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A Relaxed Party

© Shawn Price

I don't know about the rest of you guys, but I was getting just a little tired of the cold and snow and well, winter in general. Now that El Nino/Nina has passed, our winters out here are back to normal. Bleh. To beat the blues, my family and I planned a "Beat the Winter Blues" party.

Not another party! Fortunately, we didn't even try to match the festivities of the holidays. Instead, we told our friends that they had to come in very comfortable clothing. The menu was based all on foods that were made ahead and reheated or simply set out on the table. We only cleaned two rooms - the family room and the bathroom. Food was buffet style, enough card tables were set out for games, and we put on silly movies (Mystery Science 3000 and Monty Python.) And we started the party early in the afternoon so folks could watch the weather and get home before getting too tired. It was wonderful! And so relaxing. Grab some hefty paper plates so the cleanup is a breeze.

Menu (* means that the recipe is included)
Assorted cheese and crackers
Smoked salmon (on sale)
Canned chili (served in a crockpot set on low)
Corn chips
Good loaves of bread from the store (or make some if you have time)
*Apple crisp
*Hummus
*Brownies
*Lemonade
Beer and wine

*Apple Crisp*
Reheats well

4 medium apples, sliced
4 medium pears, sliced
1/4 c. raisins
1/4 c. pecans
2 c. old fashioned oats
3/4 c. flour
1/2 c. butter
1/3 c. honey
2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. allspice
1/4 t. nutmeg
1/2 c. apple juice

Spread half of the apples and half of the pears in a large pan. Melt the butter and honey and stir together. Mix the honey/butter with the oats, flour, pecans, and spices. Crumble half of the mixture over the fruit. Top with the raisins, the remaining fruit, then the rest of the crumble mixture. Pour the orange juice over the top and cover the pan with foil. Bake 30 min at 375 deg, uncover and bake 15-20 minutes more.

*Brownies*
These are so good! Use real butter.

1/2 lb. butter, softened
5 oz unsweetened chocolate
1 3/4 c. sugar
3 T. molasses
5 eggs
1 1/2 t. vanilla extract
1 c. flour
1/2 c. semisweet chocolate pieces

Melt the unsweetened chocolate over a double-boiler or in the microwave. Cream together the butter, sugar, molasses, and eggs. Stir in the vanilla, unsweetened chocolate, and flour. Pour into a greased 9X13 pan and bake at 20-30 minutes at 350 deg. Soften the semisweet pieces and while the brownies are still warm, spread the chocolate over the

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