Favorite Things Party

Here is a list of things that people brought to the favorite things party! It was so fun and I loved the variety of things that were brought! 

Colorful Pens and Journal

Cara Cara Oranges

Burts Bees lemon cuticle butter

Handmade/sewed pouch for holding CC and phone and other small items

Tupperware flour scoop 

Sugar Scrub 

Count down chalk board and chalk marker with Lindor Chocolates

Homemade lemon curd with blueberry scones

Working hands, hand cream 

White Eye liner 

Stephan's hot chocolate with a quilting square stack 

Laundry detergent booster and smore cookies 

Jewelry- Earrings  

Pineapple corer 

Wire head massager 

Strawberry Brownie Kabobs

Strawberry Brownie Kabobs

From: Lunch Bunch

Brought By: Jamie C. 

yield: 24 KABOBS

Ingredients:
1 box brownie mix
2 16-oz packages of large strawberries
1 bag marshmallows
2 squares of Baker's melting chocolate
Wooden skewers, cut in half

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray mini muffin tins with non-stick spray. Prepare the brownie batter according to the package's instructions and divide batter among muffin tins. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until cake tester comes out clean. Allow brownies to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Clean, dry, and cut the strawberries so both ends are flat (I just liked the look of them this way). Layer the strawberries, brownies, and marshmallows on the skewers and lay them out on a wax paper-lined cookie sheet. Melt the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl in 30 second intervals until completely melted. Transfer to a piping bag or ziploc bag with the corner snipped off and drizzle each kabob. Transfer to the fridge to allow the chocolate to set and until ready to serve.

Biscuits and Sausage Country Gravy

Biscuits and Sausage Country GravyFrom: Favorites Night

Brought By: Jamie C. 

Ingredients:
Old fashioned or Buttermilk Biscuits
8 ounces sage or maple flavored bulk sausage
¼ cup (½ stick) butter
1/3 cup all purpose flour
2 cups milk
1 cup water
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions:
1. Prepare the biscuits and bake them while you make the gravy
2. Cook and stir the sausage in a medium skillet over medium heat, crumbling with a wooden spoon. Drain the fat, if necessary.
3. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the flour, stirring constantly to prevent scorching. Cook until the roux begins to darken slightly. Slowly whisk in the milk, water, salt, and pepper. Continue stirring until the gravy thickens and comes to a simmer. Stir in the sausage.
4. Break the warm biscuits in half and cover with the gravy.

Double the recipe and freeze the left overs for later use.

Fruity Baked Oatmeal

Fruity Baked Oatmeal
From: Favorites Night

Brought By: Kelly S.

Total Prep: 15 minutes
Total Bake: 45-60 min
Adapted From: Taste of Home Cookbook

Ingredients: 

3 cups quick cooking oats
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup milk
½ cup butter, melted
¾ cup chopped peeled tart apple
1/3 cup chopped fresh or frozen peaches
1/3 cup fresh or frozen blueberries, if using frozen do not thaw
Additional milk , optional

Directions:
In a large bowl, combine the oats, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Combine the eggs, milk, and butter; add to the dry ingredients. Stir in the apple, peaches, and blueberries.

Pour into an 8-inch square baking dish coated with non-stick cooking spray. Bake, uncovered at 350 degrees F for 40-60 min or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Cut into squares. Serve with milk if desired.

Notes: I used old-fashioned oats and increased the amount of peaches and blueberries and apples by ALOT. I decreased the amount of butter to a couple TBSP and added about 3/4 cup applesauce. I also decrease the amount of sugar to a little more than a 1/2 cup. I also had to bake it for about an hour, until the center wasn’t giggly. Can be warmed up and eaten as leftovers or frozen for later use. I love to warm it up until its super hot and pour milk over it.

KC Smokehouse Baked Beans

KC Smokehouse Baked Beans
From: BBQ Night
Sugessted Recipe by: Kristen B.

Use these amazing sauces for baked beans and your next BBQ sauce. The baked beans recipe is on the bottle and can be found with the other BBQ sauces at Walmart!

