Let's Party

I love a good party; the food, the friends, the fun! My favorite party foods are the snacky type appetizers. I'm a salty, savory snack girl all the way. I thought I'd link up to Kelly's appetizer party and share one of my favorites. Mushrooms are iffy, I know, you either love 'em or hate 'em.  If you love 'em, try these. 

Stuffed Mushrooms
Ingredients:
12 whole fresh mushrooms
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove minced garlic (or more if you love garlic like I do)
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
Directions:
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Clean mushrooms with a damp paper towel. Carefully break off stems. Chop stems extremely fine, discarding tough end of stems.

2.Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and chopped mushroom stems to the skillet. Fry until any moisture has disappeared, taking care not to burn garlic. Set aside to cool. If you're feeling fancy, deglaze the pan with a little white wine-this gives an amazing flavor!

3.When garlic and mushroom mixture is no longer hot, stir in cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, black pepper, onion powder and cayenne pepper. Mixture should be very thick. Using a little spoon, fill each mushroom cap with a generous amount of stuffing. Arrange the mushroom caps on prepared cookie sheet.

4.Bake for 20 minutes or until the mushrooms are piping hot.

These are divine and who doesn't love a stuffed mushroom...so retro chic, no? Well, I'll let you in on a little secret. The hubs HATES mushrooms. That's ok because that just means MORE FOR ME!