Hot Seafood Spread
This is a simple recipe for a delicious dip served warm from a hollowed out round loaf of bread. We got it from a friend of ours in Canada. She says she’s always giving out the recipe.
INGREDIENTS
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened - 2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded - 1 cup mayonnaise - 1 (4 1/4 ounce) can baby shrimp, rinsed and drained - 3/4 cup crab meat, shredded - 1/2 cup green onions, chopped - 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated - 2 tspn dill weed - 2 tspn fresh parsley, minced - 1 loaf pumpernickle bread, or Italian bread
In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients except the bread. Cut the top fourth off the loaf of bread and hollow out leaving a 1/2″ shell. Cube the bread that you have removed, making it large enough to dip with. Set aside. Fill the bread with the seafood mixture. Place on a layer of heavy duty foil and wrap tightly to seal. Place on a baking sheet and on middle of rack of oven at 325F for 25 minutes. Remove foil, bake 20 minutes longer or until the crust is golden and the spread is heated through. Serve iwth bread sticks, crackers, vegetables and reserved bread cubes.
We served this at our last party and I must say that it was a huge hit. Give it a try!
Filed under Fun Food | Comment (0)Queen For A Day
Who doesn’t love chocolate? And every lady is a Queen on her special day. So why not give her these delicious Callebaut of Belgium chocolates for her birthday? The classy packaging will make her feel extra decadent. Each individually wrapped morsel has a special message, such as “Go away for the weekend” and “Buy something special!”.
Filed under Fun Food, Gift Ideas for Her | Comment (0)Buffalo Chicken Dip
Okay, I had this at a friend’s BBQ birthday party, and immediately had to get the recipe. I made it myself and it was easy and turned out just as wonderful as I remembered it. This is a really fun addition to any party snack table.
INGREDIENTS
2 (10 ounce) cans chunk chicken, drained - 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese softened - 1 cup Ranch dressing - 3/4 cup pepper sauce, such as Franks Red Hot - 1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
Heat chicken and hot sauce in a skillet over medium heat, until heated through. Stir in cream cheese and Ranch dressing. Cook, stirring until well blended and warm. Mix in HALF of the shredded Cheddar cheese, and transfer the mixture to a slow cooker. Sprinkle the remaining Cheddar cheese over the top, cover, and cook on LOW until hot and bubbly.
Serve with crackers and celery sticks. This is truly yummy and will be completely gone by the end of your party. You might want to print a couple copies of this, as you will be giving them out to your guests!
Filed under Fun Food | Comment (0)Summer Beer
This is a great recipe for a summer party. I’ll admit that it sounds a tad bit odd, but believe me when I say that it tastes DELICIOUS. Beth and I tried it at a birthday party in Los Angeles, and now we serve it all summer long.
1 (12 fluid ounce) can frozen pink lemonade - 12 fluid ounces water - 12 fluid ounces Grey Goose vodka - and 1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle of beer. We recommend Pacifico beer for this recipe.
Pretty much all you do is place the lemonade concentrate in a gallon pitcher, measure water and then vodka in the 12 ounce lemonade can and add to pitcher. Pour in the beer, mix well and serve over ice.
A simple and refreshing treat for any “adults only” party. And I’ll tell you right now, you better make a much bigger batch, because you WILL run out. That’s a Skip guarantee!
Filed under Fun Food | Comment (0)Keeping Punch Cold
Who wants plain ol ice cubes when you’re having a PARTY!?
Here are a couple fun and festive ways to keep your punch or beverages cold. The first is always a crowd pleaser for a Halloween birthday or for a Monster themed party. And super easy. All you have to do is get a plastic dishwashing glove and fill it with water. Tie off the top and stick it in your freezer. Once the glove is frozen, just peel it off and tadah! you have a huge ice cube shaped like a creepy hand.
If you want to be even more creative, feel free to add food coloring (about 15 drops) to the water to make a colorful hand. Another fun idea is to place gummi worms in the fingers, so when your glove freezes it will give the cool effect of veins.
Once your hand is frozen, just drop it into your punch bowl, and it will float on top, to the delight of all your party guests!
Another fun idea to keep beverages cold for a party is frozen grapes. Couldn’t be any easier and it adds a festive touch to any drink. All you have to do is stick a bunch of grapes in the freezer for a few hours and you’re good to go. Not only do they freeze well, but they taste great as they thaw. Go crazy and use green AND purple grapes. They’ll drop to the bottom of the glass and offer a yummy treat when you’re done.
Blueberries also work quite nicely.
Another clever object we’ve run across is this ice tray from Ikea. You can use it as a drink stir, or do what I do, and use it as an ice cube for your water bottle! These nifty ice cubes will fit into pretty much any bottle or can. I use them all the time! And at $1.99 you can’t go wrong.
Filed under Decorating Ideas, Fun Food | Comment (0)Soup Shooters
Okay, sometimes Skip and I trade “roles” around the house. One being cooking. Skip is a MUCH better cook than I am, and is always coming up with fun, yummy recipes. Am I a lucky wife, or what?! One party we were having Skip couldn’t decide on which soup he wanted to make. Carrot ginger, cream of asparagus, or mashed potato (just ask if you want any of the recipes). So in true Skip fashion, he decided to make all three!
That’s when he came up with the great idea to serve the three different types of soup in SHOT GLASSES. This way our guests could taste each variety without ruining their meals. Everyone just thought it was the neatest idea, and clean up was a breeze for me.
I believe that every birthday party should be special, and this was one way of doing things different than the “norm”. Our friends still talk about our soup shooters years later! Fun!
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