SUPERBOWL SUNDAY APPETIZERS

Today we are having a little get together with a couple of friends for the superbowl. I personally don't even know the names of who is playing, but I am looking forward to the plethora of good food. We are going to have wings, 7 layer dip, spinach artechoke dip, bacon wrapped sausage, and who knows what else! I am going to be making a new wing recipe I just found, the spinach artechoke dip, and bacon wrapped sausage. I will edit this later with pictures and what everyone thought of the food! Here are the recipes. *WARNING: After eating these you will probably have to spend a week straight on the treadmill (So now you know what next week will be like for me).

Tempura Chicken Wings

Ingredients:
3 lbs. of chicken wings, pre cut
1 cup cornstarch
3 eggs, lightly beaten
Oil for deep-fat frying
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup currant jelly
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Place cornstarch in a large resealable plastic bag; add chicken wings a few at a time, and shake to coat evenly. Dip wings in eggs.
In an electric skillet or deep-fat fryer, heat oil to 250°. Fry wings for 5 minutes or until light golden brown and juices run clear, turning occasionally. Drain on paper towels.
In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, vinegar, jelly, soy sauce, ketchup and lemon juice. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes.
Place chicken wings in a greased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan. Pour half of the sauce over wings. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 15 minutes.
Turn wings; top with remaining sauce. Bake 10-15 minutes longer or until chicken juices run clear and coating is set. Yield: 2-1/2 dozen.

Bacon-Wrapped Sausage

Ingredients:
3/4 pound sliced bacon
2 packages (8 ounces each) brown-and-serve sausage links
1 cup plus extra packed brown sugar, divided

Cut bacon strips widthwise in half; cut sausage links in half. Wrap a piece of bacon around each piece of sausage. Place 1 cup brown sugar in a shallow bowl; roll sausages in sugar. Secure each with a toothpick. Place in a foil-lined 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan. Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes or until bacon is crisp. Sprinkle with remaining brown sugar. Yield: about 3-1/2 dozen.

Spinach Artechoke Dip

5 garlic cloves
1 10 oz. bottle store-bought alfredo sauce
1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1 10 oz. package frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 14.5 oz. can artichoke hearts (non-marinated), roughly chopped
1 8 oz. package cream cheese (softened) (At least I got fat free, right?) Haha!

Wrap the garlic cloves in tin foil and bake them at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. When they are cool to the touch, squeeze them out of their skins and finely chop. Mix all the ingredients in a medium bowl. It's ok to have clumps of cream cheese. The mixture won't be completely smooth. Spread the mixture into an 8X8 pan and bake at 350 degrees until bubbly and hot. Serve with chips or baguette slices.