The 1980′s was a decade of excitement. It was a decade of speaking out and fighting for what you believe in.
It was also an age where people found interest in debates, and solving problems.
During the 1980′s, Billy Bush was going to St George’s Academy in Newport, RI where he played Lacrosse and Hockey for his school. I was inspired to take a few of America’s favorite foods found in the cafeteria of any school and turned them into miniature snack bites with a 80′s inspired signature cocktail from the icon candy, The Astro Pop.

Pac Man and Cheese
Ingredients:
4 cups cooked elbow macaroni, drained
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
3 eggs, beaten
½ cup sour cream
4 tbsp. butter, cut into pieces
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
peanut oil
flour
1 egg
plain bread crumbs
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 35o degrees Fahrenheit.
- Once you have the macaroni cooked and drained, place in a large bowl and while still hot and add the cheddar.
- In a separate bowl, combine the remaining ingredients and add to the macaroni mixture.
- Pour macaroni mixture into a casserole dish and bake for 30 to 45 minutes.
- Top with additional cheese if desired.
- Chill macaroni and cheese in the refrigerator overnight.
- Cut into pieces using a round cookie cutter.
- Heat 2 inches of oil in a large heavy duty Dutch over to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Dredge each circle in flour then egg, and then coat with bread crumbs.
- Fry for about 1 minute on each side until golden brown.
- Drain on paper towels before serving.
Truffle Tater Tots
Ingredients:
1 large bag frozen tater tots
truffle salt
Directions:
- Follow the instructions on the back of the package to bake the tater tots.
- Sprinkle with truffle salt.
Mini Pizzas
Ingredients:
Frozen Pizzas
Directions:
- Heat the oven to the temperature as instructed on the frozen pizza.
- Using fun shaped cookie cutters, cut the frozen pizza into small pieces.
- Bake as instructed.
Astro Pop Cocktail
Ingredients:
1 oz. Absolut ® Raspberri vodka
1 oz. sweet and sour mix
½ oz. grenadine syrup
½ oz. Blue Curacao liqueur
Directions:
1. Add vodka and sour mix into a tumbler with ice to chill.
2. Shake ingredients and pour in a large shot glass.
3. Use Grenadine and allow to sink to the bottom of the glass (pour slowly
down the inside of the glass)
4. Allow Blue Curacao to sink to the middle of the glass (it will sit on top of the
grenadine if poured slowly down inside of the glass)
5. The finished product will be red, blue, then white from the bottom to top.
1980′s Inspired Playlist
Here is a great playlist to immerse your guests in the 80′s theme.

1. Rick Springfield – Jesse’s Girl
2. The Bangles Walk – Like an Egyptian
3. Belinda Carlisle – Heaven Is a Place on Earth
4. UB40 – Red Red Wine
5. Starship – Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now
6. Daryl Hall – Kiss on My List
7. Steve Winwood – Higher Love
8. Cyndi Lauper – Time After Time
9. Kool & the Gang – Celebration
10. Boston – Amanda
11. Eurythmics – Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)
12. David Bowie – Let’s Dance
13. Simple Minds – Don’t You (Forget About Me)
14. Escape Club – Wild, Wild West
15. INXS – Need You Tonight
16. Olivia Newton-John – Physical
17. Phil Collins – Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)
18. Lionel Richie – Truly
Nov 04, 2011 | Categories: Party Engineering ® | Tags: 1 minute, 1980's, 2 inches, 350 degrees, absolut, add, additional cheese, against all odds, amanda, America's, Astro Pop, bag, bake, beaten, before serving, belinda carlisle, Billy Bush, blue, blue curacao, boston, bread crumbs, butter, cafeteria, cd, celebration, cheddar, cheese, circle, cone, cooked, cyndi lauper, daryl hall, david bowie, don't you forget about me, Dredge, dutch, egg, escape club, eurythmics, everything '80s, excitement, favorite foods, flour, Frozen, frozen pizzas, fry, Golden Brown, grated, grenadine, heat, heaven is a place on earth, heavy duty, higher love, Hockey, hot, icon candy, ingredients, inside, Inspired, instructions, interest in debates, INXS, jesse's girl, kiss on my list, kool & the Gang, Lacrosse, large bowl, large shot glass, let's dance, like an egyptian, liqueur, mac and cheese, macaroni, middle, milk, mini, mini pizzas, miniature snack bite, mix, need you tonight, Newport, nothing's gonna stop us now, Olivia Newton John, overnight, pac man, pac man and cheese, package, paper towels, phil collins, Physical, pizzas, pour, rasberri, red red wine, refrigerator, Rhode Island, rick springfield, round cookie cutter, Salt, School, separate, Shake, shaped cookie cutters, side, signature cocktail, simple minds, slowly, solving problems, sour cream, sprinkle, St George's Academy, starship, steve winwood, sweet and sour, sweet dreams, syrup, tater tots, temperature, the bangles walk, time after time, top, truffle, truffle salt, truffle tater tots, ub40, Vodka, wild, wild west | Leave A Comment »
Grandma
Grandma practices potions, spells, and hexes, but her craft has become a bit rusty with age. While not quite sure who’s mother she really is, the Addams Family treats her like one of their own.

