Corn and Bacon Dip

• Half jalapeno diced small
• half a large red bell pepper diced small
• half red onion diced small
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 1 lb. Bacon- cooked and crumbled
• 3 tbsp ranch powder
• 1 lb. sour cream
• 1 lb frozen corn
• 1 bunch green onion chopped
• 8 oz. sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
• 1 to 2 cups Ranch dressing
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup milk
• salt and pepper to taste

Saute the jalapeno, bell pepper, onion, and garlic until soft and just starting to brown. 

Mix everything together with enough milk/ranch to get it to the thickness you want. 

This dip is great. It's smoky and cheesey, but not too heavy dip for chips or crackers. 

Corned beef dip

• 8 oz corned beef, shredded or chopped small
• 1 small tub sour cream
• 2 bunch green onion, chopped
• 1 packet of onion dip mix

Mix these all together and serve inside a hollowed out sourdough loaf or with crackers. 

Roasted Red pepper hummus

• 1 can chickpeas (garbanzo beans are the same thing)
• 2 roasted red peppers (see this recipe to make your own)
• 1-2 TBS. sesame oil or about 1/4 cup tahini
• juice of 1 lemon
• 2 tbs. olive oil
• 1 tsp, chopped garlic

Drain off but same the liquid from the beans. Put all the other ingredients into a food processor or blender. Mix until smooth. If it is too thick, slowly add in some of the liquid from the beans until it reached the desired consistency.

You can also make this without the roasted red peppers and do it with roasted garlic, plain, sun-dried tomatoes, or many other options.

Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts

• 2 packages of bacon
• 5 cans of water chestnuts
• 50-75 round toothpicks

Sauce:

• 32 oz bottle of ketchup
• 1/3 cup molasses
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 Tbs. vinegar
• 2 tbs. mustard

Mix the sauce ingredients together in a bowl. Set aside

Cut the bacon into thirds. Wrap a 1/3 slice around each water chestnut and use a toothpick to secure. Bake at 350 for half an hour. Drain off the fat and pour the sauce over the water chestnuts and make sure they are completely coated. Bake for another half hour.

Stuffed Mushrooms and Sausage and Quinoa Stuffed peppers.

These stuffed mushrooms are a traditional accompaniment to our Christmas Eve meal but they make a great appetizer. 

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• 1 lbs sage sausage
• 1 package cream cheese (8oz)
• 1 bunch green onions
• 1-2 lbs button mushrooms

First, wash the mushrooms and remove the stems. Keep the whole mushroom to the side and mince the stems and the green onion. Cook up the sausage in a pan and add in the cream cheese and minced onion and mushroom stem and stir as the cream cheese melts everything together. Stuff the mushroom caps with the filling and bake at 350 for 15-20 minute. 

Alternative: 

Sausage and quinoa stuffed peppers

Get fewer mushrooms and dice them all up for the filling. Cook some quinoa and add it to the filling just after the cream cheese melts. Then either slice some peppers in half and remove the seeds or cut the top off and remove the seeds and ribs from the inside. Pre-bake the peppers at 350 for about 5-7 minutes and then stuff them with the filling and bake another 10 minutes