{Make this}: Jalapeño Poppers.

Back in 2011 I fell in love with an appetizer. According to Pinterest, Jalapeño bites were all the rage that year. I made them and was hooked. I blogged about it here.

Since then, I would like to think I've perfected the art of a jalapeño popper. I used to use this cooking creme for the cream cheese. Since then, they stopped making it (sad times) but now I use regular cream cheese and it is probably for the best. So here's my updated version of that recipe, since I made them over Christmas break:

Jalapeño Bacon Poppers:

You'll need:
   fresh jalapeños (however many you plan to make)
   cream cheese block (we made 20 poppers with one block)
   worcestershire sauce
   your choice of seasoning (you could use garlic salt, Old Bay seasoning, creole seasoning, etc)
   a package of bacon

Preheat the oven to 375

You'll do:
1) chop your jalapeños in half, deseeding and taking out the membrane

2) meanwhile, soften your cream cheese in the microwave, then mix in bowl with the worcestershire sauce (to taste) and seasoning.

3) spoon the cream cheese mixture into the jalapeños, filling the jalapeño

4) wrap your bacon around the jalapeño - I cut my bacon in half and did 1/2 a piece per jalapeño but if you were feeling generous you could use the whole one

5) Bake in the oven on 375 for approximately 40 minutes - watch the bacon to see if it is cooked all the way

Note: we use our broiler pan so the bacon grease can drip down onto the foil covered bottom pan of the set, that way the bacon doesn't burn in its own grease. I highly recommend.

And... the end result. Not too many in the picture because we nommed them all super quick:

In excessive calories,

{Go there}: RP Tracks and Bosco's - March Appetizer Crawl.

Sometimes Jake and I do a little activity called our appetizer crawl. We got this idea from his parents, who love to hop from place to place getting appetizers on special occasions, and we've done it a few times now. Usually we do one of these when we want to spend some time together and eat out but can't decide where to go or what to have, so we just get the best of several places.

Saturday afternoon was beautiful - blue skies, 70 degrees. When we got out of our movie (Hunger Games...so good) we decided to do a little March Appetizer Crawl. We had grand intentions but only ended up going two places, which is more than fine by me.

We started out at RP Tracks, getting their nachos. I have blogged about them before here and mentioned then that our waiter suggested getting the chips on the side next time, so we definitely did that:

We also made sure to get black bean chili with our jerk chicken nachos - you're supposed to get the black bean automatically but one time they give us the meat chili and it was meat overload. After a little time hanging out there, we went over to say hi to Jake's sister, who was in town, diverting from our app path for just a bit before jumping back in with a stop at Bosco's.

At Bosco's we got the Garlic Parmesan fries - they aren't on the appetizer menu but you can order them none the less and they are amazing. Get them with ranch.

After that we headed on home, two stops in. Turns out our eyes and ideas were in fact bigger than our stomachs. I'm already scheming for next month's appetizer crawl, though. I'm thinking of turning it into a fun, friend-filled event to celebrate Jake's boards. Making all the stops near each other so we can walk and have a grand old time. Thoughts?


In having options when it comes to appetizers,

Make this: Pastrami Wrapped Pickles.

Two years ago I blogged about making Prosciutto Wrapped Pickles, a recipe I got from one of Jake's mom's neighbors. At the time I was frustrated because they didn't look good (though they tasted awesome) and were very hard to make. So this Christmas when Jake's mom made them for our Christmas Eve gathering, I asked her how she did hers - turns out she used pastrami instead of prosciutto. And so I set out to try it again.

The other night my bff Elise and her bf Nate (get those abbrevs?) came over for a civilized, grown-up, home cooked dinner. She's home for Christmas from Yale where the smarty-pants is in a Master's program. And since I'm bragging, her boyfriend Nate's band Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors (remember, I blogged about them here) were featured on the NBA's Christmas montage this year. Here's the Youtube and here's an article about it.

Well so they came over for a Christmas dinner  - we made the Southwestern Skillet Chili that I blogged about a few weeks ago and a simple salad with almonds, gorgonzola cheese, and a olive oil/vinaigrette dressing. Elise brought rolls (from Buntyn's recipe, now sold in Germantown at a ready-made food store - ridiculously good) and we also picked up a bottle of wine. So civilized.

(And I used my Christmas dishes!! Thanks, Mom!!)

So back to the pickles. Elise and I share a love of pickles so I knew that I should make them for our dinner since I've been wanting to re-try my hand at them. And this time? Much easier than last and just as yummy. While I love the taste that the prosciutto gives, the pastrami holds up better and is just as good-tasting.

