Holiday Cranberry Kissing Ball Recipes

FESTIVE HOLIDAY CRANBERRY RELISH

Steps:

• Stir cranberries, sugar, orange juice, water, lime juice, 1 teaspoon orange zest, and lime zest together in a saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low; cook at a simmer until cranberries pop, about 20 minutes. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
• Transfer cooled sauce to serving bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until cold, about 1 hour. Garnish with a pinch of orange zest to serve.

CRANBERRY-PECAN HOLIDAY CHEESE BALL

Steps:

• Beat cheddar cheese, cream cheese, butter and mustard until blended. Fold in 1/3 cup pecans and 1/2 cup dried cranberries. Spread remaining pecans and dried cranberries in an even layer on a 12x12-in. piece of plastic; place cheese mixture on top of cranberry mixture. Bring corners of plastic up over cheese ball and shape into a ball. Refrigerate at least 1 hour., Remove from refrigerator 10 minutes before serving. Serve with crackers.

HOLIDAY CRANBERRY MARGARITA

Steps:

• Rim a cocktail glass with sugar or salt if desired, then fill with ice.
• Combine cranberry juice, margarita mix, tequila, and triple sec in a cocktail shaker. Shake or stir until combined and pour over ice. Add cranberries and garnish with lime wedge.

HOLIDAY CRANBERRY EGGNOG CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour a 10-in. fluted tube pan. In a large bowl, combine cake mix, eggnog, eggs, butter, nutmeg and vanilla; beat on low speed 30 seconds. Beat on medium 2 minutes. Fold in cranberries., Transfer to prepared pan. Bake 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely., For topping, in a small bowl, beat cream until stiff peaks form. In another small bowl, mix Mascarpone cheese, confectioners' sugar and vanilla just until combined. Fold in whipped cream. Serve with cake; sprinkle with additional nutmeg.

KITTENCAL'S HOLIDAY CRANBERRY STUFFING BALLS

Steps:

• Remove the sausage from casings, then place the sausage in a skillet; brown over medium heat breaking up the meat into very small pieces while cooking (about 8 minutes) set aside.
• Melt 3 tablespoons butter in the same skillet; add in onion and celery; sauté for about 5-6 minutes or until very soft (adding in the garlic the last 2 minutes of cooking).
• Add in the cooked sausage back to the skillet, then add in the chicken broth; bring just to a simmer, scraping up any browned bits in the bottom of the skillet, then place the sausage/onion mixture into a large bowl.
• Add in the stuffing mixture packet along with the chopped cranberries, Parmesan cheese and eggs; mix until well combined.
• Season with lots of black pepper and a little salt.
• Cover and chill the mixture for about 2 hours.
• Using moistened hands form the mixture into small even balls and place the balls into a shallow greased casserole dish.
• If you find that the mixture is too moist and will not hold together well just add in a little dried bread crumbs, if it is too dry add in more broth or water, add in just enough to hold the balls together when shaped.
• Brush or drizzle the balls with melted butter.
• At this point you can cover the balls and refrigerate for up to 24 hours to bake later.
• Set oven to 350°F.
• Bake covered loosely with foil or bake uncovered (the balls with be more crispy on the outside if baked uncovered) for about 12-15 minutes (the baking time will vary slightly, it will depend on the size you shape the balls).

HOLIDAY CRANBERRY KISSING BALL

Steps:

• Paint foam ball with red craft paint. Set aside to dry.
• Cut an 18" piece of wire and fold it in half. Push folded wire all the way through the center of foam ball, leaving a 1" wire loop extending at bottom of ball and 3" of wire extending at top.
• Using hot glue gun or toothpicks, attach cranberries to ball, covering it completely. Twist wires at top of ball into a simple hook for hanging. Use ribbon to tie mistletoe and other desired holiday trim to wire above and below ball, and hang with hook.
• Kissing ball will last several days. Discard once berries begin to soften. To extend the life of your decoration, you can spray with an even coating of shellac.