Sausage Cocktail Squares

These have been a favorite snack of mine since I was a little girl. My mom and my grandma used to make them for parties, Thanksgiving, and sometimes just for fun. We've been making them so long in fact, that I had to ask my mom to tell me their technical name! I always refer to them as "those sausage things" and everyone knows what I mean.

These may appear strange, but after you make them and fall in love, I'll be waiting to accept your full apology for doubting me. If you wanted to bake me some cookies or something too, I wouldn't stop you.

These would be the perfect substitute for sausage balls if you're looking to change it up. We sometimes have sausage balls sitting around to snack on Thanksgiving Day, but these would be the perfect substitute if you want to try something new. The nice thing about this little finger foods is that they can still be enjoyed at room temperature. They are best straight from the oven, but you won't have to worry about reheating them every 20 minutes because they'll taste fine even after sitting out. I'd be willing to be you they won't be around long enough to see room temperature though!

Sausage Cocktail Squares

• 1 package rye cocktail bread
• 1lb sausage (spicy, mild, any flavor you like)
• 1lb ground beef
• 1 block Velveeta
• 1T worchesterchire sauce
• 1t garlic powder

 Directions:

Place sausage and ground beef in a large skillet to brown.
Add worcestershire sauce and garlic powder.
While that's cooking, cut up the velveeta into small cubes and place in large microwave safe bowl.
After the sausage/ground beef mixture has cooked completely, add it to the bowl with the velveeta and microwave in 1 minute intervals, stirring in between, until cheese is completely melted.
Place cocktail bread in a single layer on a baking sheet (you'll likely need 2 or 3 baking sheets).
Place about 2T of the meat mixture on the bread and spread it around to cover the surface of the bread.
Once all the bread has been topped, flash freeze them for 10 minutes. (You can keep them in the freezer until you are ready to cook if you'd like or if you plan to cook them right away, leave them in for at least 10 mins.)
Preheat your oven to broil.
Allow sausage square to broil for 5-10 minutes until the top gets bubbly and brown. Watch them, it happens fast!

Amazing Pork Tenderloin

I am convinced that a woman invented the slow cooker. It just makes the most sense. You can't tell me that a man would have the forethought to create a machine that allows you to start dinner hours in advance when they don't even know the meaning of the word "plan." If you left dinner plans to a man you wouldn't be eating dinner...or you'd be eating Domino's every night.

Thankfully, I do the dinner planning around here (and a big thanks to the woman who created the slow cooker!). How cool is it when dinner basically cooks itself?! I find this notion particularly appealing on a Sunday when I'm feeling especially lazy.

Although, if you had come to dinner Sunday night and tried this pork you would have thought (after you insisted on hugging me) that I spent all day slaving! The aroma that will fill your house while this cooks is heavenly. The pork was perfectly cooked and the sauce (technically "au jus")....oh, the sauce. You might want to just pour a tall glass of it to drink with dinner. Just look at it. Even cheap wine couldn't ruin it!

Although, since it calls for 3/4 cup of wine, it leaves the rest of the bottle for you to enjoy with your meal! Not that I'm advocating drinking a whole bottle of wine. Not me. I definitely would never encourage that type of behavior. But, you have all that wine just sitting there, and these days people can't afford to be wasteful. I'm just sayin'...

This dish was perfectly complimented by a heaping pile of spiced butternut squash. So good, its like eating dessert and dinner at the same time. But you'll have to stick around for that recipe, its coming next week!

This recipe came from Allrecipes.com and the link can be found below. I note the changes I made and my suggestions.

Amazing Pork Tenderloin

1 (2 pound) pork tenderloin

1 (1 ounce) envelope dry onion soup mix
1 cup water
3/4 cup red wine
3 tablespoons minced garlic
3 tablespoons soy sauce (After reading the reviews, I used 2T because some commented that is was too salty. Next time I'll only use 1T because it was still a tad salty for my taste, but very good!)

freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

Place pork tenderloin in a slow cooker with the contents of the soup packet. Pour water, wine, and soy sauce over the top, turning the pork to coat. Carefully spread garlic over the pork, leaving as much on top of the roast during cooking as possible. Sprinkle with pepper, cover, and cook on low setting for 4 hours. Serve with cooking liquid on the side as au jus.

Source: http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/amazing-pork-tenderloin-in-the-slow-cooker/Detail.aspx