Saturday September 5, 2015

UCLA v Virginia

Appetizers - Eric and Gail

Buffalo Chicken Dip (Paula Deen)

Ingredients

1 package cream cheese, softened

½ cup each ranch dressing, hot sauce, and crumbled blue cheese

2 oz mozzarella shredded cheese

2 cans chicken in water, drained (I used shredded chicken from the deli)

Crackers or tortilla chips

·       Preheat oven to 350 degrees

·       In a 9-inch pie plate add the cream cheese and stir with a fork unitl smooth

·       Stir in the dressing, hot sauce, and cheeses. Mix in the chicken and bake for 20 minutes until the chicken mixture in hot and bubbling.

·       Stir before serving with crackers, chips or vegetables

Sweet and Savory Bacon Crackers 
(Ree Drummond)

Ingredients

36 country club style crackers

¾ c grated Parmesan cheese

¾ c brown sugar

1 lb. bacon (not thick-sliced)

·       Lay the crackers on a rack set on a rimmed baking sheet

·       Place a tablespoon of Parmesan chees on half the crackers

·       Place a tablespoon of brown sugar on the other half

·       Slice the bacon in half

·       Wrap each cracker with a half piece of bacon, tucking the end of each piece under the cracker

·       Bake for about two hours in a 250 degree oven. The bacon will cook slowly and start to wrap tightly around the crackers

·       Serve warm on a platter

Blue Cheese and Red Onion Quesadillas 

(Sam Zien)

Ingredients

1 red onion, thinly sliced

½ tbl olive oil

1 tbl brown sugar

2 oz crumbled blue cheese

·       8 corn tortillas (5 inch round)

·       In a nonstick medium pan cook the onion in olive oel over medium heat, stirring until it becomes very soft, about 10 minutes

·       Add the brown sugar and mix well

·       Add the blue cheese and keep on heating and stirring until the chees melts

·       Remove the pan from the heat and divide the onion/cheese mixture evenly on four tortillas. Top each one with another tortilla.

·       Wipe the pan and cook each quesadilla until lightly browned on both sides. Remove from the pan and allow to cool slightly. Cut into wedges and serve.

Main Dish - Paul and Barb

Breakfast Casserole
Recipe courtesy of Paula Deen

Ingredients

Nonstick cooking spray
1 pound ground maple pork sausage
6 slices soft hearty white bread
One 8-ounce package shredded triple Cheddar cheese
8 large eggs
2 cups whole milk
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon seasoned pepper

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 13- by 9-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large skillet, cook the sausage over medium heat, stirring frequently, until browned and crumbly, about 10 minutes; drain well on paper towels.

Cut and discard the crusts from the bread. Cut the slices in half, and arrange in a single layer in the prepared baking dish, cutting pieces to fit as necessary to cover the bottom of the dish. Sprinkle with the sausage and cheese.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, mustard, seasoned salt and pepper; carefully pour the mixture over the cheese.

Bake casserole until set and golden, about 40 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving. Served with fresh fruit.

Gail and Barb setting up the tailgate.

UCLA football defeats Virginia 34-16

If greatness was in question last season against Virginia, freshman quarterback Josh Rosen proved that would be a nonissue for UCLA football in 2015, leading the Bruins to a 34-16 win over the Cavaliers.

In his collegiate debut, Rosen went 28 for 35 for a total of 351 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions. A former five-star recruit, the freshman from Bellflower St. John Bosco proved his worth Saturday in front of a home crowd of 68,615.

Not only did Rosen throw the ball well, but he exhibited his playmaking ability, throwing to six different players who picked up over 40 yards each. By the end of the third quarter, Rosen had already broken the record for passing yards by a UCLA true freshman quarterback.

Rosen left the game early in the fourth quarter having completed nine-straight passes.

If the first half was dominated by the Bruins’ offensive performance, the second half proved that UCLA figures to be strong on both sides of the ball this season.

Defensive coordinator Tom Bradley’s defense locked down the Cavaliers after halftime, holding Virginia to just a touchdown, compared to a first half that saw the Cavaliers score nine points on an average of 5.1 yards per play.  The Bruins were all they were touted to be in their season debut, something that couldn’t be said of Brett Hundley’s 10-3 team last season.

Dessert - Tim & Penny

Cherry Dump Cake 

1 box white or yellow cake mix 
1/4 pound butter or margarine -- at room 
1/2 cup nuts* -- chopped 
2 cans prepared cherry pie -- filling 
walnuts or pecans are best for this recipe 

In a mixer blend the cake mix with the butter until it is fine and crumbly. Take out and save about 1 cup of the mixture. The remainder is pressed into the bottom of a 9x14" baking pan. 

Bake at 350* for about 15 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Pour the cherry pie filling over the hot baked crust. Mix the chopped nuts to the remaining cake mix mixture, and sprinkle over the pie filling. Return to the oven for about 30-40 minutes, or until the mix mixture is lightly browned. 

Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream