Redneck Christmas Appetizers You Can Prepare in Advance

Chipped Beef Roll Ups: Chipped beef or Budding beef roll ups are made the same way. Cut a ¼" x 2" piece from a bar of cream cheese. Fold one slice of budding beef in half. Put cream cheese on one end, being careful not to smear it or misshape it. Roll cream cheese up in beef and insert a toothpick to prevent the appetizer from unraveling. Chill until time to serve.

Crown Royal Lava Cherries: To make this appetizer, soak 2c pitted Maraschino cherries in a mixture of 1c Crown Royal whiskey, ½c Vodka, two chili peppers sliced lengthwise, and 1t cinnamon oil overnight. Chill for at least six hours prior to serving. Typically these are either used as garnish to give drinks a little more spunk, or served with a single toothpick to family members who like things hot.

Ham and Pickle Pinwheel: To make ham and pickle pinwheels like my grandma used to make and call hors d'ovres, you need Ham (rectangular processed type works best), dill pickles (spears cut into ¼ inch wide x at least 3" long pieces), and cream cheese or a variant. Lay a piece of ham out and pat dry with a paper towel. Spread a thin layer of cream cheese on the ham. On one short side end of the ham, lay a single layer of pickle enough that it is the entire length. You may have to put pickles end to end to get it down the entire length. Roll the pickle up very tightly. Slice 1" portions and serve as circles. Chill until ready to serve.

Triscuit Pizzas: Triscuit pizza is a common redneck appetizer. To make triscuit pizza, you need a box of Triscuit or woven wheat style crackers, a can of Ragu spaghetti sauce, a teaspoon of sugar, pepperoni, and mozzarella cheese. There is a taco variant that takes ground beef, taco cheese, sour cream, and tomato. To turn spaghetti sauce into pizza sauce, add the sugar. Arrange triscuits on a cookie sheet and put a small amount of pizza sauce on each cracker. Be careful when you daub the pizza sauce onto the triscuits, because too much sauce makes for a messy appetizer. Add one piece of pepperoni and a little cheese. Sometimes, a sliced black olive on the very top makes the appetizer look less cheap. Bake at 400 for about 7 minutes or until cheese is melted. For the taco variant, prepare triscuits on a cookie sheet. Put ground beef directly on the triscuit followed by tomato and cheese. Allow to bake for allotted time. Add a dip of sour cream or put a dallup of sour cream on the appetizer with a sliced olive for garnish. You can put them in a toaster oven right before serving if you want to serve them warm.

Wrapped Sausage: For wrapped sausage, you can either choose mini or full size appetizers. Mini is usually better tasting and easier to eat. You need to get smoky links or mini smoky links for this appetizer and 2 cans of croissants per package of meat. Preheat oven to 350. Open croissant packages and with a pizza cutter, divide precut croissants lengthwise to make 16 instead of 8 croissant triangles. Wrap one sausage per triangle and space 1" apart on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake for 15 minutes or until croissants are golden brown.

Squirrel Wings: If squirrel is unavailable, chicken can be substituted. Thaw pre-frozen squirrel leg quarters or shoulder and forearm quarters. Rinse. Place squirrel quarters in a crock pot and barely cover with 1/4" water. Add 1T poultry seasoning, 1T dried barbecue seasoning, and 2 chicken bullion cubes. Allow to cook until nearly tender but still firm, which will vary with your crockpot designer. Do not overcook. Rub dry barbecue powder on cooked squirrel quarters. Lay cooked squirrel in a shallow pan and cover with barbecue sauce. Bake in an oven at 350 for 10 minutes or until barbecue sauce begins to bubble. Squirrel can be chilled and served cold or reheated before serving.