Did you know that February is National Cherry Month? What better way to celebrate than a Progressive Party from Kitchen PLAY? I love working with Casey and was so excited when she contacted me about this great opportunity.

Tart cherries are considered a super fruit and it’s great that they are available throughout the year in dried form, frozen or as a juice. For my part with the appetizer, I was given the task to develop a recipe with the dried form of tart cherries.

I’m not sure why, I just immediately thought of pairing it with brie cheese. First, I made sure it would taste good together and it definitely does! You can put a couple of slices of brie and dried tart cherries on a cracker and it would a perfect snack or appetizer.

So then I thought, what about little mini pockets…but these aren’t the sweet kind…they are savory!

I used a prep bowl (see top left corner) to cut out pieces of the pie dough. Added a couple of small slices of brie and a little bit of the dried tart cherries. I folded over the pie dough and pinched it shut.

After 10-12 minutes in the oven, you get this goodness…it doesn’t have to look perfect. And I have to say, these mini pockets taste best right out the oven (let them cool for a couple of minutes, of course!).

The flakiness of the mini pocket and the creamy brie paired with the tart cherries, makes a great combination!

I hope you’ll give these or one of the other recipes over at KitchenPLAY a try. (I can’t wait to make a cocktail with the tart cherry juice and sprinkle the dried tart cherries over a salad!)

Tart Cherry Mini Pockets with Brie

Yield: 18 mini pockets

Ingredients:

1 box of store bought pie dough, I used Pillsbury (comes with 2 pie shells)
1/2 cup dried tart cherries
approximately 1/2 lb brie wedge (I used closer to 0.4 lb)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Allow the pie dough to sit out for at least 15 minutes before unrolling it. Unroll and using a rolling pin, roll it out a little bit thinner (to about an 1/8 inch). Using a circle cutter or cup, cut out 3 1/2 inch circles.

Add a small slice or two of brie cheese and a few dried tart cherries. Don't over fill. Fold over and pinch closed. Repeat until baking sheet is full, about 9 or 10 mini pockets.

Bake for 10-12 minutes until cheese is bubbly and the mini pockets are golden brown.

from The Little Kitchen

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post, I was compensated for my participation in the Progressive Party Series over at KitchenPLAY. My opinions are always my own!

[Appetizer] Tart Cherry Mini Pockets with Brie © 2009-2011 the little kitchen. All rights reserved.

Here’s what I learned about mussels from Atlantic Canada:

• They are amazingly inexpensive! I found blue mussels from Atlantic Canada sold at Whole Foods and they are sold in 2 lb bags.
• They are cultured/farmed in the ocean on ropes so there’s no disruption or dredging of the ocean floor which makes it environmentally friendly and sustainable.
• Blue mussels are harvested year-round which is why they are so affordable.
• They are good for you! They are low in fat, high in protein and Omega 3s.
• They are quick and easy to cook!

I made this Steamed Mussels in White Wine dish for my sisters and brother when we hung for our sibling retreat in November. It turned out fantastic and they all loved it! When I tried mussels at home for myself, I wanted a quick and easy recipe and use olive oil. This dish turned out great and in less than 20 minutes I had it completed.

Serve with butter-garlic bread and dip it in the sauce made from the steaming liquid! It’s so good and makes a light dinner! I made this whole pot and ate it all by myself…don’t judge, okay?

For tons more recipes you can make with blue mussels, visit the Mussel Industry Council.

White Wine and Olive Oil Steamed Mussels

Yield: 2 servings

Prep Time: 15 min

Cook Time: 5 min

Total Time: 20 min

This appetizer or light meal can be made in less than 20 minutes and tastes amazing! Serve with butter-garlic bread and enjoy!

Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
3 lbs Atlantic Canadian mussels, rinsed & scrubbed, if necessary
1/4 cup white wine
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 bunch of fresh parsley, finely chopped
1/4 to 1/3 cup of water

Directions:

Heat olive oil in a French oven or heavy-bottomed pot on high heat for 1-2 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 30-45 seconds.

Add mussels, wine, cayenne pepper, parsley and water. Stir with a wooden spoon and cover. Cook 5-7 minutes, until all mussels open. Discard any unopened mussels. Serve immediately with broth.

from The Little Kitchen

I love seafood and I always say I could have seafood almost every day of the week. I’m definitely going to cook with blue mussels more this year…I would love to hear about your favorite seafood and/or mussels recipes! Do you have a favorite?

