🔥 Around the Campfire (week 31)

Dear Campers ~

Here's a quick recap of what happened at camp last week in case you missed anything:

Posts ~

7/24: 🔥 week 30

7/25: star plates

7/26: tt - personalized beach drink holder

7/27: zucchini brownies version 2

7/28: my niece is hungry: chicken stuffed crescent rolls

7/29: planning a golf banquet

7/30: angry balls

Oh geez, I did it again - totally forgot to finish this recap and post it for you on 7/31! 🤦‍♀️ I'm back-posting so it's at least in the right spot on the blog! Good grief, get it together!! 

Sincerely ~

Jill

lame camp counselor 

7.31.21: Al's baked beans (re-run)

Apple Orchard and Fireball Cocktail (Angry Balls)

Our campground neighbors had a progressive drink party a couple weeks ago - the idea being you set up a table in front of your RV and hand out shots of a favorite drink. I didn't walk around and partake (I don't know a lot of these people yet and accepting drinks from strangers should maybe be right up there with the adult version of taking candy from a stranger? LOL). 

Side note: last fall we went to an end-of-season party and many people got really sick from someone's chili, let's just say lesson learned and I avoided the drinks this time hahaha. 

Anyway - one of the neighbors we do know brought over a couple of his favorite drink, Angry Orchard (hard cider) and Fireball (cinnamon whiskey) and I now have a new favorite drink! It's sooooo good. 

At golf the other night I asked if they had those ingredients (no), and was advised to be careful drinking that cocktail 'cuz it's 'gonna mess you up' hahahhaha. Sounds like the voice of experience there, right?!

I googled if the drink has a name, and it does... 'Angry Balls'... I was trying to think of a better name because I'm pretty sure I'm never ordering that out loud at a bar. Fire-Orchard? Great Balls of Fire? Angry Fire? haha nope, it is what it is. So I'll just be drinking these when I make them at home. 

The recipe - add a shot of Fireball to 1 bottle of Angry Orchard. Done. Disclaimer - don't drink so many of these that you 'get messed up' and blame me. There, now we've both been warned. 

7.30.21: harvey wallbanger

7.30.20: beef wellington

7.30.19: tt - guacamole toast

7.30.18: road trip bracelets

7.30.17: spinach, beet, goat cheese salad

Golf Banquet

I play in a women's golf league and my partner Natalie and I were assigned the fun of planning the end-of-season banquet last August. Ok, ok, maybe not assigned so much as we were in last place and the losers "get" to do the planning hahaha. But we are both planners so this wasn't that difficult - hardest part was not having solid info regarding what was expected (for instance - there is usually a cash prize for the first couple teams but the amount is up to us, and how we divide it is also for us to decide. My sister said when it was her turn to plan the party and was told the same thing - 'well ok then, 5th place gets all the money'! You guessed it, she was in 5th place LOL) so we were sort of winging things. 

After finding out how much money we had to spend, we decided how to break down the budget among prizes/food/games/decor. In case you're interested, I'm sharing our notes on what we did because when I googled 'how to throw a women's golf league end of season banquet' I did not find much useful info (!) - I'll pass these notes on to the next party planners in case they want to know what we did, and if not they can make up their own plan haha.  It's a long post but I tried to provide detailed info - maybe you'll be inspired by some of our games and party planning:

NOTES AND THINGS TO DO FOR GOLF FUN NIGHT '21

 

·      This year the budget is $620 ($20 from 31 golfers)

• Prizes:        

-  1^st place - $20 and a seat cover ($25 each)

-  2^nd place - $10 each

-  3^rd place - $5 each

-  Last place – practice balls ($5 each), white board, 

payday candy bar in a goody bag

 (note cash and prizes = $130 plus what Nat pd for board & leis))

 

