Shrimp and Crab Puffs: Party Season Blog With Friends

 

 

Today’s post is the next in our series of Blog With Friends themed collaborations. Each month a group of bloggers get together and each publish a project based on a theme. What I love about his partnership is that it's not bloggers with similar interests or strengths but a diverse group coming up with a variety of posts. Mine always includes a recipe.

 

 

 

This month's theme is Party Season. 

 

I made Shrimp and Crab Puffs.

Shrimp and Crab Puffs

There is so much I love about party season, and so much I don't. I love the efforts made to get together and celebrate with everyone, relatives, friends, neighbors, co-workers and even acquaintances. It's a season filled with fun. But the main thing I don't like about it is that's it's all crammed into about a 6 week period. It makes it a season filled with stress too. So much cooking and baking and shopping and planning, from Thanksgiving through New Year's Eve, we do a year's worth of all of those things.

When it comes to celebrations, especially when I'm the host, there are a few things that are important to me. First, making sure that I do enough prep work ahead of time that I can join in the party. Second, I want people to eat and drink comfortably. If I can't set up enough table seating for a sit down dinner, or don't want that kind of a party, I want to serve foods people can pop in their mouths in one or two bites. Since I dislike trying to walk around balancing a plate, or trying to sit in a chair with one balanced on my lap, I don't serve foods you'd need a fork and knife for. My favorite is to set the food up in a central place, label each serving plate so guests know what's there, then let everyone grab single serving foods through the night (and I can mostly just add to the table now and then but spend most of the time joining in the fun).

So, for today's post I've come up with a new individual sized appetizer inspired (loosely) by a favorite dinner, shrimp scampi. I deliberately developed the recipe to be easy to make, utilizing refrigerator biscuits and canned baby shrimp and crabmeat. I do cook and bake from scratch quite a bit (like all of the homemade cookies I make and pass out over the holiday season), but I also take short cuts where I can and this time of year I do.

Start with gathering the ingredients:

 

Prepare the filling:

 

Separate each biscuit into thirds (I had butter flavored biscuits so that's what I used, but the buttermilk ones will work well too):

 

 

Place the filling into the center of all of the biscuit pieces: 

Form a ball with the filling in the center. Brush the tops with the butter spread and they're ready for the oven:

 

Bake for 15 minutes, and they're done: 

 

Note: to get a puffed up top, bake with the seam facing up, to get a more rounded top, bake with the seam down.

As always, any time you make one of my recipes, feel free to post a picture of it to my Baking In A Tornado Facebook Page. I'd love to see it!

Before you go, there's more Party Season fun to check out:

 

 

Tamara of Part-time Working Hockey Mom shares how to make Hot Chocolate Bombs. 

 

 

 

P.J. of A 'lil HooHaa shares Party Season.

 

 

No matter how you spend it, happy party season,

Shrimp and Crab Puffs

                                                                          ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 can (4 oz) baby shrimp

1 can (6 oz) crabmeat

2 TBSP sour cream (I use light)

3 TBSP shredded cheddar cheese (I use reduced fat) 

1 can (8 count) refrigerator biscuits

3 tsp melted garlic and herb butter spread (can substitute 3 tsp melted butter with 1/8 tsp garlic powder) 

 

Directions:

*Grease the wells of mini muffin tins (you'll need 24). Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

*Drain the shrimp and crabmeat. Place on a paper towel and pat gently.

*Mix together the shrimp, crabmeat, sour cream and cheddar.

*Open the can of biscuits and, pulling apart the layers, divide each biscuit into thirds. 

*Place about a tablespoon shrimp and crab mixture into the center of each biscuit third. 

*Form each biscuit into a ball, making sure that the filling is inside and there are no tears in the biscuits. Place into the muffin tin wells. 

*Using a pastry brush, brush the tops of each ball with the melted butter spread, then bake for 15 minutes. Serve warm.

 

 

Ghostless: Secret Subject Swap

 

Welcome a Secret Subject Swap. This month 6 brave bloggers picked a secret subject for someone else and were assigned a secret subject to interpret in their own style. Today we are all simultaneously divulging our topics and submitting our posts. Read through mine and at the bottom you’ll find links to all of today’s other Secret Subject participants.

 

 

 

My subject is: Do you believe in ghosts? Have you ever seen one? Or if not, tell us a fun ghost story.
It was submitted by: Jenniy of Climaxed.

This prompt had me headed to the way-back machine. Sorry, you young 'uns who don't know what I'm talking about, think Back to the Future or Hot Tub Time Machine, but just for looking, not for changing anything. Did that help? 

