Zucchini Casserole

I have a lot of favorite foods from my childhood, but this Zucchini Casserole has to be right up there near the top of my all time favorites. I was never ever a green vegetable eating kid, but for some reason I loved this dish, and that's probably why we had it often.

It's a quite simple dish, cooks up in about 30 minutes, and it only uses one dish! Well, unless you want to serve it in a pretty dish, then you will need two. 

The ingredients include bacon, onion, celery, mexi-corn, zucchini, tomato sauce, salt and pepper. It makes a great side dish and a great lunch (my favorite) if you have any leftovers. I hope you get a chance to try it. You can find the recipe HERE.

Food For Friends

I had the honor of cooking all the yummies for a friends retirement party last weekend. I made a few of my "regulars" but also added a few new ones that I wanted to share.

 A while back I had purchased some glass shot glasses at the dollar store (3 for a $) and really wanted to make something in them for this party. I found a recipe on line for a Cajun Bloody Mary that I thought would be perfect. Limed, salted, and peppered half the glass, poured in the shot and topped with a cooked shrimp and a celery stick. These were a huge hit and I had no problem getting rid of them!

I make ham and tortilla rolls quite often for parties because they can be make a day ahead of time and everyone loves them. For this party I made some Mexican tortilla rolls (cream cheese, sour cream, taco seasoning, cheddar cheese, diced green chilis, black olives, finely diced red bell pepper, and a few splashes of hot sauce. Ham rolls were spread with cream cheese mixed with diced black olives and either rolled around a green onion or dill pickle spear. The key is to roll tightly and chill before slicing.

 Jalapeno Popper Dip is always a crowd pleaser. Made the day before and baked right before the party. I like to nuke it a minute or so every once in awhile to keep it hot. (2 pkg. cream cheese, 1 cup mayo, small can diced green chilis, 1/2 can diced jalapeno, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese inside, and more on top).

This was a bit of an experiment but it got rave reviews. Spinach leaves (2) wrapped around a half of a strawberry. I then pushed a skewer through to hold it together and topped with a sprinkling of feta cheese, candied pecans and a drizzle of Panera's balsamic vinaigrette from Target (which is the bomb!).

I've made these tri-tip sliders for the last 4 parties I have done and everyone seems to love them. I BBQ the tri-tip the day before than sliced thin the morning of the party. To put them together I toast the dinner rolls, top with Gorgonzola cheese, tri-tip, caramelized onions, spring mix, a drizzle of a balsamic reduction, then speared. I did nuke the meat just to warm it before assembling them. Always a hit. 

I also put together a cheese and cracker tray and a vegetable platter with a dill dip. I think everyone's tummies were happy and a good time was had by all!

To Boil Or Not To Boil

I love pork ribs! Probably one of my favorite things to BBQ. I am a boiler. My mom boiled her ribs and they were always so good that it's was I have always done too. I tend to get flack from other cooks when I state this and get an ear full about how they lose flavor and I'm ruining the ribs so on and so on. But, anyone I have ever cooked them for has raved about them. Well, today, for the first time ever I did not boil the ribs. I practiced patience and cooked them low and slow in the oven. I used the recipe on allrecipes.com for Sweet & Spicy St. Louis Ribs. I sprinkled the rub all over the ribs (I halved it as my rib was on the smaller side) and wrapped tightly in foil along with a couple tablespoons of beer. I cooked them on 275 for 3 hours. I could smell them cooking and OMG they smelled sooooooo good! I removed them from the oven then I spread them with about a half cup of Sweet Baby Rays with a couple T of Fischer & Wieser Chipotle Raspberry Sauce mixed in and threw them on the grill until there were char marks.

I will admit it. They were fall off the bone tender and soooo flavorful! I loved the taste of the spices from the rub and not just tasting the sauce as I do with mine. Since this takes quite a bit of time to prepare I probably wouldn't be able to make it for a week night dinner but I think I am going to continue experimenting with this method on the weekends. I will admit it, I very much enjoyed these, and..... I think they were better than mine :-)

I am an AllrecipesAllstar Brand Ambassador (a voluntary position) and I’m not compensated for my work with Allrecipes.com. Products received from advertiser are only used for experienced-based reviews my personal blog.  The reviews, content and opinions expressed in this blog are all my own. 

Appetizer Party Platter

I was going through all my old pictures and thought there were quite a few there that I could share with you. Here is a one of two identical appetizers trays I made up for a birthday party I did numerous years ago. I love making appetizers! You could say it's my "niche". In my perfect world, I would cater two parties a month and ONLY do appy's!

Well here's what's on the plate:

Ham Rolls - My mother made ham rolls back as far as I can remember. She mixed diced black olives into some softened cream cheese, spread it onto a slice of ham, topped with a green onion spear, refrigerated, sliced and cut. And, even though I am not a pickle fan, and my mom never made them with a pickle, I added them to half instead of the onions because my friends love them too!

Stuffed pepperoncini's - This recipe is from Allrecipes.com and has always been a hit among my friends. They are pretty simple to make and since I platter them slit down, you can't even tell they are stuffed! You can find the recipe HERE

Stuffed Cherry Tomatoes - Cream Cheese, a touch of mayo, chopped green onions, and BACON! I use my little 1/4 tsp. metal spoon to hollow out the tomatoes after slicing a bit of the top off. Sprinkle the inside with a little bit of salt and place them upside down to drain completely, then fill.

Tortilla Rolls - As you can see from a previous post, I just love rolling things in a tortilla! These ones here had a "Mexican" flair to them. Cream Cheese, green chilis, green onions, black olives, red bell pepper and taco seasoning! You can really add anything, but I like the different colors. 

Toodaloo!