Sweet Watermelon Rind Relish

Sweet Watermelon Rind Relish is a fine accompaniment to crackers & cream cheese.

This recipe calls for watermelon rind with the thin outer dark-green skin removed. The easiest way to do that is to use a paring knife to cut away the red flesh, then use a vegetable peeler to remove the skin.

Makes 3 cups

Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon whole cloves
• 1 teaspoon whole allspice
• 4 cups watermelon rind, green skin removed, cut into 1/4-inch chunks
• 1-1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 12-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and cut into chunks

Directions:

1. On a 6-inch square of cheesecloth, combine the cloves and allspice. Tie the cloth into a bundle.
2. In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine the watermelon rind, sugar, vinegar, salt, cinnamon sticks, ginger and spice bundle.
3. Bring to a simmer and cook for 1 hour or until the watermelon rind is tender.
4. Allow the watermelon to fully cool in the liquid.
5. Remove and discard the spice bundle, cinnamon sticks and ginger.
6. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a month.

Cranberry Clementine Salsa Fresca

Something different! This recipe won the 2011 California Cuties Clementine recipe contest.

Ingredients:

• 12 ounces fresh or frozen thawed cranberries, divided
• 4 clementines, divided
• 1-1/2 cups peeled diced apple, divided (I like Fuji)
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
• 2 jalapeno peppers, seeds and pulp removed and diced
• 2 tablespoons honey, or more as desired
• 1 tablespoon raspberry or red wine vinegar, or more as desired
• 1 teaspoon salt, or more as desired
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or more as desired

Directions:

1. Remove 2 teaspoons of zest from the cuties.
2. Set aside 1/2 cup of cranberries, 1/2 of one cutie, and 1/2 cup of sliced apple.
3. Place zest and all remaining ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth.
4. Taste and adjust seasoning to taste, adding honey, salt, vinegar or cayenne pepper sauce as desired.
5. Add remaining 1 cup of cranberries, remaining 1/2 of one cutie and remaining 1/2 cup of diced apples and pulse a few times, until added ingredients are in small bits.
6. Serve at room temperature with chips.

From: everydaysouthwest.com

Artichoke Dip

Aunt Lee sent me this recipe with the following note:

"One of the gals from our tennis team always makes this dip and it is a hit everytime. She brought it today to our end of year luncheon.

It was the first dish to be eaten up!!! Really good. Thought I’d share."

ARTICHOKE DIP

Ingredients:

• 1 (14 oz.) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped (I use marinated.)
• 8 oz. crumbled feta cheese
• 1 cup mayo
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
• 1 jar (2oz.) diced pimentos, drained (If I have it, but not necessary.)
• 1 garlic clove, crushed

Directions:

1. Mix all and spoon into 9" pie plate or shallow dish.
2. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until lightly brown.
3. Garnish with diced tomatoes & green onions. (optional)
4. Serve with pita triangles or crackers. ENJOY!!!

Sweet & Sour Meatballs

The first time I made these meatballs it was for a large potluck supper/meeting with 80 to 100 people attending. I didn't feel like I needed to feed everybody, but a dish that served only 6-8 just didn't seem like the way to go. When I found this meatball recipe and saw that it could be doubled for a very large batch, I knew I was 'good to go'. Normally I would have made the (in)famous 'Wicked Wienies', but I didn't have the hours it was going to take for them to be at their most delicious, so meatballs it was. What I found out was that people like these meatballs ..... a lot. The crockpot was empty at the end of the evening.

Ingredients:

• 1 (10 oz.) jar of grape jelly
• 1 (14 oz.) jar of Heinz Chili Sauce
• 1 package of frozen meatballs

Mix grape jelly and chili sauce. I actually heated it in a sauce pan so the grape jelly would melt.
Put the frozen meatballs in the crockpot and pour the sauce over them.
Heat thoroughly on high.


Large batch quantities:

• 5 lb. bag of frozen meatballs
• 3 (12 oz.) jars of Chili sauce
• 1 (32 oz.) jar of grape jelly

Update (April 2013): Just made this for a small group (10) potluck .... got the 32 oz. Great Value (original) meatballs, 1 jar (14 oz) grape jelly, & 1 bottle (12oz) chili sauce. I had a little chili sauce left in another bottle so I was able to get a 50-50 split between the grape jelly/chili sauce. I started with frozen meatballs at 3:30 ... heated the sauce ingredients in a pan to melt the jelly & poured over the meatballs in the crockpot - by 6:30, all was ready to serve. The meatballs were a huge hit, as usual .... the Great Value brand worked very well ... tasty, right size .... right price! This was SO easy that I'll be doing it again soon. Just a thought .... I wonder how a little bourbon added to the sauce would taste?

Wicked Wienies

 

 

Wicked Wienies don't last long when you have them at a party or get-together, even if you have a crock pot full. The original recipe calls for heating them in a pot on a burner and you can certainly do that, especially for a small batch, but ..... something special happens to Little Smokies when you cook them in a crock pot for hours. They "de-plump". Seriously, they get skinnier, more dense and terrifically more delicious. To be more technical, I think a lot of the fat and juice cooks out of them and what is left is a most wonderful little wienie ..... and they are 'wicked good'.  For the de-plumping to occur, from my experience, they have to be in the crock pot for at least six hours and if they go longer than that, so much the better.

