I quite like holidays, regardless of when and what.

Wednesday was Fete Nationale du Quebec and since the LSC and everyone we know had the day off, we decided to have people over for cocktails and nibbles. Point of fact: I freakin’ LOVE cocktails and nibbles, especially the nibbles part. Appetizers, hors’d'oeuvres, canapes, whatever…if you make ‘em, I will eat the heck of ‘em. And of course, I love any excuse for making nibbles. It even goes one better when you have friends that like making them as well. Add booze, good conversation and a warm sunny day to the mix and you’ve got an excellent recipe for a summer holiday.

This means that this entry has a plethora of recipes for you. They all contain dairy and/or egg but if  you find a way to make them vegan, let me know. (I suspect the dip shown above could be made with silken tofu and vegan cream cheese or sour cream.) I am always on the lookout for good vegan recipes as it gives me a chance to flex those culinary muscles of mine. The dip featured above was made with cream cheese, dill and a special secret ingredient that I will save for below. The dip itself was creamy, slightly chunky and tangy in all the right bits. We used spears of celery and carrot to scoop it up with; the LSC used potato chips too but that is his way. I was originally to make a spinach dip but since I had all the ingredients for this one, I opted not to trot out that tried cocktail party trope.

Our friend Leah brought over a savory cheesecake. Yes, I know you may be startled at the very idea of a cheesecake that is NOT dense and creamy and sweet, but get over it. This was sublime. It was perfect with crackers and it would be perfect as a light summer supper with a nice salad.

I didn’t forget the deviled eggs either. I know it’s been a couple of entries since I posted a recipe for one but be reassured I haven’t forgotten about the Deviled Egg Experiment. The batch that I put out on Wednesday had vodka in them. Delicious vodka. You let them chill in the fridge for a couple of hours and oh my!

I almost forgot…you lucky kids get a cocktail recipe too!!

My Kind of Summer Cooler

1 can ginger beer (you can sub ginger ale but it won’t have the same bite)

2 lemon slices

1 jigger vodka (light rum would be good too)

1 tbl. sugar

Rub the rim of a Tom Collins glass with the edge of a lemon slice. Pour the sugar on a saucer; upturn the Tom Collins glass onto the sugar, making sure to coat the rim. Squeeze rest of lemon slice into glass. Fill glass with ice. Add vodka. Fill the rest of glass with ginger beer; muddle with butter knife or muddler. Garnish with lemon juice. Enjoy!

Savory Vegetable Cheesecake

from Mollie Katzen’s “The Enchanted Broccoli Forest”
3 cups grated zucchini
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup minced onion
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup grated carrot
3 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/4 cup freshly minced parsley
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 cups ricotta cheese
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese (please use fresh)
4 large eggs
fresh ground black pepper
2 medium tomatoes, sliced into rounds,then sliced in half so the slices look like the letter d
3-4 tablespoons breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 375 degrees farenheit. Butter a 10″ springform pan and sprinkle with breadcrumbs, set aside. Put the grated zucchini into a colander. Salt lightly, and let is sit about 15 minutes, then squeeze out any excess moisture. Saute the onions in butter with 1/2 t salt. When they start to turn translucent, add the carrots, garlic, zucchini, flour, basil and oregano. Keep stirring and cook over medium heat for about 8 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the parsley and lemon. Beat the cheeses and eggs together until well blended. (Hello, Kitchenaid mixer!) When the cheese and egg mixture is nice and fluffy, fold in the veggies.
Season to taste with black pepper. Pour the mixture into the springform pan. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes– then pull it out for a minute. Remember those tomatoes? Dredge them in the breadcrumbs and decorate the top of the cheesecake with them in a pretty spiral pattern. Reduce the oven heat to 350 degrees, and bake another 30 minutes. Turn off the oven and just let the cheesecake sit in there for another 15 minutes. Then, take it out of the oven and let it cool about 10 more minutes before cutting and serving.

Creamy Horseradish-Dill Dip

from Real Simple magazine

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup prepared horseradish

2 tbl. whole milk

2 tbl. chopped fresh dill

1/4 tsp. kosher salt

Dippers (such as celery sticks, cucumber rounds and potato chips)

In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese, horseradish, milk and salt until fluffy. Stir in the dill. Serve with the dippers.

Dirty Martinis

from “Deviled Eggs: 50 Recipes from Simple to Sassy” by Debbie Moose (Harvard Common Press)

6 eggs, hard-boiled and peeled

5 tbl. mayonnaise

1 1/2 tsp. vodka

1 1/2 tbl. juice from a jar of green olives

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper (I used hot Hungarian paprika)

1 1/2 tsp. finely chopped Italian parsley

salt and pepper to taste

olive slices to garnish

Cut eggs in half, reserving whites. In a bowl, place yolks in bowl and mash them, then whisk with mayonnaise, vodka, olive juice, cayenne and parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon or pipe into reserved whites. Garnish with olive slices. Chill for 3 to 4 hours in refrigerator.