A crunchy snack is almost required for every party. I don’t make the rules - but it’s one of the key elements of an appetizer plate, a snack plate, or a football spread. For football, there’s something about crunching when nerves are running high.

These cashews are perfect. They feel healthier, are delicious, and are super simple to make. Our neighborhood has an annual sales for the Boy Scouts when they sell nuts, so if you also bought too many last year, then this is a great way to use them up!

Rosemary Roasted Cashews

1 lb cashews

2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary (about 3 sprigs)

2 tablespoons salt

fresh cracked pepper

2 tablespoons melted butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

STEP 1

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Melt the butter and toss everything into the butter. Coat completely.

STEP 2

Pour the nuts out onto a baking sheet and pop into the oven. Don’t walk away! They brown quickly, so watch them for about 10-15 minutes until all of the nuts are toasted. Let cool completely before serving.

Store in an airtight container for up to one week.

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There are occasions that call for fancy, over the top, loaded nachos - and then there’s the après ski version. Après nachos need to be delicious, warm, cheesy, and served with a sauce that is unbeatable. These are so easy and so perfect when your fingers are cold and your toes are numb.

There are three tips to making the perfect nacho:

1. You have to grate the cheese yourself. The pre-grated has potato starch on it and it won’t melt properly.

2. Make one thin layer on nachos on a baking sheet lined with parchment. When they come out, quickly layer the nachos on top of each other to serve.

3. You need the perfect sauce. Here is that perfect sauce. Serve with hot sauce + Cilantro Lime sauce.

Topping options are obviously endless. The toppings I used here are the ones I had on hand - and are the ones I basically always have on hand. Cans of beans and cans of olives go a long way to making nachos feel packed full of something.

If I have leftover chicken or steak - they are going on top too - but not before I toss them in some taco seasoning first. It’s dramatic the improvement to leftover meats when you toss them in a little seasoning before they head onto the top of the nachos.

Cilantro Lime Sauce

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

zest of one lime

juice of one lime (more or less)

Combine everything together. And drizzle over the top of the nachos when they are hot.

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Having a great dip in your back pocket is a great hack to make any party feel special. This is one of those dips -it’s basically made with ingredients you have in your pantry already because it’s pretty basic. It’s just the way it comes together that it tastes so good! I keep feta cheese in my freezer because it freezes really well and then it’s always ready to go! If you buy the crumbled feta, then it defrosts super fast too.

I made this for my baseball party, but it’s a great party dip because it literally goes with everything. I like the tangy feta with a pretzel, but it’s also awesome with carrots, celery, crackers, salami, the list goes on! Imagine how good it would be on a burger!

Feta Pretzel Dip

4 ounces feta cheese

4 ounces cream cheese

1 teaspoon worchestershire

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 teaspoon garlic powder

2 tablespoons milk (or more)

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and whip until well combined. Serve with pretzel bits, crackers or vegetables.

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Once a week I play bridge. Except this summer where travel baseball has taken over my life and I’ve missed several weeks of play. Today, my girlfriends are coming over to play bridge and I’m so excited!

Usually while we play we have glasses of white wine and some sort of small snack. Today, I’m making my famous (and ridiculously simple) Smoked Salmon Dip. Not only because it’s easy and everyone loves it - but because it feels like a perfect summer appetizer.

It’s only a few ingredients, so use good ones. My smoked fish (I’m using trout) is from my boys going fishing earlier this summer so I know it’s delicious and fresh. Because you’re only using 1/2 pound - buy a good one! In Seattle, most grocers have great smoked fish but you can also head over to the docks at the base of Magnolia and pick up fish that you know came straight out of the sea.

Smoked Salmon Dip

1/2 pound smoked salmon (or trout)

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

zest of 1/2 lemon

1/2 jalapeño, grated

juice of 1 lemon

1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons mayonnaise (or more if needed)

salt + pepper

STEP 1

In a bowl, combine all of the ingredients, except the mayonnaise and blend. Use a hand mixer, a stand mixer, a cuisinart, or a potato masher (heaven help your arm)

STEP 2

When blended, add the mayonnaise and blend until the texture is fluffy and creamy. Serve with crackers and cucumber slices.

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I spend every weekend at the baseball field watching back to back baseball games. And several days a week at the batting cages watching batting practice. I started batting practice by reading a book and now I watch each swing to remind him to keep his front foot down; to keep his head down; to watch his wrists; to compare lengths we think the last ball went. We are a baseball family. I am a baseball mom. So it only seemed appropriate that I try to make America’s favorite snack for America’s favorite pastime. CRACKERJACKS!

