St. Patrick's Day Bunco

It was my turn to host bunco this month so my theme was St. Patrick's Day. Tons O' Fun! We had lots of fun, food, and laughs. This post is going to have Lots O' Photos of food, table setup, etc. Hope you enjoy looking.

The table of yummies consist of Rainbow Fruit Platter, Lots O' Green Veggies, Spinach Artichoke Pizza, Mini Reubens, Southwest Eggrolls, Lemon Meringue Pie, Irish Soda Bread, and last but not last the most delicious Guiness Stout Brownies.

Rainbow Fruit

Rainbow Fruit Platter Recipe: Rainbow Fruit

Lots O' Green Veggies:

Look closely and you'll see the green peppers were sliced to look like shamrocks

Mini Reuben Sammies:

Mini Reubens Recipe: Mini Reubens

Spinach Artichoke Pizza

Spinach Artichoke Pizza Recipe: Spinach Artichoke Pizza

Southwest Eggrolls

Baked Southwestern Eggroll recipe: Southwestern Eggrolls (recipe from Annie's Eats - Yum!)

Irish Soda Bread

Irish Soda Bread Recipe: Irish Soda Bread

Lemon Meringue Pie
Lemon Meringue Pie (Bought at the Grocery. Yep, I cheated)

Guinness Stout Brownies

Guiness Stout Brownies Recipe: Guiness Stout Brownies from Blondies Cakes
(These are the most amazing brownies you will ever eat!!

Table Settings:

Pot O' Gold
(Snacks for the bunco tables)
Pot O' Reeses:

Rolos:
Pot O' Snickers:I set out some fun St. Patrick Day "wearables" for everyone to wear while playing bunco.
(we all actually had fun doing this - you'll see later)




Bunco Prizes:
Bird Houses & Votive Candle Holders

Fun Times With The Traveling Wig:

There's one person that had a little too much fun with the wig!

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!

Rainbow Fruit

Loving Pinterest way too much!! I found this clever idea for a fruit rainbow platter on Pinterest last week. Why can't I think of these things?!

What a great idea for St. Patrick's Day! As you can see, it's pretty straight forward on how to make up a colorburst rainbow of fruit. I used Strawberries, Cantaloupe, Pineapple, Green Grapes and Blueberries. I served this as on of the side dishes at our St. Patrick's Day bunco food table.

ENJOY A GOOD FOR YOU RAINBOW!

Mini Irish Soda Bread / Muffins {Recipe}

At the moment, Irish Soda Bread is currently baking here at my house. I just made a really big loaf of this yummy cake-like Irish Soda bread. I had some extra batter/dough that I wasn't quite enough to make a second loaf so I loaded up my mini muffin pan with the extra batter. Ta-Da! Mini Irish Soda Bread Muffins! Yum! Delicious right out of the oven with Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter. Yum!

I found this Irish Soda Bread at Allrecipes.com quite a few years ago and have made it ever since I first tried it. It's not your true Irish Soda Bread, it tastes more like a scone. We all love it!

This recipe made one large 9x5 loaf and 12 mini muffins.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 eggs
• 1 pint sour cream
• 1 cup raisins

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Spray one 9 x5 loaf pan and line (or spray) 12 mini muffin cups . Can also be made in two 8x4 loaf pans.
2. Mix the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add the eggs, sour cream and raisins and mix until just combined. Distribute batter evenly between the two pans.
3. Bake loaves at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) for 1 hour. (For 9x5 loaf, bake 1hr 15 minutes. For mini muffins bake approximately 15-20 minutes.)

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

Mini Reubens {Recipe}

I love Reuben Sandwiches!! These are a must have on St. Patrick's Day in my house. Tomorrow night I will be hosting a St. Patrick's themed Bunco and wanted to serve Reuben's but they are messy and hard to handle. I came up with these mini Reuben's that are easy to pick up and handle without making a drippy mess. And they are really easy to make!