• ·     Favor bags for all league players (and subs? I hear some members don’t like that subs get the same thing since they don’t pay dues, etc. I guess it depends how many subs are attending… this year we have 2 subs joining us)
• ·     Prize for the winning scramble team (aloha theme this year – 3 Island-y balls, lei, chocolate macadamia candy, bright tees)
• ·     Ask Greg and Mike for donations – give everyone a raffle ticket then draw for the donated prizes. (Jen says Greg donated a shirt and something else last year ‘20) NOTE: Mike donating 2 gift cards ($15, 10), Greg says he’ll donate but I don’t know what yet. Also asked Wendi at Dairy Den and she’ll donate $10 g.c. (Update: Greg gave 2 shirts and (4) 18 holes with cart)
• ·     Talk to Greg about shot gun start from all 9 holes (Update: he texted that he’d adjust the tee sheet)
• ·     Food: Nat ordering subs and chips, Jill will do cooler with coke/zero/water and dessert – note we had a lot of leftover food and drinks. 3 trays of assorted 3” subs with almost a whole tray left, ½ of cookies left, and only drank 2 reg cokes and a few diets. 

*I googled Subway to get an idea for the food budget – a platter serving 7 is $48. Not sure how many people we’ll have, if it’s 50 that’ll cost us $345 not counting chips.  Update: Nat got a great deal at Subway and it only cost 170 delivered! Other ideas for $170 – Twilligers (chicken fingers, potato salad, etc) or pizza and salad. We could ask everyone to bring a dish but then we'd need more tables, plugs, etc. and would end up with a lot of food - plus the minor hassle of having to bring your dish ahead of time, then set it up after golf...Subway brought utensils, plates and napkins, all the condiments - easy. 

 

 

BANQUET PRIZES:

 

• ·      SCRAMBLE winners – 4 bags with leis

• ·      ANNOUNCE AND HAND OUT OVER-ALL LEAGUE WINNING PRIZES (Natalie):

- 1^st place envelopes and 2 cart seat covers to 

#9 Deb and Mary 25.5 points

-  2^nd place envelopes to #4 Brenda and Krys 21.5 points

-  3^rd place envelopes to #16 Kathy and Michelle 21 points

(*if anyone cares, 4 teams tied for 4^th place with 20 points)

-  Last place – bag w/ practice balls, payday bar, white board to #12 Jonna and Becky

• ·      FAVOR BAGS FOR EVERYONE – LPGA socks, hat marker, wipe tablets (water activated), tees, straws, 2 fun size candy bars

• ·      GIVE EVERYONE 2 RAFFLE TICKETs, DRAW FOR PRIZES:

-  TWILLIGERS $10

-  TWILLIGERS $15

-  DAIRY DEN  $10

-  SUBWAY     $15

-  PINE HILLS – 

§  Shirt

§  Shirt

§  18 holes with cart

§  18 holes with cart

§  18 holes with cart

§  18 holes with cart

 

 TO DO:

• §  put $ in envelopes for prizes - label so Natalie can read each one and hand out 
• §  favor bags - buy bags and filler, and assemble
• §  buy raffle tickets, separate
• §  collect donated items to raffle

-  Twigs (2) $10 gift cards

-  Greg/Pine Hills

-  Dairy Den $10

• §  Scramble winner prize – 

-  buy bags and shreds, leis, island-themed balls, Hawaiian candy bar

-  assemble bags

• §  Get a case of coke and zero, and waters

-  Ice in large cooler – note I froze waters ahead, and only added a gallon ziplock baggie of ice from home

• §  buy cookie assortment and chex mix bags from Meijer
• §  Make rule sheet and score cards
• §  Get head count, make teams
• §  Order subs, fixings, chips

Night of:

• ·      Get to course early and set up:

        - tables/chairs on patio, we put a plastic tablecloth on the food table. Food on head table, drinks in cooler under the table. 

        - put rule sheet, score cards, and chex mix on a table. Nat will read the rules and give instructions, everyone take chex mix snacks for their golf cart.

• ·      Separate raffle tickets ahead of time, I passed out 2 tickets to each golfer and drew the numbers out of a hat. Next time I’d have people pick their own 2 out of a container that you can shake up, I didn’t shuffle good enough by hand and some people won twice with back-to- back ticket numbers. Also, it was dark on the patio and by the time we did the raffle it was hard to read the numbers. 