Anyway, I wrote a couple of posts in the past, not about ghosts per se, but along those lines. The first one was called Janet Knows, written in 2013 and it actually started out as a reaction to a television show about a medium. I was quite skeptical about the medium, but about the whole idea of ghosts, I was more on the fence. I had, after all, seen signs. You should read that post btw, it's sweet. 

The second post I went to find was one I wrote in 2016 about my stepfather, called A Smile and a Wink. It's similar to the other post in nature (and I recommend you read this one too), about signs.

My conclusion was not so much about whether I believe in the physical manifestation of ghosts, I really don't. It's more tied to the Jewish tradition of naming our children after the dead. 

Hmm, that sounds kinda creepy, but it's not, it's an honor. I believe we keep people alive, not physically of course, but in our lives and in our thoughts, in many ways, one of which is through their names. When the boys were little, I'd tell stories of the people they were named after whenever they asked about their names. To me, it felt like I was introducing them to people who'd had meaning in my life, but who they would never actually be able to meet.

I also believe that these people have a place, and even a purpose in my everyday life. Whether these signs of them is something I'm responsible for, or something these cherished friends and family members I'd lost are doing from beyond, remains unknown. And I think I like that.

But I've never actually seen a ghost, not with my own admittedly analytical eyes. Possibly it's because it seems absurd to me that dead people wander around among us, walking through walls, unable to "move on," or angry because we're living in their house, or just plain finding joy in scaring the bejeezus out of us. Maybe it's because I'm not open to it, too controlled and rational, too quick to reason rather than believe. 

Yet . . . 

I was making dinner just a few months ago, right around Halloween time, and while I was cooking, a friend stopped by. 

 

Crockpot Tortellini Casserole

We started talking about visiting Halloween haunted house attractions, which I love, when she asked me a question. She'd seen a post on FB about what was supposed to be one of the most haunted places in the country. An abandoned asylum or house or castle or something. The person who'd posted the picture did so with a question: would you go in here? So, my friend wanted to know, would I?

With all I've said in this post, you'd think I'd say "yes." After all, I've never actually seen a ghost, I am more than a little skeptical of mediums, and believe that there's a difference between signs from loved ones and actual . . . you know . . . ectoplasm.

My answer, though, once I thought about it, was this: yes I'd go in, but only in the daytime, and not alone.

So . . . the long and the short of it is a wishy washy "yes and no" in response to that question Jenniy asked me about whether I believe in ghosts. She did give me an option to answering it, though. Would you rather I'd have told you a fun ghost story? 

Sorry, my bad. 

Here are links to all the sites now featuring Secret Subject Swap posts. Sit back, grab a cup, and check them all out. See you there:

Wandering Web Designer 
A 'lil HooHaa 

Climaxed 

Part-time Working Hockey Mom

The Crazy Mama Llama 

Crockpot Tortellini Casserole

                                                              ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

 

NOTE: I make this dish meatless, but have added a meat option for those who want it. 

You can also bake it in a casserole dish in the oven, covered, at 375 for an hour.

Ingredients: 

1 bag (36 oz) frozen cheese tortellini 

1 cup mushrooms, cleaned, trimmed and sliced

1/2 cup chopped red (or green) pepper

1/2 cup chopped onion 

2 cups fresh spinach

3 cups marinara sauce (I use my Homemade Marinara)

1/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

OPT: 2 Italian sausages or 1 cup ham, cooked and chopped

Directions:

*Spray the bowl of your slow cooker with non-stick spray. Turn the crockpot on to low.
*Spoon 1 cup of marinara sauce into the bottom of the slow cooker. Top with 1/2 of the tortellini, 1/2 cup of mushrooms, 1/4 cup of peppers, 1/4 cup of onion, 1 cup of spinach, and one of the chopped meat, if using. 

*Repeat all of the layers. Top with the last cup of marinara and the shredded cheese.

*Cook on low for 5 hours.

 

Soup's On: 13 Soup and Quick Bread Pairings

 

 

Soup's On! 

 

It's December and we're officially in soup season. Actually, since soup weather officially (well, at my house anyway) starts at the first frost, right around the end of October, it's been soup weather for a while now. 

 

And what to serve with the soup? For us it's always quick breads or muffins. The combination makes for an easy dinner to prepare and is hearty and warming for us all.

 

So, for today's post I've put together some of our favorite cold weather dinner pairings. For each of my soup recipes, I'm suggesting a complimentary bread recipe. There's something here for everyone, hearty meat soups, chicken, vegetable, shellfish, crockpot, stove top (and some you can do either way), soups for everybody's taste. And the breads, there's nothing like a warm flavorful quick bread right out of the oven. Make them in the pairings I've recommended, or mix and match to your own taste. 

