Kentucky Derby Part Two

The guests arrived in their KentuckyDerby finery.

Honored guests; bride to be far right, mom in middle. sister on left and joined by some of my family just in time 

to pick their favorite horse 

watch the race, grab a drink and and enjoy the food. 
With an extensive menu that could have served many more there was something for everyone.
From deviled eggs, pimento dip to  

Country Ham and Cheese on Biscuits,  Chicken Salad Croissants, Fruit Salad, Marinated Green Salad  

and a whole lot of desserts.

Kentucky Derby Cupcakes and Cheesecakes (Run for the Roses) 

You can see Ruthie especially enjoyed her frosted cupcake, She came with 2 hats and changed midway through the party.  

Kentucky Derby Mini Pies

Cook;s Notes: The recipe filling is enough for 48 mini pies using 1-1/2 packages (3 single crusts) Pillsbury refrigerated pie crusts. I did not have a round cookie cutter but used a small wine glass that worked fine. You want the pie crust dough rounds to be a little larger than well of the mini muffin. tin.
Ingredients

• 2 packages ( 4 pie crusts refrigerated pie crusts)
• 1- 1/2 cups finely chopped pecans
• 48 pecan halves for topping pies
• 1 cup 6 ounces mini semisweet chocolate morsels
• 1 cup dark corn syrup
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup bourbon (substitute water if you prefer but the alcohol does burn off in cooking time)
• 4 large eggs
• 1/4 cup butter melted
• 2 tsp. cornmeal
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees and spray mini muffin pan with nonstick spray. Using a 2 or 3-inch round cookie cutter, cut out circles of pie crust dough and place in the muffin pan.
• Sprinkle chopped pecans and chocolate morsels evenly in bottom of each pie crust; set aside.
• Combine corn syrup, sugar, brown sugar and bourbon in a large saucepan, and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, for 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Whisk together eggs, butter, cornmeal, vanilla and salt. Gradually whisk about one-fourth hot mixture into egg mixture; add to remaining hot mixture, whisking constantly.
• Pour filling into prepared pie crusts, taking care not to overfill, since overfilling will make the mini pies harder to remove from the muffin pan. Fill about halfway full and once filled, top each pie with a pecan half.
• Bake at 325 degrees for approximately 2o minutes or until pies are set. Cool in pan 5 – 10 minutes, then remove pies from muffin pan to cool completely on wire rack.

And oh, we did not forget the Katy, the bride to be, she was showered with lots of attention.

Taco Tortellini Skillet Dinner

Marinated Mozzarella Balls with Roasted Tomatoes and Spring Greens 

Chicken and Blueberry Farfalle Salad