My First Catered Party and A Spooktacular Halloween Cake

Last week I catered my first party for 40 people. My friend Holly asked if I would make a cake and heavy hors d'oeuvres for her 40th birthday extravaganza. I immediately said "yes!" then began brainstorming recipes and  ideas. Holly said she wanted a Halloween themed chocolate cake and sliders. I pretty much had carte blanche with the menu and decorating and I had so much fun. Here's what I made. 

I made 1). Ham wrapped Asparagus Spears with Boursin Cheese 2). Cream Cheese with Red Pepper Jelly and Spicy Saltine Crackers 3). Sausage, Garlic and Mushroom Pizza Puffs with Herb Red Sauce 4). Pork Tenderloin Medallions on Hawaiian Rolls served with Pesto Mayo.

I also made 7 Layer Dip with a Sour Cream Spiderweb served with corn chips and Sweet and Spicy Smoky Meatballs (that I forgot to take a picture of). And birthday cake!

My friend Holly doesn't actually turn 40 until December but she wanted to celebrate early with a "Happy Hollyween" party. I wanted to play up the "over the hill" theme so I did a graveyard scene and dug an early grave for her. I used Pepperidge Farm Milano cookies and a black edible marker for the tombstones. I used Peeps Marshmallow ghosts, Brach's pumpkins and edible chocolate rocks for decorating. I used melted dark chocolate and Wilton leaf sprinkles to make the tree. I used this Chocolate Cake Recipe, this Vanilla Buttercream Recipe and Chocolate Ganache to make the 2 layer 12-inch cake. It was a success! 

Spicy Saltine Crackers
(recipe given to me by my aunt Melinda)

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• 1 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 Tablespoon caraway seeds
• 1 Tablespoon cayenne pepper
• 1 Tablespoon dill weed
• 3 Tablespoons dry ranch dressing mix
• 1 box (4 sleeves) Unsalted tops Saltine crackers

In a measuring cup, combine the oil and seasonings. Mix well.

Place the crackers into a 2 gallon Ziploc bag. Pour the seasoned oil over the crackers and shake vigorously until well coated. Let crackers soak up the seasonings for at least one hour or overnight. Leave them in the sealed bag until ready to serve.

Hope you all have a Happy Halloween!

Superbowl Round Up

Superbowl Sunday is in a few days! I have no earthly idea which teams are playing, but I know there will be balls and sweaty men wearing tight uniforms playing catch. Football is not my thing, but eating yummy foods at Superbowl parties is! I've compiled several recipes, both sweet and savory, that I've made over the years that are simple and great for feeding crowds. Here they are in no particular order. 

One-Bowl Brownies- Basic homemade brownies, with or without nuts that come together in s snap.  

Goldfish Bowl Bites- These goldfish crackers are coated in butter and Ranch seasoning. Addicting and great for snacking. 

Cheesy Spinach and Artichoke Dip- Gooey, cheesy and warm form the oven. Tasty with crackers, chips or veggie dippers. 

Soft Pretzels- I could eat these everyday. I love a warm, chewy pretzel. These are versatile and can be made  into a sweet or salty treat. 

Rolo Stuffed Ritz Crackers- Two ingredients. Ready in 10 minutes or less. Sweet and salty- yes, please!

Motherload Cookie Bars- These bars have something for everyone. 4 layers of cookie dough, together in one bar, then drizzled with chocolate. mmm!

Pepperoni Pizza Puffs- These pizza puffs are the most popular recipe on my blog, thanks to Pinterest. Pepperoni not your thing? Use sausage or veggies. 

Cap'n Crunch Peanut Butter Bars-  No bake and fuss free. marshmallows combine with creamy peanut butter to coat crunchy cereal. 

Aunt Nette's Scramble Dogs- My blog friend Jeanette used to make these scramble dogs. It's like a decomposed chili dog with the crunch of oyster crackers, served in a bowl. Messy man food!

Sopaipilla Cheesecake Bars- If you love cinnamon sugar and cheesecake, these are for you! Make them the day before you need them. 

Baked Corn Dog Muffins- I love corn dogs but don't eat them often because they're deep fried and no so healthy. These use cornbread and your favorite wieners and are baked in muffin tins. 

Bruschetta Burgers- Probably one of my favorite burgers ever. The garlicky tomato topping and the pesto mayo make these special. 

Buffalo Chicken Dip- The name says it all. Buffalo chicken flavors in a dip!

