Short Tablecloths and Many Mini Apple Pies

 

Fellowship time again this week! Whose idea was it to do fellowship time a little over a week after having surgery?? Just FYI, don’t do that. Anywho, I tried to make things that weren’t too complicated, but somewhere along the line I think that idea went by the wayside.

I made:

 Mini apple pies with small apples for the top

Meatball slider sandwiches

 

Mini zucchini and onion quiches (this link is in metric, but it's not too hard)

Bacon and corn dip (picture SO does not do it justice!!)

Saltine Toffee

Gigi Tea- I'll post about this later this week... Teaser!!

The set up went much quicker this time thanks to easy packing in our great cooler with wheels. I realized that I’m much more into what I’m making and I don’t really worry about how it looks or having other things on the table to gussy it up, you know, like flowers, etc. But Nick is really helpful in this area and went down the street to the store and got a couple of apples to sit with the pies and some rosemary to put with the sliders. He also was the one who was trying to get tablecloths for the two tables. It was sort of difficult because the church has 3 or 4 different styles, but no two matching and some were even too short to cover the tables! Finally I was looking for something else and saw that someone had put a second purple one in the wrong place… maybe I just need to go to Bed, Bath and Beyond and get two or three for each season… you think I can convince Nick of that?? I think what I’m trying to say here is I’m glad that Nick usually helps me out with these things, we seem to compliment each other well.

It may have been a mistake to do fellowship time before the church picnic.  The church kitchen can be a little difficult to work in just because of the way it’s set up, but when you add stuff that’s not yours…ugh. And as we were trying to clean up (ok, Nick was cleaning and I was toddler-wrangling) four or five members came in to set up. You know the old saying “Too many cooks in the kitchen…” We figured it out, but in the future, I think I’ll make sure to see what other events are going on the same day so we don’t have similar issues.

All in all it was a great event, the food was a huge hit and everyone kept talking about how delicious everything was.  I even got a few potential opportunities in the coming months. YAY! And if anyone out there has an event they need me to do, just  post a message, send an email, give me a call, write a letter, send a pigeon, whatever!! No event or budget is too big or too small!

Hello out there!!!

I know it's been a while since I've posted, but I've been busy... ok, I haven't, and I don't even have a good excuse... maybe because I wasn't used to doing it I just forgot?? dang, that's another excuse! anywho, I'm back, and I have a couple of posts to put up for you!! (pause for standing ovation :)

So, for my "re-intro to blogging" post, I've decided to do a little cook by numbers... this one is super easy and inexpensive and AWESOME if you have kiddos! (or are just one at heart :) 

BITE SIZED, BAKED CORN DOGS

 Ok, first, you buy some hotdogs, a store-bought muffin mix, and the stuff to make it... you know, milk, eggs, that kind of stuff. (I'd actually add some flour next time so it's not so gritty and more corn dog-esque.)

 Then you mix up the cornbread according to the recipe, heat the oven to the prescribed temp (probably 400..) and cut up those dogs!! Here I used the bun length (which are longer) so I cut them into 8 pieces each. If you use "regular" hotdogs, I'd do 6 pieces.

 Now, this is very important and definitely a "do as I say, not as I do" moment... SPRAY THE PAN!!!! for the love of all that is dear to you SPRAY THE PAN! as you can see, I did not spray the first two cups, and, well, you'll see....

 I used a mini muffin pan, it has a good dog-to-cornbread ratio. (I also had a little extra and made myself a little muffin to go with my chili. Maybe I'll do a recipe on that sometime.)

 Ok, next you put the hotdogs in. I think it's best to put them cut side up. Also, when i did it again, I rolled them in flour, just to make the cornmeal stick better.

 Cook....

 Plate....

 (See!! Foolishness! Spray The Pan!)

 And serve!!

 As you can see, my beautiful taste-testers liked it so much, they couldn't be bothered by silly things, you know, like mommy....

Hope you guys enjoy these as much as I did!!!