It was just a wonderful evening getting to know, and even meeting for the first time different women who came together to enjoy each other and of course food!
Pumpkin Cheese Ball*
Yield: 16 servings
Ingredients:
2 (8-ounce) blocks extra-sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded (Remember it's cheaper ounce per ounce to shred it yourself)
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (8-ounce) container chive-and-onion cream cheese
2 teaspoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 broccoli stalk**
1 sprig of parsley
Red and green apple wedges
Preparation
Combine Cheddar cheese and next 4 ingredients in a bowl until blended. Cover and chill 4 hours or until mixture is firm enough to be shaped.
Shape mixture into a ball to resemble a pumpkin. Smooth entire outer surface with a frosting spatula or table knife. Make vertical grooves in ball, if desired, using fingertips.
Cut florets from broccoli stalk, and reserve for another use. Cut stalk to resemble a pumpkin stem, and press into top of cheese ball. Serve cheese ball with apple wedges.
Note: To make ahead, wrap cheese ball in plastic wrap without stalk, and store in refrigerator up to 2 days. Attach stalk before serving.
*modified from Southern Living @ www.southernliving.com
**I decided to use a braided pretzel stick as a stem instead; also you can use the remaining pretzel sticks on the platter with the apples, which is a wise use of your pennies. Add a sprig of parsley for added cuteness factor.
Taco Scoops
Ingredients:
1 bag of Fritos Scoops
Fillers for Scoops (here are my two variations):
Variation #1 (Sheila's Idea)
1 lb ground beef, cooked and seasoned with 1 pack of low sodium taco seasoning or your own variation of seasoning-I tend to just go to my pantry and add 1 tbsp of Cumin, a pinch of Cayenne Peeper, a little salt and pepper
1 jar of pickled jalapenos
1 block of cheddar cheese, shredded
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover a baking sheet with wax paper. Spread out Scoops to cover the baking sheet facing up. Fill each scoop with seasoned ground beef, top with cheese and place one jalapeno on top. Bake until cheese it melted; 5-8 minutes.
Variation #2
3-4 cans of seasoned black beans-I cook these in my iron skillet over medium heat. Add Extra Virgin Olive Oil, chopped garlic, the beans, ground cumin, a pinch of Cayenne Pepper, sea salt, and cracked black pepper. Stir, bring to a boil, then simmer for 20 minutes. Smash up the beans as they cook every so often as you stir occasionally. This makes the beans thicker and more flavorful in my opinion.
Feta Cheese
2 avocados
Cilantro
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cover baking sheet with wax paper. Spread scoops to cover the baking sheet facing up. Fill each scoop with seasoned beans and cheese. Bake for 5-8 minutes. Take out of oven and let set for a few minutes. Top with a tiny piece of avocado and a sprig of cilantro.
Serve both variations with sour cream and salsa or pico-de-gallo. Mmmm Mmmm good! O, also you can substitute Fritos Scoops for Tostitos Scoops; I don't know if Frito Lay likes that idea though.
Let me know which variation you like better; think the women at Food 411 liked the black bean version best, but my hubby dug into the ground beef ones like they were going out of style. Tell me what you think!
Also let me know if you want any of the other recipes, actually trust me you do. I don't think Bonnie or Sheila would mind; I know they wouldn't! Have fun hosting your fall parties!
4 comments:
I want any recipes you've got!
the Food 411 event sounds awesome! So did you guys setup a "makeshift" kitchen or did you do this in a kitchen?? I am definitely interested in the logistical lowdown, its a great ministry idea.
Katie I will send you the recipes very shortly.
Sabrina to answer your question we did Food 411 in the common's area which already has a kitchen with an open bar where we prepared the food to be served and set up a couple of tables where we did the demonstrations. So we mixed, measured, poured, crockpotted (pretty sure that's not a word), etc. on the tables then made our way to kitchen to bake what we needed to.
Yea it really can be quite purposeful in terms of ministry.
Also decorated it for fall, gave away door prizes-one being the cake, and served all the food, then mingled. Really a ton of fun! Let me know if you have any other questions.
Katie here you go:
ngredients:
3 green apples
1 cup granulated sugar
8 Tbs. (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 egg
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup golden raisins
2 Tbs. granulated sugar mixed with 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting
Directions:
Preheat an oven to 325°F. Butter an 8-inch round cake pan.
Core and thinly slice the apples, leaving the skin intact. In a bowl, whisk together the granulated sugar, butter and egg. Stir in two-thirds of the apple slices.
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and salt. Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture along with the raisins, stirring until just blended. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Arrange the remaining apple slices in a pattern on top, pressing them gently into the batter. Sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar. Bake until the cake is golden and springy to the touch, about 50 minutes.
Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let the cake stand in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn the cake out onto the rack and let cool completely, about 2 hours. Dust with confectioners’ sugar and cut into wedges to serve. Serves 8 to 10.
Caramel Frosting
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup heavy cream, plus more as necessary
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 (16-ounce) box confectioners’ sugar
Prepare frosting. Melt butter in small saucepan. Add brown sugar and 1/3 cup cream. Cook over medium-low heat until the sugar is dissolved, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Transfer to a large bowl.
Using a handheld electric mixer, beat in confectioners' sugar a little at a time until smooth. If frosting is too thick, add 1 tablespoon heavy cream at a time until consistency is right. Sandwich 2 layers of cake with frosting. Frost the outside of the cake, make sure cake is cooled.
Pumpkin Spiced Latte is on www.crockpotblogspot.com
Bonnie's Caramel Corn
Preheat oven to 250 degrees. This recipe calls for approx. 5 quarts of plain popcorn-use bag of kernals-not pre-made bags
1 cup butter
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1 tsp salt
Bring to boil, stirring constantly until it reaches the soft ball stage on a candy thermometer
Remove from heat and stir in
1/2 tsp of baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
Pour over popped popcorn to coat in 2 large shallow baking pans.
Bake for 1 hr stirring every 15 mins. Spread out to cool on counter tops. Store in an airtight container.
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