Celebrating the Season

Looking for a holiday brunch idea? Here's one of the most unusual ideas surely to dazzle your guests. Try a champagne toast with Wild Hibiscus Flower Syrup. This product can be found at Total Wine. The jar contains a syrup with 11 hibiscus flowers. Place one flower in the bottom of a flute glass and then fill with champagne. Not only was this a wonderful added flavor but also a  festive looking addition to the brunch table.

Due to unforeseen circumstances (fewer guests) I did not use a large glass compote 

 so scaled back to using small wine glasses for a Christmas Trifle.   

I served a recently posted meal, Chicken with Apple Cider Sauce and Roasted Brussels sprouts and Potatoes  
http://sockfairies.blogspot.com/2017/12/chicken-with-cider-and-apples-with.html

Christmas Trifle
A festive and oh, so easy holiday dessert. The following recipe was served in petite wine glasses-when just a small bite will do. It serves four. To serve a larger crowd use a glass compote and increase the pistachio pudding to another box with 2 more cups of cold milk. Left over cake pieces can be frozen and used for another time. 

P.S. I did not misspell Reddi Wip. It was a revelation to me when I discovered there was no h in Wip after all these years :)
The trifle with cake and pudding part can be assembled early in the day, covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated, Right before serving add whip cream and M & M's.
Ingredients:

• 1 box red velvet cake mix
• 1 box pistachio pudding (3.4 oz.)
• 2 cups cold milk
• 1 pint heavy cream whipped or 1 can Reddi Wip
• Garnish-red and green M & M’s

Directions:

• Make cake according to box directions. 
• Make pistachio pudding according to box directions. 
• Whip heavy cream or use Reddi Wip can. 
• Layer trifle as follows using the back of a spoon to press down each layer: torn cake pieces, heaping tablespoon of pudding, cake pieces and top with whipped cream. 
• Garnish top with 6 M & M’s.