BUDGET/PURCHASES

 

Jill: 

·      Scramble winning bags - $2/ball, candy $6               $24

·      Last place balls - $5/each, paydays                          $14

·      Drinks – 24 coke, zero, water                                    $27.60

·      Cookies                                                                      $11.50

·      Seat covers                                                                $50

·      Chex mix cart snacks                                                 $20

·      Subway gift card for raffle                                          $15

________

                   $162

 

Natalie:

 

·      Favor bags and fillers                                               = $200

·      Subway                                                                        $170

                    __________

                    $370

 

TOTAL SPENT approx. $532 + 70 cash prizes = 602

                            

Split the remaining 20 with Nat to cover all the misc. incidentals we didn’t keep track of like dollar store cheap filler stuff, etc.  (tees, straws, goody bags, ice…)

 

Budget                620 

                            -70 cash prizes

Nat                     -200 bags/filler

                           -170 subway

                           -  10 misc. 

Jill                       -100 prizes

                           -  60 food/drink

                           - 10 misc.

______________________________________

                                     0

 

 

Where to purchase/find prize items:

 

AMAZON for socks, golf balls, hat markers, wipe tablets, seat covers

 

DOLLAR STORE for white boards, clear favor bags and shreds (Nat did white handled bags from Family Dollar), leis, payday, aloha straws, raffle tickets

 

MEIJER for practice balls, tees, subway gc

 

COST PLUS for macadamia candy

Before the banquet we play a round of 'fun' golf, it's up to the party planners to choose how to make it 'fun'. Nat and I decided to do a regular 4-man scramble with a few 'twists' on the odd-numbered holes:

hole #1: MAKE LIKE A FLAMINGO, GET READY FOR FUN - STAND ON ONE LEG TO DRIVE HOLE #1 (rule: balance on one leg while teeing off on hole #1)

hole #3: TWIST, JIVE, LOOK ALIVE - 'CAUSE NOW YOU'VE GOT TO USE THE WORST DRIVE (rule: everyone tee off, but use the worst drive instead of the best. Play the rest of the hole as regular scramble)

hole #5: OUR TWISTS ARE SILLY, NOT MEANT TO BE MEAN, WE BET YOU'LL LIKE THIS ONE - IT'S BOWLING THE GREEN! (rule: play regular scramble until someone is on the green; once there, pick the best ball as usual but instead of using your putter, pick up the ball and roll it towards the cup like you are bowling it. Continue playing the best roll until you make it in the hole - count each best roll as a stroke just like if you missed a putt)

hole #7: NOT A 7&7 WITH CROWN AND 7UP - USE ONLY YOUR 7 IRON, JUST LIKE 'TIN CUP' (rule: use your 7 iron for all strokes including drive and putt)

hole #9: NOW THAT YOU ARE FEELING FINE, TAKE A TEAM SELFIE ON HOLE #9! (rule: take your photo and text it to Natalie or Jill)

holes #2, 4, 6, 8 - play traditional scramble

NOTE: you must use at least one drive from every team member at some point in the game.

SCRAMBLE BASICS - all team members tee off on each hole, then decide which one is the best. The other team members pick up their balls and play their next shot from that spot. Repeat everyone hitting and picking the best one on every shot for the rest of the game. 

7.29.21: how to make a tie blanket

7.29.20: smashed baby red potatoes

7.29.19: steering wheel cover

7.29.17: wonder woman keychain 

7.29.16: Brooke makes a tie blanket

My Niece is Hungry: Chicken Stuffed Crescent Rolls

My sis is out of town this week so she doesn't get to review these yummy stuffed crescent rolls - Brooke is around tho so I asked if she's hungry and wants to try them hahah. So this week we have "My Niece is Hungry" instead of my sis!

Here's what B had to say about chicken stuffed crescent rolls:

Hey guys! My boyfriend Dayshawn and I tried the Chicken roll up things. And can i just say, thank god my mom was gone this week because these were amazing! They tasted so delicious. Dayshawn voted them a 8/10 i vote them a 9/10! A good meal or a great snack if you only heat up one with a little gravy! You have to try these!

• 2 (8 oz) tubes crescent roll dough
• 1 large can (22.6 oz) cream of chicken soup
• 8 oz. block cream cheese, cubed
• 2 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken 
• 1 packet Italian dressing mix

1. Preheat oven to 375'.

2. Put soup and cream cheese in a medium pot over medium heat, stir until cream cheese is melted and the mixture is smooth. Stir in dressing mix until well combined. 

