Showing posts with label party ideas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label party ideas. Show all posts

Everyone crows about a "Wing It Eating Party" so why not host one


 It's time to host those "Wing It" Parties everyone!

I have talked quite a bit about sauces and biscuits & gravies lately which reminded me of a great menu for an indoor or outdoor party. What am I talking about? I'm talking about "Wing It Eating Parties"!! What is a "Wing It" party? Well it's a food party that's based on all types of chicken wings, hot wings and buffalo wings based on all types of flavors. The wing meat itself can be baked, deep fried, battered or grilled just like in the photo above.

Let's talk some facts first

A buffalo wing, hot wing or wing is a chicken wing section (drumette or flat) that is traditionally fried unbreaded and then coated in sauce. Classic Buffalo-style chicken wing sauce is composed of a vinegar-based cayenne pepper hot sauce and butter. Buffalo wings are traditionally served with celery sticks and blue cheese dressing.

How To Plan A Buffalo Wing, Chicken Wing, Hot Wing Party!

This is going to be very simple. It's your job as a host to fill the meal table with chicken wings, celery sticks and salad, biscuits, butter and honey with all the different kinds of sauces that you can think of.

  • Plan A Wing-It Theme Party ~ Everyone crows about a "Wing It Party" at least that what my invitation said so why not host one. A wing it party is just that; it's a food party that's based on chicken wings in all kinds of flavors. You can choose to host a potluck style party where each guest brings a plate full of their favorite wings in their favorite wing sauce or you can set up a buffet style party where you provide all the sauces and toppings yourself. 
  • Popular Wing Flavors ~ hot buffafo, sweet chili, honey garlic, parmesan, parmesan garlic, hot sauce, barbecue, honey mustard, teriyaki, lemon pepper, blue cheese, sweet thai, pineapple, honey hoisin, are just a few of the choices. 
  • Shaker Toppings would be~ shakers full of spices, shaker full of herbs, shaker full of Parmesan cheese, shaker full of BBQ rub, shaker full of celery flakes and a shaker full of pepper flakes. Shakers add a special spark to the table that guests really really love.
  • Don't forget the sides & dressing~ A wing it party wouldn't be complete if it didn't have the traditional raw veggies and dressing with it. Not only serve raw celery and carrots but why not serve bell pepper, broccoli and cauliflower too. All of these go great with salad dressings. The #1 dressing is ranch and blue cheese.
  • Breads~ I don't know why but biscuits go great with chicken but at restaurants you don't usually get biscuits with it. Biscuits, butter and honey are fantastic flavor matches to chicken wings. Now easy bread sticks are a fantastic choice too. Bread sticks covered in oil and parmesan like you get at a pizza place is a good choice. And an odd choice is different jams and jellies. Try warmed up and melted preserves too. That super sweet fruity taste is great for the meat and for the bread.
  • Provide Dessert~ Oh yes! Every party is expected to have dessert. It doesn't really matter what you go with.... cupcakes, cookies or pie to name a few and all will work just fine.
  • Gift Giving & Door Prizes~ Decide if you want to play any games or provide any activities at your wing it party. You may just want to host a munch out where no games are played but tons of food is provided for a real wing it munch out. If you don't have games you may want to at least give a door prize to one lucky winner. It could be something as special as a bottle of homemade BBQ sauce to something as silly as a stuffed animal that looks like a chicken.
  • Added Fun~ For added fun you could meet all your guests at the door in a chicken costume! Oh yeahhh I said it! Are you brave enough to do it? This has been done many times so don't think it hasn't. Don't forget to do the chicken dance. Speaking of chicken dance.... why not have all your guest do the chicken dance. It's fun for all ages.

