The menu for this year’s Lewis Family Gathering was APPETIZERS!  What a fun idea!  We decided to make our favorite shrimp cocktail drink, pork sliders and a big bowl of Christmas Crunch.  These are all things you will want to try!

Here’s how you make the Shrimp Cocktail Drink:

We prepared one bag of Costco’s tail-less frozen shrimp.  You put the frozen shrimp in a covered bowl or bag in the refrigerator 24 hours before cooking for the best quality (we put them on a cookie sheet by the fire until they were thawed).  Then you put them in a pot of salted boiling water for just a few minutes until they are cooked through.  Then we immediately put them into a bowl of ice water (this helps keep the shrimp tender).  Then the chopping began. 

Here’s the recipe we used for a large batch:

Shrimp Cocktail Drink

3 bottles (3 quarts) of tomato juice (we’d planned to add a 4th bottle, but it was just right)
1 bag Costco shrimp, cooked and chopped into small pieces
2 c. finely chopped celery
Juice from 2 lemons
6 T. horseradish
6 T. sugar
1 small bottle cocktail sauce
1 tsp. salt

This was my original recipe.

Caleb was our helper!

We also prepared Pork Sliders.  I started with this recipe from Claire and cooked boneless pork ribs in the crockpot the day before.  I think pork ribs (from Costco) are more tender.  The meat just falls apart.

I coated the ribs from the whole package with this rub, then let them cook for about 8 hours in the crock pot.  The meat was delicious, but pretty spicy!  Next time I do this I’ll only use half of the rub for  one package of ribs.  We served these with coleslaw on Hawaiian buns.  They were a huge hit!

Our other contribution for the family dinner was Christmas Crunch (or Crack).

Christmas Crunch

Cook over medium until soft ball candy stage (about 5-8 min):
1 lb. butter
1 c. Karo syrup
2 2/3 c. sugar

Pour over about 24 cups of dry ingredients.  We like:
Corn Chex
Rice Chex
Wheat Chex
Pretzels
Coconut
Chopped Pecans

Carefully mix (it helps to use 2 large bowls and a long-handled spoon).  The mixture is really hot, so be careful.  You can add more or fewer dry ingredients to satisfy your gooey happy level.

While still hot, sprinkle with salt (DON’T SKIP THIS).
Let the mixture dry for awhile, even overnight.
Some people like to drizzle this with white or milk chocolate, or you can add sprinkles.
I think it’s perfect as is.

This week I also made my FAVORITE “Snowball” cookies.

I stopped keeping track of the times we made these.  If I’m home for Christmas, I make them, and by New Year’s they are always gone.  It’s my one weakness.  One batch makes about 36 cookies.  I will eat most of those.

Every year, John makes his favorite Braetzli cookies with an iron press he was given when he lived in Switzerland 50 years ago.  The kids always remember helping with these.  This year he delivered these cookies to the neighbors.

Food is an important part of our Christmas traditions.  The sliders were a new addition this year, and they were excellent.  We will be seeing more of those!  These other treats seem to follow us through the years, and that’s a comforting thing.  As much as we love each treat, we save them for Christmas time each year.