Party Panache, Breezy Easy Party Recipes and Shortcuts!
Many prayers for the Bahamas, Florida, and the whole East US coast as they deal with Hurricane Dorian…we were lucky this time and didn’t have anything but sunshine and fun on the Gulf Coast for Labor Day…
We had 20 at our house for dinner Friday and Saturday night,
I tried to make it as easy as I could!
Poor CC, she broke her arm last week,
She couldn’t go swimming, but she was very proud of her pink sparkly cast!
She was a real trooper and enjoyed her status as the only girl cousin among 7 rowdy boys!
Friday night we celebrated 2 family birthdays
HHjr cooked 2 huge pork butts for BBQ pulled pork sliders,
and we had “THE” Salad, and a big bowl of watermelon,
with a Football birthday cake for dessert to kick off the football season
I got a lot of help from my local Publix,* the cake was a big hit!
Saturday we got 2 party trays for game day noshing…
Popcorn chicken
Italian Pinwheels
I did make an easy dip at the last minute
It is a crowd pleaser that you can assemble it in a flash 📸
Celery sticks form a perimeter around the dip,
making it not only look festive, but hard to resist grabbing one…
Place a bowl of sturdy chips or crackers nearby and it’s a party!
Pssst…this dip is fabulous to use for twice baked potatoes, see method in the printable recipe below
BREEZY CHEESE DIP
Ingredients
- 16 oz. sour cream
- 16 oz. cream cheese softened
- 2 oz. dry Ranch dressing mix
- 1 1/2 cups grated extra sharp Cheddar cheese
- 2.8 oz package bacon bits {Oscar Mayer}
- 2 green onions chopped reserving some of the green tops for garnish
Breezy Twice Baked Potatoes
- 2 cups Breezy Cheese Dip
- 4 baking potatoes
- 4 Tbsp butter
Instructions
Dip
- Combine sour cream and cream cheese. Stir in ranch dressing mix. Add cheese, bacon bits and 2/3 of the scallion pieces. Stir to combine and distribute ingredients evenly.
- Place into a serving dish {I used a white casserole dish} and line edges with celery sticks. Garnish with reserved scallion pieces. Can be made in advance and refrigerated until serving.
Breezy Twice Baked Potatoes
- Bake Idaho or Russet potatoes until done. Let cool for 30 minutes. Carefully slice a thin piece of potato off the top so you can scoop out the insides.
- Carefully scoop out cooked potato, leaving an intact potato shell. Place potato into a mixing bowl with softened butter, 1 Tablespoon per potato.
- Cover bowl and let sit for 15 minutes, then stir butter into potato. Add as much of the dip as you want to the potato mixture and mash/stir to combine. Scoop all this back into shells, filling to overflowing and shape/mash filling with your hands to smooth it out.
- Refrigerate until baking time. Bake filled potatoes uncovered at 350 for 30-45 minutes until heated through.
Notes
Here are a few other no sweat recipes that will get you out of the kitchen fast!
Pumpkin Butternut Squash Holiday Queso
Spirals are one of my go to easy apps,
Even though I opted to order a platter this time,
Here are a few that are perfect for Fall gatherings and
They can be made quickly and they are always gobbled up!
White Cheddar Cranberry Almond Spirals
Spinach & Artichoke Dip Spirals
Enjoy your fall gatherings with easy recipes and a little help prepared party foods!
*Publix party platters: Special order the platters 24 hours in advance, it’s so easy to do online and you can even pay online and all you have to do is walk in and pick it up or get someone to pick it up on their way over…
Or if you have Shipt in your area, you can get your Shipt shopper to bring it to you!
I am not being compensated by Publix or Shipt, just sharing some ways to save you time and energy when feeding a crowd~
Click on the recipe titles to go to the other recipes
🏈🍁🌻
I will be joining these fabulous parties and blogs:
Meal Plan Monday Love Your Creativity What’s for Dinner?
