Got a favorite take along recipe?

I'm not just talking about Egg Nog and green bean cassarole! What do you fix when you have to take a dish somewhere? This time of year we're asked to bring a dish to family dinners and friendly get togethers and I'm tired of taking the same old thing every year, even though it is requested year after year.

Maybe if we trade favorites, we can all spice up the menus abit. My most requested standby is.....

Cheesy Corn Cassarole

2 8oz pkg. Philly Cream Cheese (Don't use the lite version, it doesn't cream as well)
1 stick real butter
4 cans whole kernal corn
1 small can Green Chilis...hot factor is up to you.

In sauce pan, combine cream cheese and butter on low heat, stirring constantly until creamy.

Drain corn and green chilis and add to creamy cheese, mix well.

Place in a serving bowl.

If you are making a hot batch, you can decorate the top with sliced jalapeno's and those carrot slices that come with them.

Can be served hot, chilled or room temperature.

You can easily customize the recipe for more cheese or more corn without changing the taste. Just never, ever, use creamed corn...it HAS to be whole kernal corn. Other than that it's really hard to screw up!

Simple, quick...

1 round Gouda cheese @ ROOM TEMPERATURE (wax coating removed)
1 can Pillsbury Crescent rolls

Unroll crescents on baking sheet, do not separate. Place gouda in center. Wrap. Bake according to instructions. About 15 minutes. Cut & serve while hot.

A little more fancy: Cook up (stove top, saucepan, med heat 1-2 med apples) peeled, cored, sliced up granny smith apples in a little butter & maple syrup. Slice the gouda down the middle (like a kaiser roll). Spoon out a bit of cheese from both sides, making a small pocket. Stuff with cooked apples, put other half on top, wrap, bake.

Try it with fresh rasberries or rasberry jam or add nuts and/or raisins to the apples.

Uncork a crisp chardonnay & voila!

Chef boy - r- dee like a mofo.

This is great because it can be halved for smaller groups, and frozen!

Hash Brown Potatoes

1 pkg. frozen hash browns (1 kg)
1/2 cup melted butter or margarine

Sauce:
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 cups sour cream
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
1/2 cup diced onions
salt and pepper

Topping:
2 cups coarsely chopped corn flakes
1/4 cup melted butter

Put hash browns in a 9x13-inch baking dish. Pour melted butter on top.
Mix sauce ingredients together, then pour over hash browns.
Sprinkle cornflakes over potatoes, then drizzle melted butter over top.
Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees.

A great buffet dish. Serves LOTS!!!! May split the hash browns into two smaller dishes, pour the butter equally over each dish. Mix the sauce, and pour equally over each. At this point, the dish is freezable. From the freezer, then top with topping, then bake adding on 15-20 minutes (the top should be brown, and the filling hot all the way through)

This is a guys can be fancy recipe.

Get a package of flour tortillas. Make up some tuna salad. Or buy some from the deli dept. of the supermarket. Spread a thin layer of the tuna stuff on a torilla. Roll the tortilla up like a jelly roll. Cut the roll up into 3/4"-1" pieces. Arrange "fancifully" on a serving platter. Maybe, sprinkle some paprika on those suckers. Get back in there before the commericals are over.

salad ingredients
-- beautiful salad bowl and tongs/utensils
-- a mess o' mesclun (french field greens)
-- chopped walnuts
-- maytag blue cheese -- must be maytag. **
(this is a mild blue developed by a member of the maytag washing machine family. another member of which founded san francisco's anchor steam brewery, which spawned microbrew mania.)
-- optional: ripe pear

# wash and dry lettuce, then toss into salad bowl. (in my case, a fabulous ironstone bowl shaped like a giant head of lettuce. the serving utensils are hand-carved walnut. never forget: presentation is -- practically -- everything.)

# toast walnuts in toaster oven. DO NOT BURN. throw on top of lettuce.

# crumble a bunch of blue cheese, with a fork. throw on top of lettuce. (ideally you should reverse steps two and three, so nuts are on top of cheese.)

# add thin slices, bite-sized, of ripe pear as desired. (and pear should go between cheese and nuts.)

salad dressing, courtesy of long-ago french boyfriend
-- coffee cup and fork
-- extra virgin olive oil
-- balsamic vinegar
-- dijon mustard, preferably maille, not grey poupon
-- freshly ground black pepper

# pour olive oil into coffee cup.

# add vinegar. beat with fork. taste. adjust proportions.

# add very small amount of dijon mustard to dressing. beat, taste, adjust.

# add freshly ground pepper. beat again. cover and let stand.

# immediately before serving salad, beat dressing again. dress salad and toss. but only after fellow guests have had a chance to admire your handiwork.

# modestly await compliments and requests for recipe.

* poll your fellow diners in advance. curiously, a number of people do not like blue cheese, in which case this fabulous salad is wasted on them.

bon appetit!

Dee.. Your dish would be classified as a potentially hazardous food and should not be left out at room temp for more than 4 hours.

I don't want to be a party pooper but....

This is also the time of year where food poisoning incidences skyrocket. Realize folks most cases of food borne illness are self inflicted. The easiest prevention methods,

Wash your hands!!!

Reheat leftovers to 165*F (or really hot)

Don't leave foods at room temperature to put away later, or graze on all day

Wash your hands again

Don't reuse plates or utensils that have been in contact with raw meats unless they have been washed first. The same goes for your hands.

Yall have a great holiday season.

TwoBit

Half a cow
A Turkey
Lots Prawns
leg of Ham

Throw em all on the BBQ

Salad

Wash down with much Icy cold Beer

I edited out the 'safely left out' part. I wasn't thinking of it being left out for hours, just the duration of a buffet family dinner. Honestly, it never lasts very long!

This Johnson Family favorite is the 7 Layer Dip

I have an oval pan - (similar to a 9 X 13 baking dish) and in it I layer

1st layer is - 1 can refried bean
2nd layer is - 3 to 4 mashed avocados
3rd layer is - sour cream - (enough to cover the pan used)
4th layer is - grated colby cheese
5th layer is - diced tomatoes
6th layer is - sliced green onions
7th layer is - sliced black olives
then cover this with Picante sauce - (the flavor is better is allowed to set up to 24 hours in the Frig)

Serve with tortilla chips

Dee your dip sounds great - I'm putting the 7 Layer aside this year and trying yours

Becky