Disclosure: Mussel Industry Council provided me with Atlantic Canadian mussels for this recipe. I received no compensation and all opinions are always my own!

White Wine and Olive Oil Steamed Mussels © 2009-2011 the little kitchen. All rights reserved.

You see…I had plans, plans to make Vietnamese egg rolls with my Mom on Christmas Eve but then we changed our holiday plans and we ended up driving over to Orlando to see family & have dim sum on Christmas morning instead of having Christmas Eve dinner at our house. Anyways, long story short…no Vietnamese egg rolls!

I still wanted egg rolls and we were invited to a small block party with neighbors. The cul-de-sac next to our street…every year on Christmas Eve they light luminaries and have a pot luck. We get invited every year but since we host Christmas Eve for my family, we have never been able to attend but since plans changed, we decided to attend and I made Chinese egg rolls. Jaden’s egg rolls…she made them for me, Jessica and Bev last month.

By the way, the egg rolls were a hit at the block party! The party was so fun and we’re so lucky to have such great, fun neighbors. We even fed a few of our city’s police officers. One of my neighbors’…their daughter-in-law is a police officer and was off-duty. She told her co-workers to come on over and have some food with us. You wouldn’t believe, not even after 2 minutes sitting down with us and after making their plate…they got called out on a call. One of the officers ran back and grabbed an egg roll for the road.

I can’t say enough how thankful I am to have such wonderful friends. Last month, Jaden invited us to her house for a girls’ weekend. There we are with Coco, her sweet dog! Don’t tell my dog, Charley, but I love staying with friends who have dogs…they become my fill-in petting and playing when I have to be away from my doggie.

We made egg rolls, remember? When I was rolling egg rolls by my lonesome self, I texted Jessica (above) and told her how much quicker it was when we made rolled them all together at Jaden’s. PS Love Jessica, she’s so awesome, a friend and tons of baking talent!!

Jaden’s hands move quick…she was showing us how to roll them up. For the best tips on how to roll egg rolls and mishaps you want to avoid, check out Steamy Kitchen.

Have a bowl of cornstarch and water, dip your finger in and dab the closing edge of the egg roll. Be sure to the cover the egg roll/spring roll wraps that you’re not using while you’re preparing the egg rolls, you don’t want the wraps to dry out and become brittle.

Aren’t Jaden & Scott’s boys cute? They are so cute and such helpful, sweet kids! Love them! Love Bev too, she is so hilarious and fun!

Dinner is ready and we wheeled our dinner out to…

a nice fire. We have been wanting to buy a fire pit for our backyard forever. Going to Jaden’s and sitting by this nice fire during dinner makes me want one even more!

The next morning Jaden watered her beautiful garden and we held chickens. I handed my iPhone to Andrew, Jaden’s son, and asked him to take a picture. This is the only picture he snapped before Jessica’s chicken ran off! I just love that he caught this moment.

Then, we went over to Jaden’s lake (it’s huge!) and fed the fish. And then Coco the attack dog proceeded to attack Jessica with wet, slobbery kisses.

I love Coco! Spending a little time with her reminds me of how much I miss having a girl dog. We lost our Cinder over three years ago and still miss her terribly. I’ve been thinking and we keep discussing it, I think 2012 is the year we’re going to adopt a little girl dog! Charley needs a buddy again. Of course no dog will ever replace her!

What a fun weekend we had! Thanks to Jaden for having us. We had so much fun!! Can we do it again?

Carrots all shredded up and the cabbage too. I really need a mandoline or a shredder tool for the carrots, I know it would make my life much easier.

I used dried black mushrooms that you can buy at the Asian grocery store, the bag is usually labeled black fungus. Soak them for them overnight or for at least 4 hours and then then slice them thinly. You can also use fresh shitake mushrooms.

The perfect amount of meat for the filling!

Jaden says that a very wet filling will make for soggy egg rolls so be sure to blot the mixture with paper towels and to drain the oil and juices by tilting the baking pan to one end and allowing it to drain or blotting with a paper towel once again.

Now for the fun part, you need to wait (you don’t want to burn your mouth) but you don’t have to wait that long. Allow them to cool a little. They’re sitting atop a (baking) cooling rack set on top of a baking sheet that has a paper towel in it.

They are light and crispy and not at all greasy tasting. I love the ginger flavor and it has the right amount of filling…3 bites and it’s gone! I ate the one above as soon as I was done photographing it.

Jaden's Chinese Egg Rolls

Yield: 50 egg rolls

Prep Time: 60 min

Cook Time: 20 min

Total Time: 1 hr 20 min

These egg rolls are incredibly easy to make and even faster to roll up if you have family or friends to help you.

