Slow cooked pork, not photogenic but delicious

New Year's day in Palm Springs with friends is a tradition. Our hostess slow roasts (8 hours) a pork shoulder with sauerkraut, a wonderful dish. Everybody brings something - this year I stuffed cucumber cups with an Asian coleslaw topped with shrimp. Crisp and refreshing, this appetizer is a good one when there's going to be a lot of food. 

For 40 pieces:

5 cucumbers peeled, cut into 3/4" pieces, centers scooped out
1/3 head cabbage, shred finely
4 green onions, tops and bottoms, minced
6 springs cilantro, leaves and stems, minced
40 shrimp, cooked and peeled

Dressing:
1/4 cup olive oil
1/3 cup rice vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Mix cabbage, onions and cilantro. Toss with dressing and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Fill cucumbers with cabbage mixture,  top with a shrimp and garnish with a cilantro leaf.

Scooping out cucumbers

Filling with cabbage mixture

Ready to eat

These can be refrigerated for several hours before serving however the thin dressing may leak out of the cucumber cups during this time. Store on a plate that will catch the dressing which you can drain off before transferring the appetizers to a serving platter.

Somebody brought cute little Turtle cookies that everyone liked. How simple can you get?

3 Ingredient Cookies

Waffle pretzels (square grid)
Rolo brand chocolate-covered caramels
Pecan halves, toasted or not

Place 15 or 20 pretzels on a microwave-safe plate. Top each pretzel with an unwrapped candy. Microwave on High for 20 seconds or soft and melty (time depends on your microwave). Press a pecan half into each one.