I play Bunco with a wonderful group of ladies once a month. This month was my first time to host and cook for them. I love this type of stuff! I'll post the pictures first and then explain what I did.
Just to label things first, in the upper picture starting from the upper left and working around like a clock. There are three types of cookies in that bowl, the next bowl is a bacon/tomato/ranch pasta salad then on the tray are spinach/artichoke cups and taco cups, then a plate of crackers and some bacon cheese dip.
In the bottom picture is a chicken cordon blue casserole, on the plates are mousse cups with homemade whipped cream and the others are cups of sour cream, guacamole, the chopped tomatoes & shredded lettuce are not shown.
The Chicken Cordon Blue casserole was really easy to make. The recipe is here. I used some of the Magic Chicken to make this. It was really easy to put together a head of time and just wait to put the cracker crumbs on top just before baking.
The taco cups were interesting. I took a biscuit cutter and cut rounds out of tortillas, then I pushed them down inside mini muffin tins and bake them for about ten minutes on 350 degrees. This makes them crispy like hard taco shells. I then made regular taco meat, adding a can of drained black beans to it. When time to put it all together, I put a scant teaspoon of queso dip in the bottom of the cup, followed with a tablespoon or so of the taco meat. Top with some shredded cheese. They bake just long enough to make sure they're melted through and the cheese is melty. I served them with guacamole, sour cream, taco sauce and shredded lettuce and chopped tomatoes to put on top.
The Spinach Artichoke cups were amazingly similar. I used Wonton wrappers and put them in the mini muffin cups the same way I did with the taco cups. I spritzed them with Pam before baking. Here is the recipe for them. I prepped the shells ahead of time and prepped the stuffing early. Just before time to serve, I used a small ice cream scoop to put the dip into the wonton cups and then baked them until warmed through.
The bacon cheese dip was the favorite of the night. I have to admit, it was good even after it cooled off and eaten with a fork. This would be one of those dips that would be much better served in one of those cute, little crock pots so that it stayed warm. I did add a couple of more pieces of bacon into the recipe than it called for...I like bacon! It was great served on crackers.
The mousse cups I initially tried to make were a failure. It happens. Plan B was those little Athens Tart cups made of Phillo dough. They worked great in a pinch. I made a boxed mousse, cheap and easy. I put it in a Ziploc bag, cut off the corner and filled the tart cups. Then I made homemade whipped cream in just a few minutes and spooned it on top. Nothing fancy but quite yummy.
The pasta salad is something I played around with over the summer and there really isn't a recipe. I boiled some bow tie pasta, drained & rinsed it. About 3 cups total. I mixed 1/2 cup mayo with a pack of ranch powder mix and about 3 tablespoons of milk. I added half a dozen pieces of chopped up cooked bacon, a handful of chopped grape tomatoes, a teaspoon of garlic salt and a cup of shredded cheese. You can make this ahead of time and if it gets a bit dry, you can add a few tablespoons of milk to it to moisten it back up.
Nothing was fancy or overly pricey but it was yummy and fun. I wanted to have something that people could eat as their dinner and also have the options of some finger foods that could be eaten while we were playing Bunco.
When you have a party, reception, get-together or what have you, you can make some easy quick things to eat that are fun and won't break the bank!
