A Favorite and a Fond Farewell

Here's one of my family's go-to appetizer choices. A true favorite. I originally got this from Pampered Chef, but we've (you guessed it) adapted it just a little bit. It's absolutely delicious!

You'll need:

1 can of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls (I've used store brands and they just don't perform as well for this recipe. Too oozy. Pillsbury delivers consistent results.)
2 8-ounce packages of cream cheese
2 Tbsp mayonnaise
1 tsp dillweed
Veggies, cut up. I used broccoli, cauliflower, peppers, and a bit of onion (Onion only on half. Though my hubby loves onions, they don't love him.)

Pampered Chef tells you to bake this on one of their stones, but my last one broke years ago. I use insulated cookie sheets/jelly roll pans and have had great results.

Unroll the crescents onto baking pan and press/pinch together to form one big sheet. Actually, I think Pillsbury sells them in sheets like this now. They must have realized how many fun uses we've come up with for their crescent dough!

Bake this sheet in a 350 F oven according to package directions, or until it's slightly browned. Remove from oven and allow to completely cool.

While it's cooling, cut up your veggies into smaller than bite-sized pieces. Speaking of Pampered Chef, remember that crinkle cutter I told you about? The one I originally thought would be useless, but now love? Well, here it is in action:








Combine cream cheese, mayo, and dill. Spread on baked and cooled crust. Cover this with your cut up veggies. Refrigerate for best taste. Cut into small squares for serving.

Try this once and you'll make it for every event! Really!

That's one of my family favorites. Now it's time for the fond farewell...

It has been my great privilege to be part of this spectacular blog for the past two years. I've made some wonderful friends here, and I know I was the luckiest girl in the world when Krista and Avery approached me about participating.

The past two years have been full of fun and learning. Full of laughs and such a wonderful sharing of not only recipes, but milestones and successes. The reason this blog is so great though, is not just because those of us posting show up everyday to chat, but because of all of you... the readers, the community of Mystery Lovers' Kitchen. I cannot thank you all enough for cheering us on when we have new books released, for sharing your stories of personal triumphs and trials (both in the kitchen and out), and for simply being our friends. 

It is with sadness (though sadness warmed by memories!) that I'm leaving the blog. Today is my final post. Life has gotten busier rather than calmer. I know so many friends who are able to produce two books per year and still keep the homefires burning, but I'm finding it increasingly difficult to do so. I will miss you all. Very much. 

But who's taking over this Friday spot? That's the good news! Sheila and MJ will share Fridays and while Wendy will be here most Saturdays, we have a brand new chef joining the kitchen once a month. The funny and vivacious Ellery Adams is very excited to be sharing her wonderful recipes and stories with you. You're going to adore her. We do!

I hope to pop in from time to time, and maybe even guest post now and then. I truly love this sanctuary on the Internet. We sure have fun here, don't we?

Thank you all for all your wonderful support! I am forever grateful,

Love,

Julie

Cucumber Sandwiches: My Go-To

Thanksgiving leftovers -- heck, leftovers from any holiday -- are wonderful. I look forward to leftovers almost more than I do the actual meal. Weird? I bet I'm not alone.

Because you and I are sitting back enjoying our leftovers today, I'm not going to post a multi-step, intricate recipe. I'm taking it easy. Post-Thanksgiving is meant to be savored, don't you think? The day after Thanksgiving is so great. Still lots of family time, but a whole lot less cooking. Rather than scurry out and shop, we prefer to open our boxes of holiday decor and pick out our tree.

To celebrate today being a laid-back day, then, I'm sharing one of my top Go-To recipes. Over the years, we discovered that one of our favorite holiday leftovers is actually an appetizer. We all like it so much, we stopped serving it only on holidays and at parties, and now we make it at the drop of a hat. Here's the excuse we used this time: Our three daughters are home this week!

Super, super easy, this one comes from Pampered Chef. We changed it ever so slightly, but I gotta give them credit. They've really mastered making yummy food fast. I might have mentioned that I used to be a Pampered Chef lady (you know, the one who comes to your house and shows you all the great gadgets?), so I have a houseful of fun toys to play with.

This is *not* a Pampered Chef commercial -- just a little back story. It's been years since I've even been to a party. But I still love this recipe!

Cucumber Sandwiches

1 cucumber

1 8-oz cream cheese

1 cup mayo

1 envelope dry Italian dressing mix (like Good Seasons. I use the store house brand and I buy them in 4 packs -- less expensive when you make it as often as we do!)

Bread

I like to soften my cream cheese a little before mixing. I put it in a glass bowl and pop it into the microwave for about 10 - 15 seconds, or maybe even a little more.

Add dry Italian dressing mix. Add mayo. Use hand mixer until smooth.

Put this in the fridge. I always find the taste improves after I've given the mix time to set and allow the flavors to combine.

In the meantime, slice cucumber into very thin slices. I have a mandolin-thing from Pampered Chef. Can't remember what they call it, but it has different slicing/shredding blades that pop in and out. Perfect for slicing cucumbers ultra thin.

Bread: The original recipe encouraged us to bake our own bread in bread tubes. I did that for a while but it got very old very fast. Plus the breads were relatively small and these little sandwiches would disappear quicker than I could keep up. I would make four loaves and it still wouldn't be enough.

What I do now is go to my local supermarket (Jewel), find the twin French loaves, and ask the friendly ladies behind the counter to slice them for me. Voila. Perfect! And plenty. I still wind up buying four (two 2-packs) at a time, but they're much bigger than the ones I made myself.

Spread mix on bread slice, top with cucumber. Repeat, repeat, repeat....

(I like to cut the cuke slice about halfway up, then twist before placing atop the bread. Pretty!)

Serve!

Just an easy and very, very delicious appetizer that everyone seems to love. I can't believe how often I get compliments on these. Or how much my kids still love them. It's been over 10 years and they haven't gotten tired of them yet!

This is one of my favorite Go-To recipes.

What's one of yours?

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Julie