Favorite Party Foods ~For Tara’s Birthday Post~
Author: Devyl Gyrl / Category: Blogging, Food, Friends / FamilyMy friend Tara R has a birthday coming up, and she asked all her blogger friends to participate in the celebration by posting their favorite family or party recipes. She asked that they be left in her comments, emailed, or blogged. Since I haven’t blogged much lately … and usually only about Baby S. anymore, I decided to take advantage of her request and make a blog post.
I have a huge family, with five “parents” (one deceased), each of whom have several siblings. All of my parents are from the same town, and grew up with one another. Each of my parents’ families have a lot of favorites, and I think I have blogged a couple of recipes in the past. Most of those recipes take hours to prepare though, because we do it the old-fashioned way: five-ten women in the kitchen, tripping over one another, putting together recipes that have been eaten at family gatherings for up to 60 years.
One of my favorite things that we always have is a variety of cheese in balls, spreads, logs, and sauces. We apparently have a fascination with cheese that none of us realizes! I’ll post a few of our delicious recipes.
First, i will freely admit that we cheat and use a myriad of sauces on top of cream cheese, and serve with crackers. This requires absolutely no creativity and time on our part, other than choosing a sauce that sounds good and pouring it on top of a softened “log” of cheese.
We prefer sweet-hot flavors: jalapeno jelly, sweet chili sauce, cranberry pepper jelly, or a variety of other fruit-and-pepper jellies, etc.
You need:
1 brick of cream cheese
Sauce of your choice
Crackers of your choice
Directions:
Let the cream cheese rest at room temperature for 10 minutes, flatten between two cutting boards (we use plastic wrap sprayed with a tiny bit of spam on the cutting boards), place on the serving tray, and pour the jelly on top.
Serve with Wheat Thins, Triscuits, or any other favorite brand of cracker (just make sure it is a strong cracker that does not easily break or crumble).
While the cheese log/spread is the easiest to prepare and get out on the table, we also like doing cheese balls. I’m not sure why we round them out prior to serving, but we have been doing it for years. Generally, the cheese balls tend to have meats or nuts in them, so they are more savory. Our favorite is the crab cheese ball, but I have also seen bacon cheese balls, shrimp cheese balls, and shredded-beef/chicken/pork cheese balls.
Each is served with a different kind of sauce. The crab is served with a horseradish and ketchup mix (I am not sure why we do not use cocktail sauce; we just do not!). The bacon cheese ball is served with sprinkling of Mrs. Dash Tomato Basil Garlic/Onion and Herb on top (and cheddar cheese is mixed in with the cream cheese prior to shaping the ball). The shrimp cheese ball is topped with either the horseradish/ketchup mix or cocktail sauce (again, I do not know why we can use cocktail sauce here but not on the crab cheese ball … we are just very picky about it darnit!). The shredded beef/chicken/pork cheese balls tend to have a BBQ sauce on them… which of course use chopped/blended habanero or jalepeno peppers instead of simple Tabasco. 
Anyway. My favorite is the crab cheese ball. You can serve it in a ball, or flatten into a log, or shape it with cookie cutters … whatever you do, mix your own horseradish/ketchup sauce instead of using regular cocktail sauce. You’ll thank me later!
You need:
1 brick of cream cheese
1 can crab meat (artificial or not)
Garlic powder (to taste) (only add if you do *not* use the Cholula Chile Garlic in the sauce!)
2-4 Tbsp Horseradish
Lemon juice to taste
1/2 Cup Ketchup
hot sauce (Tobasco is ok, Crystal works, but my favorite is Cholula Chile Garlic Hot Sauce)
Directions:
Mix the cream cheese, crab meat (drained first!), and garlic powder. Important: If you are going to use the Cholula Chile Garlic Hot Sauce, you won’t need the garlic powder!! Shape the mixture into whichever shape you choose (our traditional is a ball). Cover and place in refrigerator chill for at least 30 minutes. Preferably 1-2 hours.
In a bowl, mix 1/2 cup ketchup (any brand), 2 tbsp horseradish, and a dash (or up to 1 teaspoon) of lemon juice. Taste the mixture, then add a couple of teaspoons of your favorite hot sauce and taste again. Not hot enough? Add more horseradish, then more hot sauce. Traditionally, we use just horseradish (four tablespoons) and ketchup (half a cup) … I prefer the mix with the hot sauce. I add the lemon to appease people who need to see lemon going into anything with seafood. Personally, I dislike lemon flavoring!
Cover the sauce and place in the refrigerator to chill.
When guests start arriving, spoon some sauce over the cheese ball and serve with crackers. Crisp crackers (such as Wheat Thins) work best when you don’t want to use a spreader. If you serve with a spreader, Townhouse Toppers taste the best!
In reflection, I think the savory meat “balls” were what we originally had at family events, and when the cream cheese-and-jelly spreads came along, we left them in “logs” so that they were easily differentiated from one another. Maybe.
You would think with all these types of starters involving cheese that we would be just about cheese-d out for the day, right? Absolutely NOT! We also serve a broccoli-cheese dip (sometimes it includes ground beef, sometimes it includes sausage).
You need:
Either 2 jars (8 oz ea) process cheese sauce or 1 block melting cheese (such as Velveeta)
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
1 can Ro*tel Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies (Or Diced Tomatoes with Habaneros)
3 cups frozen chopped broccoli, thawed and drained
1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, chopped (optional)
1/2 large onion, sliced or diced
2 roasted red peppers, diced
2 tablespoons chopped seeded jalapeno pepper
1/2 to 1 lb ground chuck (or ground sausage)
Assorted fresh vegetables (carrots, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, etc)
Tortilla chips (scoops!) or a French Loaf, carved out to serve as a bowl
Directions:
Cook the onion in butter until it is translucent. Add the ground beef or sausage, and brown. Drain and rinse the meat. Toss into the crockpot with cheese (cube it if you’re using the block). Add the jalapenos, can of tomatoes, mushrooms (if desired), broccoli, and cream of mushroom soup. Cook on low or medium until the cheese is melted. Stir often to blend ingredients and help the cheese melt.
Serve with Fresh Veggies, Tortilla Chips, or Bread Bowl (and extra bread!). This is 5 billion types of yummy goodness!
Now I want to throw a party!
Tags: recipes, blogging fun