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A Sauce Preparation

Cayenne pepper hot sauce and melted butter or margarine are the basis of the sauce. Buffalo wing sauce can be made with a variable amount of heat/spiciness, with the names of these sauces generally corresponding to the level of heat, such as mild, medium, or hot. Typically, the wings are deep-fried (although they are sometimes grilled or baked). The wings are usually fried in oil until they reach close to a golden-brown color. They are then drained where they can either be placed in a bowl with sauce or even seasoned with salt and pepper. Following this, one covers the bowl tightly and shakes to coat the wings. As an alternative to waiting to coat the wings until after they are cooked, one can also put seasoning over the wings in a sealed bag and shake them until they are coated evenly. Afterwards, arrange the wings on a baking and wait until they are cook thoroughly. Wings can then be served dry with sauce on the side.
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📅 Mark your Calendars ahead

National Chicken Wing Day is celebrated every July 29th / the day rightfully proclaimed in 1977 by Buffalo mayor... / This is a great day to host a wing it party!
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My Closing Thoughts ~
  • Who doesn't love wings right!!!! / www.nationalchickenwingday.com
  • So maybe you don't want the expense of a party but would like to just do this for your family that lives in the house with you. Well go for it. This post listed several ideas to make even a family supper special.
  • Now don't forget the salty chips & pickles and don't forget the napkins & paper towels. This is going to be messy. LOL~ "Live everyday like a Holiday" Pam
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🛒 Wing Sauce / https://amzn.to/3R9dJDD
🛒 ❤ Chicken Wings / https://amzn.to/3NRvmoh
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.  It uses some material from wikipedia / gone-ta-pott / homestead /

Party Time / Swedish Style Crawfish Boils


Swedish style Crayfish parties are generally held during August, a tradition that started because crayfish harvesting in Sweden was, for most of the 20th century, legally limited to late summer...

Cuisine: Food & Drink

Akvavit and other kinds of snaps are served, as well as beer. The crayfish are boiled in salt water and seasoned with fresh dill — preferably “crown dill” harvested after the plant has flowered — then served cold and eaten with one’s fingers. Bread, mushroom pies, strong Västerbotten cheese, salads, and other dishes are served buffet-style.

Let's talk about a Crawfish Party

1) A crayfish party is a traditional summertime eating and drinking celebration in the Nordic countries. The tradition originated in Sweden, where a crayfish party is called a kräftskiva. The tradition has also spread to Finland via the Swedish-speaking population of that country.

2) Crayfish parties are generally held during August, a tradition that started because crayfish harvesting in Sweden was, for most of the 20th century, legally limited to late summer. Today, the “kräftpremiär” date in early August has no legal significance. Dining is traditionally outdoors, but in practice the party is often driven indoors by bad weather or aggressive mosquitoes.

3) Customary party accessories are comical paper hats, paper tablecloths, paper lanterns (often depicting the Man in the Moon), and bibs. A rowdy atmosphere prevails amid noisy eating and traditional drinking songs (snapsvisa). The alcohol consumption is often high, especially when compared to the amount of food actually eaten (crayfish shelling is tedious work).

4) It is culturally correct to suck the juice out of the crayfish before shelling it.
On the Swedish west coast it is common to replace the fresh water crayfish with havskräfta (English: Norway lobster).


Crawfish are eaten all over the world

Crawfish Boils: Shrimp, crab, & crawfish boils can be found across southern Louisiana & Southeast Texas. But it is the crawfish boil that is most closely associated with the region. The Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival has been named one of the top 10 food events by USA Today and is a showcase for Cajun music & culture. Major crawfish boils are held by churches and other organizations as fundraisers throughout the spring. Tulane University holds an annual "Crawfest" in April, & the University of New Orleans holds an annual crawfish boil for all students at the end of the spring semester (Students unwinding on Crawfish and Unprecedented Fun—SUCAUF). Smaller events can be found in backyards and parks throughout April, May and June. Locals traditionally eat crawfish, as well as crabs, without tools such as shell crackers or picks.

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses some material from Wikipedia/article © / and other related pages. / gone-ta-pott / wave.video /

Beat the Summer Heat with Infused Water


 In this post I'm talking about Infused Water

Do you guys infuse water very often? Well for me I do it quite often. I'm not much of a soda drinker but I am a tea and coffee drinker. But when it comes to something cool and refreshing to beat the summer heat, I take a walk to my patio garden and see what's available to me for the day. 

