It is a poker party!

Philip is having a poker party. A good excuse for him to play poker and me to make yummy munchy food! I love to entertain and while this isn't really me entertaining since I am sitting upstairs blogging and he is downstairs with his friends, I still got to plan the menu and make all the food. For me that is pretty much my favorite part of entertaining. The cleaning up afterwards is my least favorite...which is why this part is so great! I was still able to do the best part...and since it isn't MY party I don't have to clean it up! Oh the beauty of it....

The party menu consisted of (boy food):

Veggies & Dip

Ranch Pretzels

Baked Mini Corn Dogs

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Puppy Chow

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Beer!

I really wanted to blog the buffalo chicken dip since I have made it a million times and it is always a hit but I forgot to take a picture and they in the 30 minutes that they have been playing it has basically been devoured. So I will only do the ranch pretzels and the baked mini corn dogs (which were pretty darn good and so stinkin' cute!).

Baked Mini Corn Dogs

(Source: Food Network Magazine, June/July 2009)

1 cup reduced-fat milk

1 package active dry yeast

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing

2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar

1 cup fine yellow cornmeal

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting and kneading

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper or paprika

9 reduced-fat hot dogs, halved crosswise

1 large egg, beaten

1 tablespoon balck sesame seeds (optional)

1. Warm the milk to about 110 degrees in a saucepan; pour into a medium bowl. Sprinkle in the yeast and let soften for about 2 minutes. Stir in the olive oil, brown sugar and cornmeal with a wooden spoon. Add the flour, salt, baking soda and cayenne pepper; stir to make a sticky dough.

2. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead, adding more flour if needed, until smooth but still slightly tacky, about 5 minutes. Shape the dough into a ball, place in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Meanwhile, insert a wooden stick or small skewer into each hot dog half, about 1 inch deep; set aside.

3. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and lightly oil a large baking sheet. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface; divide into 18 pieces. With your palms, roll each piece into a 10-inch length. Wrap each piece around a hot dog half, tucking and pressing the edges to seal; place on the baking sheet.

4. Brush the dough-wrapped dogs with the beaten egg; sprinkle with sesame seeds, if desired. Bake until golden, 15 minutes.

Ranch Pretzels (The same as the oyster crackers)

(Source: Me!)

Ingredients:

Pretzels (I use most of a bag.)

1/3 cup canola oil

1/2 tsp dill weed

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 oz package of dry ranch seasoning mix

Directions:

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Combine all ingredients in a Ziploc bag and shake until pretzels are well coated. Spread out onto a baking sheet. Bake 15-20 minutes, or until all of the oil is absorbed.