Links to all of the recipes are below the pictures, just click on the name of the recipe you're interested in, you'll find the ingredients and directions at the bottom of the blog post it links to.

 

Stay warm!

 

Roasted Eggplant Parmesan Soup: A new addition to the cold weather dinner rotation, Roasted Eggplant Parmesan Soup was inspired by a favorite dish. This hearty soup is bursting with roasted vegetable flavors.

   ~ paired with ~

Veggie Bread: Pan sauteed vegetables and pepper jack cheese give this quick bread it's flavor.

 

 

 

Some classic recipes with a new spin: 

 

Crockpot Beef Shank Pea Soup: This split pea soup is made with beef shanks instead of the classic ham. Mix the ingredients in the crockpot and let it cook.

   ~ paired with ~

Pistachio Soda Bread: Soda bread isn't just for St. Patrick's day. Mine is dotted with pistachios for a delicious crunch.

 

 

Jamaican Shrimp and Crab Chowder: Jamaican Shrimp and Crab Chowder comes together in about 1/2 hour for a satisfying meal with a bit of a kick.

   ~ paired with ~

Maple Glazed Mandarin Poppy Muffins: Mandarin oranges, orange juice, and maple syrup give these muffins their flavor.

 

Crockpot Pepperoni Pizza Soup: A kids' favorite that the adults love too, all the flavors of Pepperoni Pizza incorporated into a soup.

   ~ paired with ~

Loaded Garlic Bread: Garlic bread kicked up a notch, a perfect compliment to a pizza flavored soup.

 

Crockpot Chicken Soup: Don't wait until you're sick to make chicken soup (although we all know it has healing qualities). This one cooks in the slow cooker, even the matzo balls.

   ~ paired with ~

Apricot Almond Quick Bread: Chopped dried apricots, apricot jam and almonds make this quick bread a treat right out of the oven or sliced and toasted later.

 

Creamy Vegetable Rice Soup: This is a thick hearty soup made with fresh vegetables and brown rice.

   ~ paired with ~

Raspberry Sunflower Seed Oat Muffins: The flavor in these muffins come from raspberries, sunflower seeds, and quick oats with a bit of a tang from Greek yogurt.

 

 

 

Crockpot Beef Chili: I don't use ground beef in my chili, stew beef makes this version a substantial dinner.

   ~ paired with ~  

Cranberry Swirl Corn Muffins: Corn muffins are enhanced with corn niblets and cranberry flavors.

 

 

  

Crockpot Italian Soup: Vegetables, ham, tortellini, and spices give this soup all of the flavors of a pasta dinner.

   ~ paired with ~

Pepperoni Parmesan Crescents: Utilizing refrigerator crescent rolls and pepperoni snack sticks make these Pepperoni Parmesan Crescents an easy side dish, perfect for a snack or appetizer too.

 

Crockpot Hash Brown Soup: This meatless soup is made in the crockpot using frozen hash browns, but will lend itself well to the addition of chopped ham, if desired.

   ~ paired with ~

Apple Bourbon Bacon Muffins: These muffins are made with chopped bacon, sauteed apples, and a hint of Apple Bourbon, perfect for a cold day.

 

Kielbasa Soup, Crockpot or Not: It's the Kielbasa that gives this tomato based soup so much flavor.

   ~ paired with ~

Pepperoni Pull Apart Bread: This savory version of Monkey Bread is little pockets of pepperoni and cheese, rolled in dough and baked in a bundt pan.

 

Harvest Soup: A meatless soup marrying the fall flavors of squash, apple, and pumpkin.

   ~ paired with ~

Fiesta Quick Bread: Jalapeno peppers and pepper jack cheese give this bread it's kick.

 

 

White Bean Soup with Shrimp: Vegetables and shrimp enhance this hearty white bean soup.

   ~ paired with ~  

Smoky Cornbread: Cumin, chili powder, and bacon give classic cornbread a smoky flavor.

 

 

  

Don't let these pictures fool you. Neither of the recipes in this kid favorite pairing is what you think!

Homemade Tomato Soup: Although I've dotted this soup with ketchup "blood" for Halloween, it's actually a delicious and healthy tomato soup made from scratch.

~ paired with 

"Candy Corn" Bread: With chocolate, orange, and lemon layers, this bread actually has no candy, it's just made to look like candy corn.

 

I hope I've shared some soup and bread pairings here today that inspire you. Try one or, winter's long, try them all. If you do, take a picture and share it with me on my Baking In A Tornado Facebook page. 

 

Enjoy!