All at once am I

So, I was feeling a little bit overwhelmed by all the party and holiday related shopping I've been doing lately (I KNOW, right? Me? the teensiest bit over SHOPPING? Stop the presses!). You know you've reached your shopping limit when dropping $75 at a dollar store just kind of makes you feel sick inside instead of fills you with glee.

In order to combat this strange malaise, I decided that I wasn't going to buy one more thing this week for myself or my family (because I knew there would be/has already been last minute party shopping I could not avoid) because that was the one kind of shopping I could control. Trouble with that plan was that I had to bring various dishes to this party and wasn't sure what I had on hand. But, I decided it would be a challenge to make some holiday treats with what I had on hand, so here is what we've come up with so far:

Rocky Road Fudge: the four(ish) ingredient kind made of chocolate chips, butterscotch or caramel swirled chips (I have both here), reduced fat sweetened condensed milk (because you can't taste the difference and you have to save calories somewhere with this dish), pecans, and marshmallows. I'll make it tonight (it takes 5 minutes to cook) and it will be ready to go tomorrow.

Spinach and Baby Greens Salad with Cranberries and "Candied" Pecans: so the candying is really easy, just balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, and olive oil, and they taste very sweet, more like really concentrated balsamic flavored pecans. The dressing is more balsamic vinegar (I think I will use our raspberry white balsamic), olive oil, and dijon mustard. Shake to combine and toss with the greens, fruit, and nuts. The end. And relatively healthy, too.

Sun-dried Tomato and Spinach Biscuits: This "recipe" for drop biscuits uses Bisquick, milk, and however many tomatoes or however much spinach I feel like at the time. I may also add onions for flavor and perhaps a little cheese or some garlic, all of which I have on hand.

I'll let you know how these experiments turn out, as well as the success or failure of our hot holiday beverage, a "Wassail" of sorts, heavy emphasis on the scare quotes. I won't reveal the ingredients just yet, since some of my readers will be at the party and I don't want to spoil the surprise...or disappoint them if we end up scratching the idea at the last minute!