SSC's 4/20 Edition:Let's Just Say Hitler's Birthday Wasn't the Holiday We Were Celebrating

Finally, after much deliberation, much agonizing thought and painstaking preparation, we bring to you, the Supper Sanity Club, 4/20 Edition. Yes friends, not only was it revolutionary in that the focus was shifted from drinking, but for the first time ever, we invited (gasp!) boys!





For this, the most glorious of holidays we decided to keep it simple. We wanted to have a fun, relaxing get together (some may even call it a "chill" party,) with lots of food that was easy to both make and eat. You might even go so far as to call the food we prepared, "munchies."

So, we invited all of our friends, disabled the smoke detectors, bought some crappy beer and set our lasers to awesome!


Christa's Spinach Artichoke Dip
This dip is great to bring to parties and works for pretty much any occasion.

1 can (14 oz) artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1/2 package (10 oz) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 clove of garlic, minced or 1 tbsp chopped garlic
Italian or some other kind of hearty white bread cut into cubes or pita chips

Mix ingredients well. Bake at 350 degrees until hot and bubbly (about 20 minutes). Serve with cubed bread or pita chips. Dip!


Rachel's Superb Sliders
Holy crap! These are uber delicious!

Cheeseburgers
1 lb ground meat (85%)
1 tablespoon worshershire
½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
small yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
generous pinch salt and pepper



Lamb burgers
1 lb ground lamb
¼ fresh mint, chopped finely
1 tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
generous pinch salt and pepper


Cooking both:
Mix all ingredients well. Form small patties (approximately 3 inches diameter, 1 inch thick,).
Heat grill pan on medium high. Grill burgers to rare, about 3 minutes each side.*

Keep warm in slow cooker on low heat with about an inch of chicken broth.
This way you can enjoy party and not have to cook the whole time!

* Only cook it rare because the burgers will cook more when they sit in slow
cooker.


Chipotle mayo
1 cup mayo
2 chipotles from canned chipotle in adobo sauce
1 tablespoon adobo sauce from canned chipotles

Blend in food processor. That's it!


Tzatziki sauce
1 cup greek yogurt
½ cucumber, grated finely
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Mix ingredients well. Done.

Serve!
Serve sliders with small buns, tomatoes, red onion, pickles, ketchup, mustard, bacon
(cut into small pieces) chipotle mayo, tzatziki sauce and anything else you like. Chipolte mayo works best on the cheesburgers, tzatziki sauce works best with the lamb.


BBQ Chicken Pizza
This is one of my favorite simple recipes. It works great to serve as a main dish or just as an appetizer when cut into small squares.

Pre-made pizza dough (Suck it up guys, I'm lazy.)
1lb chicken breast
3 scallions
1 tbsp chopped garlic or 2 garlic cloves
1 tbsp olive oil
BBQ sauce (I use Dinosaur BBQ Sensous Slathering Sauce)
1 c shredded chedder cheese
1 c shredded mozzarella cheese

Cut up chicken into small (approx) 1in cubes. Chop scallions. Put chicken, oil, scallions and chopped garlic in a large skillet and saute until chicken is just cooked through.

Spray pizza pan with Pam or another non-stick spray. Work dough into a circle and place on pan. Spread BBQ sauce on dough. Sprinkle cheeses evenly on top of the dough. Place chicken/scallions on top.

Bake in 375 oven for about 25 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the underside of the crust is golden brown.


Phoebe's French Toast Sandwiches
WARNING: Do not eat this sandwich if you: have a heart condition, high blood pressure, diabetes, think you're fat or love your body.

This is something I recreated from a diner in Portsmouth RI called Graziano's 501 Cafe located in Island Park. It is quite possibly the best hangover plan known to man, and all I can think about on this particular day of the year.
-Phoebe

4 eggs
1 teaspoon sugar, optional
1 teaspoon cinnamon
A little vanilla extract
1 cup milk
10 to 12 think slices white bread
butter
maple syrup
(fried egg if your feeling ambitious)

THICK sliced bacon.
American cheese

Break eggs into a wide, shallow bowl or pie plate; beat lightly with a fork.
Stir in sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and milk. Over medium-low heat, heat griddle or skillet coated with a thin layer of butter or margarine.

