February Volleyball Dinner (Recipes)
Every Thursday there is a group of people that get together to play volleyball at my church building here in Arlington. I'm the host since I have the keys to the building but I have a friend that is my co-host. He does more of the technical stuff like setting up the nets and all that. He's more social than me too so he invites people and talks to everyone etc. We've been doing it about a year and a half now, and it's been through different stages like when we first started we only played with one net (the gym area can have two nets installed) but we bought a net with our own money. Also, when we first started playing it was a lot of beginner-level-type players that I knew from my church ward. I have another friend that plays volleyball all the time all over the DFW area almost every day. He plays in leagues or just for fun. I invited him to come play, and he invited some of his friends to play and they invited some of their friends to play, and so on. Now we have two nets and sometimes we have 40 people show up to play. We usually go out to eat afterwards as well so there's about 10-15 of us that will do that. From that group, we've started hanging out or doing things as a group outside of volleyball. I really like our group. The oldest is my friend who is in his late 30s and the youngest is around 19 or 20. It's a pretty diverse group really but we all get along and have fun together. I'm not an extremely social person. It's hard for me sometimes. But this is a good group. A couple of months ago, I had the idea that instead of going out to eat every week or even maybe once a month, we could do some sort of potluck dinner after volleyball. I've discovered with younger, single people, potluck isn't really a successful way of feeding a large group. My co-host and I volunteered to cook the food if everyone would chip in money for groceries.So I came up with a menu and grocery list and this is what we did:
Hawaiian Sweet Bread Sliders: you can find the recipe HERE. I bought 8 packages of rolls (96 rolls total) and made them up the night before so the sauce had time to marinate the sliders. They were really good! I made them earlier in the month too for the Super Bowl party but didn't have poppy seeds and there's not a huge difference in the taste but you can tell the difference. I also didn't make extra sauce for the top of the rolls but they tasted just as good.
Oven Baked Fries: I did regular russet potatoes as well as sweet potatoes. These are tricky because russet or brown potatoes will brown (as in enzymatic browning...kind of what apples do) if you leave them out too long but if you store them in water or ice water then that will fix that issue (you can do the same to apples). One trick we discovered on cutting potatoes in the form of steak fries is to cut a little bit off one end of the potato so it had a flat bottom, take an apple slicer, and cut the potato like an apple. Then you can cut down the section to make them thinner so they won't take so long to cook. My co-host worked on the russets, and I was in charge of the sweet potatoes.
After we cut the potatoes up, we each got a bowl, and poured a little bit of olive oil in them and tossed the potatoes in the oil to slightly coat them. Then we added the seasonings and tossed again. For the sweet potatoes, I used a cinnamon/sugar mix and also a little bit of salt. For the russets, we just did basic salt and pepper but you can use whatever you like. Then we put them in one layer on a cookie sheet and baked at 425 until they were done. Depending on how big/thick the fries are will determine how long they cook for so you'll have to watch them. Remember, they're baking not frying so they won't look the same as french fries. If you touch them, or grab one to taste, you'll be able to tell if they're done.
For dipping sauces we bought some but I made one that everyone loved! It was a mixture of mayo and BBQ sauce seasoned with garlic salt, onion powder, and pepper. When people were going through the serving line, they asked me what the sauce was, and I knew if I told them they wouldn't get any but I also knew if they tried it, they would probably like it hahaha I told them to try it and see if they liked it.
Brownies and Ice Cream: This brownie recipe is AWESOME. My mom taught me how to make these when I was younger. It was probably one of the first recipes or dishes I made. And somehow, mine always turn out better than my Mom's. It is incredibly simple but sooooo delicious!!! They're crispy on the top and very moist underneath.
