Salmon Patte

8 oz. cream cheese
1 -16 oz. salmon (fresh or canned *Kirkland brand from Costco best!)
2 T. dried onion
1 tsp. liquid smoke
1-2 T. hot horseradish
1/2-1 tsp. course ground pepper

Mix together with fork. Refrigerate well before serving. Serve with Milton's multi-grain crackers, Wheat Thins, Ritz, or other cracker.

Easy Cheese Danishes

8 oz. cream cheese at room temp.
1/3 c. sugar
2 extra-large egg yolks, at room temp.
2 T. ricotta cheese
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. salt
1 T. grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
2 sheets (1 box) frozen puff pastry, defrosted
1 egg beated with 1 T. water for egg wash

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a sheet with parchment paper.
Place cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer w/ paddle attachment and cream together on low speed until smooth. With the mixer still on low, add the egg yolks, ricotta, vanilla, salt, and lemon zest and mix until just combined. Don't whip!
Unfold one sheet of puff pastry onto a lightly floured board and roll it slightly with a floured rolling pin until it's a 10X10 inch square. Cut the sheet into quarters with a sharp knife. Place a heaping T. of cheese filling into the middle of each of the 4 squares. Brush the border of each pastry with egg wash and fold two opposite corners to the center, brushing and overlapping the corners of each pastry so they firmly stick together. Brush top of pastries with egg wash. Place onto cookie sheet. Repeat with second sheet of puff pastry and refrigerate the filled Danish for 15 min. Bake pastries for about 20 min., rotating once during baking, until puffed and brown. Serve warm. If make in advance, reheat them in 350 degree oven for 5 min. *I made these for a baby shower brunch and they were a hit! Instead of 4 squares I did mini-danishes and did 9 squares per puff pastry.
Barefoot Contessa cookbook

Southwest Cheesecake

INGREDIENTS:
11/2 cups finely crushed blue tortilla chips (Use regular if you can't find the blue)
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 (8-ounce) containers sour cream, divided
3 large eggs
1 cup thick and chunky salsa
1 (4-ounce) can chopped green chiles, drained
1 cup fresh or frozen guacamole (thawed)
1 medium-size tomato, seeded and diced
Tortilla chips or crackers


PreparationCombine crushed tortilla chips and 1/4 cup softened butter, and press into bottom of a lightly greased 9-inch springform pan.Bake at 350° for 12 minutes. Cool in pan on a wire rack.Beat cream cheese, shredded cheese, and salt at medium speed with an electric mixer 3 minutes or until fluffy. Add 1 container sour cream, beating until blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition. Stir in salsa and chiles. Pour over prepared crust.Bake at 350° for 40 minutes or until center is almost set. Remove pan from oven; let stand 10 minutes on a wire rack. Gently run a knife around edge of pan to loosen sides. Remove sides of pan; let cheesecake cool completely.Stir together remaining 2 containers sour cream until smooth; spread evenly over top of cooled cheesecake. Cover and chill at least 3 hours or up to 1 day. Spread evenly with guacamole; sprinkle with diced tomatoes before serving. Serve with tortilla chips.

YieldMakes 25 appetizer servings
Recipe from Southern Living Magazine

Stuffed Mushrooms

24 large fresh mushrooms
1/4 c. sliced green onions
1 clove garlic minced
1/4 c. margerine or butter
2/3 c. fine dry bread crumbs

Wash and drain mushrooms. Remove stems. Reserve caps. Chop stems. In a medium saucepan cook stems, onion, and garlic in margarine or butter till tender. Stir in bread crumbs. Arrange mushrooms in a baking pan. Bake at 425 for 8-10 minutes or until they are heated through.

Options: (I usually do this.)
Add 1 c. chopped fresh spinach with the stem mixture. Stir in 1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese and 1/2 teaspoon crushed dried marjoram into crumb mixture. Bake as above.

7 Layered Bean Dip

2 16 oz. cans refried beans
16 oz. sour cream
1 pkg. taco seasoning mix
8 oz. avocado dip, or homemade guacamole
1 large tomato
1 bunch green onions, chopped
2 cans olives, sliced
3/4 lb. shredded cheddar cheese

Spread refried beans on bottom of 9x13" pan. Mix sour cream with 3/4 pkg. taco dry mix, spread over beans. Spread on guacamole, then add cheese, chopped onions, olives, diced tomatoes. Serve with tortilla chips.

I've heated mine before, with just the bean and cheese layers, then add the other ingredients. You can also substitute the beans and taco mix for the canned bean dip. I've also added lettuce before.

