I love the thick cut bacon from Costco. It’s the only kind I buy, so it is what I used to make these yummy tater tot poppers. That was a big mistake! By the time the bacon baked enough to get crispy, the tots were nearly falling apart. Be sure to use cheap thin-slice bacon … my mistakes are all for your benefit. You’re welcome!

These poppers are spicy-sweet. You can amp up the wow factor by replacing the maple syrup used in the brown sugar glaze with jalapeño jelly. I didn’t think of it until after I made them, but I’ll be doing that next time, for sure! For some unknown reason, the jar of pickled jalapeño didn’t make it into the “ingredients photo” but be sure to include them when you make this ~ otherwise, they are not poppers at all ~ just boring bacon-tots.

Lastly, I don’t give you quantities here so make as many or as few as you’d like. I suggest many. They are addicting.

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For the last two years, I’ve served as the vice-president of our HOA. I decided not to run again so yesterday my term ended. On Monday night, I hosted our annual meeting to vote on new board members.

I love my neighbors and I love my neighborhood, so it’s always a joy to cook for them. These next few days I’ll share the dishes I made for the meeting, beginning with this easy and yummy dip.

Pictured above are the main ingredients, less than one package of the Boursin. Boursin comes in this three-pack at Costco and I made the recipe to use it up before the expiration date. I had bought it back in December, thinking I’d use it in some holiday cooking and entertaining, but no. Any savory flavor of Boursin would be just fine in this recipe.

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More than 20 years ago, I hosted an annual holiday party. It was one of my most popular themes. For whatever reason (kids, overwhelmed moms, holiday craziness, etc.) it fell by the wayside.

Over Thanksgiving weekend, I was out with my longtime friends, Laura and Mary, who happen to be sisters. We were reminiscing about how fun that party always was and I decided it was time to resurrect the Holiday Potluck Appetizer Party.

Here is how it works: I find a bunch of great appetizer recipes. I pick the party date and time and email the invite and recipes. I tell the invitees to “Reply All” and let everyone know which recipe they will be making. Everyone makes their dish, and brings it to the party, and we all celebrate the season while enjoying a great variety of yummy food, a signature cocktail or two, and a full bar. A fun and festive night is had by all – with minimal effort.

The competition for which recipe to make is fierce. Within 10 minutes, three of the invitees had responded with their choices. An hour or two later, all recipes were accounted for. This is one of the best ways I’ve ever found to get people to RSVP lickety-split. Try it, and you’ll be tempted to organize all your entertaining this way!

Only one little problem – since I’ve been away from blogging for an extended period, I’ve gotten out of the habit of taking photos of all food ever served in my home. This is a real shame because the spread looked beautiful! The couples went all out in their execution and presentation. At least I have the photos from the original recipe links to share with you. The only two food photos I took are of the onion dip and the Greek dip. And those weren’t taken until the day after, since I took the leftovers to a family party the following night.

Time will fix that little glitch and I’ll be back in the swing of it soon enough. I hope you enjoy these eight great appetizers and maybe they’ll inspire you to throw an impromptu party of your own.

P.S. Find my signature cocktail below the recipe links.

photo and recipe via

Amy made Meatball Subs On-a-Stick. She said that it took longer than the recipe says for them to bake and brown.

photo and recipe via

Creamy Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms courtesy of Lisa. By the way, button mushroom is the old-school name for your everyday white mushroom.

photo and recipe via

Anne made Herb Cheese Monkey Bread – even though she was under the weather and didn’t make it to the party. Annie, we missed you and your pretty face! xoxo

recipe via

Tram chose the Caramelized Onion Dip to bring, even though, with 21-month-old twins, she didn’t have time to make it. Her awesome cook husband, Steve, took the reigns on this one.

He sent me a photo-text message asking if he needed to double the recipe. The answer is “no” – the recipe already makes enough to feed a huge crowd!  And feed two crowds, it did; eighteen people at the appetizer party and at least 40 more people at our family holiday party the next night. This is a true crowd-pleaser!! In case you don’t know what those pink things are on Steve’s face – they’re the onion goggles that I gave Tram back in our Valley Dish days.

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For Sunday appetizers, Dave wanted to serve shrimp cocktails. He had the shrimp and assumed that I’d have cocktail sauce among the dozens upon dozens of bottles and jars of condiments, olives, pickles, sauces, and relishes I have in that fridge!

He was wrong. I told him he could easily make his own cocktail sauce, just go online and find a recipe.

He did, and then he zipped it up and called it his own!

The secret ingredient? Heinz chili sauce. Instead of all ketchup, like you’ll find in most cocktail sauce recipes, it was an equal combination of each.

