ShannonAlbert.com - June 2009

I decided to make our dinner of party foods while watching a documentary about Barack Obama. Tried a couple of new things while having some things we know we love.



Recipes:

Fondue Queso
Melted Velveeta with salsa on the stove and transferred to fondue pot

Li'l Smokies and Hot Dogs
Put smokies and cut up hot dogs into slow cooker with a bottle of bbq sauce. Turned on high for about an hour.

Fruit kabobs
Pretty self-explanatory. I used strawberries, cherries, blueberries and grapes this time.

Hot Pizza Dip
Made almost this exact recipe and so easy as only the microwave is required. I did use turkey pepperoni instead of regular pepperoni. Served with breadsticks.

Peanut Butter Cup Brownies
Prepare boxed brownie mix according to directions but pour into mini muffin tin using muffin cups. Fill just half way and then press peanut butter cup into the batter. Bake at 325 until done. Mine took 20 minutes. You can also make them using a regular sized muffin tin but the ratio of brownie to peanut butter cup is better in the smaller size (to me anyway).

My mom's famous punch recipe
I cut my mom's punch recipe to 1/3 of the normal serving since there were just 4 of us and it ended up being a good amount and let us have several refills. These are the amounts I used.

1 3oz. jello (I used strawberry to make it red punch but my mom has used all flavors to change the color according to the occasion)
1 c. boiling water
2 c. cold water
1 c. sugar
1 large can unsweetened pineapple juice
Ginger Ale

Mix jello with boiling water and stir until dissolved. Add cold water and stir. Add sugar and stir. Add pineapple juice and stir. Freeze in containers (I just used one mixing bowl this time but using a few smaller ones is easier sometimes). Thaw 4-6 hours ahead of time in refrigerator. Put some in punch bowl when ready to serve, break apart into smaller pieces and add Ginger Ale.