Cheesy Sausage Stars

Scouring the stacks and stacks of mags and books that decorate my shelves and floors for Christmas/holiday recipes, I came across a vintage gem that was added to the “to-make” list, immediately.

From a Better Homes & Gardens from 1992 had an add for Hidden Valley Sausage Stars, I followed up this discovery with a Pinterest search and saw that this recipe has been a staple in many homes for years.

Oddly enough, I rarely if ever saw deviations from the original.  I could have taken this as a sign to not mess with perfection… but when have I ever done that?

Vegetarian Sloppy Joes

Crudités.  Cheese cubes.  Pretzels.  Really? This is all we’re gonna offer our vegetarian friends come Sunday?! I don’t think so!

If you can chop 2 veggies, measure some spices, open cans, and toss everything into a CrockPot and walk away, you can have a delicious vegetarian/vegan Sloppy Joe on your Super Bowl table that will fool even the meatiest of meat eaters.

Chicken Satay with Zesty Peanut Butter Dip

Ripping the flesh from the bone.  Sucking that last bit of meat off.  Licking the sticky sauce residue from your fingers.

As much as we love pairing wings with football, come Sunday, with numerous other dips, spreads, sweets, drinks, and treats to make – who has time to fry and prep those little guys?

Satisfy your crowd’s “foul” lust with these delicious skewers, and zesty accompanying dip.  Bonus – almost no prep time, and minimal cook time.

Sun-Dried Tomato & Roasted Red Pepper Dip

With slightly over a week left until the Big Dance, you’ve undoubtedly been scouring Pinterest, food blogs, mags, and the like – in search of the perfect dips, wings, drinks, spreads, sandwiches, and other glutinous goodies.

In your search – let me point you in the direction of today’s dip – that unbelievably doesn’t contain cheese or bacon – but get this… real live veggies!

Boursin Spread

As those of you who link up with me on Facebook know, I’ve recently been contemplating the fate of this here blog.  Recent weeks, chats, and further thought have brought me no closer to knowing if this is the end… or not.  But this I do know, if I’m going out, if this is where our journey ends, it ends with two of my favorite things… Food & Football!

So join me as we spend the next two weeks in 14 football foodie recipes, designed to tickle the taste buds of your Super Bowl watching pals.  And if football isn’t for you, if you have no intention of watching the big game, no worries, these recipes stand on their own, are delicious, and perfect for your entertaining needs.

Now, on to the eats.

Goodbye 2013

Goodbye.  Adieu.  Adios.  Ciao.  Arrivederci.  Auf Wiedersehen.

Good.  Bad.  Or indifferent.  2013 is about to be in our rearview mirrors.

This year on the site there were 51 new posts.  Hundreds of thousands of hits.  Features on Food Network, CraftBeer.com, Huffington Post, and others.  Cocktails, appetizers, sandwiches, soups, salads, sweets, and so much more.

I hope that you had as much fun reading, cooking, and eating as I did.  Please, let me know what your favorites were.  Here are some of mine…

Chocolate Stout S’more Shakes.  Cornbread Salad.  Chutney Cheese Spread.  Creamy Lemony Feta Dip.  Grilled Pimiento Cheese and Fried Green Tomato Sandwich.  Roasted Root Vegetable Soup.  Duck Fat Chex Mix.  Heirloom Tomato Salad with Lemon Thyme Vinaigrette.  Supreme Pizza Pasta Salad.

And that’s a wrap on the year friends.  Thank you for reading, commenting, pinning, and the like.  I hope you have a very happy, healthy, and joyous New Year.  And may we meet again soon, in peace, and full bellies.

Ginger-Sake Shrimp

Things to grab on the way home from work today.  Sake.  Shrimp.  Ginger.  A brown bag to hyperventilate in… I mean come… It’s almost 2014!  What?!

If we’re gonna freak out, we might as well do it with delicious food in our bellies.  Enter, some sassy shrimp.

Liptauer Cheese Spread

Resolution #35:  Will try new things.

Why wait till after the First to get a jump on those pesky resolutions? Start now!  Start with this.

New Years – The Long Hello, Smoked Salmon Blinis with Crème Fraîche and Dill, and Goat Cheese Truffles

Christmas is over, and I’d say it’s no time to get soft, except that’s kinda the name of the game this time of year.

How bout, “It’s no time to slow down.”  At least in the kitchen.

Enter – my mini collection of 3 recipes perfect for you New Year’s Eve table.  A cocktail, blinis, and goat cheese truffles.

Cran Marnier Truffles

Decadence – unrestrained or excessive self-indulgence.  Yeah, that’s this.

One truffle is all you’ll need to send you into bliss, but no one will judge for indulging in several more.