<p>Taking my standard crab/shrimp dip (recipe below) but would love to also make something new. Any ideas?</p>
<p>Just mix up the following and serve hot or cold:
1 can(s) lump crabmeat
1 can(s) large shrimp
8 ounce(s) cream cheese , softened
4 ounce(s) real mayo
4 ounce(s) sour cream
2 teaspoon(s) minced garlic, +/-
2 teaspoon(s) lemon juice, +/-
2 teaspoon(s) worchestershire sauce, +/-
4 wheel(s) pepper grinder, 4 turns +/-
4 wheel(s) sea salt grinder, 4 turns +/-</p>
<p>Reuben Dip (easy and delicious…tastes like reuben sandwiches)</p>
<p>Mix together:
2/3 cup mayo
1/3 cup thousand island dressing
8 oz sauerkraut
8 oz corned beef chopped up (from the deli)
8 oz shredded swiss cheese.</p>
<p>Mix it all together and put in a pie pan. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes (until bubbly).</p>
<p>Serve with those little rye breads.</p>
<p>I like the phyllo/puff pastry wrapped brie recipe that is on the inside of the box.</p>
<p>[Puff</a> Pastry - Recipe Detail - Holiday Brie en Croute](<a href=“http://www.puffpastry.com/recipedetail.aspx?recipeID=24034]Puff”>http://www.puffpastry.com/recipedetail.aspx?recipeID=24034)</p>
<p>I second the brie…serve with crackers and sliced apples and maybe some good preserves if you have them…a crowd pleaser.</p>
<p>People raved about this at my holiday open house: half of a large box of Velveeta and a medium sized bottle of your favorite salsa (I use Chi-Chi’s medium). Microwave and stir until smooth. Serve with Doritoes. EASY</p>
<p>Another EASY one: Hot pepper jelly over cream cheese. Serve with Wheat Thins.</p>
<p>And a third: microwave Camembert until it is softened a little (not long) and put raspberry preserves over the top. Serve with crackers. </p>
<p>I was not in the mood for the holiday party (at my house) this year, so I went for the easiest things I could think of. I was rather shocked that no one cared! I wrote it down for next year.</p>
<p>Wow, I love you guys. Yesterday it was Colorado_mom’s suggestion to share organizing tips…just as I was getting started on organizing. Today it’s about New Year’s eve party foods, just as I am working out my plan for tomorrow’s party. </p>
<p>I’m helpless in the kitchen, so my party friend is Costco. People seem to love those appies I heat up from frozen. I also bought frozen mini chocolate cream puffs, a giant shrimp ring, and these terrific pita chips to go with prepared spinach dip.</p>
<p>A sample woman in Costco was preparing italian salami wrapped around a piece of asiago cheese and it tasted delicious! I bought both the meat and cheese, and assembling them with toothpicks, along with heating up appies, and putting things in serving dishes, will be more than enough work for me tomorrow :)</p>
<p>Buffalo chicken dip’s popular with my crowd, sorry for the imprecise measurements:</p>
<p>block of cream cheese
sizeable scoop of mayo
maybe, 1/3-1/2 a bottle of hot sauce (+++ if you like it hot)
maybe, a few big glugs of ranch (+++ if you want to cool it off)
rotisserie chicken (take off the skin, shred the breasts and legs–or use canned)
shredded cheese</p>
<p>Mix together. Top with shredded cheese. Bake. Eat with anything, I like pita chips.</p>
<p>Just remembered I bought two tubes of Jimmy Dean sausage. I brown it and mix it with the Velveeta/Rotel crockpot combo for football watching, but I’d rather not drag my crockpot to the party.</p>
<p>Any other sausage appetizers?</p>
<p>I will only add this one because you suggested both Velveeta and sausage in the same sentence. </p>
<p>1 log of Velveeta
at least 1lb of sausage
some ketchup
some hot sauce
a loaf of those little cocktail rye breads (funny brand name, starts with a K)</p>
<p>Brown sausage. Melt Velveeta (microwave works). Mix sausage and Velveeta together. Add ketchup until it’s a nice orange color, add hot sauce until it’s spicy enough. Mom adds ketchup and hot sauce until it “tastes right.” I think Velveeta and sausage are arguably the two nastiest foods on the planet, thus I refuse to taste it so I go by color. Scoop a little bit onto each piece of bread, bake at 375 until bubbly and toasty (10 min?). </p>
<p>My family absolutely SWEARS by these things. I personally don’t see the draw, but no matter how many we make, there’s never enough to last more than 30 minutes. Can be made light years in advance (just don’t bake them), covered with plastic/foil, and frozen until needed. If you’re looking for something random and new to try, might be the ticket. </p>
