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Appetizers!  When I was growing up, my family had a lot of parties.  My Mom would make all the appetizers and of course our friends would bring their favorite appetizers and dishes to share.  Certain recipes became staples for parties.  As I got older, a family friend asked me to help cater parties since I had helped prepare so many appetizers for my family parties.  Well today I found out that this family friend passed away.  I decided that today’s blog post would be about some of the appetizers I prepared for my friend’s parties.  A party is not a party unless you have some great food to share.  It’s always fun to let your friends bring some kind of appetizer/food that they love and share with the group.  This way you have a nice variety and everyone has something that they like to eat.  Also, your friends may bring something that you have never tried and that you turn out to love.  You ask them to share the recipe with you and you share one of your recipes with them that they have never tried but loved.  My Mom had so many recipes from friends that she collected.  I now have many of those recipes since she has now passed away.  I love looking through them and remembering the people that shared them and the parties at our house.  Most of my parents friends have also passed away so I feel like I have a treasure trove of great recipes that are special to me.  When I was growing up and my parents had these parties, HOT DIPS were a very popular appetizer.  A few of my Mom’s closest friends would bring hot dip.  They were so good!!!!  My Mom had chaffing dishes to keep foods hot and warming trays to keep hot dips HOT!  Do you remember the STERNO that went under chaffing dishes?  It is a little metal can which you light with a match and it is an actual flame that is under the chaffing dish to keep the food hot!   When I was old enough, lighting the Sterno was my job!  I felt so important! HaHa!

The first recipe I am going to share is a HOT CHEESE DIP.

***Ingredients for dip:

• 1 pint of sour cream

• 2 – 8oz. pkgs. cream cheese

• 1 large jar of dried beef, slivered  (I don’t know if they still sell this dried beef.  I remember my Mom finding it in the condiment aisle.  (You could probably substitute bacon or ham or whatever you think would be good!)

• 1/2 cup minced onion

• 1/2 cup chopped green pepper

• ***INGREDIENTS FOR TOPPING: 

• 1/2 cup Pecans or Walnuts CHOPPED

• 2 Teaspoons Butter

Directions:  Mix all DIP ingredients together in a bowl.  Put in a BAKE PROOF dish.

SAUTE Nuts and Butter together over medium heat.  Put nut mixture on top of dip.  HEAT in oven until bubbly.

SERVE Warm with crackers.

The next recipe I am going to share is a HOT CRAB DIP

Ingredients:

• 1 can crabmeat DRAINED & Shredded

• 1 8oz. pkg. Cream Cheese

• 1/2 to 3/4  jar horseradish 

• 1 Tbsp. Mayonnaise

• 1 Tbsp. Parsley

Directions:  Mix together until smooth.  Place in a BAKE PROOF dish.  Bake at 375 degrees until hot and bubbly. Serve with your choice of crackers and chips.

CHECK OUT KING ARTHUR BAKING SALE PAGE!

This next recipe is a very easy recipe for a COLD Spinach Dip

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 box CHOPPED frozen spinach, THAWED.  Beat dry with a paper towel.

• 1 Cup Sour Cream

• 1 Cup Mayonnaise

• 2 pkgs. Dry Vegetable Soup Mix

• 1 Small Onion, Diced

DIRECTIONS:  Mix together in a bowl.  Chill at least 3 hours.  You may transfer this to a pretty serving bowl!

My next recipe…….. PIGS IN A BLANKET…. such a classic!  This is a favorite even with kids!

Recipe Ingredients

This easy pigs in a blanket recipe requires just 2 ingredients—it couldn’t get any simpler! Here’s what you’ll need:

Pillsbury Orginial Crescent Rolls: If you are in need of a quick and easy appetizer, there’s no better solution than pigs in a blanket – thanks to the pre-made refrigerated crescent roll dough! It’s ready to cut, roll, and bake straight out of the can.

Cocktail-Size Sausages: The mini cocktail-size sausages are the stars of these pigs in a blanket. We like their smokiness and how easy they are to use. Just pull them from two (14 oz) packages—you’ll need one full package and part of another—and they’re ready to roll. If you have trouble finding them or if you prefer, you can also cut-up pieces of hot dogs.

You don’t need a lot of kitchen equipment to make this pigs in a blanket recipe. Here’s what I recommend:

Small Knife (or Pizza Cutter): A small knife can be used to cut the crescent rolls into smaller pieces, but a pizza cutter makes the job even easier as it rolls through the dough without dragging it along.

Cookie Sheets: After many years of recipe testing, we’ve found that large, flat, rimless cookie sheets are best to use for the most even baking, but you can also use large, rimmed sheet-pans if necessary.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Unroll and Cut Crescent Dough

While your oven heats, unroll your canned crescent dough. Separate the dough into triangles. Then, cut each triangle lengthwise into thirds, starting from the narrow tip end and cutting through the wide end to create 3 narrow triangles. This ensures just the right amount of dough is used to wrap around the mini sausages.

2. Roll Up Crescent Dogs

Place a sausage, crosswise, on the widest end of one of your narrow dough triangles, and roll it all the way up—it’s that easy. Place on your cookie sheets with the point side of the rolled dough facing down.

3. Bake Until Golden Brown

Bake until golden brown, rotating the cookie sheets halfway through. Don’t overbake. When ready, immediately transfer your pigs in a blanket to a serving platter.

Dipping Sauces for Pigs in a Blanket

Some of our favorite dipping sauces for these are classics.

• Mustard (there are so many different varieties of mustards to choose from!)

• Ketchup

• BBQ sauce

I hope you enjoy these appetizer recipes!  I have so many appetizer recipes flying through my head now!  Another favorite at my house worth mentioning is Party Size Meatballs in sauce.  My Mom always had these in a chaffing dish with a cup of toothpicks on the side or                        little party forks!  Some people like a traditional pasta type sauce or others like a barbecue style sauce.  Meatballs are always a big hit at parties.

Make your party festive with fun plates, party forks, fun cups and decorations!

CHECK OUT THE KING ARTHUR BAKING WEBSITE!!!  

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