What you'll need:
Whole pickles (I recommend Claussen or Boar's Head)
Cream Cheese (I'd recommend the block, even though it is a pain to mix, it stays on the pickle better)
Worcestershire sauce
Garlic Salt
Thickly sliced pastrami (several slices, depending on how many pickles you're making)

What you'll do:
1) make your cream cheese mixture. blend the cheese with about a tablespoon of worcestershire sauce (add more to taste) and some shakes of the garlic salt (again, to taste). if you can, let this sit for a bit to "mull"

2) take a pickle out of the jar - dry it with a towel (this is actually sort of important). cut the ends off
3) slab on the cream cheese mixture on the pickle (I use a butter knife)
4) roll up the pickle into the pastrami

5) slice up the pastrami into about inch thick pieces (a serrated knife is best)

Repeat this process until you have as many as you want!

In my two favorite foods - pickles and cheese - being together,

Make this: Beer Cheese Dip.

The other day I needed to make a dip that was able to be served cold, as I was dropping it off at a friend's house for a gathering later in the day for her family. I knew I wanted to do a cheese based dip and so I was browsing the Kraft website for cream cheese recipes. I decided to do this recipe for a beer cheese dip.

We followed it pretty much to the recipe but doubled it. I've got some recommendations that I'll add at the end as well.

You'll need:
2 packages cream cheese
1/2 cup ranch dressing
2 cups shredded cheese*
1/2 cup beer **
4 green onions, chopped ***

 You'll:
1) Beat the cream cheese and dressing in a medium bowl until blended
2) add in the remaining ingredients
3) refrigerate several hours until chilled

And a few notes:
*I really recommend getting a block of cheddar cheese and shredding that. It would make a huge difference in consistency.
**we used a golden ale for this recipe. I think you should really use something that has a bit of flavor to it but not overwhelming (for example, an IPA or a dark ale might sway it too much but a Bud Light wouldn't have any flavor)
***the recipe calls for the green end of the onions but I've found that the white bulb end gives off better flavor so we chopped that end instead

Also, we added cajun seasoning and a bit more beer at the end to give it more flavor. I would taste and go from there once you've mixed.

We served with frito's but Ritz crackers are recommended.

In loving dips,

Make this: Dad's Meatballs.

A few weeks ago, we stopped by my parents before going out to a Christmas party. My dad was trying out a new meatball recipe and I stole a few to taste test....ever since I've been craving them. I decided to try them out for this new, fun wine club I went to Wednesday night. These meatballs can be served on their own like I did or in a pasta dish like my dad did.

I took the recipe and tried to approximate how much of everything I'd need because the original recipe was per meatball and I wanted to just mix everything together at once.

To make these, you'll need:
2/3rds lb ground chuck
2/3rds lb ground pork
large tub Greek yogurt
garlic, minced
basil, minced
parmesan cheese, grated
bread crumbs
salt, pepper

1) mince your garlic and basil (we used about 8 basil leaves and 5 garlic cloves)

2) put your meat in a large mixing bowl, add in about 1/2 cup of greek yogurt (you may add some later if the consistency isn't right), 1/2 cup bread crumbs (again, add more if you want for consistency), parmesan cheese (about 1/4 cup or more), basil and garlic, and salt/pepper (we also added Cavender's Greek Seasoning). Mix together with hands.

3) create mini-meat balls out of the mixture

4) cook in a skillet with heated olive oil

(It helps if you have a cute helper)


And serve!

Makes about 30 meatballs.

In pork AND beef,

Make this: Jalapeño Bacon Bites.

These guys have been all the rage on Pinterest. And I mean, who doesn't love cheese, bacon, and a little spice? I made the famous jalapeño bacon bites for our polish party the other night and am hooked on this appetizer. Fast, easy, delicious. What more do you need? I got this recipe by modifying a few different ones I found online..

You need:
jalapeños (fresh, however many you want to make, I used 8 to make 16 halves, which made 32 bites)
cream cheese (we used the new cooking kind that is an easier consistency)
bacon
old bay seasoning
garlic powder
onion salt

Steps:
1) Halve your jalapeño (you'll want to cut the stem if it isn't already off) and carve out the seeds and membrane of the pepper (that is the spicy part)

2) Mix your seasoning, garlic powder, and onion salt into your cream cheese (I just sort of dumped evenly, to taste) and stir. Put that mixture into your jalapeño boats.

3) Wrap the bacon around your creation - I found that if you start with the wide end of the bacon and go from there, it works well.

4) Cook on 375 degrees for about 40 minutes (watch them and use judgement - we have a convection oven and that helps a lot).

5) Cut in half and serve hot!

**We cooked these with a cookie sheet that had a broiler pan on top of it so that the cookie sheet caught the grease. Some similar contraption will serve you well or else you'll end up with burned bacon pieces pretty fast.

In liking it spicy and salty,