Impromptu Superbowl party

My husband and I had discussed having a superbowl party and then decided against it. We were just going to hang out with the baby and watch the game. Of course last minute he decided to invite over some family members (and by last minute I mean about 4 hours before kickoff) I quickly threw together some snacks for the football lovin crowd. I was a little bummed because if I knew ahead of time I could have made some really cool food and rockin decor... but everyone had a good time and that is what mattered. GO SAINTS!

Menu:
Buffalo Chicken dip with celery and tortilla chips
Matt's famous dip with potato chips
Garden salad with lots of veggies
Hot dogs with secret recipe Coney Sauce
Baked Parmesan Garlic fries
Black and white brownie bites
Coca Cola
Beer

Decor:
None.... no notice

Recipes:

Buffalo Chicken Dip with celery and tortilla chips : aka crack dip. The ultimate football food

Matt's famous dip with potato chips: I wish I could tell you the exact measurements, but this is my husbands recipe. He doesnt exactly measure. He just keeps adding things and tasting it til he likes the result

2 (8oz) bricks of cream cheese
1/4 of a large onion (chopped finely)
ketchup
tobasco sauce

Garden Salad with lots of veggies
Romain, radicchio, cheddar cheese, grape tomatoes, mushrooms and carrots. Served with homemade balsamic vinaigrette. 

*Insert pic*

Kosher beef hot dogs with secret recipe Coney Sauce.
I wish I could share the recipe, but my life has been threatened. It is hands down the best coney sauce Ive ever had, but it is a secret recipe among my husbands family. Rumor has it one of the aunties worked at a famous hot dog stand back in the day and snagged the recipe.

Oven Roasted Parmesan Garlic Fries
a healthier than deep fried french fry

Black and white brownie bites
A semi homemade recipe! I will be sharing this sometime this week.

Everyone loved the food! Not bad for a few hours notice.

Caramelized Onion, Mushroom and Bacon Quiche

I was in the mood to try some new quiche recipes. Id only ever made my mom's recipe and wanted something different. I found this Emeril recipe and fiddled with it a bit. Its definitely NOT on the light side but it is so rich and decadent! Its perfect for a brunch when you want to impress.  My husband proclaimed this to be his new favorite thing and that real men would eat quiche if it all tasted like this. BAM!

1 pie crust
8oz bacon (chopped)
3 cups thinly sliced sweet onion
8oz thinly sliced mushrooms
1 t dried thyme
1 t minced garlic
1 t salt
1/4 t black pepper
1/2 cup heavy cream
5 eggs
6 oz mozzarella/provolone blend shredded

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Press crust into a pie pan
3. Cook the bacon untl crispy. Remove to drain on paper towel
4. Add onions to the bacon grease. Cook until they start to wilt (8 minutes)
5. Add mushrooms, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper to onions. Cook until they carmelize (8-10 minutes)
6. Remove onion/mushroom mixture with a slotted spoon (to drain excess grease) Allow mixture to cool.
7. Add chopped bacon to onions and mix. Pour into pie pan
8. Sprinkle 1/2 of the cheese on top of onion mix
9. In a separate bowl Beat 5 eggs with the heavy cream until frothy
10. Pour over onion mixture in pie pan
11. Top with remaining cheese
12. Place pie pan on a cookie sheet. Bake 35-40 or until golden brown. Rotate pan  1/2 thru

Asian Chicken Salad Bar

Every now and then I get a craving for an Asian inspired salad with mandarin oranges, nuts and chicken. I ate them alot when pregnant. Applebees, Panara and even Wendy's have their own take on it. This is mine. It uses grilled chicken instead of fried because Id rather use my calories elsewhere. Its loaded with crunchy goodness! I didnt really measure as I kinda made it a "salad bar" so everyone could help themselves and create their own. This is what should make a salad bar for about 8 people. They will be dinner sized salads. There may be extras depending on how your clan fills their plates

*16oz chopped romaine lettuce
*16oz chopped iceburg lettuce
*4oz chopped napa cabbage
*2 carrots matchsticked
*1 bag of frozen peapods (defrosted)
*10 oz dry roasted almonds
*1 (24.5) oz jar of mandarin oranges (i used dole)
*1 (4ish) oz package of crunchy wonton strips (found in salad section made by fresh express)
*1 medium can of LaChoy rice noodles
*2-2.5 lbs of grilled chicken (depending on how carnivorous your crowd is. You tend to need more meat if their are more men)
*Seasoning for chicken (I use Pampered chef Asian seasoning mix because I have it, but you can pretty much use anything you want. A little garlic and soy would be really good. You can also use leftover chicken)
*Your favorite Asian salad dressing. I used Asian Ginger from Marzetti. You will probably need 2 bottles for 8 people. (or you can make your own! I was going to but I was out of sesame oil)

1. Season and grill chicken.
2. Mix romaine, iceburg, napa cabbage and matchsticked carrot in a BIG serving bowl.
3. Put other ingredients in their own bowl
4. Give your guests a plate and tell them to dig in

Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

Macaroni Grill Carmela's chicken rigatoni

Nothing makes my mouth water quicker than the words marsala cream sauce!! This is my copy cat recipe for the Macaroni Grill's Carmelas chicken rigatoni. It so delicious and decadent (and I dont want to know the calories in it... I know it's BAD) I get this everytime I go to Macaroni Grill. Since we are budgeting I cant afford to go out to eat as much, I came up with my own version. This will make 3 big bowls. (like restaurant portions) You will need to grill your chicken breasts and carmelize the onion prior to starting... but then its super fast to make. Like 5 minutes fast! You can use leftover grilled chicken too!