Ingredients:
Preheat oven to 350 degree. Pour batter into 9x13 pan and bake for 25-30. If you stick a toothpick in the middle, and it comes out clean, then they're done. I usually do about 25 min or until I can smell them. Different altitudes and weather will affect bake time as well so be aware of that. Because they are so moist, they take a little bit longer to cool so I stick mine in the fridge for a little bit but not too long or they won't be warm anymore. Topped them with ice cream and Hershey's chocolate syrup (but they're delicious by themselves). More than likely, you won't have leftovers but IF you do, then they're good for a couple of days, just stick them in the microwave for a few seconds and they're deliciously warm again. Seriously, I have not had better brownies. Ever.
We had about 10 people come to the dinner and everyone left full! I loved making all that food but I don't think I could that every week. But enjoy the recipes and let me know how yours turns out!
Hawaiian Sweet Bread Sliders: you can find the recipe HERE. I bought 8 packages of rolls (96 rolls total) and made them up the night before so the sauce had time to marinate the sliders. They were really good! I made them earlier in the month too for the Super Bowl party but didn't have poppy seeds and there's not a huge difference in the taste but you can tell the difference. I also didn't make extra sauce for the top of the rolls but they tasted just as good.
Oven Baked Fries: I did regular russet potatoes as well as sweet potatoes. These are tricky because russet or brown potatoes will brown (as in enzymatic browning...kind of what apples do) if you leave them out too long but if you store them in water or ice water then that will fix that issue (you can do the same to apples). One trick we discovered on cutting potatoes in the form of steak fries is to cut a little bit off one end of the potato so it had a flat bottom, take an apple slicer, and cut the potato like an apple. Then you can cut down the section to make them thinner so they won't take so long to cook. My co-host worked on the russets, and I was in charge of the sweet potatoes.
After we cut the potatoes up, we each got a bowl, and poured a little bit of olive oil in them and tossed the potatoes in the oil to slightly coat them. Then we added the seasonings and tossed again. For the sweet potatoes, I used a cinnamon/sugar mix and also a little bit of salt. For the russets, we just did basic salt and pepper but you can use whatever you like. Then we put them in one layer on a cookie sheet and baked at 425 until they were done. Depending on how big/thick the fries are will determine how long they cook for so you'll have to watch them. Remember, they're baking not frying so they won't look the same as french fries. If you touch them, or grab one to taste, you'll be able to tell if they're done.
For dipping sauces we bought some but I made one that everyone loved! It was a mixture of mayo and BBQ sauce seasoned with garlic salt, onion powder, and pepper. When people were going through the serving line, they asked me what the sauce was, and I knew if I told them they wouldn't get any but I also knew if they tried it, they would probably like it hahaha I told them to try it and see if they liked it.
Brownies and Ice Cream: This brownie recipe is AWESOME. My mom taught me how to make these when I was younger. It was probably one of the first recipes or dishes I made. And somehow, mine always turn out better than my Mom's. It is incredibly simple but sooooo delicious!!! They're crispy on the top and very moist underneath.
Ingredients:
- 3/4 c cocoa (use Nestle or Hershey's...it's totally worth it to buy the good stuff)
- 2 c sugar
- 1 c flour
- 2 t baking powder
- 2 eggs
- 2 t vanilla extract
- 1 c melted butter/margarine
- chocolate chips (again, get the good stuff--Hershey's or Nestle)
Preheat oven to 350 degree. Pour batter into 9x13 pan and bake for 25-30. If you stick a toothpick in the middle, and it comes out clean, then they're done. I usually do about 25 min or until I can smell them. Different altitudes and weather will affect bake time as well so be aware of that. Because they are so moist, they take a little bit longer to cool so I stick mine in the fridge for a little bit but not too long or they won't be warm anymore. Topped them with ice cream and Hershey's chocolate syrup (but they're delicious by themselves). More than likely, you won't have leftovers but IF you do, then they're good for a couple of days, just stick them in the microwave for a few seconds and they're deliciously warm again. Seriously, I have not had better brownies. Ever.
We had about 10 people come to the dinner and everyone left full! I loved making all that food but I don't think I could that every week. But enjoy the recipes and let me know how yours turns out!
Comments
Post a Comment