Cheesy Ranch BLT Dip- Cheese. Ranch Dressing. Bacon. Spinach. Tomato. On warm crusty bread. I could eat this hot dip as a meal. 

Crockpot BBQ Pulled Pork- Let the crockpot do the work for you! Juicy, spicy shredded pork sandwiches.

Ham and Swiss Sliders- These are fun and simple and both kids and adults like them. Toast them in the oven to melt the cheese and the buttery mustard topping soaks into the bread. Ohhh! 

Chocolate Sybil Cake- Also known as Texas Sheetcake. Chocolate cake, topped with rich chocolate frosting them sprinkled with pecans. Heaven help me. 

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Hope you guys eat well this weekend. What are you planning on making?

Baby Shower: Oatmeal Cream Pies

I'm having a baby tomorrow! That is something I never thought I'd say or type. It's taken us a long time to get where we are and come tomorrow morning, bright and early, we will be heading to the hospital to bring Baby Boy H into this world. Happy September to me! We have a couple names picked out, but nothing definite. We want to wait to see him to make sure that his name fits him. We are beyond thrilled and blessed and can't wait to meet and see the little Mister. I've loved being pregnant, but it has been difficult and exhausting at times. Despite all that, I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. I will absolutely share my bundle of joy with you all as I know many of you have prayed for this baby as much as I have. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I will update as soon as I can, but I can't promise when that will be.

While we are both anxiously awaiting his arrival, I hope you'll enjoy these oatmeal cream pies that I made for Maranda's baby shower last month. Her baby shower was a week after mine and I was asked to bake the sweet treats for everyone. I was honored and happy to do so! I happen to know that Maranda's favorite cookies are oatmeal raisin and she loves strawberries, so I made her these simple and delicious oatmeal cream pies as well as my sister's favorite strawberry birthday cake. Both were well received and devoured. This was a sweet way to welcome Baby N into this world.

I've made these oatmeal cream pies before but it's been awhile. Believe me they were just as good as I remembered. The secret to making cream pies as opposed to cookie sandwiches is that you make them a day ahead of time and refrigerate them to get them nice and soft. This also allows the flavors meld together and the cream filling and the cookie become one. You can certainly adapt this cookie if you want. You can leave out the raisins or add chocolate chips or cinnamon chips, or maybe add dried cranberries or just leave them plain. All versions will be delicious I'm sure. If you try them, I hope you'll come back and let me know how you liked them!

Oatmeal Cream Pies from Quaker and Monica H

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For The Cookies:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup raisins
• 3 cups Quaker Oats, old fashioned, uncooked

For The Filling:

• 8 oz. mascarpone cheese
• 4 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 3-4 Tablespoons honey
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted

For The Cookies: Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat together butter and sugars til creamy. Add eggs and vanilla, mix well. Add combined flour, soda, cinnamon, salt. Mix til fully incorporated. Stir in oats and raisins.

Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet, then remove to wire rack.

For The Filling: Combine cheeses in a bowl and mix with an electric mixer til creamy and lump free. Mix in desired amount of honey. Then stir in sugar til sweetened to your liking.

To Assemble The Cream Pies: Place about one tablespoon of filling on one cookie and top with an additional cookie. Gently squeeze together to allow the filling to come to the edges. Don't press too hard or the filling will ooze out.

Refrigerate overnight to allow the cookies to soften and the flavors to meld together.

Makes about 24 cream pies.

Sloppy Joe, Slop, Sloppy Joes

Anyone remember that song by Adam Sandler on SNL- Lunch Lady Land? If you don't know what I'm talking about go HERE - it's totally hilarious! Go ahead, go watch it, I'll wait...

Okay, funny right? I'm not one to watch much SNL (then or now) but I loved Adam Sandler on that show. He's such a classic. And everytime I make sloppy joes I can't help but think of that song. It's like "Lunch Lady Land" is a theme song for standing over the stove, browning ground beef and sandwiching it between a bun. My apologies if you find yourself singing that song the rest of the day :-)

When I was a kid my mom used to make Manwich. You know that canned red sauce you mix with ground beef? As a kid, I didn't love it. I don't know what about it I didn't like, I just didn't. But I find myself as an adult wanting to eat those things that remind me of my childhood. Except I don't make it from a can. I have no problem with the can and if that's what you like, that's fine, but I find my version just as simple and much tastier and I happen to like that I know the ingredients going into it.