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons Thousand Island Dressing (I used a mixture of mayonnaise and ketchup, but bottled dressing or whatever Thousand Island dressing you like will work)
• 1/4 cup sliced Swiss Cheese
• 1/4 to 1/2 pound thinly sliced Corned Beef or Pastrami
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup sauerkraut, drained and rinsed
• 18-24 slices of Rye Party Bread loaf (such as Pepperidge Farm Party Bread)

Instructions:

Place a small amount of Thousand Island Dressing on each Rye Party Bread Slice:

Lay a thin slice of Corned Beef or Pastrami on top of the dressing:

Spoon your desired amount of sauerkraut on top of the corned beef:

Top with a slice(s) of swiss cheese 

Optional: Add a piece of fresh parsley on top:

Place mini reubens on a baking sheet. 

Bake at 350 degree oven for 5-8 minutes until cheese is melted.

Enjoy!

St. Patrick's Day Rainbow Cupcakes

I love making multi-colored cupcakes. They look so hard to make but really they are easy and always come out looking fantastic. I found this Colorburst Cupcake recipe over at Our Best Bites. I've used this cupcake recipe for several occasions. One being St. Patrick's Day and another for my cooking club where the theme was "Music Mania" (I made these in reference to Judy Garland "Over the Rainbow" song).

Rainbow Cupcakes
(Adapted from Our Best Bites' Colorburst Cupcakes)

Note: Be sure to check out Our Best Bites website for a great tutorial on how to make these fun cupcakes.

Ingredients:

1 white cake mix (I used Betty Crocker's Vanilla cake mix)
2 eggs
1 C sour cream
1/2 C milk
1/3 C vegetable oil

Instructions:

Combine all ingredients until incorporated (about 30 seconds). Scrape sides of bowl and then beat on med-high speed for 2 minutes.

Divide batter according to how many colors you are using. I used 5 colors and it worked out to a little over 1 cup for each color, but each cake brand will be slightly different.

Use food coloring to color batter to desired intensity.

To get a layered stripe like I used, you’ll want to put a spoonful of each color in the cupcake one at a time. The batter is thick, so it won’t spread on it’s own. A great tip is to set out a little bowl of water where you’re working. Dip your finger in the water and then gently spread the batter out. The water will make it so the batter doesn’t stick to your fingers.

Note: This recipe and instructions are from Our Best Bites.

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY

Mardi Gras Cupcakes for Four

I'm always looking to try out new cupcake designs but don't necessarily want to make a dozen or more cupcakes. I found a great recipe on Pinterest for One Bowl Vanilla Cupcakes for Two made by How Sweet It Is. It is a great recipe and can be doubled or tripled to make a small batch of cupcakes.

Today I made Mardi Gras cupcakes by doubling the recipe and coloring cupcake batter purple, green, and yellow. I came up with a buttercream frosting recipe that makes just enough to frost 4 cupcakes. This came out to be the perfect little treat for family to have tonight in celebration of Mardi Gras. I doubled the One Bowl of Cupcake for Two to make Four prefect cupcakes.

Vanilla Cupcakes For Four

Ingredients: 

• 2 egg whites 
• 4 tablespoons sugar 
• 4 tablespoons butter,melted 
• 2 teaspoon vanilla 
• 1/2cup flour 
• 1/2 heaping teaspoon of baking powder 
• pinch of salt 
• 3 tablespoons milk 

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
2. Line a muffin pan with 4 liners
3. Divide Cupcake Batter into three equal portions and place in each in three small bowls. Color one portion purple, the second portion yellow, and then third portion green. 
4. Fill each cupcake wrapper with equal portions of colored batter so that you have all three colors next to each other. 
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes. 
6. Frost with Buttercream Frosting (see recipe below)

Color one portion purple, the second portion yellow, and then third portion green

Fill each cupcake wrapper with equal portions of batter so that you have all three colors next to each other

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes

Buttercream Frosting for Four Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons butter, room temperature 
• 2 tablespoons shortening, room temperature 
• pinch of salt 
• 1 to 1 1/4 cup cup powdered sugar, sifted 
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 
• 1 1/2 tablespoon half and half (or cream, or milk)

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter,shortening and salt until smooth with an electric mixer
2. Turn the mixer to low and add the powdered sugar
3. Add the vanilla extract and increase the mixer to medium
4. Beat in the heavy cream and mix on high until the frosting is fluffy, about 30 seconds to 1 minute.