Place the bread slices, one at a time, into the bowl or plate, letting slices soak up egg mixture
for a few seconds, then turn to coat the other side. Soak/coat only as many slices as you will
be cooking at one time. You don't want them to get mushy and gross.

Put bread slices to griddle or skillet, heating slowly until bottom is golden brown.
Turn and brown the other side.

Take two slices of French toast bread and place American cheese and 2 slices of bacon in the middle like a sandwich.

Slather with maple syrup and enjoy your time on earth before you die of
diabetes.

(I would also HIGHLY recommend incorporating a fried egg in this mix, to make
the most mind blowing breakfast sandwich you've ever had.)

Recipe for French toast serves 4.


Pete's Pineapple Graham Cracker Sandwiches
This one is pretty weird and took some convincing for us to try, but it's actually really good. Also great if you are in desperate need of a snack and there isn't much in the house.

1 can slicked pineapple rings
graham crackers

Place a graham cracker on each side of the pineapple ring. Yup, that's it.




Jamie's Banana Bites

a couple of bananas
peanut butter
raisins
pumpkin seeds

Slice bananas. Put a dab of peanut butter on each slice. Place one raisin and one pistachio on each slice. Simple! Delicious! Healthy!


Laura's Reese's Piece Rice Cereal Treats!
Exactly the same as the normal recipe, except with some added peanutbuttery goodness! (Also, if you are interested in making something "special" or possibly even "magical" this is a good alternative to brownies.)





3 tbsp butter or margarine
1 package (10 oz) marshmallows
6 cups rice cereal
1 large box or bag Reese's Pieces

Melt butter in a large saucepan over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until melted. Remove from heat.

Mix in rice cereal and stir until well coated. Add Reese's pieces.

Spread in 13 x 9 x 2 pan sprayed with cooking spray. Cool for about 15 min. Enjoy!

Booze Pairings! (What can I say, we couldn't resist.)
Pairing for a potluck can be difficult because you usually do not know what
people are going to ultimately bring. Here are some drinks that will pretty much
go with anything…


Beer: UFO Hefeweizen

The trick here is to get something light that is not too hoppy because you don’t
want the beer to overwhelm any appetizers or increase the bitterness of any
vegetable dishes. This is why this beer from Harpoon is the perfect companion to
any food. It is crisp and refreshing with hints of vanilla and citrus notes on
the palate. It may not be complex but it is definitely very drinkable.


Cocktail Bar

Who wants to be making cocktails while everyone else is busy partying? Leave options to your guests so that you can enjoy mingling and hosting…

Liquors: vodka, rum, and gin
Mixers: cola, diet cola, soda water, tonic water, cranberry juice, and orange juice
Garnishes: maraschino cherries, lemon and lime wedges, and olives


Wine: Red
Latutude 50 Dornfelder $15

Impress your friends by choosing this hot varietal from Germany. It is similar
to Pinot Noir in that it is light enough to go with a whole range of cuisines,
but with a bit more depth. This wine has soft tannins and sharp acidity with
notes of dark fruit and spice. It is fun to say and even more to drink!


Wine: White
Zolo Gaucho Unoaked Chardonnay $15

Chardonnay, in its purest form, is actually a fairly neutral un-aromatic wine.
Modern winemaking techniques like oak ageing or oak chips and malolactic
fermentation give it the buttery vanilla characteristics that we now associate
with the wine. For this party’s purpose we wanted an unoaked version because it
goes with pretty much anything. This wine is delicious yet subtle, which makes
it perfect when one guest surprises you with gefilte fish but another brings
steak tips...


And of course, the actual party...











Things get smokey for more than just the obvious reasons; Boys! Boys! Boys!















Durso makes the mistake of coming early; We receive a mountain of chips; Rachel gets creative with pineapple












Ladies, boys; The consumption of delicious foods


Cheers! (...and pass to the right)

Christa, Rachel & Phoebe


About Christa
Christa is a comedian, artist and graphic designer living in Boston. Because most of her family is fresh off the boat, she knows a thing or two about traditional European cooking and baking, provided that the recipes are in English (Thanks a lot, crappy American school system!). She also has a vast knowledge of fancy-smancy beers made by smelly hippies. Although she has no food credits to speak of, generally speaking everything she makes is considered to be "damn good." Check out her other blog, Shameless Pomp and Circumstance, if you feel like it!