Party Ideas Archives - 2 Sisters 2 Cities

Posted by Meaghan Barry on November 4, 2015

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of EVITE® and Moe’s Southwest Grill. The opinions and text are all mine.

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Halloween is officially behind us now and that can only mean one thing- it’s time to start talking about the holidays and holiday party planning! Are you in charge of planning your office holiday party this year? If so, EVITE has got you covered with plenty of office holiday party tips.

This time of year can often feel extremely hectic. Between birthday parties, Thanksgiving prep, and upcoming holiday parties, it is really easy to get overwhelmed with planning. All it can take is a little festive inspiration broken down into steps to get you back on track with your party plans.

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First step, create an adorable EVITE invitation to your office party. EVITE offers so many different styles of invitations and you will be sure to find one that matches the holiday party style of your office. I use EVITE all the time to plan various parties and events. I am always so amazed to find an EVITE theme that exactly matches the style of the party I am planning.

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Next step, pick out catering options that will please even the pickiest co-worker in your office! Consider a make-your-own fajita bar and salsa bar from Moe’s Southwest Grill. Everyone will love being able to mix and match fajita ingredients and toppings! There are so many details to worry about during the holiday season…this is not one of them!

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And finally, a guaranteed way to put me into the holiday spirit is a hot cocoa bar. Step up your holiday office party to the next notch with a Mexican hot chocolate station for co-workers to visit after they are done noshing on fajitas. Offer marshmallows, crushed peppermints, paper straws, and festive cups to really jazz it up!

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For more holiday office party tips, be sure to visit the EVITE Holiday Office Party Guide. Happy planning!

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Posted by Meaghan Barry on January 27, 2015

I’ve been so busy thinking about this historical blizzard that is currently hitting us that I have barely put a thought to this weekend’s big football game! I’m pretty excited to cheer on the New England Patriots to (hopefully) another big win. I have a feeling that most of our readers will be cheering on the Seahawks, but we all can agree on what makes this game so special- the food! Are you hosting a big football game viewing party this weekend? Evite and Qdoba have teamed up to provide a great article with 5 Steps to an Easy Football Party.

catering-taco-bar

My favorite tip from this article is #3- ordering a catered meal from a restaurant. While I love to cook, I love to be able to have time to watch the game and hang out with my guests. For parties, I love to have the party catered and then I can focus on making one or two of my own favorite appetizers or desserts. Qdoba offers a variety of catering options, including their nacho, taco, and burrito bars…my mouth is watering just thinking about it! Then, save yourself even more time by using Evite to send special watch the game invitations.

Once you figure out the main meal for your football party, you can have fun deciding what appetizer and dessert you can make for your party. Here are some of our favorite game day recipes from the 2 Sisters 2 Cities archives:

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Tex-Mex Pimiento Cheese Dip– This recipe always make an appearance on my Super Bowl menu. This might be true for you too after you try it!

Mexican Pinwheels

Mexican Pinwheels– This super easy appetizer recipe has been pinned over 6,000 times on Pinterest!

Chips and Spinach Dip

Spinach Artichoke Dip– Better than any restaurant spinach artichoke dip- trust me on this one. It’s so good.

Slice of Peanut Butter Cream Pie

Peanut Butter Cream Pie– Don’t plan on leftovers with this recipe- your guests will love it!

Boxed Cake Mix Chocolate Chip Cookies– These cookies are so easy to make and always come out deliciously puffy and moist.

Salted Caramel Brownies– I can’t wait to make these this weekend! I love the perfect combination of chocolate, caramel, and salt.

To all my fellow Northeasterners- start digging (once it’s safe out!) and start planning! And to everyone else, please send warm wishes our way and have fun planning your game day festivities.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Evite. The opinions and text are all mine.

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Posted by Meaghan Barry on November 20, 2014

Holiday Coffee Bar 1

Now that we’ve officially wrapped up T’s birthday extravaganza, I’ve finally started thinking about Thanksgiving…which is probably a good idea considering it is next week! I have a whole section in one of my recipe binders reserved just for Thanksgiving recipes. I’m also always adding to my Thanksgiving Pinterest board for hosting inspiration.

