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