I have to say I make infused water every week

Sometimes I have ripe strawberries, sometimes I have blackberries, sometimes I have limes, sometimes I have cucumbers and I always have the run of herbs like mint, pineapple sage, lemon balm and lemon thyme. Those are the herbs that I enjoy making infused water with. I have even infused with some of my pineapple ground cherries which was a delight. (🛒pineapple ground cherry plant) Each week my water is a little different.

I do enjoy fruits like peaches, raspberries, blueberries and oranges in my water, but I have to get those from the grocery store right now. But when I have them, I use them. Same goes for melons and watermelon... which you can infuse also. 

I enjoy growing my own ginger and cucumbers in my garden and several different types of mint in my herb garden too, so it's only natural for me to make infused water when I have access to the bounty on my little patio. I sometimes add a few berries or blossoms from my elderberry tree when in season. And if the blackberries are in, I grab a hand full of those too. I love infused water using honeysuckle blossoms too. They are so sweet. But I only pick the sweet yellow blooms and not the cream color blooms. They are the sweetest. I even have a small lime tree that I love to infuse with ginger and mint which is actually a popular combination to infuse. (🛒 Infusion Jars)

Infused cucumber water has been around for a long time.

Cucumber water, is a mix of sliced cucumbers with citrus slices and herbs such as mint, is a popular infusion. It is sometimes known as "spa water" due to it being commonly served in day spas and similar personal care establishments.


1. It keeps you hydrated.

2. It helps with weight loss.

3. It delivers antioxidants.

4. It may help prevent cancer.

5. It lowers your blood pressure.

6. It supports healthy skin.

7. It boosts bone health.


Now let's talk about the preparation technique

Wikipedia says this: "Infusion is a chemical process that uses botanicals (typically dried herbs, flowers or berries) that are volatile and release their active ingredients readily in water, oil, or alcohol. In this process, a liquid is typically boiled (or brought to another appropriate temperature) and poured over the herb. After the herb has been allowed to steep in the liquid for an appropriate period of time, it is removed (possibly by straining) leaving an infusion. Unless the infusion is to be consumed immediately, it is bottled and refrigerated for future use."

The amount of time the herbs are left in the liquid depends on the kind of infusion. Infusion times can range from seconds (for some kinds of Chinese tea) to hours~

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Closing thoughts ~

💡I hope you found this post fun and inspiring enough to try infusing your own water. It's good to be reminded that infused water is good for us and sweetened naturally from sweet fruit and berries. I think it looks beautiful in a glass too. 

👀 Now just so you know... I have a few more posts I'm writing about summer drinks so if this interests you then keep an eye out for them. I have more great pictures to share too!

💻 I placed this post in the "Garden Party" & "Summer Drinkscategories if you ever need to find it again. Remember this idea when celebrating any of the holidays in our calendar. 

📸 If you ever want a close look at the picture I posted, just click the photo. It will expand in a large view window for a closer look. Then click the area you want to look even closer at and it will usually expand just that part of the photo too. 😀

📅 And as always, I've listed related 📅 calendar dates below 🠟, and any related shopping links 🛒 that would be helpful to this article. 

 😄 It's so important to "Live everyday like a holiday." I hope this post will help you do just that. Love Pam

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📅 June 18 / International Picnic Day
📅 April / National Picnic Day
📅 September 26 / National Family Day
📅 April 14 / National Gardening Day
📅 May 6 / National Beverage Day 
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► 🛒 ❤ Infusion Jars / https://amzn.to/39thy5t
► 🛒 ❤ Sun Tea / https://amzn.to/3MPM3A3
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Pallet Table Garden Party

We all know what it's like to have to through something together really fast for a day of summer fun and this idea of a Pallet Table Garden Party just couldn't get any sunnier. 🌞

Super idea for you!

I can see everybody's imagination skyrocketing right now. What a super easy way to entertain a group of people for a sit on the ground garden party / tea party / birthday party / picnic / summer celebration! Gosh! All of the above. 😁

What fun this would be!

You know how we humans are. LOL~ We get so excited when we get to experience something new that we've never experienced before, and I bet this idea would be a new one for you. Can you just imagine a group of your friends or family enjoying a picnic or a garden party where the place settings are on pallets? Pallets are easy to come by in my part of the world so I can see this little idea taking off for sure.

