Bacon and Avocado Dip

Shindigz welcomes Mark Carboni and his collection of recipes to our party family:  

Mark T. Carboni shares his Cookin With Carbo party recipes with Shindigz

Growing up Carbo, I have found the greatest joy being surrounded by great family and friends. Whether it’s a small gathering, or more extravagant themed party, I know that the food and drink you serve will set the tone just as much as the decor.

The best way to make an acquaintance a friend is through amazing food, fun and the ability to be honest and true. Honesty and truth, a mighty powerful combination just like the combination of bacon and avocado. Join me as I open my kitchen, to you, as I share food coupled with fun and a recipe from the Cookin’ with Carbo collection.

This Bacon Avacado Dip will be the hit of your next party!

Bacon and Avocado Dip

3 ripe avocados
1 clove of garlic – minced
1 small lime – juiced
6 slices of bacon – cooked and diced
3 T of fresh chopped cilantro
Heavy dash of salt and pepper

Slice the avocados from top to bottom and around to the top. Hold avocado in your hand and turn one side left and one side right and it will open. Remove the core and keep (just one).
Scoop the avocado from the shell and place in large bowl. Add garlic, lime, salt and pepper. With the back of a spoon. Smush the avocado against the bowl. It should be somewhat chunky. Next mix circular to incorporate all the ingredients. Drop in the bacon and cilantro and mix again.
Place the core in the center, place in refrigerate and serve within an hour of making for best flavors. (Wrap tightly or spray the top with a non stick spray to prevent discoloration).

The passion for cooking was inherited through Carbo’s maternal grandmother who inspired Mark T. Carboni (Carbo) to bring joy to friends and family through the act of preparing food and celebrations. Carbo and his partner travel to sample and learn regional and cultural differences in food. The experiences allow him to make new and exciting recipes that can be reproduce in your own home using every day products and equipment in a short amount of time. Carbo provides private cooking lessons, authored his first cookbook and keeps a highly interactive Facebook page that showcases food-talk and fun. www.facebook.com/carbocooks.

Tea Sandwiches for Mom

Heather Jurczyk from HeCooksSheCooks.com shares her recipes with Shindigz

There are only a handful of things that we have in complete common with our fellow man. One of them being we all have a mother. Now the definition of mother varies from person to person. There are step-moms, mother-in-laws, grandmothers, aunts, sisters, friends; all can be mothers.

Mothers’s Day is the one special day is taken out of the entire year to pay homage to Mom. They take care of us, protect us, scold us and groom us. Mold and direct us. Dislikes some of the things we do and love us anyway.  Maybe we should actually take all 365 days to honor such a role.

Here is a tasty little treat you can make for the Moms in your life for Mother’s Day or any day this summer. The weather has been beautiful, and a nice light lunch out in the sunshine with good conversation would make mom super thrilled that she can say she raised such a fine child.

Create One, or All Three of These Delicious Tea Sandwiches

Tea Sandwiches – Three Ways

The following recipes have no measurements, only ingredients. How much you use per “sandwich” is really up to you. Because foods such as these can be readily found and easily interchanged, the final outcome only is surpassed by your culinary imagination.

Smoked Salmon & Crisps (open-faced)

Smoked Salmon
Thin Sliced cucumber
34 Degree Natural Crispbread
Crème Fraiche
Snipped Chives

Apple, Brie & Bacon

9 Grain bread, toasted
Djionaisse
Granny Smith Apple, sliced thin
Brie, sliced thin
Bacon, cooked to your liking

Asparagus & Goat Cheese

French Bread, sliced thin and toasted, rubbed with a garlic clove
Goat Cheese
Grilled or Roasted Asparagus
Hard Boiled Egg
Salt & Pepper

By the way, thanks Mom for giving me my wings.

We bet you can’t choose just one of these delightful Tea Sandwich creations!

Recipe by Heather Jurczyk, the sassy half of the duo that make up the cooking team of He Cooks She Cooks. They have a weakness for feel good, down to earth, amazingly tasty eats that almost always include the addition of beer.

From growing their own tomatoes to brewing their own beer, they like to cook from scratch as much as possible. They know what’s important. Love. Food. Beer. Visit He Cooks She Cooks for more recipes.

Peanut Butter Cookies for Diabetics

• 1 Cup of Peanut Butter (creamy or chunky)
• 1 Cup of Splenda
• 1 Large Egg
• 1 tsp. Baking Soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

(This recipe does not contain any flour)

Grease or spray baking sheets. Mix peanut butter and sugar with mixer until well combined.  Beat egg into peanut butter mixture and then add baking soda. With level teaspoons of dough, roll and place about 1 inch apart on baking sheets. Flatten with fork so they are about 1-1/2 inches in diameter.

Bake cookies in the middle of the oven until puffed and pale golden brown for approximately 10 minutes. 

