It is hard to deny some delicious buttery movie-theater-style popcorn when enjoying your favorite flick, but every once in awhile it is fun to mix up this classic snack with something a little bit different!
When hosting an event with many different appetizers and dishes, there is bound to be a little slip up with one recipe or another; therefore, it is important to have a Plan B!
For dinner parties, I like to have an idea for a backup entree, which usually means having some extra chicken breasts in the fridge that I can use to whip up something quickly! However, I cannot always have another entree available, so I like to make sure that I have at least one menu item that is a “no-fail” recipe and impossible to mess up!
I recently made these BBQ Pulled Chicken Sliders as my “no-fail” recipe for a football game watching party that I hosted. I served a variety of different appetizers and snacks for my guests, many of which required a lot of hands on preparation time. Because of the complexity of some of the dishes, I wanted to make sure that I had at least one substantial dish that required little attention and was sure to impress! These BBQ Pulled Chicken Sliders did just that plus they are filling and absolutely delicious!
Cooking has always been very nostalgic for me. Each recipe that I make brings a certain memory, whether it was a specific time I made the dish or just whatever was going on in my life when I first started making the recipe.
These Bacon Wrapped Jalapeño Poppers provide some of my favorite memories and bring me back to the early days of my relationship with my boyfriend. We cook together a lot now, but this was the first recipe we really made when we started dating. He discovered these little gems in college and called them Buffalo Turds, but for some reason that name freaks me out and I just cannot bring myself to refer to them as that, so I’ve changed up the name a little bit! 🙂 Over time my memories associated with these jalapeño poppers have grown, as I can recount serving these on numerous nights with friends while enjoying many laughs and football games, but I will never forget the initial memories associated with making these.
We love to make these poppers for football game watching parties of all sizes, as the recipe is very easy to cut in half or double depending on the number of people who will be enjoying them. However, it is not uncommon for us to make the full recipe just for the two of us! They are just that good and always a crowd pleaser! Make these for your game watching party or tailgate this weekend, and I can guarantee that you will be the talk of the party and for future parties to come!
With the temperatures finally cooling down in Dallas, I am majorly on the comfort food bandwagon! I love that I can finally break out the fall recipes and incorporate them in my parties without adding the, “I know it’s 90 degrees outside, but can we still celebrate fall?” disclaimer!
One of my favorite fall recipes and comfort foods is this absolutely divine Cheesy Spinach Artichoke dip! It is one of my major guilty pleasures and favorite things to whip up for a football game watching party! I know this dish is pretty common and is not the most creative dip to serve, but it is a “go-to” for a reason, so embrace it and indulge! We can be more creative and original with our other dishes at the party! 🙂
Nachos are one of my all-time favorite football foods! Most everyone who has watched a football game or been to a party (or lived at all, am I right?!) has munched on a classic chips-and-cheese nacho dish. This is an expected snack to serve at game watching parties, but what truly leaves a mark on your guests is when you can take these traditional dishes and put a unique spin on them and really make them yours! This will always leave an impression on your guests and these are the dishes that will stand out in people’s minds long after the party.
That’s what I love most about these buffalo chicken nachos. This isn’t your classic bar food snack. The buffalo chicken combined with the spicy ranch queso creates an absolutely delicious southwestern flair to your nachos that is always a crowd pleaser! Seriously, I dare you to put these down on the table and walk away…they will be gone within five minutes, so be sure to make extra queso so you can keep reloading!
This asparagus recipe is one of my main go-to’s for dinner guests. It is SO easy and looks very decadent. It has the perfect amount of olive oil (yummmm I just cannot get enough) and roasted pine nuts with the melted Parmesan….oh goodness, y’all! This is tasty! And healthy because it is a vegetable too right?! This dish is perfect for your last minute dinner guest and it looks like you invested way more time into it…no one has to know this took 15 minutes max including cooking time, do they?!
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking pan with parchment paper.
I cannot get enough salmon! After having the cedar plank salmon at H-3 in the Fort Worth Stockyards, (all local DFW friends, seriously please go! It is amazing and right across from Billy Bob’s) I have become obsessed with cedar plank salmon. The smoky flavor infused in the salmon is to die for, so of course I had to create my own version of this delectable dish!
This brown sugar and Dijon mustard glazed cedar plank salmon is by far one of my favorite entrees of all time! The candied flavor from the brown sugar and honey mustard glaze coupled with the smoky flavor from the cedar plank creates the perfect sweet and savory combination.
Mashed potatoes have always been one of my favorite comfort foods and side items to any meal, especially in the fall and around the holidays. No holiday dinner is quite complete without this traditional and delicious dish.
Growing up, we had our Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners with my mom’s side of the family in Colorado. We all live within a couple of miles of each other, so travel is easy to say the least. Plus my cousins and I are all relatively close in age, so holidays are always a blast! Each family contributes something a little different each year to the feast, but my Uncle is always in charge of making the mashed potatoes. His mashed potatoes are the absolute most delicious potatoes I have ever had in my life. I’m pretty sure that if he decided to take a year off, we would all boycott the whole holiday! They are just that good!
I recently had a casual dinner party with my boyfriend’s family and decided that mashed potatoes would be the perfect addition to the meal. I was serving a brown sugar and Dijon mustard glazed salmon and pine nut and Parmesan roasted asparagus, so I thought these mashed potatoes would pair perfectly. My Uncle’s recipe has never been completely revealed, so I have been experimenting a lot trying to get the mashed potatoes just perfect! One thing I know is that he uses russet potatoes, but as I have been exploring different recipes, so many people recommend the red potatoes. You can make this recipe with either russet or red potatoes, but I have to say, after making this recipe quite a few times now just this week, I stand behind the russet potatoes!
What is better than a Sunday brunch with your favorite type of homemade pancakes? How about a Sunday brunch with a stack of three of your favorite types of pancakes all layered with a light homemade whip cream and topped with fresh fruit and maple syrup?! YU-UH-UM!
I absolutely love making these delicious and adorable pancake kabobs for brunch parties of all sizes! They are a fun way to mix up your pancake breakfast, so everyone gets to sample a variety of flavors! Your guests are sure to be impressed!
It is finally fall! Well at least in most parts of the country! Here in Dallas, we are still sitting around 90 degrees, but I am doing everything I can to get in the spirit of the season. Since I can’t start pulling out all of my sweaters, scarves, or boots yet, I am going through all of my fall recipes and filling my home with the aromas of autumn, starting with these absolutely delicious cream cheese-filled pumpkin muffins!
What says fall more like pumpkin spice?! I started making these muffins last fall and they quickly became a staple in my household! All summer, my boyfriend and I have been counting down the days until we could break out this recipe again. The pumpkin spice paired with sweetened cream cheese filling and cinnamon streusel topping make these the perfect treat for a fun autumn afternoon bite or a sweet morning breakfast.