Ingredients:

For the Meat
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced small
3/4 lb peeled & deveined shrimp, diced small
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp sugar
fresh ground black pepper

For the Vegetables
1/2 head of cabbage
3 carrots, shredded
3 garlic cloves, finely minced
2-3 tsp grated fresh ginger
10 fresh shiitake mushrooms (or dried black mushrooms soaked overnight), stems discarded, sliced into thin strips
1 Tbsp Chinese rice wine
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sesame oil
Fresh ground black pepper

50 Spring/Egg Roll Wrappers (2 packages), defrost them in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours
1 Tbsp cornstarch (or flour) mixed with ¼ cup of cool water
1 Tbsp vegetable oil plus more for frying

Directions:

Combine the ingredients under the 'for the meat' heading (chicken, shrimp, soy sauce, cornstarch, sugar and ground pepper) in a medium sized bowl and allow to sit at room temperature to marinate for at least 10 minutes.

In another bowl or large measuring cup, mix together the rice wine, soy sauce, sugar, salt, sesame oil and pepper and set aside.

Add 1 Tbsp of vegetable oil in a wok or large, deep saute pan and turn heat to the high setting. Heat pan until the oil coats the pan easily when turning and rotating it. Add the chicken & shrimp mixture and cook for 4-5 minutes.

Turn heat down to low or medium low. Move the chicken and shrimp mixture to one side of the pan. Add the vegetables (carrots & cabbage), garlic, ginger and mushrooms and stir-fry for 2 minutes or until the vegetables are softened. Add the rice wine-sesame oil mixture. Continue cooking the vegetables for 1 to minute and then mix the vegetables with the chicken and shrimp.

Remove the filling from the wok or pan, scoop with a large slotted spoon (don't pour) onto a baking sheet. Spread the filling out and allow the mixture to cool. Using paper towels, blot it to remove the juice from the cooked filling. Tilt one end of baking sheet to allow the oil and juices to drain to one end of the baking sheet. Blot with a paper towel or drain the juices. Allow the filling mixture to sit and cool for at least 15 minutes.

Fill each egg roll with one heaping Tbsp of filling (making sure to grab an even amount of meat as well as veggies). Roll egg rolls carefully and seal by dipping and blotting with the water and cornstarch mixture. For full instructions on how to roll egg rolls, see Jaden's post: http://steamykitchen.com/13029-my-mothers-famous-chinese-egg-rolls-2.html.

Clean wok or pan and fill with at least 2 inches of vegetable oil. Heat pan on high for at least 5 minutes until it reaches 350 degrees. Carefully add 6-8 egg rolls and fry for 3-4 minutes or golden brown. Allow egg rolls to cool slightly on a rack set up on another baking sheet.

Cook's Notes:
These egg rolls freeze great (freeze them after rolling them & before frying them). I put them in a plastic zippered bag separating the layers with parchment paper. No need to defrost them, add them to the heated oil (very carefully) and fry them a couple of minutes longer than usual.

Chinese rice wine has been so hard for me to find. I finally found it at my local Asian grocery store and was able to purchase a huge bottle for less than $2!

It's mine and Jaden's advice to buy the paper thin egg roll/spring roll wrappers at your local Asian grocery store in the freezer section. Don't buy the refrigerated brands that you can in your produce section near the tofu. They will not taste the same nor will they come out the same. The recommended egg roll wrappers are the same wrappers my Mom uses when she makes Vietnamese egg rolls.

Try Jaden's original recipe with ground pork!

Modified from Steamy Kitchen's Mother's Famous Chinese Egg Rolls.

Don’t tell Meemaw (my Mom) how much Charley loved the egg rolls. He was begging for them after I photographed them and every time I fired up the wok to fry some up. I seriously need to make more of these…this weekend.

Not shown above but my dog was getting unruly and barking at us to give him the egg rolls. He only got a bite or two…he can’t get too many table scraps because of a health condition but we don’t let him go completely without!

Now I need to call my Mom and reschedule our egg roll making session!

Jaden’s Chinese Egg Rolls © 2009-2011 the little kitchen. All rights reserved.

I love the bite of the goat cheese contrasting with the crunchiness of the walnuts and celery along with the sweetness of honey! Enjoy!

Goat Cheese and Walnut Stuffed Celery

Yield: 12

Prep Time: 15 min

Total Time: 15 min

A very quick and easy appetizer to serve during the holidays or for any casual get together. If preparing the night before, do every step except for adding the honey.