It’s basically caramel corn with peanuts. It’s super simple and makes a huge batch so you can take it to your next game - double header - or batting practice - and share it with everyone!

Homemade Cracker Jacks

12 cups air popped pop corn (about 1/2 cup kernels)

1 ½ cups tightly packed brown sugar

¾ cup light corn syrup

¾ cup butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup spanish peanuts

STEP 1

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Spread popcorn out on a lined baking sheet.  Line with either a sil-pat or buttered parchment paper. 

STEP 2

Place sugar, corn syrup, butter, and vanilla in a heavy bottomed sauce pan over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves.  Cook until a candy thermometer reaches 250 degrees.

STEP 3

Remove from heat and stir in the popcorn and peanuts. Spread out on a lined baking sheet and sprinkle the top with coarse salt.

STEP 4

Pop into the preheated oven and bake 50 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes, until caramel is set. Break into pieces and store in an airtight container for up to one week. 

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Last year I discovered that it is perfectly acceptable in the south to put pimento cheese on white bread and call it a sandwich! A SANDWICH! Out of the very best cheese + squishy white bread. Who has been keeping this miracle from me?!

I have a girlfriend who makes a version of this regularly for parties. It’s good, but there was something missing. That’s when I found out she doesn’t use mayo in hers. It’s the mayo that makes it a spreadable delight! And I know there will be discussion about the kind of mayo I choose. I cannot be talked out of my Best Foods mayo. I know there are lots of in the Duke’s camp. And they also can’t be swayed. So you use your mayo that you prefer. Just know that the correct mayo is Best Foods.

I also use a hand mixer when I make this. It feels more authentic. The stand mixer is great. But doesn’t it feel like a good southern kitchen would use a hand mixer instead? And I like to be sure that I don’t over mix this. Using the freshly grated cheese can lead to clumping if you aren’t careful. The hand mixer lets you get in all the corners of the bowl. Which does let you mix it a little easier.

If you’re thinking of using pre shredded, shredded cheese, let me advise against it. Preshredded cheese get a little coating of potato starch or other starch to make sure it doesn’t clump in the package. I think the starch does something weird when you try to mix it all together - the cheese just doesn’t blend right.

At the Masters, they serve pimento cheese sandwiches. This is the most epic way you could possibly serve pimento cheese. But it’s also perfectly acceptable to serve with celery, Ritz crackers, salami - whatever else you like on a charcuterie board. But I can’t tell you how good it is on white bread.

Epic Pimento cheese Spread

2 cups freshly shredded cheese

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

1/2 cup mayonnaise

4 ounces pimento

1/2 jalapeño, shredded

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

2-4 shakes Tabasco sauce

STEP 1

Grate the cheese yourself. The combine the mayonnaise, cream cheese, and the grated cheese with a hand mixer or a stand mixer.

STEP 2

Grate in the jalapeño and add the pimento. Mix together.

STEP 3

Add the spices and mix one last time. Spread on white bread or eat with Ritz cracker and celery.

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These are actually the perfect appetizer. I had forgotten about them for years and then I was scrambling for the perfect appetizer for a party and remembered I used to make these all the time. Like ALL THE TIME. The first time I made them for a group people - twenty years ago - everyone was RAVING about them. And that was one of the critical moments in my life when I realized food was my special skill.

These are not hard. My go-to ingredients are tomato paste + tapenade. It’s salty, mostly premade, simple, and kind of tastes like pizza. But I also use pesto when that’s what I have. I have tried fresh vegetables - spinach, tomato, even fresh basil leaves and that doesn’t work. It’s too liquid-y and it makes the pastry all weird. You’re always welcome to try it, but I tried it for you.

Flaky Tapenade Bites

makes 2 dozen

1 package puff pastry

OPTION A

1/2 cup tomato paste

1/2 cup tapanade

OPTION B

1 cup tapenade

1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated

STEP 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Unroll the puff pastry sheet onto a floured cutting board and roll out slightly until you can’t see the lines anymore.

STEP 2

Use half of the ingredients on each roll. Spread it out evenly over the sheet. Roll up the pastry and slice into 1/2 inch pieces.

STEP 3

Pop each slice on a lined baking sheet. Bake 20 minutes until puffed and crispy. Remove from the baking sheet and cool on a cooling rack.

Serve warm or room temperature.

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Americano Cocktail

Delightfully simple and totally refreshing. Simple enough to make a batch of them, and a perfect compliment with the flaky tapenade bites!

What’s better than pigs in a blanket? The correct answer is nothing.