Thanksgiving Coffee Bar

Over the past few years, I have hosted Thanksgiving at our home and I am always looking for fun new ideas and recipes for the big day. This year I have decided to do a full coffee bar set-up so that my guests can have coffee and their favorite International Delight Creamers before, during, or after their Thanksgiving dinner. I was able to find four of the I.D. holiday flavors at Target today. It’s going to be a very hard decision to pick which one to try first- Gingerbread Latte, Sugar Cookie, Peppermint Chocolate Truffle, or Pumpkin Pie Spice?! To set up your holiday coffee bar, just add freshly brewed coffee, coffee cups, your favorite International Delight Creamers, a couple of spoons to stir things up, and a few decorative Thanksgiving pieces.

Coffee Bar ID

A few coffee bar tips- You may want to throw your International Delight on ice if you plan to have it out for a few hours so it’s stays cold and fresh! If you are stocking up on International Delight for your Thanksgiving guests, be sure to sign up for their Member Delights program to get a free instant coupon towards I.D. Also, you can create an easy and cheap table decor piece by searching Pinterest for free Thanksgiving printables. There is a lot of great stuff out there…just print and frame once you find something that catches your eye! If you have a single-serve coffee maker (such as a Keurig,) you could also set that up on your coffee bar with your favorite K-cup selection so that your guests can make their own cups of hot coffee as needed.

International Delight Coffee Bar

I’ve also started picking some of my favorite Thanksgiving recipes from the 2S2C archives to make for next week. Here’s my current list so far:

rosemary parmesan popcorn

Rosemary Parmesan Popcorn (for a light snack/appetizer before the big dinner)

Chorizo Cornbread Stuffing

Chorizo Cornbread Stuffing

Sweet Potato Casserole

Grandma’s Sweet Refrigerator Rolls

Homemade Apple Sauce

Make-Ahead Turkey Gravy {from 2 Sisters 2 Cities}

Make-Ahead Turkey Gravy

Do you host Thanksgiving each year or do you usually travel to family or friends? What’s your favorite go-to Thanksgiving entertainment idea and/or recipe?

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This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of International Delight. The opinions and text are all mine.

Posted by Keelin Hollenbeck on May 5, 2014

Happy Cinco De Mayo! Are you looking for some recipes to celebrate with? Well, you have come to the right place. I love, love, love me some Mexican food so it isn’t too hard to find a recipe in my my collection to make around here.

Over the weekend, I mixed up a couple batches of these Strawberry Margaritas to celebrate with. With strawberries on sale for so cheap around this time of year in California, it seemed like the perfect flavor for our “margs.” I love this classic recipe for Margaritas,but sometimes a little variation is needed. The best part about this recipe is that you make strawberry simple syrup which can then be used to make other drinks like strawberry milk, pink lemonade, or even strawberry-flavored seltzer water by mixing in a few spoonfuls. I recommend making the strawberry simple syrup ahead of time. I also juiced my limes ahead of time so when I was preparing the drinks, everything was ready. Enjoy!

Strawberry Margaritas

Author: 2 Sisters 2 Cities

Serves: 2 drinks

Ingredients

4 oz. triple sec
4 oz. tequila
5 oz. strawberry simple syrup
4 oz lime juice
Ice
sugar and kosher salt, to garnish
lime slices and strawberries, to garnish

Instructions

To make simple syrup- In sauce pan, heat 1 cup of water with 1 cup of sugar, stir and heat until mixture is clear. Put in a mason jar and let cool.
To make Strawberry simple syrup, put in 1 cup of cooled simple syrup and 1½ cups of cleaned, hulled strawberries. Blend until smooth.
To make Margarita- Mix together all ingredients with ice. Rub a slice of lime on the rim of 2 glassed, dip glassed is the sugar/salt mixture so it sticks to rim. Add additional ice to glasses and pour mixed drink into glasses. Garnish with lime wedges and strawberries. Serve immediately. Enjoy!

Source- Adapted slightly from Tide and Thyme

Want more recipes for Cinco De Mayo?

Black Bean Burritos

Tres Leches Cupcakes

Posted by Keelin Hollenbeck on April 18, 2014

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One of the most popular posts on our site has been the Classic Deviled Eggs post from Easter last year. M and I got a good laugh after Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Eve and Superbowl Sunday because we would get so much traffic from Pinterest for the Deviled Eggs post. I think we have only thought about having deviled eggs around Easter time, but we are so glad for to learn there are hardcore deviled egg fans year-round! I have been thinking of how I could expand on the original post to show more versions of deviled eggs.

