Finally Found: Arlene’s FIRST Christmas Special from 1991! (Part 1)

This is a very special show… After searching through the Cornerstone TeleVision archives, we finally found the very first “At Home” Christmas special from way back in 1991! This two-part program features delicious appetizers, desserts, and main dishes for a wonderful holiday gathering.

Part 1 includes an antipasto tray with sour cream Italian dip, roast beef cream cheese horseradish roll ups, almond, cheese, and garlic spreads, and brown sugar harvest fruit dip. You can find the recipes for Part 2, HERE.

The search for this video was actually pretty tricky. We looked through stacks and stacks of tapes in the storage building at CTVN, but we couldn’t find the 1991 Christmas shows! We did find a DVD of the programs in Arlene’s personal belongings, but the sound quality of the DVD was very bad. Eventually, a former producer from At Home gave us a VHS tape copy of At Home Holiday Treasures, which featured both 1991 Christmas programs on it. Using the video from the DVD and the audio from the tape, we edited together the final show you see here. Understandably, the picture quality isn’t as good as the rest of our At Home programs, but we feel that these shows are special enough that everyone should see them!

Antipasto Tray

Course Appetizer

Ingredients
  

  • 1/2 head lettuce, chopped
  • oil and vinegar
  • assorted vegetables
  • 1/4 lb swiss cheese, cubed
  • 1/4 lb provolone cheese, cubed
  • 1/2 in slice ham, cubed
  • 1/4 lb salami, sliced and rolled
  • 2 whole pepper, 1 green and 1 red, cleaned

Dressing

  • 1 envelope Italian dressing mix
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise

Instructions
 

  • Mix lettuce, then oil and vinegar to taste in a bowl.
  • Spread lettuce over entire surface of large serving platter.
  • Combine ingredients for dressing and blend 'til smooth. Refrigerate until thickens.
  • Place the red and green peppers in center of tray. Fill with dip.
  • Begin placing the vegetables, cheese, meats. and olives on lettuce in segments. Break up the colors so the foods vary all around the platter. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve. Enjoy!

Roast Beef Roll Ups Appetizer

These are so easy to make, and people love them at parties!
Course Appetizer

Ingredients
  

  • 1 lb roast beef, sliced on the thin side
  • 1 pkg cream cheese (8 oz)
  • 1 jar prepared horseradish

Instructions
 

  • Place a small chunk of cream cheese at one end of each slice of roast beef.
  • Top cream cheese with a small amount of horseradish. Roll up Jelly-roll fashion.
  • Place on serving tray and decorate. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve. Enjoy!

Harvest Dip

Course Appetizer

Ingredients
  

  • 1 pkg cream cheese (8 oz), softened
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 8 apples, cored and sliced as for pie

Instructions
 

  • Combine the cream cheese. brown sugar and vanilla in a medium sized bowl. Blend 'til smooth and creamy. Place in a small bowl and set bowl in center of larger tray.
  • Place apples all around the dip. Enjoy!
    *If you are not serving this immediately, sprinkle some lemon juice over the apples and mix well to cover. The apples will not turn brown as quickly.

Cheese Spreads

These look so cute when served in small clay flower pots lined with aluminum foil, with tiny signs showing what flavor each dip is!
Course Appetizer

Ingredients
  

Basic Cheese Spread

  • 2 pkg cream cheese (8 oz), softened
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 3 Tbsp mayonnaise

Garlic Spread

  • 1 1/2 Tbsp garlic salt
  • 1 tsp fines herbs, optional
  • 1/8 tsp Tabasco sauce
  • 1 cup basic spread

Cheese Spread

  • 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
  • 3/4 tsp onion salt
  • 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 cup basic spread

Almond Spread

  • 1/4 cup butter, softened
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/8 cup golden raisins
  • 1/8 cup slivered almonds, lightly toasted
  • 2/3 cup basic spread

Instructions
 

Basic Cheese Spread

  • Beat cheese, add sour cream and mayonnaise. Whip until smooth. This basic spread will make one each of the following recipes.

Garlic Spread

  • Mix all ingredients. Fill container and sprinkle with herbs. Serve with assorted crackers.

Cheese Spread

  • Mix all ingredients. Fill container and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Serve with assorted crackers or wedges of red apple.

Almond Spread

  • Mix all ingredients. Fill container and sprinkle with raisins or almonds. Serve with assorted fruits or crackers. Enjoy!

Transcript

The transcript from this program is not available.

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Recipe Rating




  • It must have been so interesting to do a search through all of those wonderful programs with Arlene. I never miss an episode which airs at 3 pm every day and really wish I would have known about Arlene and her show when it originally aired. You all are so lucky to have known her and the sharing of her love of JesusChrist.
    Hope all at CTVN have a very Merry Christmas.

    • We are very blessed to have known and worked with Arlene. We miss her dearly. Thank you for being a part of our “At Home Family!”