Jack's Sweet-Hot Party Pecans

Jack's Sweet-Hot Party Pecans

Ingredients:

• 4 Tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 cup jack Daniel's Tennessee whiskey
• 2 tablespoons Tabasco sauce, or to taste
• 1 1/2 teaspooons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 4 cups (one pound) pecan halves

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Combine all ingredients except pecans in large saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring to blend. Boil about 3 minutes. stir in pecans and toss well to coat. Spread nuts in a single layer in a jelly roll pan. Bake 45-60 minutes or until nuts are crisp, stirring occasionally. Cool. Store in airtight container. Makes 4 cups.

Black Bean & Corn Wonton Cups

Black Bean & Corn Wonton Cups

Found this recipe from Betty Crocker and made them for a Christmas party. They are very festive looking when put together, and taste delicious! However, there are some negatives. Read my full review at the bottom of the recipe!

Ingredients:

• 36 wonton skins
• 2/3 cup medium salsa
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 can (15.25 ounces) whole kernel corn, drained
• 1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained, rinsed
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• Cilantro sprigs, if desired

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350ºF. Gently fit 1 wonton skin into each of 36 small muffin cups, 1 3/4×1 inch, pressing against bottom and side. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Remove from pan; cool on wire rack.
2. Mix remaining ingredients except sour cream and cilantro sprigs. Just before serving, spoon bean mixture into wonton cups. Top each with 1/2 teaspoon sour cream. Garnish each with cilantro sprig.

My notes:

Wontons can be made up to two days in advance. Salsa mixture can be made two days ahead as well. Do not fill wonton skins with salsa mixture until immediately before serving.

Full Review:

First and foremost, I have to say that the filling for this is absolutely delicious.

The changes I made: I used ground chipotle powder (Penzey’s Spices) because I had no chili powder. I also left out cilantro as it does not sit well with me.

Negatives:
The wonton skins are VERY hard and crunchy. This makes for a difficult time eating this. The size of the wonton cup makes it impossible to easily eat this in one bite.

Suggestions:
Next time I make this, and I most definitely will, I will just use Tostito’s Scoops and the filling.

Spoon a little sour cream (two tablespoons maybe) into a baggie, cut the tip off, and squeeze sour cream out as if decorating a cake. It’s so simple, and makes for a beautiful presentation. Oh, and it’s about a zillion times faster than spooning the sour cream on.

Polish Misteaks

Polish Misteaks

Ingredients:

• 1# hamburger
• 1# Hot Sausage
• 1# Velveeta (2% works just fine, but don't buy generic)
  
• 1t oregano
• 1t garlic powder
• Dash Worcestershire sauce
• 1 loaf Party Rye Bread (or Party Pumpernickel)

Directions:

Brown meats and drain. Add velveeta and spices and stir until cheese melts. Spread on bread.

Can be frozen on baking sheets, then stored in freezer bag until ready to use. Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes.

Source: G. MacDonald-family recipe, Jimmy Dean

Sweet & Sour Meatballs

Sweet & Sour Meatballs

2# Ground Chuck
2 Eggs
1 Cup Breadcrumbs
1/3 Cup parsley
1/2 teaspoon onion powder (or you can chop fresh onion and add to taste)
2 Tablespoons soy sauce

Combine all ingredients from above. Roll into meatballs and place in corning ware dish. Set aside. Turn oven to 350 degrees.

1 12oz bottle Chili Sauce
1 15oz can Whole berry cranberry sauce
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
(I add a couple more dashes of soy sauce)

Combine in saucepan on stove. Bring to a boil and continue boiling until sauce gets thickened. Take sauce off stove, pour over already prepared meatballs.

Place meatballs and sauce in oven and bake for at least one hour. (the longer they bake, the yummier they are…just watch that you don’t overheat and burn the sugars)

My notes: I made this party not long ago. I cooked the meatballs for about 1 hour 15 minutes in the oven, then transferred to a crockpot. They continued to simmer on the “warm” setting for the remainder of the evening. When I pulled the last three out, they were still delicious (and there was still sauce left) after an additional 3 hours of cooking.

Recipe Credit: K. Farmer

Muddy Buddies, Shannon's Way

By popular demand, my take on Muddy Buddies. (Also called Puppy Chow or Reindeer Droppings, depending on what part of the country you’re from.)

Muddy Buddies, Shannon's Way

Ingredients:

6 cups Crispix
3 cups Cheerios
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

In a large bowl, measure your cereal; set aside.

In a 2 cup measuring cup, microwave chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter uncovered on High for one minute; stir. Microwave about 30 seconds longer, or until mixture can be stirred smooth. Stir in vanilla.

Pour mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated. Pour half of the mixture into a 1 gallon ziploc. Add 3/4 cup powdered sugar. Seal bag; shake until well coated. Spread on wax paper to cool. Repeat with the remaining half of the cereal and powdered sugar.

Store in an airtight container, should any remain at the end of the night.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Buffalo Chicken Dip

1 8oz block of cream cheese
1 pound ground chicken, browned
1/2 cup wing sauce
1/2 cup ranch dressing
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Dump all the ingredients above into a small crockpot, and cook for two hours, taking a moment every thirty minutes to stir.

Serve with Multigrain Tortilla chips or another, far more inferior tortilla chip if you can’t find those.

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Oh my goodness, this is an amazing dip. I made it for the party on Saturday night, and after less than an hour, I was making it again because the first batch was gone! No, I can’t take any real credit for the recipe, because I took the ingredients from two different recipes in the same style and made up one that sounded the best. Plus, I really wanted to use my little crock pot!

It is my intention to bring this to the next several parties that I have to attend, so if you plan to be at the same party as me, don’t steal my recipe and bring it yourself. Or maybe you should, because it’s so good, it will be gone in a flash!

My only regret? People ate it so quickly,\ that I didn’t get to take a picture.

Other Notes: I made this again, and this time I used what little Ranch dressing I had left, and supplemented with Bleu Cheese dressing. Uhm, if you like Bleu Cheese, it’ll be good. However, if your guests are not fans of it, they will probably not like this dip. The Bleu Cheese was very strong and quite tangy. Go for Ranch if you want something smooth and subtle.