BUNKO!

top row: Julie W., Ashley, Dorothy, Kelly, Lori, Allison, Jenn. middle row: Whitney, April, Erica, Sherry. bottom row: Jennifer, Shana, me, Julie G.

I cannot believe that I have been playing BUNKO with the same group of women for over three years now. Last night was our third annual Christmas ornament exchange and it was so much fun!

Slightly stressful for me, though. I co-hosted with my friend Whitney. It was at her beautifully decorated house - yeah! She made the dessert (Sopipilla Cheesecake - yum!) and I was to make soup and a dip. Sounds easy, right? It totally should have been, but I was running a bit late thanks to many things, the worst being a busted snow globe - lots of glitter, water and very thin shards of glass. Thankfully my brother, Doug was over and he was able to hold Ella. While he was holding Ella, she dropped an entire bottle of juice, which spilled all over the place. We had to laugh. Anyway, I was flustered, and late, and learned that it was harder than I thought to cook in someone else's kitchen.

Here are the recipes, both from the Park Row Cookbook (my home church):

Chicken Enchilada Soup

1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 (4 oz) can green chilies, undrained
1 can beef broth
1 can chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can chunk style chicken
1 1/2 cups water
1 Tbsp A-1 steak sauce
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/8 tsp pepper
3 cups (12 oz) shredded cheddar cheese (I use Velveeta and I only use about 2 cups)
6 corn tortillas
Paprika

Saute onion and garlic in 2 Tbsp hot oil. Add next 11 ingredients, bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 1 hour. Cut tortillas into 1/2 inch wide strips. Add tortilla strips and cheese to soup; simmer uncovered 10 minutes. Sprinkle with paprika and serve with tortilla chips. Makes 8 cups.

7-Layer Southwestern Dip

3 cups shredded lettuce
1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup chopped red and/or yellow sweet pepper*
1/4 cup sliced green onions
1 (8 oz) carton sour cream
2 finely chopped jalapeno peppers*
1 tsp grated lime peel*
1 (8 oz) jar chunky salsa
1 avocado, coarsely chopped
2/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese and monterey jack cheese*
1/3 cup pitted ripe olives
1 Tbsp fresh cilantro or parsley
Tortilla chips

Line a 12 inch platter with the shredded lettuce. Stir together black beans, sweet pepper and green onion. Spoon on top of lettuce, leaving a lettuce border. Dollop sour cream on top, generously spread in a smooth layer on top of the beans, leaving a border. Sprinkle with jalapeno pepper and lime peel. Drain excess liquid from salsa. Stir in avocado, spoon on top of the sour cream layer, leaving a border. Sprinkle w/ cheese. Top with a layer of chopped olives and sprinkle with chopped cilantro or parsley. Serve immediately w/ chips.

* ingredients I left out or totally forgot about, oops!

Here's my sweet snowman ornament:
He's so special because Jennifer bought him in West Virginia while she was visiting our friend Loree. Jennifer, Loree and I used to kick-box together (5 years ago!). We had so many laughs and were in great shape. Now, Loree lives in another state with her husband and 1 year old. How I miss our nights that we would kick-box and then head to her house for brownies and milk.