I personally love classic deviled eggs and had never ventured outside of my favorite recipe. When I received this month’s Cooking Light, I was excited to see they had 12 different types of deviled egg recipes. I knew I had to try some new recipe variations!

In one day, I made four of the 12 types, adapting them slightly based on ingredients I had on hand. (I was quite impressed that I could make four types without buying any more items!):

Pickle Jalapeño
Pimiento Cheese
Herb and Crumb
Wasabi Ginger

The results (well, besides Matt and I being stuffed with eggs) were delicious. My favorite of the four was the Herb and Crumb, while Matt’s was Pimiento Cheese. I predicted that would be his favorite since we are always making up this Pimiento Cheese Dip I shared with you last month.

Easter is the best time to make deviled eggs because of all the extra hard-boiled eggs from decorating eggs. When my sisters and I were younger, we loved decorating eggs. Since there was four of us, my mom had to make a lot of eggs so we could get our fill of coloring. What did we do with all that extra eggs? Deviled eggs and egg salad sandwiches of course! We hope everyone has a great Easter Weekend!

Hard-Boiled Eggs

Ingredients

12 eggs

Instructions

Gently place the eggs in a large saucepan and cover with cold water (water level should be 1-inch above the eggs.)
Place saucepan on stove-top, set to high and bring to a boil. Once boiling, remove saucepan from heat, cover, and let stand for 10 minutes.
Fill a large-sized bowl with ice cold water while the eggs are sitting.
After the 10 minutes, take eggs out of hot water with a slotted spoon and place in the ice water gently; let sit for 5 minutes.
Store in refrigerator or use immediately

Pickle Jalapeño Deviled Eggs

Ingredients

12 hard-boiled eggs
3 tbsp. mayonnaise
3 tbsp. 2% Greek yogurt
1½ minced sweet gherkins
1 tbsp. minced pickled jalapeño
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
¼ tsp. kosher salt
¼ tsp. fresh cracked pepper
Thinly sliced gherkins, for garnish

Instructions

Peel eggs and then slice length wise. Take out the yolks of the eggs and place them in a medium sized bowl. With a fork, mash the egg yolks until all the large chunks are gone.
Add in remainder of ingredients except for garnish and stir with a rubber spatula. Mash mixture on the side of the bowl to smooth out any lumps.
Prepare a pastry bag with a large star tip (I used Wilton’s 6B). Take egg yolk mixture and add it to the pastry bag, then twist the top portion closed to push the eggs into the bag further.
Pipe the yolks into the egg whites by applying pressure to pastry bag and lifting up slowly and releasing the pressure as the egg white fills with yolk. Top each egg with sliced gherkins.

Pimiento Cheese Deviled Eggs

Ingredients

12 hard-boiled eggs
¼ cup chopped pimientos, drained
¼ cup light mayonnaise
½ tsp. hot sauce
½ tsp. Worcestershire sauce
¼ tsp. kosher salt
¼ tsp. fresh cracked pepper
¾ ounce reduced fat shredded cheese
2 tbsp. pecans, toasted and chopped, for garnish

Instructions

Peel eggs and then slice length wise. Take out the yolks of the eggs and place them in a medium sized bowl. With a fork, mash the egg yolks until all the large chunks are gone.
Add in remainder of ingredients except for garnish and stir with a rubber spatula. Mash mixture on the side of the bowl to smooth out any lumps.
Prepare a pastry bag with a large star tip (I used Wilton’s 6B). Take egg yolk mixture and add it to the pastry bag, then twist the top portion closed to push the eggs into the bag further.
Pipe the yolks into the egg whites by applying pressure to pastry bag and lifting up slowly and releasing the pressure as the egg white fills with yolk. Top each egg chopped toasted pecans.

Herb and Crumb Deviled Eggs

Ingredients

12 hard-boiled eggs
2 tbsp. panko bread crumbs
1 tsp. butter
¼ cup light mayonnaise
3 tbsp. light sour cream
3 tbsp. chopped green onion
1 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. lemon juice
¼ tsp. kosher salt
¼ tsp. fresh cracked pepper

Instructions

In a small fry pan, melt the butter and add the panko bread crumbs. Stir until toasted.
Peel eggs and then slice length wise. Take out the yolks of the eggs and place them in a medium sized bowl. With a fork, mash the egg yolks until all the large chunks are gone.
Add in remainder of ingredients except for toasted panko breadcrumbs and stir with a rubber spatula. Mash mixture on the side of the bowl to smooth out any lumps.
Prepare a pastry bag with a large star tip (I used Wilton’s 6B). Take egg yolk mixture and add it to the pastry bag, then twist the top portion closed to push the eggs into the bag further.
Pipe the yolks into the egg whites by applying pressure to pastry bag and lifting up slowly and releasing the pressure as the egg white fills with yolk. Top each egg with the toasted panko breadcrumbs.