This recipe came about by chance one day. I just added some ketchup and salsa together and it tasted familiar...like sloppy joes.Then I added spices and came up with a version I liked. I recommend toasting your bun so the bread doesn't soak up all the sauce leaving you with a soggy bun. Otherwise just enjoy it and sing along with with Adam Sandler and you chomp down on your sloppy joe, slop, sloppy joe.

Sloppy Joes by Monica H

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• 1 pound ground beef
• 3-4 Tablespoons chopped onion, optional
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2-1 teaspoon kosher salt (if you use table salt- use 1/4-1/2 tsp)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 3/4 cup jarred salsa
• 1/4 cup ketchup

In a large skillet over medium high heat, brown your ground beef and onions, breaking up into tiny bits. Cook til meat is cooked through and onions are tender. Drain off any excess fat.

Add garlic, salt, and cumin and stir around pan til fragrant. Be careful not to burn your garlic!

Stir in your salsa and ketchup until thick and saucy. Lower the temp to low and simmer for about 10 minutes. If it gets too thick, and a bit of water to thin it out. If too thin, then let it simmer a bit longer, uncovered.

Check for seasoning, add more salt if necessary and sandwich between a toasted bun or white bread.

Serves 4

Sliders and Pops: A Labor Day Two-fer

It's finally September and cooler weather is here! I feel like half of America wants Fall to be here already and the other half is wishing Summer would stick aound just a little longer. I fall somewhere in between. Autumn is my favorite season (and dog!) so I wish it for it year-round but I'm not quite ready for Summer to be over. I just wish we had cooler temps. I'm not a fan of 105 degree days, where are the 80's? Heck the other day it was after 9pm and still in the 90's- that's crazy!

This menu reminds me of Summer. It's simple and fuss free and can be eaten with your hands. Both can be made ahead of time and require very little time to get them on in your belly. Of course they can be prepared and eaten any time of year but I think they're perfect for rounding out the last few days of Summer. They can be eaten as snacks or as a full meal and kids love them as much as the adults do too. The nice thing about these recipes is you can make as many or as few you need.

I made these ham and swiss sliders on sweet Hawaiian bread, but any soft white dinner roll will do. There's not one element that stands out above the other, but it's the buttery poppyseed mustard sauce that tops it all off that makes it unique. These popsicles taste like a slice of fresh pineapple. The original recipe called for milk but I did an experiment and made half with pineapple juice and those turned out to be better looking and tasting. And you don't need any fancy molds to make them, just fill up paper cups and put a stick in them. Make enough to feed your family or a crowd this Labor Day!

Ham and Swiss Sliders adapted from Christy

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• 12 good white dinner rolls (I used Hawaiian rolls)
• 12 pieces good honey ham
• 12 small slices Swiss cheese
• 3 Tbsp. mayonnaise
• 3 Tbsp. miracle whip

Poppy seed sauce:

• 1 1/2 tsp. poppyseeds
• 2 tsp. yellow mustard
• 1/2 stick butter, melted
• 1/2 tsp. dried minced onion or 1 1/2 tsp. fresh minced onion
• 1/4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

In a small bowl, mix together mayonnaise and miracle whip. Cut the rolls in half and place cut side up. Spread onto both sides of the center of each roll. Place a slice of ham and a slice of Swiss inside of each roll. Close rolls and place them into a large baking dish or heavy cookie sheet. Place very close together.

In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the poppy seed sauce ingredients. Pour evenly over all of the sandwiches. Let sit 10 minutes or until butter sets slightly.

Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until cheese is melted. Uncover and cook for 2 additional minutes. Serve warm.

NOTE: Sandwiches can be assembled a day ahead and kept in the fridge ready to bake.

Pineapple Pops adapted from Everyday Food

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• 3 cups fresh pineapple chunks (or one 14.5-ounce can chunks packed in juice, drained)
• 1/3 cup pineapple juice or milk
• ¼ cup sugar

In a food processor, combine pineapple chunks, juice or milk, and sugar; pulse until almost smooth, with some chunks of pineapple remaining.

Pour half the mixture into a medium bowl (or a glass measuring cup for easy pouring). Pulse remaining mixture until completely smooth; add to mixture in bowl.

Divide evenly among eight 3-ounce molds or paper cups, and insert wooden sticks. Freeze until solid, at least 4 hours or up to 2 weeks (cover with plastic wrap).