I like the idea of a pallet table too and here's why~

Have you ever been to a picnic on the ground before? Great fun for sure but it's really hard to sit on the ground and keep your drink from spilling over because of the unlevel ground right. Well, I love the pallet idea because it gives a level surface for your drink to sit on. Plus, I love the fact that your plate can sit a bit higher than the ground too. It puts another burrier between your food and the ants so that's a thumbs up for me.

Don't you just love the sunny fruit drinks that everyone has too?

It just screams a super sunny day, doesn't it? When I look at those drinks I think "refreshing punch". You know without me having to say but on hot summer days we always go for the most refreshing drink we can get our hands on don't we~

I think the cloth napkins are a good choice / here's why

Every picnic I've ever gone to has always had paper napkins and the wind picks them up so easy and carries them way across the yard in a split second. If you provide cloth napkins, you don't have to worry about that. Now I for one have had to run across the field chasing down a paper napkin before and every time I almost had it the wind took it even further. Ha! And let's not talk about how hard it would be to get off the ground a thousand times if the wind was bad. Giggle~ Been there done that! Now if I was young, I might not think such things. 😏

Let your Outdoor imagination take over ~

You know you got this one for sure! Pulling this one off will be a snap and everyone that comes will enjoy a relaxed gathering to say the least.

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Closing thoughts ~

💡I hope you found this post fun and inspiring. It's good to be reminded that we can create outdoor meals without spending a lot of money and we can create experiences that we will remember a lifetime.

👀 Now just so you know... I have a few more posts I'm writing about outdoor eating so if this interests you then keep an eye out for them. I have more great pictures to share too!

💻 I placed this post in the "Garden Party" & "Party Planningcategories if you ever need to find it again. Remember this idea when celebrating any of the holidays in our calendar. 

📸 If you ever want a close look at the picture I posted, just click the photo. It will expand in a large view window for a closer look. Then click the area you want to look even closer at and it will usually expand just that part of the photo too. 😀

📅 And as always, I've listed related 📅 calendar dates below 🠟, and any related shopping links 🛒 that would be helpful to this article. 

 It's so important to "Live everyday like a holiday." I hope you do that. Love Pam

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📅 June 18 / International Picnic Day
📅 April / National Picnic Day
📅 September 26 / National Family Day
📅 April 14 / National Gardening Day
📅 National Family Month is observed during the five-week period between Mother’s Day in May and Father’s Day in June
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► 🛒 ❤ Outdoor Party Supplies / https://amzn.to/3aSjaGb
► 🛒 ❤ Sun Tea / https://amzn.to/3xqIefd
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Pink It Up Party


Pink It Up Party by Pamela Svoboda

How To Celebrate Day Of The Dead

Throwing a Day of the Dead party can be a lot of fun - but only if you do it right. Learn how to throw a Day of the Dead party from this infographic!   Source: http://www.e...ofthedead/
Click photo to enlarge:
Day of the Dead - How to Celebrate

From Visually.

Thirsty Thursday

For college and university students, Thursday is sometimes referred to as the new Friday. There are often fewer or sometimes no classes on Fridays and more opportunities to hold parties on Thursday night and sleep in on Friday. As a consequence, some call Thursday "thirstday" or "thirsty Thursday".

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UrbanDictionary says....
A term normally found on college campuses, the title became popular when many people did not have early morning classes on Fridays, allowing them to drink and party on Thursday night. Every Thursday of every week durring the semester is Thirsty Thursday; there is no specific or special date for it.

Dude it's Thirsty Thursday! Stop studying and have a beer!


Pioneered by business school students who don't have class on friday like everyone else. Thirsty Thursday's is the worship of the gods of alcohol intoxication with limited consequences. Most important at colleges with a high commuter to on campus population ratio.
The best parties on campus are on Thirsty Thursdays.
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But we have found out that everyone promotes "Thirsty Thursday".
Everything from groups, organizations to hotels, bars, grills and restaurants.
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References / Resources:


Shop:

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Sweetheart Palmiers / sweet treat from Campbells kitchen

www.puffpastry.com/recipe/sweetheart-palmiers
I love it! I think anyone who is looking for red food for Valentine's Day or for a red theme party needs to look at this. It's a recipe I found on campbells.com, puffpastry.com, and ziplist.com websites. Just click the links to get the recipe.

