Do you know what you are going to make for your party?  I made these for my daughter’s 2^nd birthday party and I have people still asking me how to make them.  You can make these in a lot of different ways.  This time I did two tomatoes and two mozzarella cheese balls.  You can add to it and make it any way you want.

Mini Caprese Bites

Ingredients:

• Cherry Tomatoes
• Mozzarella Cheese
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Basil
• Balsamic Glaze or balsamic vinegar
• salt
• Skewers

Direction:

1. First take a skewer and start assembling. Tomato, mozzarella, tomato and mozzarella.
2. Place finish product on a plate.
3. Next drizzle some olive oil, balsamic vinegar and salt over the tomatoes and mozzarella.
4. Cut the basil into small pieces. Sprinkle the basil over the caprese bites.

Now you can make a balsamic glaze, add one cup of balsamic vinegar to a sauce pan over medium heat. Once it comes to a boil, set on simmer for about 10-15 minutes until it reduces to a syrup consistency. You can check by dipping a spoon in the balsamic and if it covers the back of it, it’s done. As it cools, it will thicken a bit more then drizzle on top of caprese salad skewers.

My mom and I love goat cheese.

 

Ingredients:

• Goat cheese log
• 1 jar of your favorite tomato sauce
• 2 French bread
• 1 oven safe dish
• Butter

 

Direction:

1. Cut the French bread into slices. Set aside and melt the butter.
2. Brush the melted butter on the sliced French bread.
3. Next place buttered bread on cookie sheet place in the oven that is heated to 375. Toast bread till browned. Once is done let the bread cooled down.
4. Grab your oven safe dish. Place some of the tomato sauce on the bottom of the pan.
5. Next place the goat cheese log onto the dish and add more tomato sauce.
6. Finally place in the oven. Cook the cheese and tomato sauce till it is hot and toasty.

 

Now, I made this appetizer for my daughters’ birthday one time and my guest loved them.  I ran out of them and people wanted more.  They are not hard to make but they do take a long time to make.  When I made it this time I had to hide the tomatoes because of my kids.  They love to eat tomatoes with salt or just plain.  If you like bacon you will love these too.

Ingredients:

• 1 package cherry tomatoes
• ½ lb bacon (cooked & crumbled)
• ¼ cup mayonnaise
• ¼ cup lettuce (chopped very small)

Direction:

1. Cook the bacon and crumble into pieces after it is cooled down.
2. Next cut the top of the cherry tomatoes. After the tops are cut off you will need scoop out the inside and drain upside-down on a paper towel.
3. In a small combine all the other ingredients together.
4. Spoon the mixture into the tomatoes. This step can be messes.
5. Place on a plate. Chill in the fridge for a bit and then serve.

 

Now when I cook the bacon I cut the bacon in half and then into pieces.  I don’t cook the bacon whole.  I think it take longer to cook the bacon whole.  You can add as much bacon as you want.  My family loves bacon so I put a lot in this batch.  You can also use grape tomatoes but you will have to cut the bottom of the tomatoes so they can stand up.

These were the all the rage in the 80’s. They were served at every party. These can be made with all sorts of ingredients, like ham, turkey, and salmon, anything goes with the filling. You can just put cheeses in them. When family and friends had parties, it was also a big thing to make them and bring them along. Children and adults all loved them because they were easy to make and a finger food.  You can use any flavor tortilla, spinach, jalapeno cheddar or plain are just a few to be name. Be creative and have fun with it.

 

Ingredients:

• Any kind of tortilla
• 1 package of cream cheese
• ¼ teaspoon of smoked paprika
• Tomatoes
• Lettuce
• Lunch meat
• Cheese

 

Direction:

1. Mix the softened cream cheese with paprika.
2. Lay out one tortilla wrap and spread the cream cheese mix.
3. Lay out the tomatoes, lettuce and lunch meat on top.
4. Now start from one side and roll into a roll nice and tight. You can use as much lunch meat as you want to use.
5. Cut the roll into ½ inch pieces. Place them on a plate or tray and you are ready to serve.

 

You are done, easy right? Make as many as you want or need.

Christmas has pasted but New Year’s is coming up and a lot of us go to family or friends house for parties.  Wondering what you could bring for an appetizer.  I have made this appetizer before and everyone liked it.  I make my own pepper jelly in the summer. I will post that recipe at another time but you can use any pepper jelly for this recipe.

All you need for this is a jar of any kind of pepper jelly that you can find in the grocery store. One 8 oz cream cheese that is a bit soften. Any kind of crackers or you can even use pretzels. I usually use club crackers. Place the cream cheese on a plate and pace the pepper jelly over the cream cheese. Once you do that you can place the crackers or pretzels around the cream cheese.

Hopefully your friends and family love it as much as my family does.

Thanksgiving is over the kids are back to school. Now it is time to start Christmas shopping, planning for a holiday party for the kids, or planning for your own Christmas party.  I know one thing that I am going to make is my Buffalo Chicken dip.  I made two kinds for Thanksgiving and everyone loved it.  I found the recipe from franksredhot.com but I have changed it around a bit. I love buffalo sauce and anytime I can make some type of food with buffalo sauce I will make the recipe.

I don’t like bleu cheese at all. So I don’t put in any bleu cheese.  Well this Thanksgiving I had a request to make one with bleu cheese. Instead of using the ½ cup of ranch I used a ½ cup of bleu cheese dressing.  Once everything is mixed together I put the mixture into a baking dish and bake.

• 2 cups shredded cooked chicken
• 1 (8oz pkg) cream cheese softened
• ½ cup Frank’s Redhot Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce or Frank’s Redhot Buffalo Wings Sauce
• ½ Hidden Valley Original Ranch dressing or Bleu Cheese dressing
• ½ cup crumbled bleu cheese or your favorite shredded cheese

When I make this I purchase a rotisserie chicken it is a lot faster.  Instead of shredding the chicken I cut the chicken into bit size pieces.

I put the chicken, ranch, the shredded cheese and the buffalo sauce all together first in a separate bowl.

After that is mixed up I add in the soften cream cheese and mix again.

Combine all ingredients and spoon into shallow 1-quart baking dish. Pre-heat oven to 350 F. Then you are going to bake for 20 mins or until mixture is heated through.  Garnish with chopped green onions if desired. Serve with cracker and/or vegetables.

Frank’s RedHot Buffalo Chicken Dip

Makes: 4 cups             Prep Time: 5 mins                   Cook Time: 20 min

Ingredient:

• 2 cups shredded cooked chicken
• 1 (8oz pkg) cream cheese softened
• ½ cup Frank’s Redhot Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce or Frank’s Redhot Buffalo Wings Sauce
• ½ Hidden Valley Original Ranch dressing or Bleu Cheese Dressing
• ½ cup crumbled bleu cheese or your favorite shredded cheese

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 F

Combine all ingredients and spoon into shallow 1-quart baking dish

Bake 20 minutes or until mixture is heated through; stir. Garnish with chopped green onions if desired. Serve with cracker and/or vegetables.

Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as my family does.