Summer lake trip - visited same friends for over 10 years - running out of ideas what to bring
Previously- charcuterie, cheeses, quesos, salsas, fruit and veggie skewers
Any suggestions?

Alcohol soaked fruit(s). Perfect for a lake trip

Irish got this - fruit julep

good beef jerky not the prepackaged stuff.

Rubber sheets and whipped cream?

The biggest variables for me would be the number of people and if I'm cooking on-site or transporting food. If transporting, how long is the trip?

I get a lot of requests for my Quail Scotch Eggs with homemade banger sausage. Shotgun shells with fresh polish sausage and wonton wrappers instead of cannoli shells and breakfast sausage get destroyed quick. For larger groups, spinach artichoke dip with homemade chips from El Milagro tortillas is always a hit.

Mind sharing your tortilla chip recipe?!

My friend's wife made some sort of corn or elote dip a few weeks ago and it was great. Most gatherings I've gone to have pretty basic appetizers so I'm not much for ideas. I'm curious to see what others post here though.

SpiderDude said:

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Mind sharing your tortilla chip recipe?!

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Nothing to it. I exclusively buy El Milagro tortillas, cut them into 6 wedges, fry them in peanut oil, & sprinkle with sea salt. I've tried every brand of corn tortilla you can find and El Milagro is hands down the best

Cast iron
Brie wheel, top cut off
Fig preserves
Rosemary
Server with really good crackers


Quick Grilled chipotle shrimp
Cool dipping sauce

Lately we've had a run of doing large hummus plates.

We get fresh hummus from Phoenicia in Houston, good Greek feta chunks, high quality olive oil, sun dried tomatoes, pine nuts and a sprinkle of sumac. Then it's just a crudite platter of cucumbers, carrots, celery, some fresh pita cut into wedges and I like pretzel chips.

Everyone loves it!

Any particular reason to make your own out of their tortillas versus buying them already made. They sell both the thick and thin versions of them. I also like to make my own from time to time, just wondering how they compare to the pre-made chips from same company.

edit to ask, which version of their corn tortillas do you use to make your chips?

Jalepeno poppers

Bake a big batch of chex mix. People will be picking at that day and night.

Making you own hummus is mine, it's super easy

Homemade salsa and/or guacamole is my go to. The grocery store near our home has awesome restaurant quality tortilla chips. If my wife is in charge then she's probably making pigs in a blanket.

smstork1007 said:

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Any particular reason to make your own out of their tortillas versus buying them already made. They sell both the thick and thin versions of them. I also like to make my own from time to time, just wondering how they compare to the pre-made chips from same company.

edit to ask, which version of their corn tortillas do you use to make your chips?

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Increased pretentiousness?

Keeper of The Spirits said:

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Making you own hummus is mine, it's super easy

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We finally tried it the other day and it came our really good. Where we live we have access to that middle eastern market I mentioned (Phoenicia) and their fresh made hummus is just as good as what we made so unless we're making a BUNCH of hummus, it's worth it for us to just buy. But if Sabra is all you have access to at your local market, making your own with canned chickpeas is super easy and a much better product!

Forgive my stove top... We'd been doing some heavy cooking those two days and it was a mess.



Recipe if anyone is interested:

Hummus

2 cups chickpeas (canned or cooked) (*if you use canned chickpeas, peel the skin)
1 medium garlic clove (we used 4)
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup good quality tahini
1/2 tsp cumin, salt
6-8 tbsp iced water (you can add more if needed, see the recipe. We used 10-12 to get our desired consistency.)
2 tbsp olive oil

Place chickpeas and garlic in a food processor and blend them until it becomes a stiff paste.
Add lemon juice, tahini, cumin, and salt and continue to process it. Finally, add iced water and olive oil and blend them until smooth and creamy.

Shotgun shells cut into 1/4 rounds

Pork belly burnt ends if I'm being nice and have the time to make them and bring them immediately.

I get many many requests for my Elk Udder Hors d'oeuvres. They go exceedingly well with my BBQ'd Bear Berries dipped in Lotus Blossom aspic.

Mathguy64 said:

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Shotgun shells cut into 1/4 rounds

Pork belly burnt ends if I'm being nice and have the time to make them and bring them immediately.

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Both good suggestions (I do the same thing with shotgun shells) and I'll throw in Pig Shots because I'm seeing more of those lately.

Recently made both of these dips from Homesick Texan and people really loved them:

• Baked jalapeño pimento cheese dip | Homesick Texan
• Jalapeño dill pickle dip | Homesick Texan

Pinto beans.

DiskoTroop said:

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smstork1007 said:

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Any particular reason to make your own out of their tortillas versus buying them already made. They sell both the thick and thin versions of them. I also like to make my own from time to time, just wondering how they compare to the pre-made chips from same company.

edit to ask, which version of their corn tortillas do you use to make your chips?

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Increased pretentiousness?

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He didn't even make his own corn tortillas.

Probably uses store bought peanut oil instead of making it himself.

B-1 83 said:

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Pinto beans.

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I think I've got a recipe for you that I found on TexAgs. Not sure who it was from.

smstork1007 said:

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Any particular reason to make your own out of their tortillas versus buying them already made. They sell both the thick and thin versions of them. I also like to make my own from time to time, just wondering how they compare to the pre-made chips from same company.

edit to ask, which version of their corn tortillas do you use to make your chips?

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I'm going to guess these, the ones in the white paper wrapper. https://el-milagro.com/product/original-corn-tortillas-30-count/

Fido's right, these are the best corn tortillas, and it's not close. The actually taste like a corn tortilla.

HTownAg98 said:

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smstork1007 said:

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Any particular reason to make your own out of their tortillas versus buying them already made. They sell both the thick and thin versions of them. I also like to make my own from time to time, just wondering how they compare to the pre-made chips from same company.

edit to ask, which version of their corn tortillas do you use to make your chips?

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I'm going to guess these, the ones in the white paper wrapper. https://el-milagro.com/product/original-corn-tortillas-30-count/

Fido's right, these are the best corn tortillas, and it's not close. The actually taste like a corn tortilla.

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No love for Guerrero?

https://guerrerotortillas.com/product-category/corn-tortillas/

Acceptable alternative if you can't find El Milagro.

HTownAg98 said:

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smstork1007 said:

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Any particular reason to make your own out of their tortillas versus buying them already made. They sell both the thick and thin versions of them. I also like to make my own from time to time, just wondering how they compare to the pre-made chips from same company.

edit to ask, which version of their corn tortillas do you use to make your chips?

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I'm going to guess these, the ones in the white paper wrapper. https://el-milagro.com/product/original-corn-tortillas-30-count/

Fido's right, these are the best corn tortillas, and it's not close. The actually taste like a corn tortilla.

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they're probably good but it takes a miracle to find them.....

HEB.

Garrelli 5000 said:

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Rubber sheets and whipped cream?

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HTownAg98 said:

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HEB.

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I can't find El Milagro where I live so I usually buy Guerro if I'm not making my own. I bought El Milagro online once, 6 packages, 30 tortillas each, and every pack was full of broken tortillas.