Wasabi Ginger Deviled Eggs

Ingredients

12 hard-boiled eggs
¼ cup light mayonnaise
2 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro, plus 2 tsp. for garnish
4 tsp. grated ginger
4 tsp. wasabi paste
4 tsp. lime juice
2 tsp. toasted sesame seeds, for garnish

Instructions

Peel eggs and then slice length wise. Take out the yolks of the eggs and place them in a medium sized bowl. With a fork, mash the egg yolks until all the large chunks are gone.
Add in remainder of ingredients except for garnishes and stir with a rubber spatula. Mash mixture on the side of the bowl to smooth out any lumps.
Prepare a pastry bag with a large star tip (I used Wilton’s 6B). Take egg yolk mixture and add it to the pastry bag, then twist the top portion closed to push the eggs into the bag further.
Pipe the yolks into the egg whites by applying pressure to pastry bag and lifting up slowly and releasing the pressure as the egg white fills with yolk. Top each egg with toasted sesame seeds and chopped cilantro.

Pickle Jalapeno

Source- Adapted slightly from Cooking Light, April 2014

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And here’s a bonus version- the classic recipe for Deviled Eggs for all those leftover Easter Eggs!

Click Here!

Posted by Keelin Hollenbeck on February 11, 2014

Valentine’s Day is almost here and if your haven’t started thinking about gifts for your loved ones, I have just the idea for you! For my Christmas gift to my co-workers and friends this year, I made mason jars filled with homemade candy. I then covered the jar with muslin fabric (stenciled with the holiday greeting “cheers!”) and tied it on with red and green ribbon. Like most things around here, I finished it late the day before I was handing them out with no day light left. Therefore, I never came up with a good picture to share with you all.

After thinking about what I could make and write about on the blog for Valentine’s Day, I thought of re-creating the gift jars, except for a Valentine’s day gift. Mason jars are such a cute way to gift and are usually less than a dollar. The jars can be filled with whatever store-bought candy or homemade candy you would like to fill them with. For Christmas I filled them with crock pot candies and peanut brittle. The crock pot candy was so popular that I decided to fill my jars with them again because it was so simple to make. I had originally planned to make homemade peanut butter cups for my jars, but had run out of time and calories!

Muslin fabric is one of the cheapest kinds of fabric you can buy. I bought four yards at Christmas time and used a 50% off coupon so it ended up costing about four dollars! I will have enough fabric to make gift jars for every holiday for the rest of my life! As for ribbon, I always stock up on the 50 cent Offray ribbon at the craft stores in all the colors and different sizes. For 50 cents, you just can’t go wrong! I love combining different colors and sizes for a texture effect. Mason jars can be bought at the grocery store, Target or even Amazon for less than a dollar each.

If this project is last minute for you, think about using store-bought Valentine’s Day candies such as conversation hearts, M&M’s, Reese’s, Mini Snickers, and or Hershey’s Kisses. I also came up with a list of homemade candies that you could gift in these jars if you have more time (lucky!)

From our Blog:

From Other Blogs:

Homemade Peanut Butter Cups from Brown Eyed Baker
Valentine’s Day Homemade Gumdrops from Mom on Timeout
Peanut Butter Pretzel Truffles from Annie’s Eats
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles from Inside BruCrew Life

Materials:

Muslin Fabric
Fabric Scissors
Fabric Paint
Foam Brush
Heart Stencil (or card stock paper with a heart cut out of it)
Rubber Band
Colored Ribbons
Mason Jars, cleaned and dried
Tags

Cut muslin fabric in a 6-inch circle. Stencil the middle of fabric with heart by dabbing fabric paint with a foam brush. Make sure to put scrap paper underneath because some paint might bleed through.

Let the fabric dry.

Fill your jars with candy and close with lids.

Take the fabric circle on the top of the lid and place rubber band to hold it in place around the lid.

Cut about 2 feet of each ribbon color you intend to use. Double knot the ribbon on top of the rubber band and then carefully pull the rubber band out from below so that ribbon remains holding the fabric over lid.