Now Let's Talk About It:
This is so simple but look how beautiful it looks. At first glance you can tell it's made with puff pastry and it's been sprinkled with red sugar. You know sugar comes in several different colors so you could change it up to match which ever occasion your celebrating. 

Red sugar is fantastic for Christmas and Valentine's Day but I bet green sugar would be nice for St. Patrick's Day. I bet a plate of green would remind you of clover just like the red reminds you of hearts. 

Tablescape: Look how pretty it looks served on a white platter. The idea of all the dishes being white is a good move. The red tablecloth just sets off the red cookies too. In the picture they have a bowl of red sugar with a spoon in it. I think that's a fantastic idea as well. Your guests can use red sugar instead of white sugar to add to their hot cocoa or coffee. I bet the red sugar adds a pinkish tent to the cocoa. I just love it. I knew I had to pass this on because I know what a challenge it is to come up with red food ideas and this one is one to remember. Perfect tablescape idea if you ask me. What do you think?

Campbell's Kitchen: Sweetheart Palmiers - Both Pepperidge Farm & Campbell's say "This crisp and delicate cookie is made with puff pastry dough sprinkled with sugar and rolled into the shape of palm leaves. Serve them with coffee or tea, or with your favorite dessert sampling."

Tea Parties with Tea Party Cookies

Post 4: In honor of National Cookie Cutter Week and all cookie holidays... 
Do you take cookies with your tea? Well here's a cheerful idea for a tea party.

Source: sentimentalcelebrations.com via Anne on Pinterest
Tea party lovers are always looking for wonderful ideas for a tea party and I think I found a cute idea to pass on. How about having a tea party with a tea party theme? I think young ladies and little girls would love taking tea with pretty tea party cookies don't you? Little cookies in the shape of tea cups and tea pots would be a delight to nibble on.

Let the tea party cookie cutters be the theme and serve some great tasting cookies with some great tasting hot tea. How about a Alice in Wonderland tea? You can even give cookie cutting as gifts to your guests too. Put on your best hat girls because we're having a ladies tea!

You can buy tea party cookie cutters at craft stores like Hobby Lobby or Michaels. You can also buy them online at sentimentalcelebrations.com, the website who provided this sweet picture above.

Amazon has a set includes 3 cutters (all 1 inch high): tea cup (3-1/2 wide, 2-1/2 top to bottom) cupcake (3-1/2 wide, 3-1/4 top to bottom) and tea pot (3-7/8 wide, 3 top to bottom). Roll-out cookie recipe included on back. Decorating instructions also on back. Have you ever hosted a tea party? Well here's a cheerful idea for a tea party theme.

Now this second pack from Amazon includes:
  • 5 tin cookie cutters, made in the USA
  • Each set comes in a sturdy box with the artwork of Ann Clark
  • Recipes for cookies and frosting included
  • Cutters include: teacup, teapot, heart, heart 'n hand and sunflower
  • Box size 12.75"L x 6.5"Hx1"D
A Tea Parties is a formal, ritualized gathering for afternoon tea but it's a good excuse for conversations about life, exchanging recipes, and sharing holiday ideas too. Formal tea parties are often characterized by the use of prestige utensils, such as bone china or silver. The table is made to look its prettiest, with cloth napkins and matching cups and plates. In addition to tea, larger parties may provide punch, or in cold weather, hot chocolate. The tea is accompanied by a variety of easily managed foods: thin tea sandwiches, such as cucumber or tomato, cake slices, buns or rolls, and cookies are all common.

Food for a Pickle Appreciation Party

For those of you looking for a weird theme party, we have an idea for you. November 14 is Pickle Appreciation Day and today one of our readers asked the question.... "What food can I serve for a Pickle Appreciation Party?" Well get those green plates and napkins ready because we have a few ideas for you.

