Christmas- Poker Night Bacon Cheddar Pinwheels

I think the email invite for my husband's December Poker said something to the equivalent that it was a MAN'S night so there would be NO dressing up, NO gift giving and NO cookie exchange LOL.  BUT, we still had to make an appetizer so since I had a Bunco Night the day before (click HERE to see the post), we bought double the ingredients to make the same recipe.  From the Pillsbury Website, this looked very simple with a lot of stuff I had on hand.

Bite sized pieces at my Bunco Night

Bacon-Cheddar Pinwheels


1 8oz can of Pillsbury refrigerated crescent dinner rolls OR 1 can Pillsbury Crescent Recipe Creations refrigerated seamless dough sheet
2 TBS Ranch Dressing
1/4 cup cooked real bacon pieces or 4 slices of bacon, crisply cooked, crumbled
1/2 cup finely shredded cheddar cheese (2 oz)
1/4 cup chopped green onions (4 med).  Hubby doesn't like these so we used finely chopped green peppers instead

• Heat oven to 350°F.
• If using crescent rolls: Unroll dough; separate into 2 long rectangles. Press each into 12x4-inch rectangle, firmly pressing perforations to seal. If using dough sheet: Unroll dough; cut lengthwise into 2 long rectangles. Press each into 12x4-inch rectangle.
• Spread dressing over each rectangle to edges. Sprinkle each with bacon, Cheddar cheese and onions (in our case, we used green peppers)

• 

  NEXT TIME:  We'll chop bacon smaller and put more in corners

  Starting with one short side, roll up each rectangle; press edge to seal. With serrated knife, cut each roll into 8 slices; place cut side down on ungreased cookie sheet (we saw a tip online that said after you roll it up and before cutting, put into the freezer for about 1/2 an hour).
• Bake 12 to 17 minutes or until edges are deep golden brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet. Serve warm.
  
  This is how my hubby took them to Poker.  They weren't "pretty" enough for me for my Bunco Night so we cut them into bite-sized-fourths (see top photo).

Christmas- Simple Wreath Making...it's not too late!

Every year I buy wreaths from my friend Carolyn but this year she wasn't selling them so she asked if The Hungry Housewives would like to come over to make their own.  So -OF COURSE- my 5yr old who has only been sick twice in his life ended up with a 103* temperature, so I wasn't able to go {sniff}.  BUT, some of the other gals still went and were kind enough to bring me back a wreath!  
  

SUPPLIES:  You're going to need a frame which can be found at any craft store (remember- the bigger the frame, the more work!), floral wire, gloves, decorations like a ribbon, bells, etc, and greenery.  Depending on where you live, this could be as easy as just looking around the side of the road!  In my case, my lovely hubby cut pieces from our holly berry tree, we kept the lower branches from our Christmas Tree, and then we popped into the local tree farm and purchased bough strands which was just $1 a foot.  Carolyn said that you would need about a garbage bag full for one wreath.

Carolyn suggested cutting the greenery into 4-6" pieces and bunching them together to make a fluffier look. Once that was done, bind them together with floral wire, wrapping tightly, then with more wire, binding them to the frame. Clip any excess wire. Repeat the process, overlapping your bundles so that you're covering the previous bundle wire. 

As you go along, step back to see the whole picture to help you see where you might want to fill in more, or add holly, decorative balls, etc. Once you feel like the greenery is full enough, add a bow and other decorations if you want (Carolyn wired Christmas balls together by themselves to add to the wreath).

My friend Dawn said hers was not as detailed since they were a little pushed for time, and it was her first attempt. She chose to bunch longer pieces, which made for a less fluffy look (which is totally fine since every one is original so you can make it your own).  She did say that if she had the chance to do it again, she'd allow for more time and would make it fuller since she noticed once it was hung up, the gravity kinda pulled the greenery down, exposing a little of the frame (taking time to adequately fill the form would keep this from happening).  She also said this was a great learning experience, really fun, and she can't wait to do it again next year!

When you're all finished, you can hang it with a nail, an over-the-door wreath holder or a free standing holder (see what frames are on on photo at top).


Thank you to Hungry Housewife Dani for taking the pics and to Carolyn for offering your home and expertise so that we can play!

Christmas- Bunco, Wally, and Ornament Exchange!

Every Christmas, a group of gals I know host a Christmas Bunco night with an ornament exchange and a couple games of Wally (see below for how-to).  Everybody brings a dish to share with the Hostess providing drinks and dessert so there's lots of yummies!  The recipe for photo shown here is at the bottom of this blog but for the recipe for MY dish, go to: Poker Night)

THH Tari's Hidden Valley Ranch Sausage Stars (recipe below)

After we've all had snacks, we play two rounds of Bunco.  I ended up being the LAST person to be wearing the Bunco Hat at the end of the night (and came 2nd for most Buncos) so won back my $10 entrance fee.  Woo-hoo!  






Then Hungry Housewife Dawn ended up being a top winner of the night with MOST wins!

Dawn with her Bunco Win Prizes

After Bunco, we moved onto the Ornament Exchange.  This is my FAV way to do this!!!  Every person puts their own wrapped ornament in front of them then Co-Hostess Tami reads aloud the story of The Night Before Christmas.  Every time she says the word "THE", we pass our gift to the right.  Whenever she says "And", we pass it to the left.  At the end of the poem, whoever's gift you have in front of you is the one you get to keep!  No "stealing" involved! 
After we've opened all our gifts, we move onto Round ONE of Wally which involves using quarters followed by Round TWO using dollar bills.

Rules:  You roll the same number of dice that you have Quarters (or Dollars).  As the photo shows above, if you roll a 1,2 or 3, you get to KEEP your money!  BUT if you roll a 4, it goes into the Kitty (the pot).  For a 5, you slide your money to the person to your right or if you do a 6, you pass it to the person to your left.  You do the same thing for EACH dice (for example, if you roll straight 4s, the ENTIRE thing goes into the Kitty!).  

Quarter Wally Winner Heather

Eventually, it will dwindle down to just a few people still with money (time depends on # of players- we had 18 women!).  When it's down to the LAST person, the game is NOT over yet!  She HAS to keep rolling until EVERY Quarter (or $1) is in the Kitty so there is a chance she could lose it all!  

Dollar Wally Winner Dalese

If you are playing Quarters, the Winner will get ALL the money in the pot (so that's $1.25 per person playing).  But if you are playing with one dollar bills, the Winner will get $5 per person so the stakes can get pretty up there (esp if you use $5s or $10s).


Thank you to the hostess- Hungry Housewife Jody for another wonderful, fun night with the girls!

Hidden Valley Ranch Sausage Stars


2 cups (1lb) cooked crumbled sausage
1 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups grated Monterey jack cheese
1 cup prepared Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix
1 can (2.25 oz) sliced black olives
1/2 cup chopped red peppers
1 pkg fresh or frozen wonton wrappers
vegetable oil
Preheat oven to 350'. Blot sausage dry with paper towel and combine with cheeses, salad dressing, olives and red peppers. Lightly grease a mini muffin tin and press 1 wrapper in each cup. Brush with oil. Bake 5 minuted until wrappers are golden brown. remove from tins, place on baking sheet. Fill with sausage mixture. Bake 5 minutes until bubbly.