Pigs in blanket

Sometimes you just don't know what to cook for a party. In this case I am always making something simple what will please a crowd for sure. Pigs in blanket is one of my favorites, it's easy to make and they are always a hit.

 You can make it with purchased puff pastry but I really like to use an yeast dough for them. The easiest way is to buy dinner rolls from your grocery store frozen section, like the Rhodes white dinner rolls. For the dogs I am using cocktail links/ mini sausages from Hillshire Farm.

Open the bag of sausages, drain the liquid and dry each dog with a paper towel. Count how many you have if you don't have this info on your package.

Now, get half the amount of the dinner rolls as you have the number of dogs. Place them in oiled glass dish about 2" apart and cover with the clear film. Wait until your rolls will increase in size (it will take about 5 hours at room temperature).

Prepare the baking sheet and spray it with non-stick spray.

Divide each roll into 2 parts. Make a long strip from each part and wrap it around the mini sausage. 

Place them on baking sheet and repeat the process until you are out of dough and sausages.

Bake in a preheated oven at 350'F until golden in color. Serve warm or cold, they are delicious in any way!

Baked eggplant with Parmesan

One more great recipe from National Cuisine Week, baked eggplant with cheese. Originally it was published on Svetlana's blog. I printed it, made some adjustments suitable for our family and I have to say, this recipe is a keeper.

I sliced the eggplant to about 3/8" thick, add some salt and let it sit for about 20 minutes. I brushed the both sides of the eggplant with olive oil and arranged it on a baking sheet lined with foil also brushed with olive oil. I made a mayonnaise spread using a light variety of mayonnaise and some granulated dry garlic powder. Then I spread a thin layer of the mix on top of each slice.

I baked the eggplant slices at 425"F for 15 minutes until they became slightly golden. Then I add some shredded parmesan cheese on top and returned it to oven for additional 5 minutes.

It's delicious like it is, just let it cool a little :) or you can add fresh sliced tomatoes to make it even better.

You can either make an eggplant tomato sandwich  or just top each piece of eggplant with a tomato slice. I also added some freshly ground cracked black pepper on top.

An absolutely great dish, healthy and very easy to make. It will probably become one of my favorites!

Vietnamese spring rolls

We were in a mood for vietnamese spring rolls yesterday. We never made them before, so I printed the recipe and ran to a nearest oriental food store for the fresh ingredients. I bought a rice paper wrappers, fresh mint, basil, cilantro, parsley, chives, some rice vermiceli, cooked shrimp and 2 sauces for dipping.
Turned out the process of making it is very easy.
Just wash the greens, cook the vermiceli, slice the shrimp alongside and arrange on a plate.
Dip the rice wrapper in some warm water, put it on a clean plate and put the ingredients in a middle.

Wrap it, serve with your favorite sauce and it's ready to eat!

The best part of making it yourself is that you can use ingredients you like, no matter what the recipe says :)