Appetizers and Beverages

Cheese Ball

1 lb med sharp cheese – grated 2 lbs cream cheese

1 cup chopped nuts 2 crushed garlic cloves

1 small can minced olives pinch baking soda

1 small can evaporated milk salt to taste

Blend cheeses and other ingredients except nuts. Sprinkle wax paper with paprika and nuts. Roll cheese mixture in balls on wax paper. Wrap in foil and chill.

Crab Spread

8 oz cream cheese ½ bottle cocktail sauce

1 can white flaked crabmeat

cut cream cheese lengthwise and place pieces side by side. Pour cocktail sauce over and crabmeat on top. Serve with Ritz crackers.

Marinated Mushrooms

¾ cup vinegar pinch of oregano

¾ cup oil 1 bay leaf

1 tsp-1tbs chopped onion pinch tarragon

1 garlic clove, crushed

canned whole mushrooms (drained)

Mix all ingredients in air-tight container. Add mushrooms. Refrigerate overnight. Drain mushrooms and serve

Artichoke Dip

1 can artichoke hearts (not the marinated kind)

1 cup Parmesan cheese 1 cup mayonnaise garlic salt

Chop artichoke hearts. Add rest of ingredients. Cook in shallow dish at 350 for 20 minutes.

Sour Dough Beef Dip

8 oz. cream cheese 4 oz dried beef

1/4 cup green onion chopped 1 cup sour cream

round loaf sourdough bread

dash Worcestershire

Cut a hole in top of sourdough bread. Take top off and hollow out – don’t make weak places. Mix ingredients well and put inside bread. Put top back on. Wrap in foil and bake at 350 for 1 1/2 hours. Use bread pieces from inside for dipping.

“Burnt” Peanuts

1 cup raw peanuts 1/2 cup Karo

1 cup sugar pinch salt

Mix together and cook 4 minutes on high in microwave. Take out and stir well. Cook 4 minutes more on high. Take out and stir well. Add 1tsp butter and 1 tsp vanilla. Cook 2 minutes more. Take out and add 1 tsp baking soda. Stir quickly and spread on greased cookie sheet as thin as possible.

Monkey Bread

1 pkg Rich’s frozen dough 1/2 stick butter

1/2 cup brown sugar 1 stick butter

pecans (optional) 1 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

Melt 1/2 stick butter. Pour in brown sugar. Pour in bottom of bundt pan. Sprinkle with pecans. Melt 1 stick butter. Mix well with sugar and cinnamon. Roll frozen bread rolls in mixture and place inside bundt pan – start on outside then inside. Pour rest of mixture over rolls. Don’t use whole package of rolls. Let sit overnight to rise. Bake in 350 oven for 30 minutes. Let sit 15 minutes and turn out.

Punch

4 pkgs Kool-Aid 1 lg can pineapple juice

1 lg can frozen OJ 2 cans frozen lemonade

2 quarts ginger ale

Mix the Kool-Aid as directed using 1/2 the water called for. Add other ingredients. When ready to serve, add ginger ale.

Shrimp Sandwiches

1 4 ½ oz can shrimp (sm devained) salt

8 oz cream cheese red pepper

grated onion accent

lemon juice

Beat cream cheese and shrimp in mixture. Add rest of ingredients. Serve open-faced. Decorate tops with olives, parsley, etc.

Spinach Dip

10 oz chopped spinach 16 oz sour cream

1 pkg dry ranch dip 1 Tbs mayonnaise

1 Tbs grated onion

Mix together sour cream, dip mix, onion, and mayonnaise. Thaw spinach. Squeeze out spinach to remove excess water. Add to dip mixture. Refrigerate overnight.

Tomato-Chili Pepper Dip

1 can tomatoes, mashed 1/4 cup sugar

1 small can tomato sauce 1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup chopped onion 1/4 cup vinegar

1 sm can chopped chili peppers

Combine all ingredients in saucepan. Simmer, do not boil, for 15 minutes. Refrigerate till chilled. Yields 1 quart.

Amaretto

Use really cheap vodka to make this. It makes a pretty good amaretto sour.

1 cup water 1 cup sugar

½ cup brown sugar 2 cups vodka

2 Tbs almond extract 2 tsp vanilla

Combine water and sugars in a saucepan over medium heat. Heat until boiling and all sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and let mixture cool for 10 minutes. Add vodka, almond extract, and vanilla. Store in a sealed bottle.

Taco Ring

3/4 lb. ground beef or turkey
2 tbsp. Southwestern seasoning mix (taco seasoning spices)*
4 cups shredded cheddar cheese 2 tbsp. water
2 pkg. refrigerated crescent rolls 1 md. tomato

1 md. green bell pepper 1 cup salsa

3 cups shredded lettuce Sour cream

Preheat oven to 375°F. In frying pan, cook and stir beef over med/high heat until meat is no longer pink. Remove from heat and drain. In bowl, combine meat and taco seasoning. Add cheese into meat mixture. Add water and mix well. On a baking stone, or pizza pan, arrange crescent triangles in a circle with bases overlapping in center and point to the outside. There should be a circle of about 5″ in diameter in center. Scoop meat mixture evenly onto the widest end of each triangle. Bring outside point of triangles down over filling and tuck under wide ends of dough at center. (Filling will not be completely covered) Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Cut off top of pepper and discard membranes and seeds. Fill with salsa. Place pepper in center of ring. Arrange lettuce and tomato around pepper. Garnish with sour cream.

Tortilla Rollups

8 – 12 flour tortilla 1 (8 oz.) cream cheese

Dash Tabasco sauce

1 sm. can black olives, chopped

1 sm. can diced green chilies

Cream together cream cheese, olives, chilies, Tabasco sauce. Spread approximately 2 tablespoons onto a tortilla and roll jelly-roll fashion and roll in plastic wrap and chill. Before serving cut into 3/8 inch wide pieces and serve with salsa.