Alabama Firecrackers

This is something that I've been making for the past year and just realized I've not shared it here when I was looking for the recipe just now.  These crackers are like magic, because the oil doesn't leave the crackers soggy.  Don't know the science behind it, but these are so addictive.  Perfect little snack for any tailgate or a dressed up cracker for soups.

Alabama Firecrackers

6 sleeves saltine crackers (not off-brand)
1 packet ranch dressing mix
1 3/4 c. canola oil
2 tsp. dill
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

Remove crackers from sleeves and line up like dominos in an air-tight container with a lid.  In a small bowl, combine oil and seasonings, stirring well.  Pour mixture evenly over crackers.  Put lid on and immediately invert container upside down.  Every half hour continue flipping right side up and upside down.  Shake ever so slightly, if necessary.  Once all the oil is absorbed, the crackers are ready to eat.  Approximately two hours.  

**I renamed these Alabama firecrackers because I saw the same recipe referred to by Southern Living as Alabama instead of Texas.  What can I say...I'm an Alabama home-r.

Barbecue Chicken Apple Pizza

1 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1 tsp. unsalted butter

2 ½ c. onions, thinly sliced and halved (1 large onion)

2 large apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced (I used granny smith)

1 pre-baked, purchased whole wheat pizza crust (11 inch round)

⅔ c. barbecue sauce

1 c. cooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, diced or shredded

¾ c. smoked Gouda cheese, shredded

¾ c. mozzarella cheese, shredded

additional barbecue sauce for drizzling over top, optional

Preheat oven (and pizza stone - I don't have one so I just used a cookie sheet) to 450 degrees.  In a large skillet over medium heat, heat oil and butter.  When they are hot, add onion slices; cover and cook, stirring frequently 10 minutes.  Remove lid, increase heat just slightly, and cook additional 7-10 minutes, stirring frequently, until onions have reduced in size and are soft and slightly golden brown.

Add apples and cook, stirring connately, another 2-4 minutes, until apples are just barely starting to soften.  Remove from skillet and Set aside apples and onions.  (I usually cook my chicken at this point in the same skillet that I cooked the apples and onions.)

Spread barbecue sauce evenly on pizza crust, and top evenly with chicken and Gouda cheese.  Spoon apple-onion mixture evenly over entire pizza, then sprinkle with the mozzarella cheese.  Bake 8 minutes or until the ingredients are hot and cheese is melted.  If desired, drizzle a very small amount of barbecue sauce over top.

Grandmama's BBQ Sauce

If you know my family, you know we are pretty famous for our rib cookouts.  Well, my Granddaddy is famous for his ribs and Grandmama is famous for her sauce.  I went on and on about it before The Jason ever met my family.  I think he didn't believe me that they are really so good!  Until he had them...then he was a believer.  This is my Grandmama's BBQ Sauce.

Grandmama's BBQ Sauce

2 lemon slices
1 c. water
1/2 c. vinegar
1 stick butter
Scant Tbsp. Salt
5 Tbsp. sugar
4 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp. mustard
1/2 tsp. pepper

In a saucepan, heat all ingredients on medium high heat for 15 minutes, stirring frequently.  Add 1 c. ketchup and stir until smooth.  Simmer 5 more minutes or until sauce is thickened.

Boston Butt Dry Rub

This is our favorite dry rub for smoking a Boston butt.  We had a BBQ lunch for Baby Pea's birthday this past weekend.  We also had, for those of you asking about recipes:

Grandmama's BBQ Sauce
Clear BBQ Sauce
Corn Salad
Red Velvet Cake
Cake Batter Ice Cream
Spinach Dip

It was a great day!

Boston Butt Dry Rub

1/4 c. packed brown sugar
1 Tbsp. paprika
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. celery salt
2 tsp. chili powder
2 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1/4 tsp. ground red pepper

Bacon & Tomato Dip

This is something that I haven't made yet.  I ripped it out of my insurance company's magazine a couple of months ago and want to try it.  The paper keeps sitting on my desk, and honestly, is in my way.  So, I thought I would go ahead and post this recipe just to clean off my desk.  :)  It sounded delicious to me.  Maybe something good to make for a early season tailgate.

Bacon & Tomato Dip

4 oz. cream cheese
1 c. sour cream
1/2 c. mayo
1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 c. diced green onion
1/4 c. diced green pepper
1 tsp. minced garlic
pepper, to taste
1 c. crispy, crumbled bacon
1 large tomato, diced, seeds and juice discarded

Mix together cream cheese, sour cream, mayo, cheese, onion, green pepper, garlic and pepper.  Add bacon and tomato and mix thoroughly.  Serve with corn chips.