Poppy Seed Muffins

Poppy Seed Muffins
From: Favorites Night

Brought By: Alyssa G. 

Ingredients
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup milk
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp. poppy seeds
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp almond extract

Directions: 
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Line 12 muffins tins with paper liners.
Mix together the eggs, sugar, butter, and almond extract until well blended.
In large bowl, combine flour, poppy seeds, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Add the flour mixture and the milk alternately to the wet mixture. Mix until just incorporated.
Pour batter into prepared muffin tins. Fill them to the top.
*They will be full muffin tins, but they puff up perfectly!

Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Place on cooling rack in pan for about 5 min. Then remove from pan and finish cooling on a wire rack.
Serve when they are fresh out of the oven, that’s when they taste the best! Adding a slab of butter doesn’t hurt either, in fact, just do it, it’s reeeeeal tasty!

Zesty Sweet and White Potato Spears

Zesty Sweet and White Potato Spears
From: BBQ Night

Brought By: Kelly S. 

Time: 10 min prep, 1 hr bake
Servings: 6
Adapted From: Kraft foods.com

Ingredients:
1-1/2 lb. sweet potatoes (about 3), cut into spears
1-1/2 lb. russet potatoes (about 3), cut into spears
1/2 C. Italian Dressing
1/4 C. grated parmesan cheese
2 T. chopped fresh parsley

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375°F. Toss potatoes with dressing. Place on lightly greased baking. Cook 30 minutes. Turn potatoes. Cook an additional 30 minutes, sprinkling with cheese during the last 5 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley.

Notes: I added salt and pepper to taste. I also added more dressing and parmesan cheese.

Yogurt Dill Potato Salad

Yogurt Dill Potato Salad
From: BBQ Night

Brought By: Megan S. 

Ingredients:
2 lbs unpeeled red potatoes
1 cup (8oz) plain lowfat yogurt (Greek or regular)
2 Tbsp mayonnaise
1 Tbsp cider vinegar
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
3 green onions, chopped (1/4 cup)
2 ribs celery, dices (1/2 cup)
1 ½ Tbsp chopped FRESH dill
1 Tbsp chopped FRESH Italian parsley
½ tsp onion powder
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp salt (or more to taste)
½ tsp ground black pepper

Directions:
Scrub potatoes and remove any bad spots. Leave the skin on. Steam or boil whole potatoes until fork tender in center. Let cool. Chop into ¾ in. – 1 in. pieces and set aside.

In large bowl, combine remaining ingredients, stir until mixed. Add potatoes and stir to combine. Cover and chill at least 4 hours. Best if chilled over night.

After the chill time, if creamier consistency is desired you may stir in milk or more yogurt a tablespoon at a time.

Add dill or green onions or bacon for garnish.

Makes 6 cups of potato salad.

Macaroni Salad

Macaroni Salad

From: Blue and Gold Banquet

Brought By: Lisa P.

Ingredients:
2 boxes of Ditalini pasta, cooked, drained and cooled
15 hard boiled eggs, peeled then separated whites chopped and yolks placed in a bowl for later
3 cans of medium black olives, drain and chopped (or throw in food processor)
1 cup dill relish (or kosher dills thrown in food processor)
4-6 cups Mayonnaise
1/2 cup Course ground mustard
1/3 cup Yellow mustard
1/4 cup Complete Seasoning (picture attached)
1 Tbsp Garlic powder
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp smoked paprika

Directions:

Place the first 4 ingredients in a large bowl. In a medium size bowl put the egg yolks, blending then well with the seasoning and mustard (I use a immersion blender or beaters) until smooth.

Mix into the pasta mixture. Then add 4 cups of mayo. Stirring it well to coat pasta well. Add mayo a 1/2 cup more at a time until you have it the consistency you wish. Taste! Add more "complete seasoning" as you think. The complete seasoning has salt & pepper in it so you don't need to add those.