Murie's South of the Boarder Salsa

1 handful cilantro
1/4 medium onion
2 cloves garlic
3 banana peppers or 1/4 c. jalapeno peppers
1/8 tsp. sugar
1-2 T. vinegar
1 28 oz. can whole tomatoes with liquid

Combine all ingredients, except tomatoes, including liquid in blender. After blended, add tomatoes and blend to desired consistency. Serve with chips.

Sausage Dip

1 lb. regular sausage tube
1 lb. maple sausage tube
2 cans diced tomatoes with chili's (or Mexican tomatoes)
1 small can diced chili's
2 packages cream cheese

Turn crock pot on, put cream cheese in to melt. Brown sausage, drain, add to crock pot. Add tomatoes, and chili to crock pot & stir. Heat until bubbling (about 1/2 hour). Serve with tortilla chips, or Frito's.

You can make this dip hotter by substituting the maple sausage for hot sausage, and add 1 more can of chili's.

Recipe from: Angie F.

Cool Lime Napoleons

1 8 oz. pkg. refrigerate crescent rolls
3 kiwi, peeled and sliced
1 11 oz. can mandarin orange segments, drain, pat dry
2 large limes
1 8 oz. frozen whipped topping, thawed
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup sliced almonds, finely chopped
powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 375. Lightly spray cookie sheet. Unroll crescent dough across pan; pinch seams to seal. Lightly sprinkle dough with flour, roll dough evenly to cover bottom of pan. Prick dough with a fork. Bake 12-15 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool completely. Using pizza cutter, cut pastry crosswise into six rows and lengthwise into for rows to make twenty-four 2 1/2" squares. Place one sliced kiwi and one orange segment onto each pastry square. Zest 1 lime to measure 1 tsp. (then, finely snip zest) Juice lime to measure 2 T. In bowl, combine whipped topping, powdered sugar, juice, and zest; mix until smooth and slightly thickened. Place one spoonful of mixture on each square, sprinkle with almonds, & powdered sugar; serve immediately.


The original recipe says to place one square on top of another (to make it a double decker), but I left this step out because it makes it harder to eat & will give you 24 squares instead of 12.

recipe from Pampered Chef/Season's Best 2003

Alpine Village Seasoned Cottage Cheese

2 lbs. cottage cheese, small curd
1/2 tsp. caraway
1 1/2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. Accent
1/2 tsp. white pepper
1 T. dried chives
1/2 tsp. celery salt

Mix all ingredients together and chill for several hours or overnight. Serve as a condiment or as a dip.

Alpine Village was a restaurant in Las Vegas that closed years ago. I've recently gotten a hold of this "much sought-after" recipe. We bought the seasoning all the time so I've tasted it, but I've never actually made it. We ate it with crackers (wheat thins).

Fruit Salsa & Cinnamon Tortilla Crisps

Fruit Salsa:

1 c. finely chopped strawberries

1 med. orange, peeled & finely chopped (1/3 cup)

2 large or 3 small kiwifruit, peeled & finely chopped

1/2 c. finely chopped fresh pineapple, or 1-8 oz. can crushed pineapple, drained

1/4 c. thinly sliced green onions (2)

1/4 c. finely chopped yellow or green sweet pepper

1 T. lime or lemon juice

1 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded & chopped (optional)

In a mixing bowl stir together the strawberries, orange, kiwi, pineapple, green onions, sweet pepper, lime or lemon juice, and if desired, jalapeno pepper. Cover and chill for 6-24 hours. Serve with cinnamon tortilla crisps. Makes about 3 cups salsa. If you plan to chill this salsa more than 6 hours, stir in the strawberries just before serving.

You can also use other fruits (whatever you like). Scott prefers it fruity,without the onions & peppers. We've made it in the blender too. (It's not chunky, but quicker to make).And we don't chill it.

Cinnamon Tortilla Crisps:

12 7-or-8 inch flour tortillas

1/2 c. sugar

1 tsp. ground cinnamon.

1/4 c. butter, melted

Brush butter over tortillas. Combine sugar and cinnamon, sprinkle mixture over tortillas. Cut each tortilla into 8 wedges. Spread 1/3 of the wedges in a 15x10x1 inch baking pan. Bake @ 350 5-10 minutes or till crisp. Repeat with remaining wedges; cool. Store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 4 days or in the freezer up to 3 weeks. Makes 96 crisps (24 appetizer servings).

