Octoberfest! -Part One

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My husband and I had a successful Octoberfest party over the weekend. Most of the neighbors attended along with some family and friends. JJ and Wee Bear are back from their cruise so JJ and I split the menu and planned out decorations and set up. She has a great knack for planning and decorating plus she has so many wonderful decorations to use! I rented a beautiful farm table from a local family owned business. We got so many compliments from the neighbors on it and glad we opted for that instead of the basic buffet tables you cover with a table cloth. This table was gorgeous!

We also rented the plates and silverware from the same company, which made for an easy cleanup. You just wipe the food from the plates and place them back into the crate they came in...no washing and no drying!

The first part of this blog series, I will be telling you about the appetizers and share with you some of the recipes. A lot of these you can use for any occasion, in fact, many are create options for football/sports entertaining. 

These little gems were created by "Tink". They are easy to prep and taste so good straight out of the oven! We ask her to make these often for family gatherings. 



Ingredients:
1lb. sausage
8oz. cream cheese 
2 packages of store bought mushrooms (the ones in the little cartons sealed with plastic)
panko bread crumbs (plain)
oregano
garlic powder
onion powder
cayenne
salt and pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Cook sausage until completely cooked through. Take off heat and mix with cream cheese until completely blended. 

Place panko bread crumbs into a bowl and season with spices to your desired level of taste. Twist off mushroom stems and place in a 9x13 glass baking pan, and stuff with cream cheese mixture.  

Top stuffed mushrooms with bread crumb mixture and place into oven for 20 minutes, then finish off by broiling for 2-3 minutes. 

Ingredients:
4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 1/4 cups warm water 
5 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup baking soda
4 cups hot water
1/4 cup kosher salt for topping

Directions:
In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. 

In a large bowl, mix together flour, 1/2 cup sugar and salt. Make a well in the center; add the oil and yeast mixture. Mix and form into a dough. If the mixture is dry, add one or two tablespoons of water. Knead the dough until smooth, about 7 to 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour. 

Preheat oven to 450F. In a large bowl, dissolve baking soda in hot water. When risen, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into small round balls. Once all the dough is shaped into balls, dip each one into the baking soda solution and place on a greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with kosher salt. 

Bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes, until browned. You can serve these with your favorite cheese/fondue sauce or with some butter. These are great right out of the oven, so be sure that you time it so that guests get to enjoy them fresh. 

~

We also served the pepperoni pin wheels, which was posted by JJ on the Wednesday blog -10/10. She also made a couple bacon and cheese pin wheels which were equally delicious! Again, those are best straight from the oven, so best to time it such that you are serving them warm. 

JJ and I will continue blogging and sharing with you the rest of the menu from the Octoberfest party! Lot's of great recipes and pictures to share with you! I snapped this one during the festivities. I think it came out great! What a happy couple. 

Wishing you all a great weekend and see you back here for JJ's Monday blog post! 

~Amy