NOTE: The original recipe calls for milk to be added to the pops. I made half a batch with milk and the other with the reserved pineapple juice from the can. The juice was hands down more flavorful!

Hope you have a wonderful Labor Day weekend!

Jumping On The Pulled Pork Bandwagon

Hello all! It's August already so I thought it was 'bout time to share the last recipe I made for the 4th of July. It seems everywhere I go someone is posting a recipe for BBQ pulled pork or chicken. Is it just me or are they everywhere?! Normally, I'd hold off and post it at a later date but I'm jumping on the bandwagon and sharing this delicious recipe with you. Why? Why not? Everyone else is doing it!

This really was a good pulled pork recipe. I've tried a couple different versions before- one using a spice packet that turned out too salty, another time using rootbeer and brown sugar which was too sweet for my taste and I've tried pulled chicken which was simple and good albeit a little dry. This time I wanted to use a pork tenderloin because it's what I had in the freezer so I searched around and found one that got great reviews and was cooked in a crock pot. Making it in the crock pot was essential because I also had brownies, a birthday cake and a cheesecake to make all on the same day.

There are a lot of ingredients in this but most of them are spices. You can make the spice blend ahead of time and have it ready for whenever you are. Rub it and let it sit in the fridge for at least 3 hours and up to 3 days. The longer it sits the stronger the flavors will be. Really it all depends on how much time you have to spend on this. It was slightly spicy, a little salty, and barely sweet. Mixed with your favorite BBQ sauce it's the perfect combination of flavors. I used a 2 1/2 lb. pack of tenderloins and was able to get 8 pulled pork sandwiches from it. It reheated nicely the next day too.

Crock Pot BBQ Pulled Pork
adapted from Cooks Illustrated

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Spice Rub:

• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons dark brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 4 teaspoons paprika
• 2 teaspoons table salt
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1 (2-3) pork tenderloin
• 1-2 cups barbecue sauce (use as much as you like)

Mix all spice rub ingredients in small bowl.

Cut each tenderloin (2) into three pieces so it fits easily into your crock pot. Place tenderloins in a 9x13 Pyrex dish. Massage spice rub into meat. Cover tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. (For stronger flavor, the pork can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.)

Unwrap and place pork in slow cooker liner. Add ¼ cup water. Turn slow cooker to low and cook for 6-8 hours, until meat is fork-tender.

Transfer meat to cutting board. “Pull” by tearing meat into thin shreds with two forks or your fingers (be careful it's HOT).

Place shredded meat back in slow cooker liner. Stir in 1 cup barbecue sauce. Add more if desired. Heat on low for 30-60 minutes, until hot.

Makes about 8 pulled pork sandwiches.

NOTE: Original recipe calls for triple the amounts of spice and a bone-in pork roast. I also added a couple spices and omitted the liquid smoke. The unadapted recipe from Cook's Illustrated can be found HERE or HERE.

Because the world needs one more pulled pork recipe.

Summer Sandwiches

This is not really a post with recipes. I just wanted to show you the sandwiches that we've eaten recently that we've really enjoyed. It's so hot out and there are nights that I don't want to turn the oven on so we turn to sandwiches. Besides them being easy to whip up, they're totally quick and customisable and they're good for lunch or dinner.

Both of these sandwiches are served on OroWeat OatNut Bread. This first sandwich is lightly toasted bread then slathered with Hellman's mayo on each slice of bread. On one slice I added a handful of sweet baby greens, 2 slices of crisp bacon, cut in half, then one hard boiled egg, sliced and seasoned with salt and pepper. A spoonful of garlic pesto tops the remaining slice of bread. We had these again for dinner last night so I had to share them with you- so good!

For tips on how to cook a perfect boiled egg, go HERE.

The second sandwich was a result of a craving. What else is new? It's basically a BLT sandwich with a cornmeal crusted Fried Green Tomato in place of the red tomato slices. Toasted bread with a slather of mayo, sweet baby greens, 2 slices of crisp bacon, 2 slices of fried green tomatoes. I coated the tomato slices with buttermilk and spices (salt, garlic powder and cayenne pepper) then dipped them in seasoned cornmeal then pan fried them til golden. We served these with a side of even more fried green tomatoes and ranch dressing. yes, ma'am.

These are our favorite sandwiches right now, besides the usual turkey/cheddar or gooey grilled muenster cheese. Of course we can't forget about the fried egg topped ham and cheese or the Cuban sandwich or the egg salad sandwich either!

What is on your favorite sandwich?