We rarely go out on New Years Eve anymore.  I guess this is a sign of aging.  But that’s ok because I would much rather host an event anyway!  Here are some amazing recipes to get you inspired!

New Years Eve Menu

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New Years Eve Appetizers

Sausage Cheeseballs from Wishes and Dishes

Cocktail Smokies from Cupcake Diaries

Lasagna Dip from Closet Cooking

Shrimp Taco Bites from I Wash You Dry

Beef Crostini with Horseradish Spread from A Family Feast

Hot Crab Dip from Serena Bakes Simply from Scratch

Mom’s Favorite Cheeseball from Create.Craft.Love

Cranberry Pecan Mini Goat Cheese Balls from Mom on Timeout

Tomato Bacon Bites from Classy Clutter

Sweet Chicken Bacon Bites from Jo Cooks

Warm Skillet Bread with Artichoke Spinach Dip from Seasons and Suppers

Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts from Spicy Southern Kitchen

French Dip Sliders from Chelsea’s Messy Apron

Mini Stuffed Peppers from A Spicy Perspective

Ham and Cheese Pretzel Bites from Pip and Ebby

Bacon Wrapped Potato Bites from The Kitchn

New Years Eve Desserts

Champagne Cupcakes from The First Year

Caramel Apple Grapes from Belly Full

Champagne Jello Squares from Celebrations at Home

Countdown Cupcakes from Somewhat Simple

Chocolate Tuxedo Cups with Strawberries from Home is Where the Boat Is

Mini Strawberry Champagne Cupcakes from Life Love and Sugar

Gold Glitter Dipped Peanut Butter Oreos from I Love My Disorganized Life

Midnight Kiss Cookies from The First Year

New Years Confetti Clock Cookies from Repeat Crafter Me

Sparkling Cider Cupcakes from Lil Luna

Fruity Pebbles Cupcakes from Play Party Pin

Pomegranate Champagne Sorbet from The Cookie Rookie

Oreo Cookie Clocks from Pint Sized Baker

White Chocolate New Years Eve Puppy Chow from The First Year

Strawberries and Champagne Cake Balls from Sugar and Soul

Those sausage cheese balls are like crack!  One of my favorite appetizers!  And I cannot wait to get my hand on those champagne cupcakes!  

What are some of your go to recipes for New Year’s Eve?

The post New Years Eve Menu | Recipes appeared first on Create Craft Love.

Soft Pretzel Bites

Pretzel dough itself is nothing special, and if you just throw it in the oven you will get pretty standard breadsticks. The distinctive taste, color, and crust of the classic pretzel comes from briefly boiling the dough in an alkali wash. The alkali imparts flavor and accelerates the Maillard reaction. The classic Bavarian pretzel uses a solution of sodium hydroxide (NaOH), otherwise known as lye.

“Hey, isn’t that the active ingredient in my drain cleaner?”

Yes it is, and using this method requires a good amount of safety equipment, and probably should be left to the experts. Thankfully, there are two alternatives, sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), and sodium carbonate (soda ash, baked soda). Most recipes call for baking soda, but if you want to up your game and get more pretzel flavor, try sodium carbonate.

You won’t find sodium carbonate at the grocery store, but it can easily be made by heating baking soda.  As the baking soda heats it releases water and CO2 and you are left with the sodium carbonate.

Preparation of Sodium Carbonate

1. Preheat oven to 300°
2. Spread out baking soda on a baking sheet
3. Cook for about an hour
4. Allow it to cool and place in an airtight container as it will absorb water from the air.

Sodium carbonate is mildly caustic, nothing like lye, but it can irritate skin and eyes, so be careful.

