Kitchen Adventures 9.2

Everyone loves a good party, right? I know I sure do! My friends and I like to gather and celebrate things, be it a big event like some one's birthday or a going away party or a sporting event. So, of course, we had to get together to watch the Super Bowl between the Packers and the Steelers. I made sure to wear my green sweater to urge the Pack on to victory, and I guess it worked! :) It was a good game, but we always end up socializing so much half the time we're not even paying attention. We just like each other too much I guess. :)

For any party, you have to have good party food. Snacky finger-food items are a must-have. In my binders of recipes I have an entire section for this type of food that I don't get to break into very often, so I deliberately planned to make some items from this section for the party. And I'm sure glad I did, because they were hits!

I took three things to the party. Of course we had too much food, because everyone else brought that much as well. Better to have extra than not enough, though! Two of the recipes I made are from Rachael Ray's magazine, Every Day with Rachael Ray. The other one is something my sister told me that is super quick and deceptively delicious and addictive. Hope you are able to use them at your next gathering!

Baked Potato Bites (from Every Day with Rachel Ray)

Ingredients:

4 red potatoes, sliced into 1/4-inch rounds and patted dry
1/2 c. olive oil
Salt
1/2 lb. bacon
1/3 c. sour cream
1/3 c. cream cheese
1 T finely chopped chives (I omitted these b/c I couldn't find them at the store)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degree. Toss the potato rounds in the olive oil, coating all sides. Place the potatoes on a rimmed baking sheet and season with salt. Arrange them in a single layer. Bake for 25 minutes, flip them over, and bake for another 10 minutes. Drain on a paper towel-lined plate.
2. While the potatoes are baking, cook the bacon until crisp and then crumble it; set aside. In a medium bowl, stir together the sour cream and cream cheese until smooth.
3. Arrange the potato slices in a single layer on a plate or serving dish and top each round with a spoonful of the cream mixture, some bacon bits, and chives. Serve warm.

Cheesy Corn Bites (from Every Day with Rachael Ray)

Ingredients:

8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
1 c. shredded pepper jack cheese
1 egg
1/2 c. frozen corn kernels
48 scoop-shaped tortilla chips
Chopped chives, for sprinkling

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, mix together the cream cheese, pepper jack cheese, egg and corn.
2. Arrange the chips in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Spoon 1 T. of the cream cheese mixture into each chip. Bake until the filling sets, about 20 minutes.
3. Sprinkle with chives and serve warm.

Tortilla Roll-ups

Ingredients:

Tortillas, any size or kind (flour are better than corn for this)
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
Taco seasoning

Directions:

Stir the softened cream cheese until it is smooth. Shake in taco seasoning to taste. Do this in stages so it does not get too strong. Spread the cream cheese mixture onto tortillas, making a thin layer of cheese on each tortilla. Roll up the tortillas, then slice them like a sushi roll.

This picture includes a couple of each item. Yummy!