3. Put the chicken in a large bowl, add enough of the soup mixture to coat the chicken. Stir to combine. Note*: save some of the soup mixture for serving alongside the bundles. 

4. Separate the crescent roll triangles, lay out on a clean counter or cutting board. Gently flatten each triangle out a bit (to make more space for the filling). Put a small scoop of the chicken mixture onto the crescent roll (I centered the filling in the middle of the largest part of the triangle). Fold the right and left sides of the triangle overtop of the filling, then roll up towards the long pointed end. 

5. Place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet; bake in the preheated oven for 15 -18 minutes or until the rolls are lightly browned and cooked thru. 

6. Serve warm with additional warm sauce on the side. 

Makes 16 bundles; 209 calories each

Jill again with a couple notes: we loved these stuffed rolls and I will definitely make them again. The recipe called for 2 (10.75 oz) cans of soup but our store was out of the regular size cans so I bought 1 large can and it was fine. Also the recipe called for 2-3 cups of chicken, I boiled chicken breasts and then shredded them - use as much chicken as you think will fill the 16 crescents. *This makes a lot of sauce, I bet twice as much as needed, so you'll either have lots of extra sauce to use for something else, or only make 1/2 of the amount listed. Side note - I put extra chicken in the extra sauce and just ate it like that, yum. 

recipe found here at lil luna 

7.28.21: old fashioned ham salad

7.28.20: tt - float anchor

7.28.19: 🔥 week 30

7.28.18: blue cheese stuffed olives

7.28.17: jilly's jam - strawberry peach freezer jam

7.28.16: framed words

Zucchini Brownies v2

The other day I stumbled on a post from last fall for zucchini brownies that everyone liked but I thought were a little cakey, so I said I was going to experiment with other recipes - and of course I forgot that I was going to keep trying to find the best zucchini brownies for Ginny. She didn't get to try the first version, so when I gave her a plate of these she couldn't compare them to the others - but let me tell you, her reaction was so funny, she called me and the family behind her were all yelling that they LOVED them! She said they were fighting over the last one and I had only given them to her like 5 minutes previously HAHA! 

The texture of these is very soft, I thought too soft (seemed really underdone to me) so I said to her that I'd bake them longer next time and once again I got shouting into the phone to not change a thing. I laughed. Ok, ok, I hear you Ginny and fam - I'll leave 'em alone! 

Dave and Mark had the most center part of the pan underneath a scoop of ice cream and also loved them and raved. So what do I know? Soft and seemingly undercooked is the perfect zucchini brownie - although I'm going to make the first recipe again to see if she likes them any more than this recipe (I'll let you know what they think between the 2 versions). 

Oh my gosh I just realize I don't have any pics of these baked! Goodness, sorry people. They look like super moist brownies, use your imagination hahah!!! I know, I'll make both of the recipes for Ginny to try side-by-side and then I'll update this post with more photos. 

ZUCCHINI BROWNIES

1 ½ cups diced zucchini

¼ cup vegetable oil

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup all-purpose flour

⅔ cup granulated sugar

⅔ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup mini chocolate chips

chocolate frosting (optional)

• 1. Preheat the oven to 350F degrees and line a 9-inch square baking pan with parchment paper and set aside.
• 2. Add the diced zucchini, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla to a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. 
• 3. Pour the mixture into a large mixing bowl or stand mixer bowl.In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, and salt - add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix just until combined.
• 4. Fold in the chocolate chips and pour the batter into the prepared baking pan. 
• 5. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about an hour then top with frosting (if using.) Slice and serve.
  

  

  
  

  

  
  

  

  8/22 update - I made both, version 2 is in the foreground on the left, version 1 is in the back
  
  

   recipe found Here

  7.27.21: travel medication tip

  7.27.20: gourmet s'mores

  7.27.19: penne alla vecchia bettola

  7.27.18: Japanese string gardening

  7.27.17: crochet a mug cozy

  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  7.27.16: travel trip for medications