**I've now made it and it is delicious.

French Dip Crescents

When The Dish Washer has a day in his home office, I can count on hearing the following:  "What's for lunch?"  I keep a weekly menu plan and try to keep up with those days to keep him from, heaven forbid, eating a hot dog or peanut butter crackers or a grilled cheese sandwich like we may eat for lunch when he isn't here.  When I saw this recipe on Pinterest, I knew it would make a great lunch for when he is home.  It was great, super easy to throw together and hit the spot.  I think it will also make a great appetizer.

French Dip Crescents

1 can crescent rolls
thinly sliced roast beef
provolone or mozzarella or Swiss cheese
horseradish or ranch dressing
Au jus for dipping

Preheat oven at 375.  Unroll crescent rolls.  Spread horseradish or ranch dressing over roll.  Layer with roast beef and cheese.  (Slices of cheese will probably be easiest, but I only had shredded and it worked fine.)  Roll largest end to smallest end.  Place on baking sheet and bake 12-15 minutes until golden brown.  Dip with au jus.  (I used a can of pre-made au jus.  They also make packets or you can make homemade.)

Bacon Wrapped Conecuh Sausage

And because The Dish Washer thinks no meal is complete without a side of meat, I knew I needed to come up with something to please him.  So I decided to take these sausages wrapped in bacon.  They are another super simple recipe that my Mother in law originally shared with me using hot dogs.  My sister made the same recipe once that used Conecuh sausage and I knew that is how I would make it from that point on.  It was delicious.  You could use any kind of sausage, hot dog or little smokies.

Bacon Wrapped Conecuh Sausage

1 lb. Conecuh sausage
1 lb. bacon, not thick cut
1 (1 lb.) box of light brown sugar

Cut sausage into 1 inch pieces.  Cut bacon strips into thirds.  Wrap each piece of sausage in bacon piece and secure with toothpick.  Place in crockpot.  Cover with brown sugar.  Cook on high for 3 hours or until bacon is cooked.

**If you double the meat in your recipe, you can still just use 1 box of brown sugar.

I also took Brunch Punch.  The Dish Washer said "I'd rather had just orange juice."  I hope at least the girls liked it.

Cream Cheese Sausage Balls

A couple of weekends ago for one of our Tuscaloosa tailgates, I made these sausage balls and Spinach Dip.  I forgot I made them until now.

Cream Cheese Sausage Balls

1 pound hot sausage, uncooked
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 c. Bisquick
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350.  Mix all ingredients until well combined.  Roll into 1 inch balls.  Chill in refrigerator at least 10 minutes.  Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until brown.

*Keep balls chilled in between baking batches.

Black Eyed Pea Dip

Quickly, how about some gameday food?  There are several variations of this recipe.  Some call for Italian dressing and some are even called Texas Caviar or Alabama Caviar...you get the idea.  This is the version I like.  It makes plenty for a large crowd.  Perfect to take to a tailgate.

Black Eyed Pea Dip

2 cans black eyed peas without pork, drained
1 can niblet corn, drained
1 (16 oz.) jar of mild-medium chunky salsa
1 tomato, cut up
1 onion, cut up
1 tsp. garlic salt
1-1/2 tsp. creole seasoning

Mix all together and chill in fridge.  Serve with scoop tortilla chips.

ROOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLL TIDE, ROLL!!!!

Semi-Homemade Salsa

We had another Sunday school supper club last night.  It was Nacho Night, so I signed up to bring the chips, salsa and sour cream.  I've wanted to try making my own salsa for a while now.  This recipe was really good.  Let me first say, though, that I can't stand the taste of cilantro.  If I never tasted it again, I would not be disappointed.  Even in the smallest amount, it still has such a strong flavor to me.  But I know most people associate cilantro with Mexican food, so I felt I had to put it in.  If I was making this just for myself, I wouldn't have added it.  Ignoring the cilantro, this was delicious.  Very similar to restaurants.  Be warned, it makes a huge batch!  Even after feeding 15 or so, there was leftover.  I'm going to try to freeze it and see how that works.

Semi-Homemade Salsa

1 (28 oz.) can whole tomatoes with juice
2 cans Rotel
1/4 c. chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 whole jalapeno, quartered and sliced thin
1/4 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 c. cilantro (more to taste)
1/2 lime, juice only

If using a smaller food processor than 12 cups, pulse in batches and then mix it all together.

Combine whole tomatoes, Rotel, onion, jalapeno, garlic, sugar, salt, cumin, lime juice and cilantro in a blender or food processor.  Pulse until you get the salsa to the consistency you like.  I don't like mine too chunky, so I did probably 20 pulses.  Test seasoning with tortilla chip and adjust seasoning as needed.  Refrigerate salsa for at least an hour. 

