Christmas Season: Santa, Frosty, and Rudolph!

Good afternoon bloggers! Welcome to another holiday edition of Everyday Meals. Today, you are joining me as we take a teensy break from normal meals in order to make some festive treats that will delight everyone in your circle of friends and family. These sweet treats are, as they say, excellent for "kids from 1 to 92"! Before we begin, I want to pass a little festive history on to you and yours. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer appeared for the first time in 1939, courtesy of writer Robert L. May and publisher Montgomery Ward. Originally, the book had been created to save Montgomery Ward money, seeing that previous years, they had been buying and giving away coloring books for Christmas. Did you know that Robert L. May had considered the names "Reginald" and "Rollo" for the reindeer before finally deciding on "Rudolph"? In the book's first year, it sold 2.4 million copies! That's amazing! Now, my little reindeer lovers, please note that we are NOT just using a reindeer theme in this entry. Stay tuned to find out which other characters we have featured!

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Cookie

You will need:

• Chocolate or plain cookie dough
• 3 inch teardrop cardboard pattern
• Pretzels
• Frosting
• M&M's
• Red hots

1. Roll out the cookie dough to a 1/4 inch thickness. 
2. Set the cardboard pattern on the dough. 
3. With the point of a sharp knife, cut out the reindeer's head. 
4. Bake as directed on the cookie dough package.
5. Let cool, then break apart the pretzels to form antlers and attach them at the top of the reindeer's head with dabs of frosting. 
6. Add M&M eyes and don't forget the red hot nose! 
7. This will make 40 Rudolph cookies.
8. Enjoy!

Ready for our next treat? Let's go!

Frosty, the Crunchy Snowman

You will need:

• 1 bag of 8 inch pretzel rods
• 1 cup white chocolate chips
• mini chocolate chips
• orange decorating gel
• fruit roll ups, various colors
• gummy rings
• gumdrops

1. To make a batch, melt 1 cup of white chocolate chips in the top of a double boiler.
2. One at a time, dip one end of an 8 inch pretzel rod in the melted chocolate and use a plastic spoon or knife to spread the chocolate two thirds of the way down the rod.
3. Set the pretzels on a sheet of waxed paper and press on mini chocolate chips for eyes and buttons. 
4. Use orange decorating gel to add a carrot nose.
5. When the chocolate has hardened, stand the pretzels in a mug or glass and tie on strips of fruit roll up for scarves. 
6. For each hat, stretch a gummy ring over the narrow end of a gumdrop and secure it on the pretzel rod with a dab of melted chocolate.
7. Enjoy!

Last, but not least... drum roll please!

Cheese Ball Santa

You will need:

• 8 ounce package cream cheese, softened
• 4 ounces Sharp Cheddar cheese, grated
• 1 tablespoon softened butter
• 1 tablespoon minced onion
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon tomato paste
• Black pepper, to taste
• Red bell pepper
• 2 cups whipped cream cheese
• 1 Radish slice
• 1 carrot stick
• 1 pretzel
• black olives 
• crackers
• 1 cherry tomato

1. Make Santa's face by blending the first eight ingredients in a large mixing bowl. 
2. Spoon the mixture onto a large piece of plastic wrap and shape it into a ball.
3. Tightly wrap the cheese and chill it for 1 hour. 
4. Unwrap the cheese ball and place it on a large serving tray.
5. Drape new plastic wrap over the cheese, then flatten and shape it into a face. 
6. Remove the wrap and turn the red pepper upside down for Santa's hat.
7. Spoon the whipped cream cheese into a sealable pint-size plastic bag. 
8. Seal the bag and make a small snip in a lower corner to create a pastry bag.
9. Use piped-on whipped cream cheese to stick a radish-slice pom-pom to the hat. 
10. Pipe on more cream cheese for a hatband, eyebrows, and a beard.
11. Press on a carrot nose, a pretzel mouth, olive eyes, and cracker ears. 
12. Add cherry tomato halves for rosy cheeks.
13. Chill and enjoy!

I hope you all have had a blast creating festive, character themed snacks to share this upcoming holiday! I will be back soon with plenty of holiday treats and eats. Happy holidays and happy blogging to all! <3