Apple Toffee Dip

10  Granny Smith apples

3 Red Delicious apples

8 oz Can of pineapple juice 

Place wedged apples into a large bowl and coat with pineapple juice. 

Drain excess pineapple juice from bowl. 

Cover bowl and refrigerate until ready to arrange and serve.

Dip

¾ Cup Brown sugar, packed

½ Cup Powdered sugar

1 tsp Vanilla

8 oz Cream cheese, softened

¾ Cup Toffee bits (Skor or Heath)

Combine brown sugar, powdered sugar, vanilla and cream cheese in a bowl. 

Using a mixer, beat mixture until smooth. (medium speed)

Add toffee bits and blend well.

Cover and refrigerate for approximately ½ hour.

Place toffee mixture in a small bowl on larger platter and surround dip with sliced apples.

1 cup Mayonnaise

1 cup Parmesan Cheese, grated

1 can Artichokes, chopped

Mix ingredients together, place in baking dish

Bake for 20 minutes at 350·

4 sml   Zucchini, very thinly sliced 

½ Cup Parmesan cheese 

½ Cup Onions, finely chopped 

1 Cup Bisquick

4 Eggs, slightly beaten (8 oz. Egg beaters can be substituted)

2 tsp Parsley

½ tsp  Oregano leaves 

½ Cup Vegetable oil 

dash garlic powder

Grease oblong dish. 

Mix all the ingredients together in bowl. 

Bake uncovered until golden brown @ 350° for 20 – 25 minutes.

Cut into squares for serving.

 ½ Cup Sour cream

 ½ Cup Mayonnaise

 1 tsp  Dill weed

 1 Tbl  Onion flakes

 1 Tbl  Parsley

 1 pkg  Good seasoning Italian Dressing mix

Mix ingredients and chill for two hours

Eggplant (more if your group is larger)

Bread crumbs

Egg

Garlic, fresh, minced

Anchovies

Roasted red peppers

Sundried tomatoes

Mushrooms, thinly sliced

Italian parsley, fresh

Fresh mozzarella cheese

Grated Cheese

Tomato sauce (homemade preferable)

Peel and slice eggplant in rounds. Dip in egg and breadcrumbs and fry in olive oil until brown. Drain well.

In a frying pan, sauté anchovies in olive oil with garlic. Anchovies will dissolve and garlic will just start to brown. Add other ingredients.

(You can choose what you would like in this according to your taste. Not all ingredients are necessary.) 

Sauté ingredients until heated through and mushrooms are softened a bit. 

Place eggplant on cookie sheet, put a dollop of sautéed ingredients on top, place mozzarella cheese over veggies, top with another eggplant round, drizzle with sauce and grated cheese.

Heat in oven at 350° until heated through, about 20 minutes.

Remember that anchovies are salty…so no need for additional salt on these. If you hate the idea of anchovies, just leave them out and use a little salt to taste. Sometimes if I have it I add a dollop of ricotta cheese on top of veggies…that works also.

Base

8 oz Cream Cheese

1 sml  Sour cream

1 pkg Taco Dry Seasoning mix

Topping

2 Tomatoes, chopped

1 can Black olives, chopped

2 Cups Shredded lettuce

8 oz Sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

Mix base ingredients, and spread on bottom of large pizza pan or flat tray

Top with “topping” ingredients

Chill and serve with nacho chips

For beignets

1 lrg Egg

¼ cup Heavy cream

½ cup  Flour (not self-rising)

½ tsp Salt

½ tsp Black pepper

½ lb Fresh okra (2 cups), or 1 - 10oz box frozen cut okra, thawed

½ Green pepper, cut into ¼-inch dice (1/2 cup) 

1 sml Onion, cut into ¼-inch dice (1/2 cup)

½ cup Cooked rice (preferably jasmine)

About 6 cups of vegetable oil for frying (1 ½ quart)

For sauce

1 cup Sour cream (8 oz)

1 ½ Tbl Chopped fresh cilantro

½ tsp Finely grated fresh lime zest

1 ½ Tbl Fresh lime juice

½ tsp Salt

½ tsp Black pepper

Make beignet batter:

Whisk together egg and cream in a small bowl until combined.

Whisk together flour, salt and pepper in a large bowl, then add okra, bell pepper and onion, tossing to coat.

Stir in egg mixture until combined well.

Let stand 20 minutes, then stir in rice.

Make sauce while batter stands:

Stir together all sauce ingredients until combined. Chill, covered until ready to serve.

Fry beignets:

Preheat oven to 200°.

Heat 1 ½ inches oil in a wide 4 to 6 quart heavy pot until thermometer registers 350°F.

Carefully add level tablespoons of batter to oil 1 at a time and fry (in batches of 10 – 12), turning over once, until golden, 2 to 5 minutes.

Drain fried beignets briefly on a rack set over paper towels, then transfer to a baking pan and keep warm I oven while frying remaining batter.

Serve immediately with sauce. Makes about 36 hors d’oeuvres

 head Garlic

3 bunches Cilantro

3 bunches  Green onions

2 bunches Parsley

2 cups  Pickled jalapenos

1 lrg can Crushed tomatoes

¾ cup   Vinegar

½ cup  Crushed red pepper.

 Fresh black pepper to taste

Separate and peel garlic.

In food processor blend:

Garlic

Cilantro

Onions

Parsley

Jalapenos

Mix all ingredients together.

Test drive with chips and weep with delight (no kidding, that is what the recipe says)

Store in jars.

Makes about 4 quarts.

Large scallops, as many as you need

Bacon, as much as you need

Toothpicks

Slice bacon in half to shorten each length.

Wrap scallop and fasten with toothpick.

Broil until bacon is crisped (scallop will be done in that time).

Note: If scallops are too big you can just cut them in half as you want them to be bite size. Just don’t use those tiny scallops…too small.

Another note: With budgetary constraints, guests who dislike seafood or just for a change, wrap water chestnuts in place of scallops. They are great, crunchy and tasty!

2 pkg.   Frozen spinach (10 oz.), chopped

2 cups Seasoned bread crumbs

¾ cup  Melted butter

1 cup  Parmesan cheese

4 – 6 Eggs

Thaw spinach and drain water.

Melt butter in medium bowl.

Add all ingredients and mix well.

Place an inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake at 350°for 20 – 22 minutes, turn after 10 minutes.

Makes lots and lots of spinach balls.

Large mushrooms, as many as you need

Breadcrumbs

Egg, beaten

Salt

Pepper

Garlic, 1 – 2 cloves, minced (or you can substitute garlic powder)

Onion, 2 – 3 Tbl., minced

4 T Butter

Clean mushrooms, removing the stem.

Chop stem, eliminating the very hard end.

Sauté chopped stems, minced onion and garlic in butter. 

Remove from heat and add breadcrumbs, beaten egg, salt and pepper to taste.

Fill the mushroom and bake 350° until heated through, about 20 – 30 minutes. 

Large green olives (pitted) (pimento removed)

Ground meat mixed as you would for meatballs

For me that is ground meat, breadcrumbs, eggs, garlic, salt, pepper, 

grated cheese, hint of mint.

Additional egg and breadcrumbs for breading

Slice the olive to remove pimento.

Take a small amount of the meatball mixture and place it inside the olive and then form a ball of the meat around the olive.

Dip ball in egg and breadcrumbs and again in egg and again in breadcrumbs.

Fry in olive oil until browned on all sides…continue to cook slowly until cooked through. (This will not take much longer than the frying process if at all.)

They are ready to serve…you can reheat if need be. 

They can be stored, in a sealed container, in the refrigerator for several days or they can be frozen (I think, I never did that)