This time of year we are eating quite a few pigs in a blanket thanks to the football season - it’s the perfect food for grab and go eating. Which makes it the perfect food for grab and go Halloween eating. I don’t know about your house, but this holiday doesn’t exactly lend itself to sitting around and eating a large meal.

To make these, I used crescent rolls and lil’ smokies. It’s so simple. I don’t really think this needs a recipe, but I’ll type one out anyway. Usually I serve a lil’ smoky with mustard because ketchup is gross. But in this case, it needs to look like blood. So ketchup it is! (I put mustard in a bowl on the side when serving)

Halloweenines

1 package lil’ smokies

2 packages crescent rolls

STEP 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Unroll one package of crescent rolls. Use one of the triangles to make the base of your hand.

STEP 2

Slice the remaining rolls into strips. Start wrapping the lil’ smokies and laying them out to form a ‘hand'.’ Use the remaining strips to drape across the top of the lil’ smokies to hold them all together. Repeat with the second roll of crescent rolls and the rest of the lil’ smokies to form a second hand.

STEP 3

Bake about 15-20 minutes until golden brown on a lined baking sheet. Serve with ketchup!

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I cannot believe I haven’t shared these tots before! I am obsessed with tater tots AND obsessed with buffalo wings. It’s the perfect football snack - and this weekend the Seahawks have a very big game so you’ll need something to eat. Here it is. This is the best mash up of football snacks ever.

Pearl and I devoured this batch of them as soon as I made them. The real trick is to get the tots extra crispy. If you have an air fryer, use that! If you don’t, make sure our tots are on one even layer when you put them in the oven- and make sure your oven is extra hot (like 450 degrees). The crispier the tots, the longer you have with these being delicious. If your tots are soggy to start, then they will only get mushier as you serve them.

These are so great on a football game day because they take almost no time to pull together. I started at Town & Country stores for the groceries - it’s one of my favorite new stores.

I am obsessed with grocery stores. It’s actually my favorite activity when we’re on vacation, in a new city, or if I have time to kill. I love to see what other cities have on their shelves. I love to see local products. I love the adventure of finding new things.

Town & Country does not disappoint. It’s such a great store!

It’s also really fun in this big city we live in to travel across town and see the store that is totally different from the store down the block. I found a few things at Town & Country that I now exclusively drive across town to find! Let me know what your favorite grocery store find is and where you find it!

Buffalo Chicken Tots

1/2 cup buffalo wing sauce (I use Frank’s)

1/2 cup butter

2 cups shredded chicken (I buy rotisserie and shred it)

2 celery stalks, chopped

2 green onions, chopped

Blue cheese dressing

Blue cheese crumbles

STEP 1

Cook the tots in the air fryer until very crispy but not burned.

STEP 2

Melt together butter and wing sauce in a large pan. Toss in shredded chicken and cook until warmed.

STEP 3

Spread the tots out on a serving platter. Top with the chicken and pour any extra sauce on top. Sprinkle over celery, onion, and blue cheese crumbles. Drizzle blue cheese dressing on top and serve hot!

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I am obsessed with tots. I adore good tater tots. Add them to any meal and you have a real party. Start topping them with things and then we’re really talking. Adding BBQ pork, coleslaw and some green onions made these tots a ridiculously filling Monday Night Football dinner.

I made the pork myself in the oven with a super simple recipe. It’s so easy to make tender pork but it’s also easy to buy some already done at a good grocery store or Costco. Just toss the shredded pork with barbecue sauce and you’re set. You’re welcome to shred the cabbage yourself too - or just purchase it from the grocery store. The only thing you really “make” from home is the white sauce. It’s so simple to get dinner on the table and this one is a particularly fun one. Enjoy!

Shredded Pork BBQ Tots

4 cups shredded pork

1/2 cup BBQ sauce

2 pounds frozen tater tots

2 cups shredded cabbage

1 cup mayonnaise

1/8 cup apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon worchestershire

1 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon horseradish

1/2 teaspoon honey

2 green onions, chopped

STEP 1

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Lay the tots in one layer on a baking sheet. Pop them into the oven and let them bake for 20 minutes, flip over, then bake another 20 minutes or until golden brown.

STEP 2

Blend together mayonnaise, vinegar, worchestershire, pepper, salt, horseradish, and honey. Pour half of the mixture over the shredded cabbage. Toss and let it sit.

STEP 3

Make sure the shredded pork is warm. Toss the pork with the BBQ Sauce.

STEP 4

Spread the tots out on a platter and top with pork. Add slaw to the top and garnish with sliced green onion. Serve with remaining white sauce and any extra BBQ sauce.

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