Oscar Party Menu

No Oscar Party is complete without a killer menu.  I’ve put my thinking cap on to refine last year’s menu keeping the traditional favorites and adding in a few new fabulous offerings!

For the dessert table: 

The star of the show – Gold Dusted Chocolate Oscars in milk and dark chocolate:

The second star of the show: The chocolate strawberry tower:

Some crowd tested favorites: Pioneer Woman’s Chocolate Truffles with Sea Salt:

Then a bit of Pinterest inspiration with Chocolate Dipped Raspberries:

Individual Tiramisu Shooters: 

This year’s additions include:

Chocolate-Champagne Truffles, courtesy of Martha Stewart’s recipe (I’ll roll mine in gold sanding sugar):

And Individual Chocolate Avocado Mousse from Giada De Laurentiis:

Now on to the savories.  At the main table, I’ll have one of my Oscar Party standards: Spanakopita 

Hummus Three Ways: White, Roasted Pine Nut and Black Bean served with crudities and pita chip ribbons: 

Greek Cucumber Cups, thank you Rachael Ray:  Ginger Soy Chicken Mini Kabobs:

Rosemary Balsamic Mini Kabobs:

Antipasta Skewers Two Ways: Italian and Greek Style:

Then over to the coffee table in the prime time TV viewing location.  Guess what?  I’ll put more food there too!  Starting with Paula Deen’s Sugar and Nut Glazed Brie served with fresh sliced pears:

Classic, can’t live without Dill Dip with Crudités

and finally to round out the table, Cheese, Crackers and Grapes.

But Oscar Party isn’t completed without it’s signature cocktail…..the Twisted Cosmo!

So friends, I hope you’re seriously hungry ’cause I’m already cooking up a storm!  I’ve pinned all these to my Oscar Party board on Pinterest along with a few other party ideas in case you’re planning your own shindig.

–Martta

Kelly’s Yummy Pizza Bites

One of the best things about having a blog is that people think you’re super amazingly crafty or some fabulous kitchen diva. In reality, some days it’s the kids dinosaur chicken from the freezer for dinner.

I call those days Wednesdays.

It’s days like this that I thank goodness for my friends who are being crafty or cooking divas. Like my good friend Kelly who celebrated last week’s Yappie Hour (happy hour where everyone brings their dog) with some easy to make pizza bites.  Look how yummy these look! 

Here’s her how-to directions so you can make them for your next Yappie Hour:

Like many people, I am in love with Pinterest. However, I do not consider myself a very crafty person. This is why I am best friends with Martta. Every now and then I will re-pin something I think I could actually accomplish. This is one of those items.

Every two weeks, my friends and I have Yappie Hour. Everyone comes over after work with their furry children for some world famous margaritas (a separate blog post for the future….) and yummy food. I am lazy and will typically grab a pizza from a local family owned pizzeria. This week I decided to change it up and make these Pizza Bites. It’s so simple and they were a big hit with my friends:

Pizza Bites Ingredients:

• Can of Pillsbury Grands Biscuits (Appx. 8 Biscuits)
• Package of Mozzarella Cheese (Appx. ½ cup)
• Package of Pepperoni ( I use Turkey) cut into small pieces (Appx. ¼ cup)
• Tomato Sauce (2 small cans is enough for approximately 16 Pizza Bites)

Marinara Dipping Sauce Ingredients:

• Two cans of tomato sauce
• 1/2 t Dried basil
• 1/2 t Dried oregano
• Red pepper flakes to taste

Start making the pizza bites by pre-heating the oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a muffin pan with non-stick spray and break each biscuit in half and place one half in each muffin tray. (Note: If I am making these for just myself, I will only make as many as I want and use a vacuum sealer to seal the remaining biscuits for another time. The glory of this recipe is you can make as few or as many as you need!)

Place cheese on top of each biscuit – enough to cover the biscuit.  Then add the sliced pepperoni.

Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 10-12 minutes.

While the pizza bites are cooking, I make the marinara dipping sauce. I open two can of tomato sauce and add basil, oregano, and red pepper flakes to jazz it up. I let this marry together while the pizza bites are cooking.  Once everything is done, serve and enjoy!

–Kelly

Prosciutto & Fig Crostini

This week when I was in Las Vegas we had dinner at Olives in the Belliagio.  I enjoyed a fig & prosciutto flatbread which was delicious!  I knew I needed to knock it off in miniature size and so I came up with this super simple to assemble crostini.

Just grab a few ingredients and you’ll be ready to go.

For this crostini, you’ll need the following ingredients:

• One french baguette
• Fig jam
• 5 slices of prosciutto
• 2 oz Gorgonzola
• Balsamic vinegar for drizzling

Toast the bread and spread with the fig jam.  Then top each slice with a bit of prosciutto.

Sprinkle the gorgonzola over the top and drizzle with balsamic vinegar.

Then just crunch and enjoy!  For an even closer flatbread experience, you can grill these toasts on your grill.

–Martta