Butter
8oz baby bella mushrooms (i use more than MG does in my version. You can use less if you arent a shroom lover)
1/2 sweet onion carmelized (cook down with butter until soft and mushy... I use marsala to de-glaze the pan)
8 oz grilled chicken breasts (chunked)
salt and pepper
2t dried basil
4oz of Marsala wine
10 oz heavy cream
12oz rigatoni (cooked)
2oz shredded parmesan

1.Melt butter in pan. Saute mushrooms, chicken, basil, carmelized onions salt and pepper. Saute for 2-3 minutes
2.Add Marsala wine and cook for 1 minute
3.Add heavy cream and bring to a boil. 2 minutes
4.Dump cooked rigatoni in pan (if you have room in your pan. If not dump mixture over bowl of cooked rigatoni and mix
5.Sprinkle with shredded parmesan cheese

Just look at the mushroomy cheesy goodness! If you love chicken marsala... this is it on steroids!

Ham Swiss and Dijon Sandwiches

I cant remember where I got this recipe but its been around forever. Ive seen several variations of it around the web. You can use leftover ham or your favorite lunchmeat. Both give fantastic results. My recipe makes 16 sandwiches. That is enough for a tailgate party or dinner for several nights. They freeze very well and can be tossed in the oven right from the freezer. Every time we run out of these my husband begs me to make more.

16 hamburger buns
16 slices of swiss cheese
1lb of sliced ham
2t poppy seeds
1 cup of margarine (2 sticks)
1/2 cup chopped sweet onion
2t worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup honey dijon mustard

1. In a small saucepan heat margarine, poppy seeds, worcestershire sauce, onion and mustard on medium high heat until melted.
2. Lay out your buns open. Spread a sauce on both sides of the open bun
3. Cut your swiss cheese to fit the bun without hanging over. Place cut slice on lower bun. Place any leftover cheese on upper bun. Add 1oz ham to each sandwich
4. Wrap each sandwich in foil

To eat now: Preheat oven to 350. Place wrapped sandwiches on a cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes

To freeze: Place wrapped sandwiches in a freezer bag and freeze. To re-heat bake frozen sandwiches at 325 for 30 minutes

Halloween entertaining ideas

I havent been online in nearly 2 weeks (and I survived much to my surprise) We moved at the end of September and my kitchen is still in disarray. I cant find any of my notebooks with my recipes to share. Heck I cant even cook! Im trying to cope by researching recipes online so I have new options to try once Im back in the saddle.

It's almost Halloween. I have always loved Halloween. I get the urge to have a cool costume party and make all kinds of ghoulish treats. My birthday is the very next day so when I was young and wild I would have a costume kegger and decorate myself silly. Since the baby is coming soon that isnt an option, but I can get some cool entertaining ideas bookmarked for next year! Here are some spooktacular ideas I have found online:

Halloween Recipes
*Pumpkin Candy Apples
*Owl-o-ween treats I *heart* owls and these are adorable!
*Brew-ha-ha punch gotta love the dry ice
*Chocolate Graveyard Plots with Tombstone Cookies
*Mummy Dogs kids will just love this
*Weiner Worms deliciously spooky
*Jack-o-lantern quesidillas
*Vampire Blood Tomato Soup and Muenster Sammies
*Candy Corn Cordials I seriously want to infuse vodka with candy corn!
*Shrunken Heads in Cider
*Eyeball Highball Im so making those eyeballs!
*Spooky Cocktails using black vodka
*Cheesenstein seriously cool
*Ogre eyes hot cocoa
*Strawberry Ghosties
*Eyeball Taco Salad here's looking at you kid
*Jack-o-lantern burgers awesome simple idea
*Stuffed Pasta Jack-o-lanterns kids will just LOVE this
*Tarantula Tostadas
*Bloodshot eyeballs i bet they taste like buckeyes

Cute Crafts and Decorations
*Pumpkin Party Cooler
*Hanging Gourd Lights
*Glittered Pumpkins a pretty centerpiece
*Owlie Treat Boxes
*Flying Bat Pinata
*How to Carve a pumpkin lots of cool info here
*Candy Corn Clay Pots
*Halloween Outdoor Decorating ideas
*Halloween decor ideas from Hgtv

I hope you find something to inspire you this halloween! If my laptop ever decides to start I will have a bunch of bone chilling cocktail recipes that I created for a place I used to bartend a few years back! Happy Cooking!