Chex Party Mix
Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball
Chocolate Eclairs
Dip for Apple Wedges
Easy Party Mix
Fruit Dip
Fruit Cheese Log
Hot Buttered Rum Batter
Jan’s Nibbles
Mexican Candy
Mini Cheesecakes
Sherbert Punch
Sugared Dates
White Chocolate Popcorn
Chex Party Mix (sweet)
1/2 large box Corn Chex
1/2 large box Golden Grahams
2 cups coconut
2 cups slivered almonds
mix in large bowl
Glaze:
1 cup sugar
1 cup white corn syrup
3/4 cup butter
boil for 2 minutes, pour over cereal mix and stir to coat evenly.
Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball
1 Pkg. (8 oz.) Cream Cheese, softened
½ Cup Butter (no substitutes) softened
¼ Tsp. Vanilla Extract
¾ Cup Confectioners Sugar
2 Tbsp. Brown Sugar
¾ Cup Miniature Semisweet Chocolate Chips
¾ Cup finely Chopped Pecans Graham Crackers
In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla until fluffy. Gradually add sugars, beat until combined, stir in Chocolate Chips. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours. Place cream cheese mixture on a large piece of plastic wrap; shape into a ball, cover and refrigerate for 1 hour. Just before serving, roll cheese ball into pecans. Serve with graham crackers.
Chocolate Eclairs
1 cup water
1/2 cup margarine
1 cup flour
dash of salt
5 eggs
Heat water & margarine to boil. Dump in flour & salt and beat hard by hand until paste forms a mass and leaves side of pan (do this quickly).
Remove from heat & beat in eggs one at a time. Preheat oven to 375.
Spoon eclair paste onto well greased cookie sheets–I usually do the original recipe that says spoon them in 4×1 inch strips (~ 2 in. apart cause they spread). Then bake 40 min., slit tops with sharp knife & bake 10 min. longer. If you want to make smaller ones (like at the party), cook ~ 15-20 min., slit tops & cook ~ 5-7 min. longer.
Filling: One large box jello instant vanilla pudding–make like on box & add a dash of rum (or amaretto or whatever) if you like. Whip 8 oz. heavy cream & fold into pudding–spoon into the cool puffs you’ve made.
Glaze: Melt 6 oz. pkg. semisweet chocolate chips & 1 tablespoon shortening over double boiler (or low in microwave). When melted, stir in 3 tablespoons light corn syrup & 2 tablespoons milk (& a bit of Kahlua if you have it). Dribble this stuff while still warm over the cool, filled eclairs & chill. Eat at least 2 at a time for full effect.
Dip for Apple Wedges
Make sure after cutting the apples into wedges to use lemon, orange, or pineapple juice to coat slices (to keep from turning brown before serving).
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
¾ cup sugar
¼ tsp. cinnamon
¼ cup brown sugar (packed)
Whip all ingredients together and serve with apple wedges.
Easy Peasy Party Mix
1 can of mixed nuts
1 cup of raisins
1 can of dried cranraisins
1 bag of m&ms or reeces pieces.
mix together and enjoy
Fruit Dip
Serve with grapes, sliced apples, orange segments, sliced banana- any fruit at all!
16 oz Marshmallow topping
8 oz Cream Cheese
1 T Frozen Orange juice concentrate
Beat all together until light and fluffy. It’s yummy!
Fruit Cheese Log
1/4 cup chopped dried apricots
2 T apple juice or water
4 oz (125 g) softened cream cheese
8oz (250 g) sharp (tasty) cheddar cheese grated
2 T heavy cream
2 T ea raisins and dates chopped
1/2 tsp poppy seeds
Soak apricots in juice for 2 hours. Beat cream cheese and cream then add undrained apricots, raisins, dates and poppy seeds. Mix well. Put on foil and shape into log. Wrap in foil and chill. Serve with crackers Very delicious. Can roll log in chopped nuts, parsley or more poppy seeds if desired.
Hot Buttered Rum Batter
1 lb. butter (must be real butter), softened
1 lb. powdered sugar
1 lb. dark brown sugar
2 tsp. nutmeg
2 tsp. cinnamon
Pinch allspice
1 quart French vanilla ice cream, softened
Cream butter, sugars and spices together well. Add softened ice cream. Store in refrigerator. Add several large spoonfuls into a mug. Add rum to taste (about 1 shot glass). (Captain Morgan’s Spiced Rum is especially good for this.) Add boiling water to top of mug. Top with freshly grated nutmeg. This is yummy even without the alcohol which can be fun for the little ones at the party.
Jan’s Nibbles
I have two favorite appetizer recipes I would like to share. The first one I got from a friend and so it’s called Jan’s nibbles.
Much of the measurements are “as you like it” 😉 In large bowl mix together : large handful of raisins, large handful of caramel popcorn, large handful Kellogg’s Nutragrain cereal or similar, 1 bag crispy Chinese noodles (equivalent to two large handfuls). In large pot warm 1/2 cup salad oil then add 1 T dry mustard, 1 tsp chilli powder, 1 to 2 T curry powder, 1 envelope each dry onion soup and cream of chicken soup. Stir well then add dry ingredient from large bowl. Mix well and store in airtight container.
Mexican Candy
2 cups sugar
2 Tbsp. white Karo syrup
3/4 cup milk
Boil to soft boil. Take off fire. Add 1/2 tsp. of soda and 1 tsp. of vanilla. Put candy back on fire and cook until brown. Add (pecans) nuts and beat. Dip out as patties.
Mini Cheesecakes
I love to make mini-cheesecakes with puff pastry shells! It’s so easy, and they’re always a big hit. The little shells are available in the frozen food section of the market. Then I buy the Jello No-bake Cheesecake and a can of cherry pie filling. Just follow the directions on the cheesecake box, omitting the first step (the crust). After mixing the filling, just spoon it into the puff pastry shells, top with cherry filling and Viola!
Sherbert Punch
1 half gallon container sherbet. We usually use lime but have found a tropical blend from Edy’s works just as well.
1 2 liter bottle ginger ale.
Let the sherbet soften a bit and put in punch bowl. Pour ginger ale over sherbet, mix a bit and serve. This melts fairly quickly, so you can do small batches if you want, just mix in equal parts, ie 1/2 container sherbet and 1/2 bottle of ginger ale.
This is a great tasting non alcoholic drink that is good for the entire family. You can also try experimenting with sorbet if you’d like.
Sugared Dates
Pitted Dates, the kind that come in the box (Dromedary is what we usually get)
Granulated Sugar
Walnut pieces (long halves are easier than smaller pieces)
Stuff each pitted date with a walnut piece. Roll the stuffed date in granulated sugar.
White Chocolate Popcorn
1 bag microwave popcorn, popped (separate out all the un-popped kernels. I do this by pouring the popcorn into a colander.)
2 squares almond bark
Melt the almond bark in a glass bowl in the microwave for 20 seconds at a time until it is melted and creamy. I put the popcorn in a clean paper bag, then pour the melted almond bark over it, and shake it till the popcorn is coated evenly. Pour it out on some waxed paper, and let the bark set. Then you break it up and put in a decorative container.
