Please Sir, May I Have Christmas One More Time? . . . Please?

I've talked before about how I try to stretch out Christmas as long as possible. Well, this might really be extending it . . . but our last Christmas party for this Christmas season was last weekend. We had our company Christmas party.

It's really not that odd for us. We always delay it until after the hubbub of the holidays are over. We try to do something special for our employees each year. We usually invite them to some fun location for the weekend. A resort up north in the woods where they can sled, ice skate, or read by the fire is an option. This year, though, we invited them to Chicago. Many had not seen the new office in Chicago, so we put them up in a fun, historic hotel on Michigan Avenue where they could shop their brains out, and we had them over for a nine-course meal at the Chicago condo. We had a blast. I think they did too.

The whole condo was decorated -- no longer for Christmas but with plenty of candles, glassware galore, long tables set with much finery and plenty of food. (For those into menus, http://www.apexperformancesystems.com/recipe/00000172)

The highlight item had to be the little bacon tomato tarts; at least, that's the appetizer that got the most raving comments. The chicken with the wild mushrooms got the most groans (pleasurable groans). By then everyone was so full they were leaning back in their chairs and we still had the three desserts to go!

I'm sharing with you today the Bacon Tomato Mini Tarts; but you're going to get a bonus to go along with them. You see, while I was making them, I was visualizing several teeny tart variations I could do. I could just taste the variations of the future as I was mixing the ones I was going to bake for the party. So even though I haven't made all of these variations, I trust they are going to be good. And I'm giving you the latitude to use your own creativity and adjust the ingredients in a way that suits you or even add and subtract as you please. Go to "Mini Tart Variations," http://www.apexperformancesystems.com/recipe/00000170, to see a few of the variations I dreamed up. You can follow the base recipe and invent as you go along as I did. Enjoy! And feel free to write me if something inspires you.

Bacon Tomato Mini Tarts

1 pound low sodium bacon cut into small slices (crosswise) and cooked to crispy
1 package grape tomatoes cut into quarters
1/2 cup diced white onion
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp dried Italian herbs
1 (7.5 ounce) package of refrigerated flaky biscuits

When the bacon is cooked and crispy, drain it on paper towels and let it cool. With your knife, cut it into slightly smaller pieces but don't make it into tiny bits and crumbles. You want to still taste the bacon chunks. Mix the bacon, tomatoes, onion, cheese, garlic, mayo and herbs in a mixing bowl. Set aside.

Open your biscuits. Separate each biscuit with your fingers into 3 thin disks instead of just one. You'll need a mini muffin pan if you want your tarts to have a "middle." If you don't have a mini muffin pan, you can have mini "pizzas" instead by using a regular-sized muffin pan. If you have the mini muffin pan, take each biscuit disk and urge it into the muffin hole so it slides to the bottom and up the sides to form a tart crust. You can use your knuckle to get the middle of the crust to go to the bottom. If you are using a regular-sized muffin pan, the biscuit dough will just sort of sit flat in the bottom of the muffin indentation.

Put a heaping teaspoon of mixture in each indentation. The whole mixture and the biscuit dough will make 24 tarts or mini "pizzas." Bake them at 350 degrees for 12 to 14 minutes until browned on the edges. Let them cool slightly in the pan and then remove to let them cool. You can serve warm, room temperature or even store refrigerated and then re-heat and serve later.

*Correction: Last week, Zola's recipe for Bailey's Chocolate Cream Cake listed "1 box (3/4 oz.) instant chocolate pudding." It should have read "1 box (3.4 oz.) instant chocolate pudding." Sorry for the "oops" and thanks to the reader for pointing out our error.