Attaboy! I’ve trained my family well.

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Some people may think I was crazy to host two bridal showers in as many weeks. Crazy like a fox is what I say!

The shower that Abigail, Kaley, Alyse, and Marissa threw for Lindsey left me with a bounty of items and ideas to use for Megan’s shower, two weeks later.

Kaley did such a beautiful job with the chalkboard art that I immediately knew I’d be using it again!

Abigail left behind a wonderful bulletin board where she had guests write words of sage advice for the bride-to-be, Lindsey.

I just had to recycle it for Megan’s shower, as seen on the left edge of the photo below.

Then there were the “Welcome” and “Presents” banners that Abigail made.

Yes, I reused them as well.

So, as you can see, hosting two versions of the same sort of party in a short amount of time is easier than hosting just one!

Here is another appetizer from Megan’s shower.

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Did you enjoy the Super Bowl? It was very low-key at our house. A few weeks ago, Dave and I received an invite to a party, but we turned it down because we didn’t want to leave Connor and my dad hanging out to dry.

A few days ago I talked to my dad and was asking what time he wanted to come over and he informed me that he was going to a Super Bowl party! How do you like that? Too funny really. So it was just the three of us chilling at the house all day.

I had some chips and salsa on hand, so that was snack #1. I needed something more but I had no intention of going grocery shopping, so I came up with this tasty treat.

I’d baked a few potatoes the other night and had two left. Plus there was leftover prosciutto and cheese from last weekend’s bridal shower. That’s all it took!

The recipe made 16, I ate 2 of them, and the rest quickly disappeared, so I guess the boys really like them!

Prosciutto Wrapped Cheesy Potato Wedges

• 2 baked potatoes, cut into 8 wedges each
• 16 pieces of Port Salut or Brie cheese (cut into 2-inch long sticks)
• 8 thin slices prosciutto, cut in half lengthwise

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This is another of the recipes I made for the bridal party lunch on my niece’s wedding day. The lunch was served in the Presidential Suite at the Hyatt Magnificent Mile, which is where we all stayed in downtown Chicago. Maureen and her bridesmaids were in the suite having their hair and make-up done. The girls had been there since 9:15 and the wedding was at 4:00, so they needed nourishment in the middle of that time.

Photo

How beautiful is she?!?

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Serendipity is one of the coolest things!

I was honored to be asked to provide the wedding day bridal party lunch for my niece, Maureen. Actually, this was the second time I had such an honor, I provided the bridal brunch for Mo’s older sister, Katie, who was married in 2010.

The serendipitous part has to do with a certain cheese ball I served at the lunch…

A week or so before Christmas I had seen an image of a cheese ball, decorated with whole almonds, created to resemble a pine cone. I intended to make it on Christmas day. I had all the ingredients but simply ran out of time.

When I was planning the menu for the bridal lunch, I thought the pine cone cheese ball might be a nice addition.

A few days before we left for Chicago, I received an invitation to the rehearsal dinner. I didn’t make the connection when I saw the pine cones on the invite.

At the rehearsal dinner, I thought the place cards were really cute but still didn’t put two and two together, even though I’d begun to put together the cheese ball earlier that same afternoon.

I loved how the cheese ball turned out and as I was setting up the lunch buffet it finally dawned on me just how perfectly it fits in with the theme.

Later that afternoon, at the wedding, when I looked at the wedding program, I just had to smile.  Pine cones were everywhere.

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Are you looking for a healthy Meatless Monday meal?

Move along, this recipe is not for you!

This is decadence at its best!

Oh sure, I used chicken breakfast sausage and soy chorizo …  don’t let that fool you, this is not a healthy, low-fat, low-cal recipe. It is deliciousness to the max!

Are you still with me?

Good… Enjoy!

The recipe makes two skillets of Queso. It is best to do this in two small 8-inch cast-iron skillets, as it is best eaten hot from the oven.

A larger skillet would allow the queso to cool and harden, which is exactly what we don’t want! It’s best while hot and melty.

Now you don’t have to use cast iron, but look how good it looks! You just need to make sure your skillets are oven-safe, meaning the handle won’t melt. If your skillet is not oven-safe, or if you’re not sure, just wrap the handle with at least 3 layers of foil… now it’s oven-safe and ready to rock and roll!

Assemble both skillets at the same time, cover one, and place in the refrigerator until the other is about gone (This is guaranteed to happen within minutes of being placed in front of a hungry group!) then pop the second in the oven.

Hungry Queso fans will be hanging around the oven, waiting for it to come out… that’s fine, it takes less than 10 minutes to bake.

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