Ingredients:

4 celery stalks, cut into thirds
5.3 oz. package of spreadable goat cheese, I used Chavrie
1/4 cup of chopped walnuts
raw honey, to drizzle

Directions:

In a medium-sized bowl, mix together spreadable goat cheese and walnuts. Stuff celery boats with a butter knife and drizzle with honey. Serve immediately after adding honey.

Cook's notes:
It's very important to use spreadable goat cheese, otherwise you will not be able to stuff the celery easily.

from The Little Kitchen

Goat Cheese and Walnut Stuffed Celery © 2009-2011 the little kitchen. All rights reserved.

I love easy appetizers for parties and for entertaining friends. I love Duda’s Dandy Farm Fresh celery and I also love smoked salmon. This is completely inspired by cream cheese stuffed celery with smoked paprika. Have you ever had this appetizer?

It’s really easy to make, just stuff celery “boats” with cream cheese and sprinkle with smoked paprika. My mother-in-law makes it all the time for the holidays as a quick & easy appetizer and my husband loves it. We like to make it and have it while we’re cooking dinner.

So why not kick up the smoked flavor and add smoked salmon? This is how we served them at the PMA Fresh Summit. You can serve them in individual cups…

or as a dip with some celery sticks.

Another way to serve them is as a stuffed celery appetizer. Cut the celery stalks in thirds but don’t cut them a second time (into sticks), keep them as celery boats. Stuff the celery using a butter knife or spoon. This can be done a few hours before your party. Put them back in the fridge when you’re done but don’t forget to remove them or the dip at least 10-15 minutes before serving. This ensures the cream cheese isn’t too hard for dipping.

Just a note, the smoked salmon cream cheese dip looks a little different than the little individual cups we served at Fresh Summit because I made it with wild sockeye smoked salmon when I photographed the pictures. I actually prefer them with regular smoked salmon. The flavor is much better for this type of appetizer.

I’m definitely making these for a Thanksgiving appetizer for my family when we all meet up, I know they will love this! Do you have a favorite quick and easy appetizer? Does it involve fresh vegetables? I would love to hear all about it!

Celery and Smoked Salmon Cream Cheese Dip

Prep Time: 10 min

Total Time: 10 min

An easy dip that you can serve with celery for a party or a quick get-together. The smoked salmon cream cheese is great on other things too!

Ingredients:

8 oz. package of cream cheese, allow to sit on the counter for at least 20 minutes
4 oz. package of refrigerated smoked salmon, chopped
2 green onions, sliced thinly
pepper to taste
1/2 lemon
8 celery stalks, cut into thirds and cut into thirds long ways into sticks

Directions:

Add cream cheese, smoked salmon and green onions to a medium-sized mixing bowl. Mix together using a metal or wooden spoon ensuring the smoked salmon is evenly distributed throughout the cream cheese.

Add pepper to taste. Take the 1/2 lemon and squeeze twice over the mixture (making sure to not allow lemon seeds to fall in) and mix again.

Serve as a dip. Dip can be prepared the night before.

Cook's Notes:
This can also be served as stuffed celery. Do not cut into sticks and stuff the celery using a butter knife.

For this recipe, I prefer the plain smoked salmon you find in your grocer's refrigerated seafood section. I think it tasted much better than sockeye wild (smoked) salmon. Do not use the non-refrigerated smoked salmon products for this recipe.

Disclosure:  This is a sponsored post. You all know that my opinions expressed on The Little Kitchen are always my own!

Celery with Smoked Salmon Cream Cheese Dip © 2009-2011 the little kitchen. All rights reserved.

For this recipe, I was inspired by a recipe that Mary’s Bites posted. I love making my version and having them with waffles for breakfast (and dinner) and have even brought leftovers to work to have a nice little late morning snack. They are so simple to make and the flavor combinations are endless. I have even thought of using swiss cheese or even adding artichokes. You can even add bacon if you wanted too, just be careful not to over fill them!

Fill the cups halfway with hash browns, I like the refrigerated ones. Bake for 20-23 minutes at 375 degrees.

I alternate by adding a little bit of spinach then cheese and then repeat so I can layer the flavors.

You can call them egg cups, mini crustless quiches or even mini omelet, I’ll just call them darn good! I love the spinach flavor together with the Dubliner cheese. I won’t tell you how many of these I can eat in one sitting!

Can you see the hash browns? Next time, I may try these in a mini muffin pan, they would be perfect as an appetizer for a small party.

