Entertaining

Last-Minute Buffalo Chicken Dip Bites

These tiny buffalo chicken dip bites have just the right amount cream cheese, blue cheese, chicken and hot sauce all in a little phyllo pocket and ready to pop in your mouth, fuss free, on Super Bowl Sunday.

My mind has felt a bit cluttered lately. I suppose it is because there are plenty of things I should be doing and many more that I have yet to do. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but my mind seems to be focused on the other things that I rather *want* to do instead.

The point is, tomorrow is the Super Bowl. THE Super Bowl. We don’t have any plans. Our friends that used to host a kid-friendly event have long since moved to Oklahoma, leaving us to fend for ourselves with four kids on Super Bowl Sunday, and that means we generally entertain ourselves with the game on in the background, the kids squealing in the foreground and plenty of food right in the middle of all of it.

If you haven’t tried buffalo chicken dip, this is your chance. It’s all the goodness the wings have to offer without all the finger-licking mess. (Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for the finger-licking, too, just not on my couch, thankyouverymuch.) This is taking it one step further into bite-sized dip pieces. Happy Super Bowl Sunday to all of you!

Buffalo Chicken Dip Bites

1 roll phyllo dough sheets (plus olive oil for brushing) or 1 box phyllo cups
8 ounces cream cheese
4 ounces cream-style blue cheese
1 generous cup cooked chicken, cut into chunks or shredded
1/4 cup buffalo-style hot sauce
2 ounces crumbled blue cheese
1-2 chopped green onions, optional garnish

If using phyllo dough sheets: Carefully lay one sheet of phyllo dough on a dry work surface. Brush lightly with olive oil, covering the sheet. Repeat with 3 more sheets until a layer of 4 sheets is brushed, keeping unused sheets covered with plastic wrap and a wet towel. Using a pastry wheel or pizza cutter, cut into 2″ squares. Transfer squares to a parchment-lined baking sheet to fill. (Repeat with remaining phyllo sheets after filled and baking, one set of 4 sheets at a time.)

If using phyllo cups: Line the cups on a baking sheet, spaced an inch or so apart to fill.

In a small bowl, mix together cream cheese and cream-style blue cheese until combined. Add 1-2 generous teaspoons in the bottom of the phyllo cups or the center of the phyllo squares. Top with 1 teaspoon of chicken. Add enough hot sauce to cover the chicken and top with blue cheese. For the squares, pinch up the corners of the phyllo to the center to create a small box.

Bake at 350º F for 15-18 minutes, just until phyllo starts to brown and cheese is hot and bubbly. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly before serving. Garnish with green onions. Best served warm.

**These can be made ahead, stores and then warmed in the oven for a few minutes just before eating.


Makes 30-40 buffalo chicken dip bites.

Front Porch Sittin’

Two weekends ago I found a pair of white rocking chairs on Craig’s List.  I have been hunting for some that weren’t really generic looking like the ones that the big box stores sell.  They need a good spray down with a pressure washer and a little touch up paint but I’m really happy with my find.  I sit out on the porch almost every night- until I can’t stand the mosquitoes any longer.

How to Style a Low Bun

It’s the perfect season for easy and elegant up-dos. Maybe you are getting your outfit together for a friends wedding or for your senior prom. Here’s a simple style for a cute low bun, you could dress this up with little flower blooms or ribbon!

1. Seperate a few thick strands from the top of your head (where your part naturally ends) and tease them by brushing the hair up toward your head. 2. Pull your hair down, styling it into a low pony tail. 3. Fluff up the teased part of your hair. 4. Now that you have a volumnious low pony tail use a hair tie to keep it in place. 5. Seperate the hair of your pony tail in half, tease the upper half. 6. Use the lower half (the unteased hair) and flip over the top or your teased bun. 7. Wrap hair around the base of your bun and pin it in place. 8. Style any loose strands.

Hand Printed Table Runner DIY

We created this simple, tribal-inspired table runner for Emma’s home. With a technique similar to our Heart Blanket DIY, see what different pieces you can create by choosing different colors and shapes! Enjoy…

1.Supplies: Table runner, paint, paintbrush, cardboard, cork, scissors and glue. 2. Begin by cutting out a shape with the cardboard. To create a design similar to ours, one side of your stamp should be a straight line (to be placed against the edge of the table runner). This will be your stamp! 3. Next glue the cardboard onto a cork, creating a handle to make the stamping easy. Allow it to dry completely. 4. Begin stamping all along the edge of the runner, filling in any splotchy parts with a paintbrush. Allow to dry completely before displaying your new table runner (check your paint bottle for dry times).