Ingredients for Soft Pretzels

• 1 ¾ cups warm water
• 1 cup bread flour
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 package active dry yeast
• 2 ½ tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 stick butter (melted)
• 3 teaspoons kosher salt
• 100 grams (about 2/3 cup) Sodium Carbonate (baked soda, soda ash)
• 1 liter of water

Instructions for Making Homemade Soft Pretzel Bites

1. In a stand mixer bowl, place the warm water and empty the yeast packet into it and mix with a spoon.
2. Mix in the sugar and the butter, and let stand 5 minutes to allow the yeast to activate.
3. Using a dough hook on low speed add in the flour and salt.
4. Increase the mixer speed and knead the dough until it is uniform and pulling away from the bowl.
5. Remove the dough from the mixer and knead into a ball.
6. Lightly oil a bowl with vegetable oil, place the dough ball inside the bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
7. Allow the dough to rise for about an hour.
8. Preheat oven to 425°.
9. Place the dough on a flat surface, divide into manageable portions and roll out into a long rope.
10. Cut the dough into 1” bites.
11. Bring a liter of water to a boil and carefully mix in the sodium carbonate. If you are using a larger pot, you can scale this up 1:1 to maintain a 10% solution.
12. Spray a baking sheet.
13. In batches, boil the dough bites for about a minute, and place on the baking sheet. As the water boils off, add in more to maintain about the same volume you started with.
14. Bake for 15-18 minutes until brown.

I love a good snack recipe, especially when it’s one that goes perfect with watching a football a game! Make these yummy soft pretzel bites even better with our delicious homemade Cheddar Mustard Dipping Sauce. Here are more of our favorite snack and appetizer recipes: 

• Homemade Popcorn Seasoning
• Wrigley Dogs
• NY Deli Style Pickles
• Homemade Fruit Snacks
• Texas Cowboy Caviar 

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Soft Pretzel Bites

Make delicious soft pretzels at home!

Ingredients

• 1.75 cups warm water
• 1 cup bread flour
• 4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 pkg active dry yeast
• 2.5 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 stick butter melted
• 3 tsp kosher salt
• 100 gms sodium carbonate
• 1 liter water

Instructions

• In a stand mixer bowl, place warm water.  Empty yeast packet into the bowl and mix with a spoon.
• Mix in sugar and butter, let stand for 5 minutes to allow yeast to activate.
• Using a dough hook on low speed add in the flour and salt.
• Increase the mixer speed and knead the dough until it is uniform and pulling away from the bowl.
• Remove the dough from the mixer and knead into a ball.
• Lightly oil a bowl with vegetable oil, place the dough ball inside the bowl and cover with plastic wrap
• Allow dough to rise for about an hour
• Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.
• Place the dough on a flat surface, divide into manageable portions and roll out into a long rope.  Cut into 1 inch bites.
• Bring the liter of water to a boil and carefully mix in the sodium carbonate.  If you are using a larger pot, you can scale this up to 1:1 to maintain a 10% solution.
• Spray baking sheet.  In batches, boil the dough bites for about a minute and place on baking sheet.  Sprinkle with salt.
• Bake for 15-18 minutes until brown.

The post Soft Pretzel Bites appeared first on Create Craft Love.

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I am seriously drooling over all of this deliciousness!  Doesn’t that Garlic, Bacon and Beer Macaroni and Cheese sound amazing?!  I could eat this until the end of time.  Those homemade onion rings look out of this world too!  The more fried, cheesy goodness – the better!

What’s your favorite food to make for game day?  We love making soft pretzels, guacamole, and wings!

Share some of your favorite game day recipes and maybe you will be featured on the blog!

Click HERE for more amazing recipes!

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Cheddar Mustard Dipping Sauce

We make this often to go with my homemade Soft Pretzel Bites recipe, but as mentioned it goes great with many other foods. You can spruce up chicken wings, raw vegetables (cauliflower in particular), apples, or put it on your favorite sandwich. This is definitely a favorite at our house!

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tbsp brown mustard
• 1-1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions for Making Cheddar Mustard Dipping Sauce

1. Begin by making a roux which is flour mixed with a fat and is used to thicken sauces.

2. Place the butter into a small saucepan and melt over medium heat. 

3. Stir in the flour and cook for about a minute. 

4. Add the milk and continue stirring. 

5. When the milk starts to bubble add mustard and stir. 

6. Add the cheese to the pot and keep stirring. 

7. Once it is uniform, remove from heat and serve.

The type of cheddar you use can make a pretty large different in taste. I prefer sharp cheddar as it seems to stand up to the mustard better. Mild cheddar in my experience gets completely overshadowed by the mustard.

We love this dip and hope you will too! If you are looking for more party food options, try some of these delicious tried and tested recipes: 

• Loaded Slow Cooker Chili

• Easy Guacamole Recipe

• Cheesy Bacon Ranch Potatoes

• Easy Jalapeno Poppers Recipe

• Cauliflower Nachos Recipe

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Easy Guacamole Recipe

I love an appetizer that I can whip up quick and easy, and this is definitely one of those recipes. We love it as a snack, party food and even with dinner. The key is to find avocados that are the perfect ripeness. (good luck with that, *grin) 

Ingredients for Homemade Guacamole

• 3 avocados (Haas are the best for this purpose, but they are not always available)
• 2/3 cup diced white onion
• 2 roma tomatoes, diced
• 1/3 cup fresh chopped cilantro
• 1-2 cloves minced garlic
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• ½ tsp cumin
• ½ tsp cayenne pepper
• ½ lime

Directions for Making Easy Guac

1. Halve the avocados, remove the stone, and scoop out the avocado fruit from the skin.
2. Place the the avocado fruit into a mixing and smash until it begins to smooth, but still has chunkiness to it. In restaurants that serve tableside guac, the preparer typically uses a fork to this.  However, if you have a potato masher at home, it is perfect for this
3. Add the onion and mix in.
4. Add the tomato and mix in.
5. Add cilantro, garlic, salt, cumin, and cayenne.
6. Squeeze the juice of ½ lime over the mixture and mix until all the ingredients are dispersed pretty well.
7. Serve immediately with tortilla chips.

Guacamole can vary wildly, so tailor the amounts of spices to your own particular taste.  For those who like a bit of a kick, add diced fresh jalapeno.

Avocado begins to brown quickly when exposed to oxygen.  The lime juice helps delay this process, but not for long. 

More Party Food Recipes

Bring on the party food and the football games, am I right? Here are more party food and appetizer recipes that we think you’ll love: 

• Spinach Dip

• Super Easy Basil And Brie Appetizer

• Mom’s Favorite Cheeseball Recipe

• Cottage Cheese Queso

• Blue Cheese Deviled Eggs with Bacon

The post Easy Guacamole Recipe appeared first on Create Craft Love.

Spinach dip is one of my favorite things. It doesn’t matter what time of year it is. If I show up to a family get together and this dip is there, I’m a happy happy girl! While I’m all about venturing out into need foods and getting creative, sometimes simple food done right is just the way to go. So get ready for one of my go-to appetizer dips recipes you can serve all year long. Just be sure to hide some away for yourself. This stuff goes fast!

For years I’d use a store bought packet of ranch dressing mix, but ever since I snagged my mom’s homemade ranch dressing mix recipe it’s my go to add-in. But I’m all about keeping things easy, so you do you. The flavor is a little different than if you use the store bought mix, but it’s still totally delicious. You can also use whatever kind of bread you like best. I used a regular french round bread for this batch, but it’s amazing with Hawaiian bread (OMG!) and sourdough works too. Get ready for dip heaven kids!

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Spinach Dip

Homemade Spinach Dip is a must make around the holidays. Guests love it, so be sure to make a double batch!

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 10 minutes minutes

Ingredients

• 1 bread boule medium to large round bread
• 10 ounces frozen spinach thawed
• 16 ounces sour cream
• 1/4 cup ranch dressing mix 1 ounce packet, store bought or homemade
• Salt to taste
• Bite sized veggies for dipping

Instructions

• Cut a circle in the center of the bread boule, leaving a 1/2-inch edge around the outside.Remove the center of the bread. Use your hands to hollow out the bread bowl. Cut the top of the boule and bread from inside into bite sized pieces; set aside.
• Layer two paper towels on top of each other. Remove the spinach from its package and place it in the center of the paper towels. Wrap the spinach up and then wring it out over the sink to remove as much of the excess liquid as you are able. Remove the spinach from the towels and place in a medium mixing bowl.
• To the spinach add the sour cream and ranch dressing mix. Mix well to combine. Season with salt as desired, to taste.
• Transfer the spinach dip to your bread bowl. Place the bread bowl on a serving platter. Spread the bread pieces and veggies around the dip. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Hungry for more?