Spinach & Dubliner Cheese Egg Cups

Ingredients:

olive oil cooking spray
about 1/3 of a 20 oz. bag of refrigerated hash browns
about 1/2 of a 10 oz. box of frozen spinach, thawed
4-5 oz of shredded Kerrygold Dubliner cheese
8 eggs, beaten
2 1/2 Tbsp heavy cream
salt & pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and spray a regular-sized 12 cup muffin tin with olive oil cooking spray (wipe the excess spray off).

Add hash browns to each muffin cup, only to about a little less than half the height of the cup. Bake for about 20-23 minutes, until some of the hash browns have browned.

Beat eggs with heavy cream and add salt and pepper. Layer a little bunches of spinach and cheese into each cup. Add egg-cream mixture to each muffin cup filling to about 2/3 of the height of each cup (I used a measuring cup with spout for easy pouring). Top with a pinch of spinach and another pinch or two of Dubliner cheese.

Bake for 12-15 minutes until eggs are firm. Allow egg cups to sit in the tin for a few minutes before running a butter knife around the sides to loosen. Serve with Dubliner cheese sprinkled on top.

Disclosure: Huge thanks to Kerrygold, a sponsor of mine. I only share my favorite brands and products and ALL opinions are always my own.

Spinach & Dubliner Cheese Egg Cups © 2009-2011 the little kitchen. All rights reserved.

To say that we love buffalo chicken is an understatement. In fact, we had it earlier this week again for my husband’s birthday dinner. When I was asked to develop a recipe with celery, I immediately thought of my boneless buffalo chicken recipe. I always serve it with celery.

The folks at Duda Farm Fresh Foods have just been so awesome. Their products are sold under the brand Dandy Fresh and I just love that a lot of the celery I buy is grown right here in Florida. Before I even worked with Duda Farm Fresh Foods, their celery has always gone into my shopping cart just about every week. We are always cooking with celery and I can pretty much guarantee you that there’s always a bag of Dandy Fresh celery in my crisper. We have it with cream cheese and paprika for an appetizer and whenever I’m putting a chicken or a roast in the slow cooker, celery goes in there as well.

This recipe is very simple to make and you can even simplify it even more by using store bought boneless fried chicken and/or store bought buffalo wing sauce.

I always chop all of my vegetables before cutting up raw meats. So the first thing I do is cut up the celery and start the buffalo sauce. The buffalo sauce is really quick and easy to make as it utilizes store bought hot sauce (I prefer Frank’s hot sauce).

Before cutting up the chicken into strips, I slice and then crumble the blue cheese so that’s all ready. Put this back in the refrigerator before you go onto the next step.

After frying the chicken, I chop it up on a completely different cutting board (a clean one). Place chopped up chicken into a large bowl and mix in the buffalo sauce. Now you’re ready to arrange your lettuce wraps.

Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps with Celery and Blue Cheese

Ingredients:

Sauce Recipe
1 stick of margarine
1/4 tsp celery salt
1/4 tsp red pepper seasoning
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp salt
11.5 oz hot sauce, or more to taste (I prefer Frank's red hot sauce which ends up being 1/2 a bottle)

Chicken
2 cups flour, all-purpose, unbleached
1/2 - 1 tsp cayenne red pepper
1 tsp each salt and pepper
2 - 3 eggs
1 1/4 pound chicken breasts, cut into cutlets and then into fingers, whatever sizes you prefer
vegetable oil for frying

Lettuce Wraps
3 celery stalks, chopped
2-3 oz. blue cheese, sliced and then crumbled
12 Boston or bibb lettuce leafs, separated, washed and dried with a paper towel

Directions:

Sauce

1. Melt margarine in sauce pan with all seasonings, then add hot sauce.
2. Leave covered on warm heat setting while preparing chicken.

Chicken

1. In frying pan or skillet, add enough 1 1/2 to 2 inch layer of vegetable oil and heat on low.
2. Prepare plastic zip bag with all dry ingredients. Close bag and blend together ingredients with your hands.
3. Place eggs into a shallow dish and beat them. Add 1-2 tsp of beaten egg to plastic bag, close and blend together with your hands.
4. As you're cutting up the chicken, add to dish with eggs. When finished, add to plastic zip bag and close. Blend chicken with flour mixture with your hands making sure each piece of chicken is evenly coated.
5. Adjust heat of pan up to medium or medium-high. Brown chicken pieces for 4-6 minutes on each side. Cook in batches if needed.
6. Drain on plate with paper towels. Allow to drain for a couple of minutes before cutting cooked chicken on a clean cutting board into bite-sized pieces.