We don't melt the butter first, we just spread it on. Also, you don't have to make the full batch of tortillas if you have a smaller group. We do a batch (pan) at a time and go from there, so we don't have to store any.

recipe from Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book

Veggie Bars

2 pkgs. Crescent rolls
2 pkgs. cream cheese
1 cup mayonnaise
1 pkg. Hidden Valley Ranch (3 Tbsp.)
3/4 c. shredded broccoli
cauliflower
carrots
green peppers
cheddar cheese
tomatoes
Line cookie sheet with rolls.
Bake 350* for 10 minutes. Let cool.
Mix cream cheese, dressing, and mayo and spread on cooled crescent rolls. Put veggies and cheese on. Tomatoes on top.

Little Smokies

1 pkg. of Hillshire Farms little smokies
bacon
brown sugar
toothpicks

Cut the bacon into thirds. Take the uncooked bacon and wrap one piece around a smokie, then place toothpick in it until you have all the ones you need. Then, sprinkle a lot of brown sugar over all the smokies.
Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes.

Cheese Ball

2 (8 oz.) softened cream cheese
1 4 oz. crumbled blue cheese
1 sm. can crushed olives
1 cube butter
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. minced onion
1 tsp. parsley flakes
1 pkg. chopped pecans

Mix and form into a ball, except for the pecans. Crush pecans on outside of ball. Chill and serve with crackers.

Chicken Quesadilla Jalapenos

20 medium fresh jalapenos
2 cups chopped cooked chicken
1 cup shredded cheddar and jack cheese blend
1/2 cup mild Rotel tomatoes, drained
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease baking sheets. Cut jalapenos in half lengthwise. Remove and discard seeds and membranes. Set aside. In a medium bowl, combine chicken and remaining ingredients. Spoon mixture evenly into jalapenos; place on prepared baking sheets. Bake 20 minutes. Serve immediately. Jalapenos can be stuffed up to two days ahead, covered and refrigerated. Bake as directed.

BLT Appetizer

Ingredients:
1 cup Mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream
1 lb. lean bacon, cooked crisp & crumbled
2 large tomatoes, chopped
iceberg lettuce, shredded
Sea salt bagel chips

Combine the mayonnaise, sour cream, and half of the bacon in a small bowl with a snap-on lid. When well mixed, refrigerate until serving time. When ready to serve, place the lettuce in a large serving bowl. Place the mayo mixture on top of the lettuce. Top with the tomatoes and the remaining bacon. Serve with bagel chips.

Parmesan cups

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Place a silpat mat on a baking sheet.  Place 6 (1/4 c) mounds of  grated parmesan cheese on the mat and gently tap down until each mound is flat and 41/2 to 5 inches in diameter.  Bake for 8-10 minutes, until golden and bubbly.  Working quickly, use a thin spatula to transfer the parmesan cups to a muffin tin.  Gently place a small drinking glass on top to mold it into a cup shape.  Let cool until firm, about 5 minutes.  

Put a yummy salad inside the parmesan cups such as a caesar or spinach and serve.

This is Giada's recipe.  

Mexi-style bean dip

1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

1 med. tomato, seeded

2 T lime juice

2 large garlic cloves

2 scallions

1/4 C cilantro

1/4 jalapeno pepper

salt and pepper

Puree all ingredients in a food processor until smooth.

Serve dip with chips, or veggies.

Guacamole

3 small avocados

1/2 small onion minced

2 large garlic coves minced

1 medium tomato finely chopped

3 TB lemon juice

1/4 jalapeno pepper finely chopped

salt and pepper to taste

White bean dip with pita chips

1 (15oz) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

1 clove garlic

2 TB fresh lemon juice (I use more)

1/3 C olive oil

4 TB olive oil

1/4 c fresh Italian Parsley leaves

salt

Freshly ground black pepper

6 pitas, wheat or white

1 tsp dried oregano

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Place beans, garlic, lemon juice, 1/3 C oil and parsley in the food processor.  Pulse until desired texture.  Season with salt and pepper

Cut pita into 8 wedges.  Arrange on a large baking sheet.  Pour with 4 TB of oil.  Sprinkle oregano, salt and pepper.  Toss and spread evenly.  Bake 8-12 or until toasted and golden.

Serve the pita warm or room temperature alongside the bean puree.

This is Giada's recipe.

Jen Astin's cream cheese dip in a bread bowl

4 (80z) packages of cream cheese, softened

little splash of milk

1 pkg pastromi, chopped fine

chives, chopped

G onions, chopped

Garlic salt, to taste

onion salt, to taste

salt and pepper

Mix all ingredients and put in a big bread bowl that has been hollowed out.

Bake 400

20-30 minutes or until brown

Use the bread from the inside to dip with.