String tag onto of the ribbons and then tie bow on top. Ta da! Happy Valentine’s Day!

Posted by Keelin Hollenbeck on January 31, 2014

Southwest Wontons

Here we are- just a few days from Super Bowl Sunday! Are you ready for your party? What appetizer or snacks are you going to be bringing or sharing? Meagh and I have plenty of recipes to share. Have you tried our:

Just a few ideas in case you haven’t been thinking about it 24/7 like some of us (ehhmm.)

I saw this recipe for Southwest Wontons a year ago and have been dying to make it ever since! It’s taken me a year because I was looking for a good opportunity to post about them. I should have made them sooner because they are so good! I actually made them twice because my first photo shoot was too dark. These wontons could be good dipped in just sour cream, but I went ahead and created my own chipotle lime dipping sauce that pairs perfectly with the wontons (if I do say so myself!)

As I have said before, I hate frying food- not even for health reasons, but because I am clumsy and how it makes the whole house smell like fried food. I wasn’t offended by this frying though because I only used about 1/2 inch of oil in my pan. Each wonton only fries for about a minute a side too so it’s really quick! I made the filling and dip ahead, then put the wontons together and fried them right before we were ready to eat them.

Southwest Wontons with Chipotle Lime Dipping Sauce

Southwest Wontons

Ingredients

1 cup frozen corn, thawed
½ red pepper, seeded, ribbed and chopped
½ poblano pepper, seeded, ribbed and chopped
½ small yellow onion
1 block reduced fat cream cheese (8 oz), at room temperature
kosher salt, to taste
fresh cracked pepper, to taste
30-40 wonton wrappers
Canola oil, for frying

Instructions

In a medium bowl mix together the first 5 ingredients. Add in salt and pepper to taste.
Heat a skillet with about ½ inch of canola oil on medium-medium-high heat, depending on your stovetop (mine runs a bit slower to heat up then others).
Take wonton papers and spoon about 1-2 tsp of filling in the middle of the wonton. Moisten the edges of the wonton by running you finger lightly moistened by dipping in water along the edges of the wonton. Fold the wonton in half so that opposite corners are meeting and press edges together. Your first wonton with be the determent of how much filling you should be using, just enough to fill but not too much it is overflowing. Make sure wontons are sealed completely or they are going to splash oil all over the place!
Once all wontons are filled, line a couple plates with paper towels. To determine if the oil is ready to fry, stick the edge of a toothpick in the oil tosee if it sizzles. Fry the wonton in groups of 4-5 so they are not touching. Flip after about 1 minute. Cook other side for another minute until golden brown, remove from oil to paper towels. Repeat for remaining wontons.

Southwest Wontons and dip

Chipotle Lime Dipping Sauce

Ingredients

2 chipotle peppers in adobo, chopped
1 cup light sour cream
¼ cup light mayonnaise
Juice from 1 lime
¼ cup chopped cilantro

Instructions

In the bowl of a food processor add all the ingredients. Process for about 30-45 second until all ingredients are combined. Place dipping sauce in a airtight bowl and let chill at least 1 hour before serving.

Source- Wontons adapted from Shared Appetite and Chipotle Lime Dipping Sauce is a 2s2c original

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Posted by Keelin Hollenbeck on January 29, 2014

Pretzels Dogs

I am a huge fan of both hot dogs and homemade pretzels. Although I have never ordered a pretzel dog from Auntie Anne’s, they have always intrigued me. A football classic around this house is hot dogs cut into fourths and wrapped in crescent rolls, i.e. pigs in a blanket. When I saw recipes for pretzels dogs on a few blogs, I knew trying out mini pretzel dogs was in order.

Wrap Dough around Hot Dog

These mini pretzel dogs are made with Nathan’s Skinless Beef Franks wrapped in a perfect homemade pretzel. I prefer Nathan’s hot dogs because they taste great. Plus, they are from New York so it always makes me happy to see them over here in California. I added some cheese to the insides of half the pretzel dogs to test it out. The results were amazing! To do this, I made a lengthwise slit in the hot dog and folded some pieces of of deli American cheese in there.