Lettuce Wraps

1. In batches, put some pieces of chicken into a glass mixing bowl and add 1/4-1/2 cup of the sauce mixture. Toss gently with tongs.
2. Make lettuce wraps by adding chicken, celery and blue cheese. Serve on a platter or place ingredients on platters to allow everyone to make their own.

Notes: You can use butter as I have before but I prefer margarine for this recipe.

Recipe for buffalo sauce came from a friend.

Do you have a favorite dish or appetizer that you make with celery? I want to hear about it. If you have a link to your blog or your favorite recipe, please share!

PS You should head on over to their facebook page, they are giving away Vidalia onion prize packs. They are awesome, I just received one in the mail this week. Can’t wait to share with you what I’m making with them.

Disclosure: Duda Farm Fresh Foods is a sponsor of mine. Opinions are always my own and I only share with you my favorite products and brands.

Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps with Celery and Blue Cheese © 2009-2011 the little kitchen. All rights reserved.

To say my husband loved this recipe is an understatement. This recipe will definitely become a regular in our house. He was really excited for me to make it and even came up with the idea to add rice noodles to it. If you want to make this recipe as more of a meal, add the rice noodles. If you’d like it to be more an appetizer, I would leave out the rice noodles.

We used both kinds of lettuce because we wanted to see which one would be the best…the answer is, we like them both!

Chicken Lettuce Wraps Recipe

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp walnut oil
1 lb skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar - I can never find this so I used rice vinegar
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp honey
1/4 tsp sesame oil
1 cup shredded carrots
1/3 cup sliced almonds
1 to 2 green onions, slice at an angle thinly
salt & pepper to taste
12 leaves Boston Bibb or butter lettuce

Directions:

1. Separate lettuce leaves, rinse and pat dry with paper towels.
2. Add 2 tsp walnut oil to a non-stick skillet on medium heat. Cook the thoroughly which can take from 7 to 10 minutes.
3. Whisk remaining walnut oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce, honey and sesame oil together until thoroughly combined.
4. Add to the sauce the chicken, carrots and almonds. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
5. Serve on top of lettuce leaves and garnish with sliced green onions.

Adapted from the National Honey Board

Disclosure: I was provided with a honey gift pack from the National Honey Board. I was not compensated for this post nor was I asked to post about this recipe. The opinions are my own.

Chicken Lettuce Wraps © 2009-2011 the little kitchen. All rights reserved.

I thought I would share with you some of the little kitchen’s favorite appetizers and a few others…

I hate to admit it but we make these all of the time…they are awesome. I will be making some on Sunday.

I love these Boneless Buffalo Chicken strips. They are so good! My husband likes to eat them with Jasmine rice. I like them with celery and Ken’s blue cheese dressing.

Boneless Buffalo Chicken

There’s something about the combination of this easy guac dip and the fried tortilla chips. It’s a must have.

Guacamole with Fried Tortilla Chips

These are not traditional snacks for Super Bowl Sunday but I had to include them. I make crab rangoon ALL the time for parties. I belong to a Bunko group and I’m always bringing these.

Crab Rangoon

Breaded with panko breadcrumbs, it makes these really light. I love that these are “salted” with parm cheese.

Fried Zucchini

And I just recently found these, I must make these Loaded Cheese Fries from Elle’s New England Kitchen. I will make a batch for myself without the bacon though since I don’t eat pork. My husband will love these!

And I really want to make this Dubliner Artichoke Dip…yummy, I love Kerrygold Dubliner cheese!

So what are you making for Super Bowl Sunday? Do you even care about the game? Or is it about the food?

Some Great Super Bowl Snacks © 2009-2011 the little kitchen. All rights reserved.

I have been playing around with my iPhone and Hipstamatic…I love taking pictures with this app!

Then I turned them in grilled shrimp, mango and guacamole fajitas!!!

This recipe is going into my list of favorite recipes, I’m so glad I tried it! Thanks to Casey of Kitchen-Play, Sur la Table this month’s sponsor and Kitchen Runway for sharing this awesome recipe.

Disclosure: I want to win one of the wonderful prizes being offered by Kitchen-Play and Sur la Table. You can enter too! Go to Kitchen-Play to see how to enter. Crossing my fingers!

Kitchen-Play and wonderful Grilled Shrimp, Mango & Guacamole Bites © 2009-2011 the little kitchen. All rights reserved.