Sweet Mustard BBQ Sauce

This weekend I plan to make a Boston butt for us to eat off of all weekend while The Dish Washer immerses himself in March Madness.  (Let's Go Duke!!  And Roll Tide for the NCAA-jipped team of the year!  Let's win the NIT.)  Normally I prefer vinegar-tomato based sauces.  My grandmother's is my all-time favorite.  Have I shared that yet?  And The Dish Washer's family has introduced me to the new love of Clear BBQ Sauce, but I wanted to try something different.  So today, while The Bun is napping, I decided to go ahead and make my sauces...the clear and this new one.  It's kicky and I can't tell you how it tastes with the meat, but I think I am going to really like it.

Sweet Mustard BBQ Sauce

1 c. apple cider vinegar
2/3 c. prepared mustard
1/2 c. sugar
2 Tbsp. chili powder
2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. ground red pepper (omit for less kick)
1/2 tsp. hot sauce
2 Tbsp. butter
1/2 tsp. soy sauce

Stir together first 8 ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat; bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in butter and soy sauce.

I'm going to put it in the fridge until we are ready for it, but I'll probably serve it warmed.  

Tangy Garlic Wings

The truth of this recipe is that I believe this would have been delicious.  However, I was cooking low on slow on the grill and the next thing I know I see flames shooting from the grill.  The chicken was completely charred.  It isn't always rosy in this kitchen.  But I did manage to taste the sauce before I put it on the chicken and I watched as it got thick and sticky on the chicken.  Man, I wish I hadn't burned it.  The original recipe calls for chicken wings, but I had thighs and drumsticks.  I think you can use it on any chicken you prefer.

**Made later and it is very good.  This time I chose to use boneless skinless chicken breast.

Tangy Garlic Wings

1 c. ketchup
1/2 c. melted butter
2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. garlic salt
2 dashes hot sauce
4-1/2 pounds chicken wings

In a large bowl, combine first 7 ingredients.  Add wings, tossing to coat; chill for 4 hours.  Grill until done.

Spinach Dip (Cold)

Today I was supposed to finally meet The Former Roomy's precious baby girl, but woke up feeling like I might be getting a cold. This is the second time I should have been around this baby but started feeling like something might be coming. Better safe than sorry this sick season, so I decided to postpone the meeting yet again. Bummer!

Yesterday was our first tailgate of the season and it was so much fun! The weather forecast threatened rain, but it held off and was a nice, cloudy, breezy Saturday gameday. We certainly ate well too. Here's what we had:

Garlic Dijon Marinated Pork Chops
Pioneer Baked Beans
Corn Salad
Spinach Dip

You'll remember that I shared a recipe for Spinach Dip that was warm and so good! Well, this is my absolute favorite recipe for a cold Spinach Dip. I just use the Knorr Vegetable Soup Mix recipe without the water chestnuts. I leave those out because I just personally don't care for them. Of course, it is long gone to be able to take a picture but you can click on the Knorr link and see their picture. Mine was in a bowl of plastic instead of bread, although we had to smell fresh baked bread all night and that would have been good to have! :)

Grilled Chicken with White Sauce

This picture is awful but it is the only one I got. Last weekend we grilled chicken thighs and I made this sauce to go with it. It is like a white barbecue sauce, but not as "vinegary" as I would have liked. My favorite grilled chicken with white barbecue sauce is at Cypress Inn. YUMMY! This was close enough for the "home version." I got the recipe out of a cookbook all about our state.

White Sauce

1 c. mayo
1 Tbsp. salt
1 Tbsp. pepper
2 Tbsp. sugar
3 Tbsp. vinegar (I did 6 total because I like that vinegar taste)
4 Tbsp. lemon juice

Combine all of the ingredients in an airtight container; shake vigorously.

Spinach Dip (Warm)

Speaking of Tossie and her church, I had the honor of going to her baby shower given by ladies from their Sunday school class. This was a phenomenal spinach dip. Now that I know what goes in it...NO WONDER!! Usually I prefer to make a cold spinach dip, which reminds me that I need to share that one. The only time I have ever had a warm spinach dip, it usually contains artichokes. I dont mind artichokes but this was a nice change for a warm spinach dip. It was so good that I could have easily eaten the whole bowl right then and there. I didn't want to embarass Tossie in front of her friend! HA! Maybe all of this enthusiasm for food is also why I now have a sign on my fridge saying "You are fat! Your clothes don't fit!" and one on my pantry "And you aren't buying new clothes, so suck it up!" I can still dream...

Spinach Dip from my Shower (Michelle Burns' recipe)

The recipe is doubled..
2 frozen chopped spinach
1 softened 8 oz. cream cheese
1 cup of mayo
2 cup of shredded mozzerella
1 cup grated parmesean
2 tbsp. of garlic salt

Stir together. Cook at 400 for 20 min. Voila!