Cheese Dogs

I had got the idea to add cheese from a dinner that we made on occasion growing up (and one that I still dream about!) My mom made us homemade meals practically every night so she absolutely hates when we rave about the “Crescent Roll hot dog” dinners we used to have. Her eyes are probably rolling right now as she reads this. A Crescent Roll Hot Dog is when you take a full hot dog, make a lengthwise slit in the middle, stuff a folded half piece of American cheese, roll it in crescent roll dough and bake it together. It’s very similar to how I make pigs in a blankets nowadays, except with a whole hot dog and the addition of cheese. What can I say- it was the 80’s and early 90’s!

Cheesy Mini Pretzel Dogs

These pretzel dogs were so good! I served them warm with deli mustard to dip. Although these are best fresh from the oven, I froze the other half of them for Superbowl Sunday and I am going to reheat them at 350 degrees F for 10-12 minutes until they are heated up again.

Mini Pretzels Dogs and Mustard

Mini Pretzel Dogs

Ingredients

For Pretzel Dough

1½ cups warm water (110-115 degrees F)
1 tbsp. granulated sugar
2¼ tsp. active dry yeast (or one packet)
22 oz. AP flour (about 4½ cups)
2 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. butter, melted and brought back to room temperature

For Boiling Mixture

14 cups of water
1 cup baking soda

For Assembly

8 pack of hot dogs, cut into fourths for 32 hot dog pieces
1 large egg beaten with 1 tsp. water
Pretzel salt or course salt
4 slices of American Cheese (optional)

Instructions

In the bowl of your mixer (with dough hook attachment) add warm water and sugar. Sprinkle the yeast on top of the the water and let sit for 5 minutes.
Once the yeast is foamy, add in the flour,salt, and melted butter. Mix on low until the dough is combined. Take the speed up to around medium and mix the dough until it is smooth and easily pulls away from the sides of the mixer bowl. Knead for an additional 4 minutes at medium speed.
Coat a separate large bowl with some canola oil. Take dough ball from mixer bowl, scraping dough off the sides of the bowl if needed and place in oiled bowl. Turn to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set bowl in a warm draft free place for 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper. If using parchment paper spray with cooking spray to prevent sticking.
Once the dough has risen, turn out on a lightly oiled surface. Divide dough evenly into 32 pieces. This is done easily if you divide dough in half and then divide each half into halves, continuing until there is 32 equal sized pieces.
Take one dough ball and roll out 12-18 inch piece rope. Take hot dog piece and starting at the end of the hot dog, wrap the dough around the hot dog so that it is completely covered in dough (like a cocoon or mummy). Make sure to seal ends and where ever the dough is touching so that it stays connected and completely sealed during baking. Unlike Pigs in a Blanket you are covering the entire hot dog with dough. Repeat for all dough and hot dog pieces.
*to add cheese- take hot dog pieces before wrapping and make a slit lengthwise making sure to not cut through the hot dog all they way. Take a piece of American cheese and divide it up into 8 pieces. Take one of the pieces and gently fold it so it is around the same size as the slit made in the hot dog. Stuff the cheese into the slit and then wrap hot dog piece with dough like above directions.
In a large pot add 14 cups of water and 1 cup of baking soda. Bring to a boil.
Once the water comes to a boil, gently drop a few wrapped hot dogs into the pot and let cook for 30 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon and line up on baking sheet, leaving about one inch in between each. Repeat for all wrapped hot dogs.
Take the egg beaten with 1 tsp. of water and gently brush boiled pretzels with the egg mixture. Top with course salt.
Bake each cookie sheet separately for about 12-14 minutes until golden brown. Let cool for a few minutes before serving.

Source- slightly adapted from Joy The Baker

Mini Pretzel Dogs

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Posted by Keelin Hollenbeck on January 23, 2014

Mexican Pinwheels Dipped in Salsa

With the Super Bowl in a couple of weeks and it being award season, it is most certainly appetizer time! We had a chance for both the San Francisco and the New England football teams to play in the Super Bowl for another Sister City Super Bowl showdown, but that didn’t happen this year.

If you thought my spinach artichoke dip was easy, wait until you try this one. My mom made these for us growing up a few times and when I moved off on my own, it was one of the recipes she typed up for me. I have a college binder with all the original recipes I used when I first started cooking on my own. Every time I would come home to visit my mom she would give me another collections of recipes that I loved growing up or that I needed to try. Luckily now that we all follow blogs and have similar cookbooks, we share recipes all the time. I still keep these recipes in the original binder even though I have switched over to fancier Martha Stewart binders for my other recipe collections.