Between Naps on the Porch, Make it Pretty Monday Celebrate and Decorate,
All About Home Common Ground & Follow the Yellow Brick Home
Tasty Tuesday Oh My Heartsie Girl Full Plate Thursday
Comments
31 Responses to “Party Panache, Breezy Easy Party Recipes and Shortcuts!”Trackbacks
Check out what others are saying...-
[…] Breezy Cheese Dip […]
-
[…] could make Breezy Easy Party Dip {pictured […]
RSS - Posts
Who could pass up that dip!!!!!! Beautiful family Jenna! Love CC in the pink cast 💕
thanks Jodi, CC was amazing, I gave her a new Barbie and told her she was so brave 🙂
Wow! I want to eat at your house! 😊😊 Sounds so delicious and beautiful pictures. You’re on the Gulf coast? We vacation there every year- Dauphin Island. 🐠🐠
ha ha, thank you Jessica! Yes, we are in Orange Beach not too far from Dauphin Island!
Ohhh, LOVE Orange Beach. Did helicopter ride there, private fishing charter, played Bingo at FloraBama (if I spelled that right), and shopped at the grocery stores. Beautiful area.
Oh good!! Yes, I love it too, especially now as there aren’t as many visitors, Sept and Oct are my favorite months here!
Oh my gosh, I bet!!
Darling CC is rocking her pink cast. Jenna, I love your family photos. I still say you are the Martha Stewart of Alabama, how do you do it all?!!! The food looks fabulous and I know the weekend was fun. Now enjoy some down time.
Ha, well I did get a lot of help from Publix, I highly recommend their party platters, they were really good!
What a delightful feast!
Thanks Dorothy!
What a feast! Thank your for yet another tasty recipe and a great way to use up celery, which I need to do! We never seem to get through the whole stalk and it goes bad. Glad you had a fun weekend and Labor Day and love the family pics. How cool that not only is CC’s cast pink, but has sparkles! 😃 (Yes, we too, are praying for our southern states and the Bahamas.)
Thank you Cyndi, we had a blast! And easy recipes and prepared party platters made it so nice for me! On to September!
Love seeing your family all gathered, Jenna. What a crew, and CC is the princess (tough one, no doubt) among the cousins. My sister came to WV, fleeing from Dorian. Still hoping it makes its way before Christmas……..good Lord, that thing is slow.
Thanks Rita, good times! Yes Dorian is a slooooooow mover, but aren’t we lucky it didn’t impact us as much as the Bahamas, such a tragedy there…
Oh poor CC Jenna…love that her cast is pink & sparkly 🙂 Would love that dip on a baked potato! We have Publix 5 minutes away now, so exciting!
Oh yay!! 5 minutes!!
So glad you guys had a great time! Love that pink, sparkly cast! I just got some pink highlights in my hair, so we would match! Glad Alabama pulled out the win, but they better tighten up! Hugs!
Thanks Benita, a pink sparkly cast makes a princess for sure 🙂 RTR!
Beautiful family pics, Jenna!! That dip looks delicious! 😋
Thanks Patty Anne, nothing fancy about the dip but it was lapped up! My son-in-law was eating it with a spoon 😂
Twenty is plenty but you definitely pulled it off in grand style. It all looks so tasty — and i”ll bet that beautiful family of yours loved it!
Thanks Jeanie, I loved getting the party platters, I am spoiled now!
Sounds like a fun day with your family! 💕😍 Love the pic of your grands – all smiling!
Glad you had good weather too… I have been thinking of you. 🌞 Your dip looks delish and it would be a great topper for baked potatoes! 👍
Thank you Jill, so sweet! I have had a few quiet days to recover from the weekend, but a new group is coming tomorrow…never a dull moment around here 🙂
The dip sounds delicious!!
What a lovely family you have!
Thanks Nancy!
I loved seeing your family pictures, Jenna! You all sure know how to have fun and eat well!!
thanks Kitty, it is a wild and crazy group!