Party food
This recipe is so addicting! Crunchy, chocolatey, peanutty, what more can I say… so good! This will make a terrific gift around the holiday or for any occasion! You will have lots of friends with this snack, not to mention it is so much cheaper to make than to buy. If you want to get really fancy you can also drizzle white chocolate over the popcorn after the chocolate is dry and set.
INGREDIENTS
2 bags of microwave popcorn popped (I used Orville Redenbacher’s Natural Simply Salted bags, whole grain)
You want about 12 cups of popcorn
1 1/2 cups of nuts (I used peanuts but you can also use pecan or cashews)
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup of butter
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 12 ounce bag of chocolate Ghirardelli melting wafers
1 disposable large roasting pan
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Spread popped popcorn and nuts into your large roasting pan. In a heavy saucepan combine brown sugar, butter and corn syrup. Cook over medium heat for about 8 minutes or until mixture comes to a boil. Continue to boil and stir for two minutes. Remove from heat and add the baking soda. Pour warm mixture over the popcorn and nuts and stir well coating all of the popcorn. Bake 60 minutes stirring every 15 minutes. Remove from oven and spread nuts and popcorn over wax paper. Do not break up the popcorn. Allow to cool completely.
Once cooled, melt the chocolate according to package directions and using a fork generously drizzle the chocolate over the popcorn and let stand for 3-4 hours or until chocolate is set.
Break into pieces and serve! Store in an airtight container.
Enjoy!
It has been so hot and humid the past couple weeks. The last thing I have been wanting to do is heat the kitchen up!! Our grill has been working overtime, but I did take a little time to make this “everything” pasta salad! You can add as much or as little of the add in ingredients as you like. I made a full pound of pasta so this lasted us more than one night! This would be great to take for a potluck or picnic as well.
INGREDIENTS
1 pound spiral pasta
Wishbone Robust salad dressing
1/4 cup McCormick’s salad supreme seasoning
Mix -in’s
Cucumber, sliced into bite size pieces
Cherry tomatoes, halved
Pepperoni halved
Smoked cheddar cheese, cut into bite size cubes
Black olives
Green olives
Pepperonchini, sliced
DIRECTIONS
Boil your pasta until cooked al dente, drain and place in large bowl. Add all of your favorite mix-ins and mix well. Add the salad supreme seasoning and about half of a large bottle of the Robust Italian salad dressing mix well and you are done! Serve chilled.
Enjoy!
My favorite things to make are appetizers, but I am always looking for a new way to make something we have all seen before. This recipe is one of those ideas, although this does take some time to make they were absolutely delicious. The candied bacon was the star! These can be baked as I did, but also grilled and even smoked!
INGREDIENTS
8 slices of candied bacon, chopped (see instructions below)
8 ounces of cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1 Tablespoon Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 dozen (approximately, depending on the size) jalapeño’s
DIRECTIONS FOR CANDIED BACON
8 slices of thick cut bacon
1/4 cup brown sugar
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Place a cooling rack on top of a baking sheet and spray with non stick spray. Place 8 pieces of bacon on top of the cooling rack on a single layer and sprinkle the bacon with 1/2 of the brown sugar. Bake for thirty minutes (I used thick cut bacon, if you use a thin cut, cooking times will be different). After thirty minutes turn the bacon slices over and sprinkle with the remaining sugar and bake for 15 minutes or until crispy. Remove from oven and let cool completely.
NOTE- this can be done a day ahead.
DIRECTIONS FOR THE STUFFED JALAPEÑOS
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Slice the jalapeños in half lengthwise (being careful not to touch your face or eyes while working with the jalapeño’s). Scrape the ribs and seeds out of the jalapeño and place on a baking sheet.
In a medium bowl mix together the cheddar cheese, Monterey Jack cheese, cream cheese and Worcestershire sauce. Mix until well combined. Once well combined add your candied bacon pieces and mix so the bacon pieces are throughout your mixture. In a small bowl combine the panko crumbs and the Parmesan cheese. To assemble the jalapeños start by adding the cream cheese mixture into each jalapeño half and top with a sprinkle of panko Parmesan mixture. Do this for each jalapeño and place back on your baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes watching not to burn. Remove from oven and serve warm.
Enjoy!
Move over store bought hummus! Never again will I buy hummus when I can make something with so much more flavor!! Oddly enough I am not a huge hummus fan, although I wanted to be as it is very good for you! This is another slightly adapted Taste of Home Magazine recipe. The changes I made were using half of the amount of oil originally called for, more lemon juice, roasted garlic, and added cumin for extra flavor! I changed this recipe more than I thought but the base recipe was a great starting point!! I am going to give you my adaptations to the original recipe but as always change it up your way !
I made this for a girl’s weekend away at a friend’s camp. I took some for us and left some for the boys at home! Everyone really enjoyed the bold flavor and I really enjoyed the five minutes it took me to make it!
This will make a great dip for any pool side, lake side or holiday gathering you have!!
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup of canola oil
1 can of garbanzo beans, drained (I used organic)
4 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 Tablespoon roasted garlic (can used minced)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
Serve with veggies, crackers or warm Naan bread.
DIRECTIONS
Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until well combined.
Enjoy!
As the fourth of July is quickly approaching, I wanted share some quick and easy, but most of all delicious, treats with you. Tthe first and my favorite is a trifle made with angel food cake and lemon curd that is just delicious. Just ask the men and woman of the Dover Fire Department. Jim, Mr. MCYM called to say the bowl is empty!
INGREDIENTS
1 store bought angel food cake (depending on the size of your bowl you might need two)
2 (8 ounce) blocks of cream cheese (you can use low fat)
2 (10 ounce) jars of store bought lemon curd
Blueberries
Strawberries
Blackberries
1 (8 ounce) container of low-fat cool whip
DIRECTIONS
Wash your berries, slice strawberries and mix all fruits together in a bowl, set aside.
Cube the angel food cake into 1 inch pieces.
Combine lemon curd and cream cheese together, mix with a blender until smooth.
To assemble layer using your trifle bowl with the angel food cake covering the bottom of the bowl, next spoon the lemon curd mixture over the cake and spreading to cover all of the cake, add a layer of the mixed berries, repeat layer, cake, curd, berries. For the last layer top with remaining cake, spread all of the cool whip over the cake and finish with the last of your berries!
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My next treat for you that I think is just adorable and is so simple. Simply melt the white chocolate, dunk your strawberries three quarters of the way and sprinkle with blue sugar crystals.
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My last, but not least, is a delicious crunchy, sweet treat and it is done the same way as the berries. Dip the pretzels rods three quarters of the way, let the excess chocolate drip off and sprinkle with red, white and blue candy decorations.
I hope everyone has a wonderful, flavorful and, most of all, safe Fourth of July !
Enjoy,
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