With you it's a treat
First of all we think you should serve dishes that relate to pickles. 
The first thing that comes to mind is pickle condiments. The most popular pickle condiment without a dough is pickle relish. What goes with pickle relish you ask? Well it's hot dogs! Yep our first choice would be hot dogs or sausage dogs along with several types of pickle relish guests can choose from.

Tartar Sauce: Tartar Sauce is another condiment that's made with pickles. If fish is for you, then fish sandwiches could be a second choice for a pickle appreciation party and don't hold back on the tartar sauce.

Every party serves cake! Yes every party serves cake and a pickle party wouldn't be complete without a pickle cake. Noooo don't put pickles in the cake mix. Just decorate your cake to look like a giant pickle. Cook a sheet cake and trim the edges to be round and long. Cover in vanilla icing with green food coloring and you have yourself a giant pickle.

Why not have a pickle buffet for taste testing? Yeah! Everyone loves to munch on pickles and having a dozen or so varieties of pickles could be really fun. Have them all, sweet, hot and sour! You could even have your guests judge the best pickles. The good.... the bad.... or the ugly.

Potato Salad: We can't forget about potato salad! Many many potato salad recipes use pickles in the recipe. Some call for sweet pickles and some call for dill pickles.

Speaking of potatoes! Don't forget that potato chips and parties go hand in hand. Having said that, did you know there's a dill flavored potato chip? Yep it sure is! That would go great with hot dogs. :)
If all else fails.... serve all green food.

I hope that get's your creative juices flowing. Now before you go, click on the cute dancing pickles at the top. You'll see it's actually a greeting card for Pickle Appreciation Day. Send it to your friends and invite them to your pickle party. May your Pickle Appreciation Party be a success.  - Pam
See all pickle appreciation greeting

Maybe our readers could join in the fun and post a few pickle dishes too. :)
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Shop Amazon for all things pickle
Shop Amazon for pickle party

Recipe: Chicken Little Stuffed Eggs


Happy National Deviled Egg Day! 10/02  When I ran across these cute as can be Chicken Little Stuffed Eggs I knew they had "Celebration Food" written all over them. They would be perfect for National Deviled Egg Day. Perfect for any party in Spring. Easter would be a must to serve. Tea Parties would welcome the idea and Garden Parties would relish the theme. Even bird lovers would love this idea for National Bird Day and Wild Bird Feeding Month. Last but not least, baby showers would be beautiful with this hatching little idea. Pillsbury flyies high!

Recipe: Chicken Little Stuffed Eggs
Originally uploaded by Pillsbury.com
INGREDIENTS

8 eggs
5 drops blue, red or green food color, if desired
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon hot dog relish

DIRECTIONS

1. Place eggs in medium saucepan; cover with cold water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer about 15 minutes. Immediately drain; run cold water over eggs to stop cooking. Peel eggs.

2. In measuring cup or old coffee mug, combine 1/2 cup water and food color. Dip peeled eggs 1 at a time into mixture for several seconds until of desired color. Pat dry with paper towel.

3. Cut thin slice from wide bottom of each egg so it will stand straight. With small sharp knife, cut off top of each egg about 1/3 of the way down, either straight across or with small slanted cuts to make a sawtooth edge. Carefully remove top portion and yolk; reserve tops. Place yolks in small bowl.

4. Add mayonnaise and relish to yolks; mash and mix thoroughly with fork. With small spoon, refill large section of egg with yolk mixture, heaping filling. Top each with reserved top portion of egg. Refrigerate 30 minutes or until chilled.
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Shop Deviled Eggs at Amazon.com

Blog Post Pick: Medusa Cheeseball by Jo and Sue

Celebration Food:  Perfect for Halloween & theme parties!

Blog Post Pick: Medusa Cheeseball
I love to read blogs and when I find something I like, I have to pass it on. Today I ran across this fantastic Medusa Cheeseball by Jo and Sue. Make sure to check out their blog because if your a foodie, you'll have fun here. Great job guys I love it!

