Apple Dip

8 oz. cream cheese
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. white sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 bag Butter Brittle Chips

Mix with electric mixer. Serve with sliced apples.

Auntie Anne's Pretzels

For Mother's Day Wes got me a subscription to the Food Network Magazine. It is loaded with recipes that I can't wait to try. They have a column called "Copy That" that has recipes of great restaurant foods that taste just like the real thing. When I saw this Auntie Anne pretzel recipe, I had to try it IMMEDIATELY! It was so good!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup milk
• 1 package active dry yeast ( I used 1 packet fast rising yeast)
• 3 Tbsp packed light brown sugar
• 2 1/4 C all-purpose flour
• 2 Tbsp butter, plus a few more for brushing on pretzels
• 1/3 C baking soda

Directions:

• Warm milk in saucepan until 110 F; pour into a medium bowl and sprinkle in the yeast. Let the yeast soften, about 2 mins; stir in brown sugar and 1 C flour. Dice 2 Tbsp butter and soften; stir into the mix. Add the remaining 1 1/4 C butter and fine salt to make a sticky dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead, adding more flour if needed, until smooth but slightly tacky, about 5 minutes. Shape into a ball, place in a lightly greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in warm spot about 1 hour or until doubled in size.

• Preheat oven to 450 F and grease a large baking sheet. Punch the dough to deflate it, then turn out onto a lightly floured surface and divide the dough into 6 pieces or 12 if your making the mini pretzels. Roll and stretch each piece with your palms into a 30 inch rope. (15 in for minis) Form each rope into a pretzel shape.

• Dissolve the baking soda in 3 C warm water in a shallow baking dish. Gently dip each pretzel into the soda solution and arrange on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until golden, 10-12 minutes.

• Melt a couple tbsp of butter and brush over the top.(The original recipe called for 8 TBSP of butter, and then to dip the whole pretzel in, but who needs all that butter?!) Sprinkle with coarse salt.

Mom's Fabulous Chicken Salad

Mom's Chicken Salad

Ingredients:
2 large cans white meat chicken chunks (I used grilled chicken breast because I had them on hand.)
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/2 -1 cup chopped grapes
1/4 cup crasins (that have been soaked in water to plump them up)
cashews
drained mandarin oranges
Heavy whipping cream -whipped (this is the dressing)

I used my sister's presentation idea for a Mary Kay party I had at my house. On a Ritz flips side cracker, place a leaf of spinach. On top of the spinach, place a spoonful of chicken salad. It is very pretty and makes this yummy chicken salad a finger food!

Little Hammies

Last night I hosted a baby shower at my house. The shower started at 6pm so I thought I needed to serve something of substance for those who didn't eat dinner before they came. I made these little hammies and they were a hit!

Ingredients:
24 Hawaiian Rolls
1/2 stick melted butter
2 Tablespoons Poppy seeds
4 Tablespoons mustard
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
sliced ham
Swiss cheese

Mix butter, poppy seeds, mustard and Worcestershire sauce . Spread on both sides of rolls. Put cheese on both sides of bread and a slice of ham in the middle. Cover with foil and bake for 15-20 minutes at 350, or until cheese is melted. With about 5 minutes left, uncover to let them crisp just a bit.
Best if served warm!

Crab Cakes

This recipe originated from Paula Deen. (She is a new love of mine.) I made a few alternations to the recipe because I am married to a VERY PICKY EATER!

Ingredients:

• 1 pound crabmeat, picked free of shells
• 1/3 cup crushed crackers (I used whole wheat Ritz)
• 3 green onions (green and white parts), finely chopped (I sprinkled in some onion powder instead)
  
• 1/2 cup finely chopped bell pepper (I pureed one whole Red Pepper, he never knew it was in there! ha!)
  
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Dash cayenne pepper
• Flour, for dusting
• 1/2 cup peanut oil (I didn't have peanut oil so I used veg oil and it worked fine.)

Mine needed some color because I had omitted the green onions, so I sprinkled in a few parsley leaves to jazz it up a bit.

Directions:

In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients, except for the flour and oil. Shape into patties and dust with flour.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When oil is hot, carefully place crab cakes, in batches, in pan and fry until browned, about 4 to 5 minutes. Carefully flip crab cakes and fry on other side until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Serve warm with sauce.

This is the sauce I used:

Lemon Aioli:

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon chopped chives (I didn't have any on hand, so I sprinkled in a little onion powder.)
  
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
  
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest (I didn't have this either... so, I omitted.)
  
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a medium bowl, mix all the ingredients together.

YUM-O! Enjoy!