Block Party! and a few great recipes...

Hopefully everyone is having a great weekend!  Last evening, we had our first annual block party.  We had a great time!  This is what our street looked like:

and:

Even Little Oli had a good time...although this morning he's had a slight hangover: by that I mean like a food coma/hangover.  We watched our little 13 pound dog eat 1 hotdog, 1 cupcake wrapper & he took a cookie right out of a little girls hand!  Who knows what else he got ahold of.  SO needless to say he's a big sluggish this morning. 

We ended the evening with a bonfire in the middle of our street.  It was so much fun!  Can't wait to do it next year!  As for what I brought- they were both new recipes that I will be keeping around.  I enjoyed them both (and a big thank you to Pinterest- which is where I found the links.)

{Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites}
recipe compliments of Foodaphilia

1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 Tablespoons softened butter
3/4 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
mini pretzels
1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

Combine peanut butter & softened butter in a large bowl.  Mix to combine.  Add the sugars & mix again.  At this point if the filling will roll easily into balls without sticking to your hands you're ready to go.  If not, add a little more of each sugar until you've reached a consistency that is easy to roll.

Use a teaspoon measure to scoop the filling.  Roll each portion into a small ball, then sandwich them between two whole pretzels.  When all the balls are rolled & successfully sandwiched, stick the whole tray in the freezer for about 30 minutes (I froze my completely.)

Pour the chocolate chips into a microwave safe bowl & heat at 30-second intervals, stirring occasionally until completely melted.  Remove the pretzel sandwiches from the freezer & quickly dip each half-way into the melted chocolate.  Return to the tray & repeat with remaining sandwiches.  When all are dipped, return the tray to the freezer to set up completely.  Store the sandwiches in the refrigerator until ready to serve. 

TIP: line the tray with parchment paper

now on to my favorite:

{Asian Chicken Pasta Salad}

recipe compliments of nobiggie.net

1 box bowtie (farfalle) pasta
4 chicken breasts cooked & shredded (I shredded a rotisserie chicken)
1/4 cup green onions; sliced
1/2 pack sliced almonds; toasted
1 bag spinach
1 small bag peapods
1 can mandarin oranges; drained

Dressing:
NOTE: this recipe MUST be doubled

1/4 cup sesame seeds; toasted
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/3 cup vegetable oil (or sesame oil)
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp pepper

Cook pasta (a little al dente.)  While pasta is cooking, shred chicken.  Make 1 batch of the dressing.  Combine cooled pasta & chicken in a container: pour dressing over.  Place in fridge overnight (or at least 4 hours.)

Right before serving, toss all together with 1 more batch of the dressing.  Top with a small amount of additional sesame seeds.  Enjoy!