Pioneer Baked Beans

I'm blogging from the kitchen this morning. I've got to get two breakfast boys (The Dish Washer and his cousin) on the road for their Annual Road Trip to Duke Basketball. Let's hope they win so they come home happy...not looking too good though! I have tons of new breakfast recipes to try, but I have managed to wake up this morning without any cheese in my house! All the recipes call for cheese. So this morning, we are just having breakfast sausage and frozen biscuits. But these are delicious "taste like mama's" biscuits...well not my Mama's because she never made homemade biscuits (that I remember anyway), so tastes like MeeMaw's for me!

Anyway, I got to thinking that I forgot to post the baked bean recipe that I promised. These are from Super Social Worker and she wanted to call them "Pioneer Baked Beans" because she is loving to read the Pioneer Woman's website. Apparently it is motivating her to cook in the kitchen. Speaking of PW, check this out...she and my favorite magazine are about to collide. I can't wait until that issue comes out!! The Dish Washer and I would LOVE to live on her ranch! Back to the beans - she didn't give me any exact measurements, but here is what she did.

"Pioneer" Baked Beans

2 cans Bush's baked beans
1 lb. breakfast sausage
green bell pepper
onion
ketchup
mustard
brown sugar
barbecue sauce

In a skillet, she browned sausage with an onion and bell pepper. Then she drained it and added it to the cans of beans. Then she added the other ingredients until she got the taste like she liked it. That's all I know. I don't even know if she baked hers...I did mine. Hey SuperSW, how about telling us what you did after putting it all together?

I did the sausage, bell pepper and onions. I used my recipe as a guide for baking, using pork n beans instead of baked beans. I also used the barbecue sauce. It was very good and The Dish Washer absolutely loved it!

The Pioneer Woman's Crash Hot Potatoes

I wish y'all could smell my house right now with those vegetables roasting! The last recipe I wanted to share with you was a recipe that used the remaining new potatoes that I had from making Roasted New Potato Salad . I've had it starred in my google reader for quite some time and was so glad to finally be able to make it.

My version is pictured above, but you really should check out her site if you haven't already. She is great at taking pictures of her food (and not making the pan look as greasy as mine!).

The Pioneer Woman's Crash Hot Potatoes

Very easy and very good!

Creamy Dill Slaw

Yesterday we cheered our team on from the house and it was so nice to not have anywhere to be. The Dish Washer insists on eating good gameday food whenever we aren't at the game, so we had Bubba Burgers on the grill. These burgers are our favorite frozen burgers, if you don't feel like making your own. To go with it, we had baked beans and this yummy slaw. If you are a dill pickle lover like we are, you will love this. Sister started making it for us some time back when we had the family cook-out. I don't really know the exact measurements, so I am just going to tell you what I do. Maybe, if she has the exact measurements written down somewhere, she will add them to the comment section.

Creamy Dill Slaw

1 bag of angel hair slaw (or, in my case yesterday, I chopped 1/2 head of cabbage)
mayonnaise
dill pickle cubes and juice
freshly ground black pepper

I place slaw in large mixing bowl. I take 2 heaping tablespoons of mayonnaise and put on top of slaw. Then I add 2 heaping tablespoons of dill pickle cubes and pour in some juice to mix with mayo. I stir well with the slaw and then add more mayo or dill pickles cubes, depending on the taste. Then I ground black pepper on top of slaw and stir. I happen to use A LOT of black pepper, but that will depend on how much you like. Refrigerate and serve.

Sorry to not be exact with this one!

Party Pinwheels

Polls are closing and I will be glued to the TV all night, but I wanted to help my Mama out. She is helping with a baby shower soon and was asking about any sandwich type foods that I would have posted. Sadly, not too many options. I thought I would fix that. I'm going to post TWO!

First, is my sister in law's recipe for party pinwheels. I have never had them, but they sound just wonderful. She shared the recipe with my mother in law who then wrote it in my cookbook she gave me last Christmas.

Party Pinwheels

10 small tortilla shells
2 (8 oz.) pkgs. cream cheese, room temperature
1 pkg. ranch dressing mix
green onions, chopped to taste
1 (4 oz.) jar chopped pimento
1 small can green chilies
1 small can chopped black olives

Drain, pimento, chilies and olives. Mix cream cheese, dressing mix and onions. Add other drained ingredients and mix well.

Spread mixture over each tortilla shell. Roll up and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight.

Slice and enjoy!

Check out Ham and Cheese Fingers for another idea.

Taco Dip

1 lb. ground beef
dried onions (1-2 Tbsp., give a good sprinkling)
8 oz. jar taco sauce
2 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
8 oz. sour cream
1 pkg. taco seasoning
sharp cheddar cheese

Brown the beef and dried onions. Add jar of taco sauce. Combine cream cheese, sour cream and taco seasonings in separate bowl. Layer cream cheese mixture on bottom of a 9x13 dish. Next, layer meat mixture (that has been allowed to cool a bit) on top. Top with cheese.

Serve while meat is still warm and cream cheese mixture is cold or you can heat in oven at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes.

Serve with tortilla chips.