Jo and Sue said: "We were inspired to create this Medusa cheeseball after we made the SPA MASK CHEESE BALL that we fell in love with from the Hungry Happenings site. Someone commented on our blog saying that their son was having a mythology birthday theme party (how cool is that by the way) and they were going to make the spa mask into Medusa. Genius! We immediately thought of Halloween. I started thinking of all the things that Sue and I could use for Medusa's snake hair. Weiners cut into strips, jello worms, spaghetti/pasta, bread.  We decided to go with bread because we had more control over how... more » 

Do you have a great cheeseball idea? We would love to hear about it.
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Meaty Spider Bites


Perfect for Halloween in October, Be kind to Spiders Week in April, great for a theme birthday party and a perfect "all eyes are on you" congratulations party.

Like most foodies, I like to play with my food and today was no different. I've been on this big spider kick this season so I wanted to keep it going by sharing my little southwestern spider bites that I like to make.

These cute little guys are nothing more than seasoned beef, veggies & cheese. Tostitos scoops make the perfect bowls for the spiders body. Pop a few black beans on and you have a lot of eyes looking at you.

I've made several versions of these creepy little guys but today I went with a southwestern flavor because I wanted to serve them over lettuce like a taco salad. They look just like there ready to crawl right into some body's mouth too. lol-

Dinner Party: In the past I've served them as appetizers. It was for a dinner party with a spider theme. I placed one meaty spider bite on individual saucers and served them while they were still hot.

The Meat: What can I say.... The meat filling is truly unlimited and there's nothing to it really. It can be taco flavor, sloppy joe flavor, Swedish white meatball sauce, red spaghetti sauce (Italian), white stroganoff flavor (which I've done over a bed of spaghetti) you name it. You can even cheat on homemade steps and use hamburger helper if you want. It all works.

The one thing you can't change on is the tostitos scoops. These little bowls are perfect to hold meat and they are thick enough to hold their shape without going soggy. Always cook all the moisture out of your meat before you scoop it in. Another thing that I find helpful is toasting the scoops in the oven with a bit of grated cheese in the bottom. Toasting flavors the chips for sure but it also seals the bottom of the scoops as the cheese melts and keeps any moisture left in the meat from collapsing your spider body.
 
It's No Fuss: Just brown your hamburger meat really small so it's easier to spoon in (sometimes I add a bit of ground spicy sausage). Drain the fat, drain the fat, drain the fat! did I say drain the fat? This is sooo important. Those chips will soap up every little bit if you don't and it will be yucky.

Now just dump it in: Yep that's all you have to do. Today I dumped in 1 can of southwest corn, 1 can of tomatoes and green chilis and a small block of velveeta cheese. Last but not least I added a fajita / taco season packet and simmered until all the moisture was gone.

I've made these a few times throughout the years. For a dinner party one time I served one spider on each plate as a meaty appetizer. Today I just set them on a bed of lettuce for a taco salad. When your ready to eat just rip-em apart & eat. giggle~

The Spider Legs: I use bell peppers for the spider legs not only because bell peppers go so well with hamburger meat (mince) but it has a natural curve that helps the legs of your spider to look arched.

Today I went with yellow bell peppers because I put yellow corn in the meat so I wanted my spiders to be yellow. If you want to go with red bell peppers use more tomatoes in the meat. For green legs I use more beans and green chilies. 

Orange Spiders for Halloween: 3 years ago I went with a orange spider which I loved! I used orange bell peppers for the legs and melted grated cheese on top of the body. I stuck the black bean eyes on while the cheese was still hot. This made the whole spider look orange and the eyes held on nicely too. Talk about good! I have a weakness for cheese anyway so maybe that's why it was so good but they did look better than the one's I did today.

For a tray of party favors: insert the legs up-side-down for a dead spider look!  This is really the only way you can pick them up with your fingers, legs and all that is. Another leg option is Chinese noodles. They just don't taste as good to me unless I've fixed the dessert spider bites I make. Hummm I'll save that for another post. :)

Enjoy life yall. Have some fun in the kitchen and share your photos. Now go to your kitchen and get leggy. Your blogging friend, Pam
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