Crock Pot Spinach + Bacon Cheese Dip

Spinach + Artichoke White Bean Dip

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Only three ingredients and a few minutes of your time will wow your guests with a punch of flavor in this savory, puffy, delectable appetizer. Truth be told, we make them any old time at home because they’re SO good.

Ingredients:

1 package puff pastry dough
1 wheel brie
8 large basil leaves for mini-muffin tin, 6 large leaves for standard muffin tin

Instructions:

Thaw pastry in refrigerator. It needs to be thawed, but cold – so don’t let it sit on the counter to thaw.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
Open pastry from the three folds. Use a knife or pizza cutter to slice along vertical lines, creating three long sheets of pastry.
For mini-muffin tin, slice long sheets into four equal pieces each. If using standard size tin, slice pastry into three equal squares per length (resulting in 12).
Spray mini-muffin tin with non-stick spray, then press one square of pastry into each muffin cup.
Remove wrapping from brie, and slice into 1/2 inch cubes.
Place one square of brie and one-half basil leaf in each pastry square.
If you like, fold the edges over on themselves to enclose the pastry, and brush the tops with lightly beaten raw egg. I like to leave them open.

The post Super Easy Basil And Brie Appetizer appeared first on Create Craft Love.

 As always, please pin from the original source!

To access the recipe, click the link below the picture in the gallery!  This will take you to the original post and you can view the recipe from there!

 Which is YOUR favorite?  How can you decide?  I guess I’ll have to try them all!  I cannot WAIT to try those Garlic Cheese Bombs!  They look delicious!  Especially the ones that have cheese oozing from them.  Sign me up!

If you’re looking for more delicious appetizers, check out my Super Bowl Recipes!  Those apps are ALWAYS in style!  Even if it’s not football season!

And I can personally attest for those Sausage and Cheese Wontons!  They are one of my go to recipes.  I get asked to bring them all of the time!  DELICIOUS!

The post 20+ Amazingly Simple Appetizers appeared first on Create Craft Love.

Have you ever been to your state fair?  When we were kids, we went to the Illinois State Fair every year!  Some of my fondest childhood memories are of going to the fair with my grandparents.  I remember the rides, the Butter Cow, and of course, the food!  I’m pretty sure every time we go to the fair, we just eat our way from one end to the other.  It’s all the food you try to deny yourself the rest of the year. The deep fried deliciousness and sugary sweetness makes these foods some of our favorites. Why is state fair food so good?

Now we go to our local fair every summer here in Southern Missouri. The Ozark Empire Fair is almost as large as the state fair. I always look forward to a lemon shake up, corn dog and fried oreos. I mean you can buy a corn dog at Sonic but it’s just not the same.

As always, please pin from the original source!  To access a particular post, please click the link below each picture.

Anyone else’s mouth watering?  I could seriously go for a little bit of all of these!

What’s your State Fair Food Favorite?  I gotta tell you, it’s hard to beat deep fried oreos!  YUMMY!

The post State Fair Food Favorites appeared first on Create Craft Love.

Seafood Nacho Dip from Becoming Martha

Ham and Cheese Rollups from Mom Endeavors

Sausage and Cream Cheese Pockets from Mom 4 Real

Football 7 Layer Dip from Mom Endeavors

Sausage and Cheese Wonton Cups from That’s What Che Said

Chocolate Cut Out Cookies from Posed Perfection

Bite Sized Artichoke Frittatas from Rook No.17

Nacho Bar from C.R.A.F.T.

Amazing Hot Wings Recipe from Saved By Love Creations

Mushroom Cups Appetizer from Cleverly Inspired

Garlic Fries from Mom’s Crafty Space

Twice Baked Potatoes from Country Chic Cottage

Jalapeno Chicken Spirals from Setting for Four

Mini Taco Dip Bites from Madigan Made

Snickers Mini Candy Pizza from Creative Cynchronicity

Slow Cooker Sausage Meatballs from Cleverly Inspired

Who are you rooting for in the Super Bowl?

Are you ready for some football food?

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