New Years Eve Goodies!

On New Years Eve friends and I went to cook munchies at the Ronald McDonald House. I have a group that we get together monthly and cook dinners there, but we wanted to do something a little more special and fun for New Years Eve. We did heavy appetizers and sparkling apple cider for the families that night, and boy did everything look delicious!

I picked a couple of appetizer recipes to make for the house and both (yes, I admit, we tasted) were DELICIOUS!!!

The first one, I have no idea where I got this recipe from and I tweaked the serving portions, so this is for 12 servings. It made plenty for a big gathering of people.

Crockpot Spinach Artichoke Dip
12 servings
32 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups half and half
2 T onion chopped finely
2 minced garlic cloves
20 oz. bag frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
26 oz. can quartered artichoke hearts -rinse, drain and chop
1 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
1 1/3 cups monterey jack cheese, shredded

Combine cream cheese and half and half in a bowl and mix until well blended. Then add all ingredients except the monterey jack and stir to combine. Pour everything in to a crock pot and heat on high for 1 1/2 - 2 hours or until warmed through. Top with the monterey jack cheese. Serve with veggies, crackers or pita.


The second recipe I made was another Joelen origonal recipe - because, you know, I adore her cooking and her recipes are KILLER!!! I chose her Loaded Potato Poppers and dear GOD they were delicious - creamy, rich, bacon-y - what more could a person want to eat on New Years Eve before the diet starts the next day???

I made her recipe exactly as it is on her website so just use the linky-love above to get to the recipe. I would most certainly try these as a larger potato skin as well, they would be killer!!!

After we cooked at Ronald McDonald House we headed over to our friend's house to enjoy a New Years Eve munchie, dinner, Uno and Rock Band night to ring in the New Year.

I made this bread from another one of my favorite blogs, Leigh Anne over at Your Home Based Mom. Seriously, her Bloomin' Onion Bread was wonderful - and I even forgot the butter and it was still incredible. Next time I will need to work on finding a firmer bread though - just like she did. Again, linky-love - head to the link above for the recipe!


These are great munchies for entertaining - all 3 - so don't forget to add them to your list for your next social gathering.