25 ideas for making merry on a budget

1. Instead of potatoes, use wild rice as a side dish. Toasting it in butter and then boiling in chicken stock, white wine or apple juice provides a great base for a pilaf.
2. Slice acorn squash in half and roast until tender. Melt butter and brown sugar in the cavity of the squash and place under the broiler to brown for a minute or two.
3. Make a peppermint stick martini. Combine 1 1/2 ounces vodka, 1 ounce peppermint schnapps, 1 ounce Triple Sec and ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain the mix into a martini glass rimmed with crushed peppermint. Garnish with a candy cane.
4. Rim martini glasses in melted white or dark chocolate. Refrigerate till you’re ready to use. Tastes great with the peppermint martini above!
5. Simple yet elegant salad: blanch white and green asparagus tips until just tender and roast for a moment; set aside. Whisk champagne vinegar with minced shallot, Dijon mustard and chopped tarragon then mix a few drops of white truffle oil. Blend in extra virgin olive oil to finish the vinaigrette; marinate asparagus in dressing. Serve with shavings of Parmigiano-Reggiano and slices of prosciutto.
6. Buy a vanilla bean to make holiday desserts. After scraping out the seeds for your famous ice cream base, nestle the pod into your sugar pot. The bean’s essence will soon permeate your sugar to give you a delicious vanilla sugar.
7. Substitute holiday karaoke for caroling at your holiday party.
8. For a colorful, inexpensive centerpiece, drop each flower of a bouquet into a shot glass and place them all in the middle of a round dinner table or align them down the center of a long table.
9. Let your guests decorate their own cookies for dessert. Place bowls of frosting, sprinkles and other decorative sweets along the sides of the table and circulate guests around to make their own cookie creation.
10. Instead of russets, use Peruvian purple potatoes for your spuds. They look great and add a healthy dose of antioxidants.
11. Give the kids a toast with a mock champagne punch. Boil a cup each of water and sugar, cool, and add a cup of white grape juice, 2/3 cup orange juice and 1/2 cup lemon juice. Chill. When ready to serve, add a cup of cold ginger ale.