birthday party
Yesterday was my birthday, so we had some friends over for dinner & drinks before heading out to the bar to celebrate. It was pretty last minute, but I think it was pretty good! Unfortunately, I didn't think to take pictures of the food until it was already on the table moments before friends arrived. I had sandwhiches on small rolls as well -- egg salad w/onion & paprika and tuna salad with lettuce, onion & celery. Here's everything else!:
Ham & Pineapple Pinwheels
1 (8oz) pkg. whipped pineapple cream cheese
1.5 C. crushed pineapple in juice (well drained)
6 (8") flour tortilla wraps
6 oz. thin sliced deli meat ham
Mix cream cheese and crushed pineapple until evenly blended.
Spread a 1-1.5 spoonfulls of mixture onto center of wrap - spread.
Top with one slice of deli ham
Wrap in plastic wrap in fridge for at least 2 hours to stiffen.
Cut into .5" pieces and enjoy!
**Note: I couldn't find pineapple cream cheese so I used regular. I also didn't drain my pineapple that well so my mixture was a little thin. I refrigerated overnight to stiffen.
Olive Balls
1 C. shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 C. salted butter, softened
1/4 t. worcestershire sauce
1 C. original Bisquick mix
1 jar (5oz.) pimento stuffed olives
Preheat oven to 400.
Stir cheese, butter, and worcestershire sauce together. Stir in Bisquick until dough forms.
Pat olives dry with a paper towel.
Shape 1 t. of dough around each olive.
Bake 10 minutes or until golden brown.
*Note: I didn't use the worcestershire sauce just because we didn't have any and thought it was kind of dumb to buy a whole bottle when I needed so little. I suppose I could have used Soy sauce but they tasted good even though they weren't round.. I should call them UFO-lives!
Greek Pasta Salad
1 C. olive oil
1 C. red wine vinegar
1 T. garlic powder
1 T. dried basil
1 T. dried oregano
1.5 t. black pepper
1.5 t. sugar
5 C. rotini pasta
30 cherry tomatoes (halved)
2 C. red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 C. chopped green onions
2 (4oz.) cans of black olives, sliced
1.5 C. pepperoni, thinly sliced
1.5 C. crumbled feta cheese
Cook pasta, drain & set aside.
In large bowl, whisk together olive oil, vinegar, garlic powder, basil, oregano, black pepper, and sugar.
Add pasta to bowl and coat evenly.
Add cherry tomatoes, red peppers, green onions, olives, and pepperoni. Toss to coat evenly.
Add feta cheese and toss once more.
Cover and chill 2 hours - overnight.
Butter Brickle
(Previously posted by another user / used a different name but this is what my mom/family calls it)
1 package of Saltine crackers
1 C. salted butter
1 C. light brown sugar
8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 400.
Line cookie sheet with tinfoil and Saltines (you will have to break crackers in half for last row).
On low heat, melt butter & brown sugar together until it begins to boil.
Remove from heat and pour over crackers. Use a spoon to spread over all crackers.
Cook 7 min. and then turn off oven.
Remove from oven and cover with chocolate chips.
Put in oven for 1 min.
Remove from oven and use a spoon to spread chocolate chips around. They don't look like they're melted but once you use the spoon to spread you will see that they are soft.
Refrigerate for 4 hours - overnight.
Party Nachos
* I don't have a recipe that I follow as I make these on my own but here's what I do.
This makes TWO pans of nachos!
2 9x13" EZ Foil bake pan (the throwaway kind)
1 huge bag of tortilla chips
2 pkg. ground beef
Fajita seasoning
1 large white sweet onion, chopped
4 roma tomatoes, chopped
1 large green pepper, chopped
1 can black olives, sliced
2 bags shredded cheddar cheese
Salsa
Sour cream
Guacamole
* I chop the veggies ahead of time and put them in a bowl until I'm ready to assemble the nachos. I mix it up to get a better even biteful ;)
Brown beef with fajita seasoning until cooked thoroughly.
Arrange tortilla chips in foil pan.
Sprinkle with a little cheese.
Top with half ground beef.
A little more cheese.
Top with half of veggie mixture.
Top with rest of (1/2) cheese.
Broil in oven until cheese melts on top (beef will have melted lower cheese layers).
Serve with sides of salsa, sour cream, & guacamole.
ENJOY!
I also made a punch and put it in a big water cooler.
Pineapple Coconut Punch
1 bag of ice
3 (44oz) cans of Pineapple Juice
1 bottle of coconut rum
Mix! Whoo!
You can add fruit slices or anything to this to make it prettier.. but we left the lid on the cooler so it's not like you'd have gotten a chunk in your cup. Yum.