<p>Warning: they take longer than you’d think to prepare, so they might not fall under the “easy” category.</p>
<p>Here’s one that’s super easy…</p>
<p>Alternating layers of cream cheese and prepared pesto, topped off with roasted red peppers. Serve with crackers. It’s delicious and looks really elegant.</p>
<p>I use a wire cheese cutter to slice a brick of cream cheese across the top. Put one layer in a mini loaf pan, that you’ve lined with plastic wrap. Fit the pieces in any old way. Spread some pesto over that, repeat the layers a few times. Chill and turn out onto a serving plate. Spread the peppers (drained & coarsely chopped) over the top. You could probably make it even easier by not doing the layers!</p>
<p>This gets great reviews every time and people can’t believe how easy it is.</p>
<p>For more ideas:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/806055-easy-appetizers.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/806055-easy-appetizers.html</a></p>
<p>Here is one that I tried at someone else’s home and I saw the recipe posted on CC. I saved it because this was really good. It was posted by SouthJerseyChessMom, but is apparently from “allrecipes”. </p>
<p>JALAPENO POPPER APPETIZER (allrecipes)</p>
<p>Couple changes from the original recipe posted below.</p>
<p>(Bake for 25 minutes at 375-
and, I used 1/2 cup Real Shredded Parmesan mixed with 1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs for the top -instead of the Parmesan Cheese, based on suggestions from posters)</p>
<p>"This is an easy cream cheese spread to make, and it tastes just like the jalapeno poppers you wish you could make yourself! </p>
<p>In pie plate, which has been sprayed with PAM.
INGREDIENTS:
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese,
softened
1 cup mayonnaise
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies,
drained
2 ounces canned diced jalapeno peppers (I used 4 oz hot jalapenos chopped, and a couple of splashes of tabasco sauce, and it’s not too hot)
, drained
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese (SEE NOTE ABOVE)</p>
<p>DIRECTIONS:
<ol>
<li>Microwave on High until hot, about 3 minutes.(see note about baking for 25 minutes 375)</li>
</ol>
<p>Note: I have had something served that was very similar where the cream cheese was spread on top of individual slices of hot pepper. It was served warm. For more ideas about this, refer to post #18 when clicking the CC link that I posted above.</p>
<p>Last night I hosted some folks, one of whom was lactose intolerant. I think that every recipe above contains dairy…all of mine did too! I had to get creative and it was kind of fun to try new things. I made those squares of chicken breast, wrapped in bacon, dipped in a mixture of chili powder and brown sugar. And mini-tostadas with those tortilla chip scoops, filled with guacamole, topped with a shrimp and a bit of salsa. And bean dip with pita chips.</p>
<p>This is a sweet, not a savory, but it is so easy.</p>
<p>Mix up a packaged chocolate mousse.
Buy the little pre-made chocolate cups
Fill with a pastry tip or even a cookie press.
Sprinkle with colored sprinkles or drop a berry on top.
Serve cold.</p>
<p>thumper1 – Thanks for that reuben recipe. It’s my husband’s fav sandwich but he can’t have it because of the rye bread. But he could do this with GF crackers.</p>
<p>Easy and Popular - only 3 items</p>
<p>2 Cans of quartered artichokes cut into bite-site pieces, put in shallow 2 qt casserole dish</p>
<p>mix 1 cup mayo & 1 cup grated parmesan cheese</p>
<p>spread mayo/cheese on artichokes Bake at 350 until bubbly, brown</p>
<p>Serve hot with your favorite crackers</p>
<p>EASY Stuffed Mushrooms
I used to make stuffed mushrooms “from scratch”, but this year I had too much else to do, so I just used prepared Stovetop Stuffing. Everyone liked them more than the ones I used to make! Guess which ones I’ll be making from now on?!</p>
<p>Pre-cook cleaned de-stemmed mushrooms in the microwave for a little while to remove some of the liquid, and get the mushrooms a little soft. Drain the liquid, then stuff the mushrooms with Stove Top, and either microwave, or bake (covered) till hot.</p>
<p>I’m not sure what all the ingredients are in the stuffing, but if you use margerine instead of butter when preparing, they’re probably lactose free.</p>
<p>Cheese and Crackers
Assortment of cheeses, on a cutting board with some knives.
