Betsy's Family Recipes:

Appetizers

 

 

Family Recipes Index page

Appetizers & Soups
Lynn's Party Rye Snacks
Party Penguins

Kay's Potato Soup

Betsy's Marshmallow Snowmen

Salads
Asian Chicken Salad
Broccoli/Bacon/Raisin Salad
Greek Orzo Salad

Main Dishes
Betsy's Venison w/ Gravy
San Francisco Chops
Carol's Sloppy Joes
Betsy's Chicken w/ Mushroom Cream Sauce
Meridy's Scalloped Corn
Dijon Potatoes and Ham Au Gratin
Köttbullar (Swedish Meatballs)
Holly's Goulash

Desserts
Meridy's Texas Sheet Cake
Tina's Microwave Fudge
Betsy's Ricotta Cookies
Lynn's Banana Bread
Cheryl's Almond cookies
Pepparkakor (Ginger Cookies)
Risgrynsgrot (Rice Porridge)

 

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Lynn's Party Rye Snacks

1# Hamburger
1 tsp oregano or Italian seasoning
1# Italian Sausage (bulk)
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1# Velveeta Cheese
1 tsp Worchestershire sauce
2 pkgs. square party ryes
 
Brown meat; drain fat. Cube cheese to melt with meat. Stir in rest of ingredients. Spread on party ryes. Freeze on cookie sheet. Bake 10 minutes at 400 degrees. Note: Once frozen on cookie sheet, these can also be bagged and kept in the freezer for throwing as few or as many in the oven as you want at a time.


Party Penguins

Click photo to enlarge

18 jumbo black olives, pitted
18 small black olives, pitted
18 green pimento-stuffed olives
1 red pepper, cut into curved strips
1 carrot, sliced into 1/8-inch rounds

Filling:  8 oz softened cream cheese

Frilly-topped toothpicks 

Cut a slit from top to bottom, lengthwise, into the side of each jumbo olive. Using pastry bag (or a teaspoon if necessary), insert cream cheese into each olive until it starts to come out the bottom hole. Set aside.  Take the carrot rounds and cut a small wedge out of each one to form the feet. Save the wedge and press into the center of a small black olive to form the beak. (For best results, cut a slit into each olive before inserting the beak).  Set the (stuffed) big olive, large hole side down, onto a carrot slice.

Now assemble the head:  stick a toothpick through the halved green olive (the hat), the small black olive (the head), a red pepper strip (the scarf). 

Adjust so that the beak, cream cheese chest and notch in the carrot slice line up.  For fun you can also make an "igloo" out of cream cheese, creating the look of ice blocks with a toothpick or butter knife.


Kay’s Potato Soup


2-10 oz pkgs

Eckridge Smokey Links, cut into 1” pieces, (or 1 lb of Hillshire Farms Lit’l Smokies)

1 large

Sweet Onion, cut into 1” chunks

4 stalks

Celery cut into ¾” chunks

1 dozen

Medium Russet Potatoes, 1” cubes (approx.2lbs)

1 ½ sticks

Butter

¾ cup

Flour

6 cups

Milk

3 cups

Sharp Cheddar Cheese, shredded

1 can

Cream style corn

 

Salt & Pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS
Peel, cut into 1” cubes and boil russet potatoes for 20-25 minutes in salted water.  Drain.  (Because they are hot they will continue to cook.)
While potatoes are still boiling sautee meat and celery chunks in ½ stick of butter in skillet over medium heat for 15 minutes.
Add sweet onion, continue sautéing until onions are clear, remove from heat 
In a 4 quart sauce pan melt 1 stick of butter over low heat.
Slowly add flour into melted butter using whisk.  Add salt and pepper.
When flour is blended completely with butter slowly add 1 cup of milk.
Turn heat up to medium.  Not to hot or milk will scald.
Stir in remaining milk and continually stir until thickened to desired consistency.  This step takes awhile.  (To thick?  Add milk and heat through)
To drained potatoes add meat, onion, celery mix, cheddar cheese and cream style corn
Add thickened sauce to the other ingredients, stir just until blended
Serve with a fresh loaf of bread


Betsy's Marshmallow Snowmen (kids love them!)

Marshmallow Snowman Marshmallow Snowman

Click either picture to enlarge

Jumbo marshmallows
Pretzel sticks
White tube frosting (for adhesive)
Fruit roll-ups
Nerds

Mini-M&M's or Red-Hots
Pretzel twists
Rolo & hershey bar or black jujubes or black licorice bites
Almond sliver

White frosting to make "snow" on the plate (this helps the snowmen stand up)
Extra long toothpicks to hold it all together

  1. Assemble the head first. Use frosting adhesive to stick the eyes on. Insert nose (almond sliver) and pipe (curved section of twisted pretzel)
  2. Next, stick mini-M&M's or Red-Hots to another marshmallow to make the body. It's tempting, but don't insert the arms yet!
  3. For best results, assemble a bunch of these "parts" and allow them to sit for a couple hours so the frosting dries.
  4. Stick a long toothpick through the hat (either the Rolo-on-top-of-Hershey-bar or black jujube or black licorice), then through the head, then through the body. The toothpick should not stick out of the bottom; its tip should be flush with the bottom of the marshmallow.
  5. Cut fruit roll-ups into scarf-size strips and wrap around the crevice where the head and body meet.
  6. Finally, insert arms (pretzel sticks)
  7. Coat a flat serving plate with white frosting to simulate snow. Set the snowmen in the frosting.
  8. Enjoy!