Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Amanda and Michael's Burfday Party!

My friend, Amanda, and her husband, Michael, celebrate their birthday's together every year because they are one day apart.  Talk about short end of the stick, right?  At least her bday is the day before so if he slacks on the present she can get him back the next day....like instant karma.

Anyways, we had her and a few other friends over for some apps and game night that started at 6 and lasted until the wee late hours of the evening.  Ok, so everyone left around 1am, but we are almost 30 and thats gettin a bit late for us.  I made a bunch of delicious food and just as most of it was being finished I realized I took NOOOOOO photos.  This is what I hadn't yet devoured on my own plate.  Sorry for the poor quality, paper plates don't make a great back drop.

The menu consisted of the following:


Mini Buffalo Chicken Samiches
Cuban Roll Ups
Crack on a Stick
Potato Skins
Bean Dip
Potato Salad
Pasta Salad
Chocolate Chip Brownies
Mini Cheesecakes
Funyuns- Amanda and I used to eat them as kids. Like the whole bag. In one night.

The picture above showcases the Potato Skins:
8 medium sized baking potatoes
oil
salt and pepper
cheddar cheese
bacon
sour cream

Heat oven to 350.  Scrub potatos and place in a pan.  Drizzle with oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Bake for 1-1 1/2 hrs.  Remove and let cool.
Once cooled enough to handle, slice in half lenght wise and scoop out some of the flesh and save for another use.  Don't go crazy scooping out the flesh, you just need a little dip for your bacon and cheese.  I should probably rename to something like potato boats or something, because I want more than just a skin!
Anyways, put the potatoes skin side down back in the pan and brush with a little more oil, return to the oven to crisp up a bit.
Remove and add crumbled, cooked, bacon and cheese and put back in the oven just long enough for the cheese to melt. Top w sour cream.  Delicious.

This little guy is a Cuban Roll!  He's sad because we ate his friends. 

2 cans of crescent rolls
6 slices of ham
1/4-1/2 cup of cooked pork (I used left over pork loin I had made for dinner) 
2 TBSP dijon mustard
2 TBSP dill pickle relish 
1/2 cup of swiss cheese (I used shredded because its what I already had) 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 
Unroll crescent rolls and separate in 2 pieces (4 rolls total) 
You need to lay it out long ways to start building.  Layer mustard, cheese, ham, pork and then pickles
Starting at one end roll, jelly roll style and press the seams to seal well.  Using a sharp knife cut into 5-6 pieces and lay on a greased baking sheet.  
Bake and serve.  They are great, even at room temperature!  They were all gone. 


Crack on a Stick AKA Brown sugar smokies: I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com a long time ago and it is a friends and family favorite and I HATE making them.  Loathe it, would rather slam my head in a sliding glass door.  Why? I dont know, they are sooo easy. You will need:

Aluminum foil
One package of Lil Smokie Sausages
1 package of bacon
2 cupsish of brown sugar

Preheat to 350
Line a deep 13x9 inch pan with aluminum foil.  Let me say it again, Line a deep 13x9 inch pan with aluminum foil.  DO IT!  If you don't you will hate me, yourself, the world and somehow it will be your husbands fault and I can't be liable for breaking up marriages over caramalized bacon grease.
Spead brown sugar in the bottom of the aluminum foil covered pan.
Cut bacon into 4-5 pieces and wrap around sausage and secure with a toothpick.
Place sausge on top of the brown sugar and bake for about 30-45 minutes until the bacon looks cooked.
Remove from pan fairly quickly and place on your serving platter.  Little hint: lightly spary your service platter with non-stick spray.  You're Welcome.


The Mini Buffalo Chicken Samiches I have given you the recipe previously.  The only difference was that I boiled the chicken on low for a few hours while I prepared other things.  When it was done I shredded, added my spices and hot sauce and put it directly into the crockpot on low.  I served them with my ranch dressing and I put out celery, lettuce and little hawaiian rolls.  Not one person ate the celery.  Not a single stalk of celery was consumed.  I think one or two people put lettuce on their sandwich, but I put it out and it's not my fault they didn't want that yucky green stuff.  I tried.  Thats my story.

I belive I have made bean dip for you in the past.  Some girls in my art class in high school turned me onto this and it has been a party fav ever since.  Its super easy and you can make it ahead.  Just layer cream cheese, Hormel Chili with Beans and then top with 2 cups of shredded cheese.  Add some hot sauce or cayenne if you want and then bake until it bubbles.  Serve with chips or crackers.

Potato Salad like my Momma makes.  Lady makes the best macaroni and potato salad and she doesn't really like either of them.  I love, love, love it when she makes it.  Taste like home.

5 medium sized gold and red potatoes. (It's what I had)
1 cup of mayo
1 TBSP of Dijon Mustard
1 tsp onion powder
Dash of galic powder
1/2 tsp of celery seed, that's the secret
2 TBSP of dill pickle relish
3 chopped boiled eggs
Salt and pepper to taste

Peel and cube potatoes and boil in salt water until tender, do not over cook. Drain and allow to cool.
In a big ole bowl, add potatoes and everthing else,  Mixing carefully as to not break up all the poatoes.  Its a salad yo, not mashed potatoes.  You kinda just have to add and taste to how you like it, but don't skip the celery seed, it's the best!

Pasta salad was nothing special so I won't bore you with the details.  I didn't make my normal pasta salad because the little glass dressing thing was dirty.  It was good, but it wasn't all that.

The brownies that everyone loves is a big lie.  I do have a recipe that Anita gave me to make some from scratch brownies that were amazing, but I didn't have time for all that.  I chopped up 2 hersey bars and threw it in the brownie batter.  Everyone things I'm all Sarah Lee up in here over some boxed brownies.

The Mini Cheesecakes were really good and I totally cheated, but I'm tired so you will have to wait on this recipe because its night night time.

Heres a picture of my adorable little nephew, Julian to hold you over.  Isn't he just a doll!  :)  Thanks for stopping by.

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