WE WON! WE WON!

We actually WON a trivia night tonight! Yessssss! We had a team of 8 and I think there were about 40 or so teams total at this particular trivia night! I doubt this will ever happen to me again so I am enjoying it! Thankfully, we had a few people at our table who really knew a lot of stuff. My main contribution was of course food! I took crab rangoon dip and pecan tassies. Our friends brought buffalo chicken dip, which is one of my very favorites, so it was a great night!


CRAB RANGOON DIP (Katie asked for this recipe. If you like crab rangoons, you'll love this dip!)

2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
2 6-ounce cans crab meat, drained and flaked
4 to 6 cloves crushed garlic (I always use the larger amount)
dried chives and dill weed to taste
2 tsp soy sauce
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 pkg. large won ton wrappers
vegetable oil for deep frying

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except won tons and oil using an electric mixer. Store covered in refrigerator until 20 minutes before serving. Separate and quarter the won ton wrappers. Drop them one at a time into the hot oil - fry for 30 seconds. (It is key to get the oil at just the right temperature as to not burn the won tons.) Drain of oil and salt. Store in air tight container. The dip and the won tons hold well, so this can be made well in advance.

PECAN TASSIES (Dan the Man asked for this one.)

Shells:
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup flour

Filling:
1 cup pecan halves, finely chopped
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
2 tbsp butter or margarine, melted
1 tsp vanilla
powdered sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 350. For shells, beat butter and cream cheese until well blended. Add flour, mix until a soft dough forms. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place balls of dough into ungreased wells of mini-muffin pan. I used a Pampered Chef tart shaper, dipped it into some flour, and pressed it into the dough just until the dough rises slightly above the rim of the pan.

For filling, combine pecans, brown sugar, egg, butter, and vanilla. Fill each tart shell with 1 tbsp filling (do not overfill). Bake 20-25 minutes or until light golden brown. Remove pan from oven, cool for at least 3 minutes and remove tarts. Cool completely, sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired. (Makes 24 tarts)