Party-Pleasing Appetizers

This weekend we celebrated our daughters' birthdays.  We had a get-together at our house and I made lots of crowd-pleasing appetizers.  Everything turned out pretty dang good if I do say so myself.  Here's what I made:

First up, this yummy Creamy Peanut Butter Fruit Dip from Southern Plate.  One of the party-goers told me it was the best dip he'd ever had in his life.  Now that's some statement, isn't it? 

Also from a reader of  Southern Plate is this Taco Rex dip.  This is always a favorite at our house.

Another favorite at our house are these Mexican Pinwheels from Just A Pinch.  I've been making these for years and everybody always looks forward to eating them when we have get-togethers.  Instead of the red pickled jalapenos (which are sometimes hard to find) I used green pickled jalapenos - gave the pinwheels a little extra kick.

I also made these Bacon Cheeseburger Puffs from Plain Chicken.  They turned out good too.  They weren't quite as puffy as the ones pictured on Plain Chicken, but they still tasted good.  I also made some ranch dressing to dip them in.

Also from Plain Chicken, I made Cheddar Bacon Ranch Pulls.  This turned out really good too.  It was kind of hard to eat, so I just wound up cutting the bread up into pieces after it was cooked.  It didn't look very pretty after I did that, but dangit it was good!

I also made Paula Deen's Garlic Cheese Biscuits.  These are, like, my favorites y'all.  They even make you start talking like Paula, y'all.  I mean, really, y'all. Y'all, I'm serious, y'all.  I could be the next Deen Team Blogger, don't y'all think?  These are delicious and I could eat about five pounds of them at any given time.

I also made this Strawberry Champagne Punch from Allrecipes.com.  I used two bottles of champagne and one 2-liter bottle of ginger ale.  I also used one bag of frozen strawberries and one bag of mixed berries.  I realize this is not really an appetizer, but I did make it for this party because what person doesn't need an adult beverage while at a child's birthday party?  I mean, come on!!

And last but certainly not least, the star of the show:  The Country Cook's Crock Pot Party Meatballs.  These were by far the easiest appetizers I made and they were, if you ask me, the best.  Nobody can hold a candle to these balls - they were awesome!

And there you have it - pictures and links to all the appetizers we had at my girls' birthday party this past weekend.  I hope you enjoyed it and I hope you find all the links useful.  If you get a chance, leave me a comment and let me know what you think.  Love to hear from y'all!

Linking up with these great parties:




and

Tequila & Rum Soaked Watermelon

I found this recipe on Pinterest and decided I'd tweak it a bit.  Here's the recipe I came up with:

Tequila & Rum Soaked Watermelon
About half of a medium-sized watermelon cut into bite-sized chunks - rind removed*
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup rum
3/4 cup tequila
2 limes
salt

Cut watermelon into bite-sized chunks with rind removed.  Arrange in single layer in 9x13 baking dish.  Place sugar and water in saucepan and heat until sugar is dissolved.  Let mixture cool slightly.  Add tequila and rum to sugar water.  Stir.  Pour yummy concoction over your bite-sized watermelons.  Squeeze lime juice over watermelons and sprinkle with some salt if you want - but I wouldn't put very much.  Cover with plastic wrap and let sit in fridge overnight.  Drain liquid.  (I drained the liquid into a bowl and it's sitting in my fridge waiting for me to mix it with a Sprite - I bet that will be yummy)

That's all there is to it.  Be prepared to have your flip-flops blown off because these are pretty dang good.

*Take my advice and cut the watermelon into smaller chunks than what is pictured above.

If you plan on taking these to a get-together, make sure you label the container in some way that the other guests will know these watermelons are for adults only.    

Cocktail Time - Tropical Sludge

Yes, I am a mama.  Yes, I like cocktails.  There, I said it.  I feel much better now.   

This is my absolute favorite summertime adult beverage.  It is so fruity and tropical and sweet and just plain ol' delicious.  My husband doesn't care for it, but you know what that means...more for me!!

I found the original recipe over at another great website called Deep South Dish.  She calls it Vodka Slush which sounds so much nicer than Tropical Sludge, but since I tweeked the recipe to my liking, I figured I better call it something else.  Here's my take on this awesome drink:


Tropical Sludge

1 (12 oz.) can frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
1 (12 oz.) can frozen limeade concentrate, thawed
1 (12 0z.) can frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
4 1/2 cups water
2 cups vodka
1 cup granulated sugar
Lemon-Lime drink - Sprite or 7 Up or whatever you like (I buy the cans because I like my drinks fizzy.)

Mix thawed lemonade, limeade and orange juice in a large, freezer-safe container.  Add the water, vodka and sugar and stir.  Freeze overnight (if you can wait that long - if you can't, just pour in sludge mixture over ice in a cup about halfway to 3/4 full, then pour lemon-lime drink on top - mix well and drink.)

If you're patient enough to let it sit in the freezer overnight, then when you're ready to drink it, scoop out the mixture and fill a cup about half to 3/4 full, then pour lemon-lime drink on top.  Stir it up then sit back and take a few sips and let the relaxation begin. 

(Need more cocktail / mocktail ideas.  Check these out over at Carole's Chatter.)