt apple juice

3 pieces stick cinnamon (2″ long)

12 whole cloves

1 cup sugar

2 cups orange juice

3/4 cup lemon juice

1 orange, sliced

1 lemon, sliced

Combine all ingredients except orange and lemon slices. Bring to boil. Pour into bowl and float orange and lemon slices. Makes about 4 quarts – 20 punch cups.