Mexican Pinwheels

There are only five ingredients in this recipe: flour tortillas, cream cheese, a can of chopped black olives, a can of chopped green chiles, and chopped onion. Also, the only thing you really need to do is chop an onion because you can buy the olives and green chiles pre-chopped! Oh yeah, oh yeah! The perfect dipping sauce for this? Salsa! I basically live off of Tostitos Salsa in medium heat. I put it on everything from baked potatoes to scrambled egg whites. These probably would also pair well with sour cream or guacamole!

Pinwheels

What do you need to do to make them? Follow the easy recipe below!

Mexican Pinwheels

Ingredients

2 blocks of reduced-fat cream cheese, at room temperature
1- 4 oz. can of chopped green chilies, drained
1- 4 oz. can of chopped black olives, drained
½ onion, finely chopped
12-14 flour tortillas

Instructions

In a medium sized bowl, mix together cream cheese, green chilies, black olives, and onion. Stir it all together so that it is all mixed together and evenly distributed.
Take a pile of flour tortillas and place them between 2 paper towels. Microwave them for about 20 seconds, to soften them so they are easier to roll.
Take a tortillas and spread about 3-4 tbsp. of the cream cheese mixture on the tortillas. Roll the tortillas up like a jelly roll, tight enough so there isn't any gaps but not too right that you are squeezing the cream cheese out.
Once rolled set seam side down on some laid out plastic wrap. Continue for the rest of tortillas until you use up all of the filling. When done rolling the tortillas, tightly wrap up the rolls in the plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 2 hours or more.
Once chilled, take tortilla rolls out and slice them in ½-3/4 inch slices, tossing out the ends (or eating.) Continue with remaining tortillas.
Serve with salsa.

Looking for more game day recipes? Check out our 2013 Super Bowl Recipe Round-Up and the appetizer section of the 2S2C Recipe Index! We’ll also be sharing a few more favorite game day appetizer recipes over the next week!

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Posted by Keelin Hollenbeck on January 14, 2014

Spinach Artichoke Dip

It is football playoff season and you know what that means…appetizers! I have several great recipes for appetizers to share with you this month leading up to Super Bowl weekend. Matt and I have been toughing it out for you the last couple of weekends and have had a few meals of just appetizers so I could share these with you. It’s been real tough… you’re welcome! We are going to start this Superbowl party off with one of my all-time favorite dips, the spinach artichoke dip.

Chips and Spinach Dip

There was a time period that this was one of those appetizers I would always order off a restaurant’s menu. In college, two of our local bars had the most amazing spinach artichokes dips. They both had a cream cheese base with big chunks of artichoke hearts and not too much spinach. Served with either slices of toasted french bread or tortilla chips, I could not get enough of these dips!

I have played around with several recipes over the years trying to recreate the creaminess and thickness that the dip had from those bars. I think I have come really close with this recipe. I have brought this dip to several different parties and it is always gone within minutes.

Creamy Spinach Artichoke Dip

The best part about this dip (besides the dip itself!) is that it is so easy to put together and it can be done ahead of time. I am one of those people who goes frantic an hour before I am hosting a party so I have learned to serve things I can make ahead. This helps me actually enjoy the party I am throwing. It can be put together the day before and once it is constructed, you just cover the casserole dish with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator until you are ready to bake it.

When I am making the dip for just Matt and myself, I either make half the recipe or split the dip into two dishes and freeze one. The leftover dip can be reheated and enjoyed again. It is a very forgivable dish. Serve it with tortilla chips, toasted French bread slices, crostini, pita chips, and or veggies. Goooo football teams to be determined and even more so, bring on the appetizers!

Spinach Artichoke Dip

Ingredients

½ cup light sour cream
½ cup light mayonnaise
3 garlic cloves, minced
¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 -14 oz. can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1- 10 oz. package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry
2 -8 oz. packages ⅓ less fat cream cheese, at room temperature
2 cup part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded and divided
½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a large bowl combine sour cream, mayonnaise, garlic, pepper, artichokes, spinach, and cream cheese.
Add in 1½ cup of the shredded mozzarella and ¼ cup of the shredded Parmesan to the dip mixture.
Take dip mixture and spread out into an oven-safe 1½-quart casserole pan or baking dish.
Sprinkle with remained mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.
Bake for 30 minutes or until bubbly.
Serve with tortilla chips, toasted French bread slices, crostini, pita chips, and/or veggies.

Source– Adapted from Cooking Light

sisterk (2)