Assortment of crackers in baskets or bowls</p>
<p>Nuts and Fruit
Mix dry roasted unsalted peanuts with raisins, dried cranberries or whatever you like. Use about equal amounts peanuts to dried fruit, and just put it out in bowls.</p>
<p>Any of the Trader Joe’s jars of tapenade, eggplant with garlic…etc. served with crackers. Whew!!! worked all day.</p>
<p>Also: one pound of cooked peeled and deveined shrimp, halved and sliced red onion (only for color, you can use a white onion as well) equal amounts of mayo and sour cream (this you have to do by sight…enough to coat, but not soak the shrimp and onions), dried or fresh dill, salt and pepper.</p>
<p>Mix everything together. Allow to marinate several hours. Serve with crackers.</p>
<p>Hopefully not too late - always popular - Pigs in Blankets. Just takes crescent dough and mini hot dogs (I like Bests when they’re available). Roll out the dough until flatter and wider; cut into small squares; roll one little piggie into each square; put on a cookie sheet and bake at 375 for about 11 minutes. You can include a small piece of cheese into the rollups if you want or onion or whatever. Then just put out some mustard. etc.</p>
<p>Too late I’m sure, but here’s an easy recipe that a friend brought to a holiday party. Adjust the amount of spinach used to taste. I like them dipped in various gourmet mustards. These directions are designed for preparing early, freezing and serving later.</p>
<p>SPINACH BALLS </p>
<p>2 (10 oz.) pkgs. frozen, chopped spinach
1 (6 oz.) pkg. chicken-flavored Stove Top stuffing, no water added
1 c. grated Parmesan cheese
6 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 c. butter, melted
Salt & pepper to taste</p>
<p>Cook spinach according to package and drain in sieve, pressing out as much moisture as possible. In medium bowl, combine spinach, stuffing mix, cheese, eggs, butter, salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly and roll into balls the size of large marbles. Place on cookie sheet and freeze. After balls are completely frozen, remove and store in plastic bag in freezer.</p>
<p>TO SERVE: Replace frozen balls on cookie sheets and bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes (or 7 to 10 minutes at 350 degrees for unfrozen balls) until lightly browned. Serve hot. Makes 80 balls.</p>
<p>Here’s my appetizer of choice - Pillsbury crescent rolls… with cheese and chopped up pepperoni in them. Pizza sauce to dip in. Easy as heck to prepare and everyone loves them.</p>
<p>Bookmarking because my party is still hours away. I have thawed puff pastry and a variety of cheeses. I was inspired by some costco pinwheels, and some puff pastry appetizers that cost a fortune in some recent catalogs. From Epicurious</p>
<pre><code>* 1/2 cup grated Asiago cheese*
<p>Mix first 4 ingredients in medium bowl. Cut puff pastry crosswise in half to form 2 rectangles. Spread 1 tablespoon mustard over 1 puff pastry rectangle, leaving 1-inch plain border at 1 long edge. Place half of pepperoni in single layer atop mustard. Top pepperoni with half of cheese mixture. Brush plain border with egg. Starting at side opposite plain border, roll up pastry, sealing at egg-coated edge. Transfer pastry roll, seam side down, to medium baking sheet. Repeat with remaining pastry rectangle, mustard, pepperoni, cheese mixture, and egg. Chill rolls until firm, about 30 minutes, or wrap and chill up to 1 day. Preheat oven to 400°F. Line 2 baking sheets with foil. Lightly spray with vegetable oil spray. Cut each pastry roll into about thirty 1/4-inch-thick rounds. Transfer pinwheels to prepared sheets. Bake until golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer to platter; serve.</p>
<p>Read More [Pepperoni</a> and Asiago Pinwheels Recipe at Epicurious.com](<a href=“http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Pepperoni-and-Asiago-Pinwheels-105653#ixzz19ipPPjXF]Pepperoni”>http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Pepperoni-and-Asiago-Pinwheels-105653#ixzz19ipPPjXF)</p>
<p>and </p>
<pre><code>* 3/4 cup finely grated Gruyère (about 3 ounces)
<p>print a shopping list for this recipe
Preparation</p>
<p>In a bowl combine Gruyère and sage. On a lightly floured surface arrange pastry sheet with a short side facing you and cut in half crosswise. Arrange one half of sheet with a long side facing you and brush edge of far side with some egg. Arrange half of prosciutto evenly on top of pastry, avoiding egg-brushed edge, and top with half of Gruyère mixture. Starting with side nearest you, roll pastry jelly-roll fashion into a log and wrap in wax paper. make another log in same manner. Chill pastry logs, seam sides down, until firm, at least 3 hours, and up to 3 days.</p>
<p>Preheat oven to 400°F. and lightly grease 2 large baking sheets.</p>
<p>Cut logs crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick pinwheels and arrange, cut sides down, 1 inch apart on baking sheets. Bake pinwheels in batches in middle of oven until golden, 14 to 16 minutes. Transfer pinwheels to a rack and cool slightly. Serve pinwheels warm.</p>
<p>Read More [Prosciutto</a> and Gruyère Pinwheels Recipe at Epicurious.com](<a href=“http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Prosciutto-and-Gruyere-Pinwheels-13664#ixzz19ipekBED]Prosciutto”>http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Prosciutto-and-Gruyere-Pinwheels-13664#ixzz19ipekBED)</p>