Making Wicked Wienies doesn't get much easier and once you get them going in the crock pot, you can forget them .... until it's appetizer time. I think these are my very favorite hot hors d'oeuvre .

Large Batch in the Crock Pot:

• 2 packages Little Smokies (50 per pack, total 100)
• 1 bottle (32 or 36 oz.) ketchup*
• 1 bottle (10-16 oz.) BBQ sauce*
• 1/2 cup bourbon*
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2-3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Mix all, add sausages, put in the crock pot on high for several hour, then switch to low for a couple of hours - total 6-8 hours minimum.

Small Batch for Pot or Small Crock Pot:

• 1 package Little Smokies (50 per package)
• 2 cups ketchup
• 1 cup BBQ sauce
• 1/4 cup bourbon
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Heat in a pot until good and hot or follow crock pot directions above.

*recipe note - I use cheap ..... store brand ketchup & BBQ sauce ... cheap bourbon. If you want to use Hunts/Heinz ketchup, Sweet Baby Ray's/Bone Suckin' BBQ sauce, and your Wild Turkey, feel free to do that, but I'm here to tell 'ya that after 8 hours in the crock pot, Great Value ketchup/BBQ sauce and a cheap bourbon blend just fine and I doubt you would be able to tell the difference.

Holiday Ham & Cheese Ball

This has become our "go to" cheese ball for entertaining - it's tasty!!

Holiday Ham & Cheese Ball

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (4 oz.) shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 package (3 oz.) cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 can (4-1/4 oz.) Underwood Deviled Ham
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped scallions
• 3 tablespoons Old El Paso Chopped Green Chilies
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• crackers

In a small bowl, combine & mix well:

• Cheddar cheese
• cream cheese
• deviled ham
• scallions
• chilies

Shape mixure into a ball (you may have to chill in the refrigerator until mixture is stiff enough to form a ball)

Roll in chopped walnuts

Wrap in plastic wrap; chill

Remove from refrigerator to soften slightly before serving

Serve with crackers

Makes 1 (2 cup) cheese ball

Mexican Seven Layer Dip

Another favorite recipe from work - so popular that I had to make two pans .... pan #1 would keep the wolves at bay (i.e. 'guys' hovering over the pan with their chips in hand waiting for the 'go' signal to all dive in at once) while the rest of us politely took turns dipping our chips in pan #2.

Way back when, depending on the season, ripe avocados were hard to come by, if you could find them at all. The recipe originally called for fresh tomatoes as well, but the grainy, tasteless tomatoes available at the grocery store just weren't providing the necessary 'taste' .... thus the modification to use the Rotel tomatoes (with chiles for some extra kick) & the guacamole dip. If it's summer & you have home-grown tomatoes & can find ripe avocadoes, go for it!

Mexican Seven Layer Dip

(modified from Dale W.'s recipe)

(Note: Lowfat or fat free refried beans, sour cream, cheese, etc. works well in this recipe.)

Ingredients:

• 1 can refried beans
• 1 package Taco seasoning, divided equally
• 1 can Rotel tomatoes with chiles, drained
• 1/2 yellow onion, finely diced
• 5-6 strips of bacon, cooked & crumbled or diced
• 8 oz. sour cream
• Guacamole:
• 8 oz. ready made guacamole dip or packaged avocado OR
• 1-2 avocados mashed & mixed with 8 oz. sour cream (in addition to sour cream above - total 16 oz. sour cream for the recipe).
• Jalapenos:
•  several tablespoons fresh jalapeno, diced OR
•  several tablespoons of pickled or plain jalapeno slices (jar), diced
•  2 cups shredded cheese (cheddar, Mexican blend, etc.)

       Optional:  1 small can of sliced black olives

To Assemble:

1. An aluminum sheet cake pan (1/4 sheet cake size) 12-1/4 x 8-1/4 x 1-1/4 or similar size works perfectly.
2. Mix refried beans with 1/2 of Taco seasoning & evenly spread in pan
3. Sprinkle drained Rotel tomatoes/chiles on top of beans
4. Sprinkle onions & bacon on top of beans
5. Carefully spread guacamole over tomato/bacon/onion layer
6. Sprinkle jalapenos (to taste) & black olives (if using) over guacamole
7. Mix 8 oz. of sour cream with remaining 1/2 of Taco seasoning & spread over previous layer
8. Cover sour cream layer with shredded cheese

Best made at least a couple of hours ahead of serving to allow flavors to blend

**Mexican Potato Bake:
    use this dip as a generous topping for baked potatoes. Delicious!!

**Individual cups:
    layer dip in inidividual small clear cups (8 oz with a wide 
    'mouth' would work well). The layers look pretty & everybody has
    their own dip & doesn't have to keep running back to the dip pan.

    Here's a link for the individual dip cups idea:

http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/2011/12/individual-seven-layer-dips.html