Cocktail:
Witch’s Brew (warm)
Ingredients:
For spiced tea (serves 6):
4 cups Water
4 Whole Cloves
2 Cinnamon sticks
2 Whole All Spice
8 Juniper Berries
Pinch of ground Nutmeg
4 Lipton’s Tea bags
1 oz Pierre Ferrand Cognac (per serving)
Splash of Orange Juice
Coffee Beans (aka Beetle Beans)
Whipped Cream
To make the tea: In a saucepan, bring water, cloves, cinnamon sticks, all spice, juniper and nutmeg to a boil. Using a sieve, strain the boiling water into a glass pitcher and add four tea bags to the mixture.
To make the cocktail: Add 1 oz. brandy or cognac and 4 oz of tea to the snifter and garnish with a dollop of whipped cream and 3 coffee beans (aka beetle beans). Serve hot.
** To make non-alcoholic, omit brandy.

Food Paring:
Witch Fingers
Frightening candy fingers on pretzel sticks
Ingredients:
Pretzel Rods
Wilton Candy Melts – Available in numerous colors and flavors
Wilton Witch Finger Candy Molds
Melt chocolate in the microwave using the instructions on the packaging. Using the Wilton Candy Molds, fill each mold with a pretzel rod and the chocolate colors of your choice; refrigerate to harden. When hardened, slightly twist the tray to remove the Witch fingers.


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Oct 25, 2011 | Categories: Master Mixology ® | Tags: Addams, Addams Family, All Spice, Beans, Beetle Beans, Berries, Black, Boil, Candy FIngers, Candy Melts, Chocolate Colors, Cinnamon, Cinnamon Sticks, Cloves, Coffee, Coffee Beans, cognac, Craft, Dollop, Family, Grandma, Green, Ground Nutmeg, Hexes, hot, Juniper Berries, Lipton's, Lipton's Tea Bags, Melt Chocolate, Microwave, Mother, Nutmeg, Orange, orange juice, Potions, Pretzel Rods, Purple, Rusty, Sieve, Snifter, Spells, Spiced Tea, Tea, Tea Bags, Twist, Warm, Water, Whipped Cream, Whole All Spice, Whole Cloves, Wilton, Wilton Candy Melts, Witch Finger Candy Molds, Witch Fingers, Witch's Brew | Leave A Comment »

To “kick-off” your super bowl party, I recommend a tried & true Tex-Mex favorite! Chips and Salsa!
But not just your average combination: spice it up with authentic Texan salsas and dips. Spice up the standard chips with gourmet chips that add a ton of flavor and… Shhh! Don’t tell anyone, but might be a bit healthy with blue corn and white corn with quinoa plus other grains and seeds. Serve it all up in my cowboy hat… I used my own cowboy hat! (I am all about being purposeful and careful by using what I already have in an unexpected way and protecting by lining it with plastic wrap and a section of my custom bandana print.)
During my Dallas research expedition, I encountered many tasty and fiery salsas. Each an authentic Texan salsa from Verde (green) [Native Texan Roasted Green] to Picante [D.L. Jardine’s Texacante] and a Dallas favorite: El Fenix Salsa from a famous Tex-Mex restaurant of the same name.
On my Dallas expedition I ran into a quite an unusual salsa! A Creamy Jalapeno Salsa, very unusual… first, it’s creamy and it also is quite spicy with a mega dose of jalapenos and cilantro! Unusual to some but a must-have for Texans who dunk just about anything in it… it is the Ranch dressing of Texas. Check out the recipe below -
I made this salsa tasting experience more fun by notating the spice factor with Texas Stars – one for mild and three for wild!
Creamy Jalapeno Salsa
(1) Cup Ranch Dressing
(1) Jalapeno – Chopped
Fresh Cilantro – Chopped
Combine, Chill, & Serve!
(download the recipe card)
Jan 31, 2011 | Categories: Culinary Curiosity ®, Party Engineering ® | Tags: cowboy hat, Dallas, El Felix, football, green bay, hot, jalapeno, NFL, packers, parties, picante, Pittsburgh, Salsa, steelers, super bowl, super bowl 45, super bowl parties, Texas, tortilla chips, verde | Leave A Comment »