Makes approximately 2 dozen cookies.

Stuffed Celery

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 2 tablespoons sour cream
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 20 green olives with pimento, chopped
• 1 bunch celery, cut into bite-size pieces

 Directions

1. In a medium bowl, mix together the cream cheese and sour cream. Stir in the walnuts and chopped olives. Spread filling onto the celery pieces.

Baked Sweet Potato Chips

• 2 thinly sliced sweet potatoes
• 3 Tbsp. Parmesan Grated Cheese

Heat oven to 425 degrees

Place potatoes in a large bowl and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Add 1 1/2 Tbsp. grated cheese and toss to coat.

Spread potatoes into a single layer on a baking sheet sprayed with non-stick cooking spray (spray with additional spray after potatoes are laid out).

Bake for 9 minutes and turn potatoes for an additional 9 minutes. Spray potatoes with additional cooking spray and return to the oven. Turn the oven off and let the potatoes stand inside the closed oven for 8 – 10 minutes or until crisp and golden brown. Remove from oven and toss with remaining grated cheese topping.

Pesto Tuna Salad with Sun Dried Tomatoes

Ingredients

• 1 (6 ounce) can canned tuna
• 1/4 cup prepared basil pesto sauce
• 6 oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and diced
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

 Directions

1. In a bowl, mix the tuna, pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, mayonnaise, and Parmesan cheese. Cover, and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Cinnamon and Sugar Tortilla Strips

• 3 - 8-inch frozen flour tortillas
• 4  Tbsp.  unsalted butter
• 3  Tbsp. sugar

• 1/8  teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1  Tbsp. sugar
• Vanilla ice cream (optional)

Cut the tortillas into 1/2-inch-thick strips.  Heat the butter and 3 Tbsp. of sugar in a large nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. When the butter has melted, add the tortilla strips. Cook, stirring frequently, until the tortillas are lightly browned and crisp, about 5 minutes.  Sprinkle with the cinnamon and 1 Tbsp. of sugar. Serve with the ice cream (if desired).

Vegetable Pizza

• 1 tube of crescent rolls
• 1 pouch of (dry) Hidden Valley Ranch salad dressing
• 1/2 c. mayonnaise
• 8 oz. + 3 oz. cream cheese, softened
• Vegetables -your choice such as: (Carrots, Celery, Mushrooms, Green peppers, Black olives, Cauliflower & Broccoli)
• Shredded Cheese (your choice)

Arrange the crescent rolls on a pizza pan and bake 15 to 18 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool the crust. Mix together cream cheese, Hidden Valley dressing and mayonnaise. Spread on crust. Cut vegetables and add the  cheese to cover the crust. Cut and serve.

Thanksgiving Recipe Favorites: Spiced Glazed Almonds

Easy and healthy, this before-dinner nosh is adjustable in amount of seasoning.  Serve with nonalcoholic beverages or a low-alcohol beer or apéritif wine, such as a sparkling wine, in order to produce a pleasing bit of spice without a burn.

• 4 tablespoons butter (or mix butter and olive oil to 4T)
• ¼ cup corn syrup, light preferred
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 to 1-1/4 teaspoons each cumin and salt
• ½ teaspoon sugar
• ¼ to ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 pound blanched almonds

Preheat oven to 300°F.  Prepare a large baking sheet by lining it with foil.  Place another large piece of foil in reserve for the end step.

Heat all ingredients except the almonds in a medium-sized heavy saucepan, stirring slowly and constantly.  When the mixture comes to a boil, remove it from the heat and stir in the almonds.  Spread the mixture in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet with a wooden spoon.

Bake it for about 30 minutes, stirring once at about the halfway mark.  During the last few minutes, watch the nuts carefully so you can pull the pan out as soon as they become light golden brown; if you leave them too long they will pick up a bitter taste.  At the moment they’re done, use a wooden spoon to immediately spread them onto the clean foil and break up any that are stuck together.

Let cool completely and serve at room temperature.  Make and store in an airtight container up to one week ahead of your Thanksgiving get-together.

Vegetable Pizza Squares

Ingredients

• 2 (10 ounce) cans refrigerated crescent roll dough
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 2/3 cup mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon dried dill weed
• 1 teaspoon minced onion
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/2 cup chopped cauliflower
• 1/2 cup chopped broccoli
• 1/2 cup chopped green bell peppers
• 1 (8 ounce) package shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. Unroll crescent roll dough on a small baking sheet. Arrange into a single layer to serve as a crust. Bake in the preheated oven 10 minutes, or until puffed and lightly browned.
3. In a medium bowl, mix cream cheese, mayonnaise, dill weed, onion and garlic.
4. Spread the cream cheese mixture over the crescent roll dough crust. Layer with cauliflower, broccoli and green peppers. Top with Cheddar cheese. Chill in the refrigerator until serving.