Cocktail Sauce sans Horseradish Recipe

I love traditions, especially during the holidays.

Traditions build connections between family members and across generations. Most of my favorite rituals involve food.

Every Christmas Eve, my mother-in-law serves a Christmas feast to remember. She doesn't just put out yummy food, but she also places favorite decorations or special tokens for her grandchildren. It might be a train or a village one year and a new ornament the next. The pickle ornament always rests in a tree branch too.

Part of the reason I enjoy Christmas Eve so much is these traditions carry over from my childhood at my grandparents' homes. The love my mother-in-law has for her family is obvious in these gifts and reminds me of the love my grandparents had for us.

But back to the food ...

The menu has changed during the years but usually includes plenty of hor devours, bread, meat and soup. The staple items include a pressed chicken recipe from my husband's grandma and boiled shrimp with cocktail sauce.

That shrimp. Mmmmmm. I don't know why, but it's the best. Some day, I will take on grandma duties. Boiled shrimp is on my list.

Here's a recipe Kid Chef and I love to make together. We found ourselves in a pinch one day and hurried to the Internet to find a cocktail sauce recipe, but we didn't have any horseradish. We wanted to make it tangier than hot, so we adapted a recipe to fit our tastes. Maybe you can tuck it away and use it in a pinch too.

From our brood to yours, Happy Holidays!
Tricia and the Kitchen and Dumplings crew

Easy Cocktail Sauce Without Horseradish

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup ketchup
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions:

1. Mix ingredients together.
2. Chill for one hour before serving.