Super easy to make!  The eggs were fresh free ranged from our farm. Since it is easy to throw together I like to bring it to potlucks. Most people don't feed that many at a time so you can cut the recipe in half quite easily.

Here is a picture of the seasoning used in the recipe above.

Homemade Waffles

Waffles

From: Favorites Night

Brought By: Amy B. 

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs, separated
1 1/2 cup milk
4 Tbsp melted butter
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Directions: 
Beat egg whites; set aside. Sift dry ingredients. Combine egg yolks, milk, and butter. Add to dry mixture. Beat until smooth. Fold in egg whites. Add sugar and vanilla.

Macaroni and Cheese

Macaroni and Cheese
From: BBQ Night 

Shared This: Amy B. 

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
2 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
2 cups milk
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (or colby)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease square baking dish. Cook macaroni according to package directions. Drain and set aside. Melt the butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour, salt, and pepper. Add milk; cook and stir until mixture is thick and bubbly. Reduce heat to low and add the cheese. Stir until cheese is melted. Combine cheese sauce with macaroni and place in prepared baking dish. Bake 35-40 minutes or until heated through.

Pesto Dip

Pesto Dip:

From: Appetizer Night

Bright By: Amy B. 

Ingredients:
1 jar pesto sauce
1 package cream cheese
1 cup shredded mozarella cheese

Directions:
Combine ingredients, warm in microwave or oven to make it melty! Serve with wheat thins or triscuits.

Pumpkin Pie Caramel Apple Dip

Pumpkin Pie Caramel Apple Dip

From: Fall Favorites

Brought By: Megan S.

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

¼ cup light colored corn syrup

¼ cup water

1 cup half and half

1 tsp vanilla

1/8 tsp salt

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

apples

Directions:

Prepare caramel by bringing sugar, corn syrup, and water to boil in a medium heavy saucepan, stirring until sugar dissolves. Then bring to boil over medium high heat. Cook without stirring, 9 minutes or until lightly golden (about 260 degrees F). Once your caramel is made you can add the remaining ingredients when you are ready.  Stir in half and half, vanilla, salt into mixture. Simmer until candy thermometer registers 235 degrees, stir frequently. Then stir in pumpkin pie spice. Serve with apples. You can keep the caramel warm by putting it into a bowl that is siting in a hot water bath.

Oat Topped Sweet Potato Crisp

Oat Topped Sweet Potato Crisp


From: Fall Favorites

Brought By: Kelly S.

Time: 20 prep, 40-60 min cooking

Servings: 6-8

Adapted From: Kraft foods

Ingredients:

1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened 


1 large can and one small can or 40 oz cut sweet potatoes, drained 


3/4 C. firmly packed brown sugar, divided 


1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon 


1 large apple, chopped (I have used several kinds of apples)

2/3 C. craisins


1/2 C. flour 


1/2 C. old-fashioned or quick-cooking oats, uncooked 


1/3 C. cold butter or margarine 


1/4 C. chopped pecans, optional

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Beat cream cheese, sweet potatoes, 1/4 cup of the sugar and cinnamon with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Spoon into 1-1/2-qt. casserole dish; top with apples and cranberries. Mix flour, oats and remaining 1/2 cup sugar in medium bowl; cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in pecans. Sprinkle over fruit mixture. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until heated through and top is golden brown.

Notes:

I do 1-1/2 the topping, so I almost double it. I also have tried white raisins and nuts but I like craisins and no nuts better. 

Hot Cranberry Punch

Hot Cranberry Punch

From: Fall Favorites

Brought by: Kelly S.

Serves: 10-12 servings

Ingredients:

2 c. water

1 ½ c. sugar

4 cinnamon sticks

1 qt. cranberry juice

1 qt. water

2 c. orange juice

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

Directions:

Simmer 2 c. water, sugar, and cinnamon sticks for 10 min. Stir in cranberry juice, water, orange juice and lemon juice. Simmer (but do not boil) for 30 minutes. Serve warm or keep warm in crock-pot.