I Love appetizers....I can make a whole meal out of them. Sometimes when we go out to eat I will order a combo appetizer and do exactly that...make it my meal. These are 2 of my favorite appetizers.
Dried Beef Cheese Ball and Mexican Pinwheels. My mom made the cheese ball for us growing up. We had cheese ball on special occasions and Bill and I also served this cheese ball at our wedding as one of our appetizers. I think it was a recipe that my grandma made when my mom was growing up. It is super easy to make and I think it tastes better after being in the fridge overnight...all the flavors blend together overnight. So this is an easy make ahead recipe....that makes it even better! I also make this as a dip and just add sour cream to make it a dip consistency (probably about 1/4 C sour cream) then we take Frito scoops to dip into it...the corn chip taste with cream cheese and dried beef and the saltiness from the Fritos....delicious!
The Mexican pinwheels have been adapted from my old bosses recipe. She use to being these to our pot luck on Fridays. Except she would layer all her tortillas and then cut threw them so they were cut into wedges instead of rolling and slicing in pinwheels. I also add cheddar cheese to mine and I believe she did not. I like them as pinwheels because it seems to go further and are easier to handle. We also serve ours with Salsa to dip them in. I like them plain but the rest of the family likes to dip them in the Salsa.
Dried Beef Cheese Ball
2 8 oz pkgs cream cheese
6 oz package dried Beef, chopped
2 t Worcestershire sauce
2 t onion powder (you can use real onion chopped, I just do not like crunchy onions in mine)
pecans, chopped, to roll cheese ball in
Mix well and form into a ball. Roll ball in chopped pecans and serve with crackers.
Mexican Pinwheels
2 8oz pkgs cream cheese
2.25 oz can sliced black olives, chopped
1/2 C chopped jalapeno slices (more if you would like them hotter)
1 C shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 C sour cream
1 pkg tortillas
Salsa (optional)
Chop olives and jalapeno slices. Add to cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and sour cream. Mix all together well. Spread mixture on tortillas and roll up. Chill for about an hour and slice and serve with salsa if desired.
