Look, it’s Christmas Eve and I’m very late to the holiday food posting game.
I’d attribute it to 2020, but folks who know me well know that I’ve spent the last week and half either scrambling to complete end-of-year work projects or curled up on the couch in a heap of blankets, providing unhelpful commentary to Alex while he plays The Witcher 3. I meant to make this holiday post grand for you after a harrowing year, but I wanted to be a potato instead. Still, this potato has some potato-y advice for you on this holiday day, and that advice is that you do not need to leave your home for snacks.
You may have already stocked up on decadent goodies from the store, but if you’ve also chosen the tuber life and the holidays dawned on you approximately six minutes ago, there is a good chance you can still make comforting treats with ingredients you already have in your pantry. In traditional holiday fashion, here are some targets you’ll want to hit:
1. A Dip of Some Kind
This is not a year for holiday open houses, but if it was, there would inevitably be a dip, probably more than one kind, sitting in the middle of an array of crusty breads, veggies, fancy crackers, and what-have-you. This year you don’t need to go through all that pomp and circumstance. Whip together some Poor Woman’s Fromage Fort ahead of time for snacking tomorrow, or, you know, just eat it straight out of the bowl you mixed it in.
2. Something with Potatoes
I’m actually not sure that every holiday celebration I’ve been to has included potatoes as a snack, but no matter. It’s been a year and you need potatoes. Specifically, you need potatoes on pizza. More specifically, you need this Golden Potato Pizza I made that is a lot easier than you think to put together and doesn’t even require cheese to be delicious. (Though, you know, it wouldn’t hurt.)
3. Something Sweet
If you’re not a baker, I have great news for you and that great news is that all you need for dessert is cocoa powder, sugar, syrup, some chopping skills, and some booze. These Bourbon Balls are laughably easy and can basically be a mix of whatever you want, so long as they’re still, well, sweet. I used Speculoos cookies, but vanilla wafers, graham crackers, or really any other kind of cookie will do just fine.
4. A Fried Thing
Yes, frying takes a lot more work than other types of snacks. If you’re willing to put in the extra work for my Fried Rice Pudding, though, it’s very worth it. (Honestly, even if you gave up the frying pursuit halfway through and dissolved the point of this part of the list, you’d still have rice pudding. So why not go for it?)
I’ll be on Instagram and Twitter documenting the rest of the Jentsch holiday adventures (which will mostly just be pasta and figuring out whether I made our fruit cake right), but I hope this list gives you some last-minute snacking inspiration. Here’s wishing you a relaxing, potato-y holiday with loved ones near and far.
The Heart and The Hunger 