Four Square Fun

This past Saturday we held the Four Square Tournament party at my condo and it was a great success! Almost 20 people were able to stop by, many bringing excellent dishes to share, others bringing just their sense of fun for the game. The game itself is so easy to play - and since everyone knows a different set of rules, familiarize yourself with the basic set beforehand, and then make the rest up as you go!

Even though the party was going to be mostly outside on the patio decks, I knew people would arrive and mingle first upstairs, so I did a good clean-up that morning. Then I got myself ready for the party - I always have sworn by getting myself ready before other little things. Sure, putting some food in the oven early on is necessary (we had ribs in the oven by 1pm), but straightening up magazines and cutting vegetables can all be done while guests are arriving for one of these types of laid-back parties. Getting dressed when guests are knocking on the door makes it instantly more stressful! For this party, my mind wandered and I was thinking it was a 4pm party... but I had actually written 3pm on the invite! So when people showed up at 3:15, I was at the very least dressed, and could just go with the flow.

As the first guests arrived, we socialized in the kitchen while I prepped the Buffalo Chicken Dip (recipe below) and a batch of brownies. For the brownies, I added a gratuitous handful of semi-sweet chocolate chips to the mix, and they were divine. I also made sure I had wine chilling in the fridge.

This dip is always one of the most popular things at any gathering - you can switch it up and add ranch dressing, if you like, or use reduced fat blue cheese crumbles and cream cheese to make it lighter.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

1 8-oz package cream cheese, softened (I use Neufatchel)
1/2 c. blue cheese crumbles
1/2 c. blue cheese dressing
1/2 c. Frank's Hot Sauce
Approx. 2c of shredded cooked chicken (Grab a rotisserie chicken from the deli to make this even easier)

Mix all ingredients together in a dish, and bake at 350 degrees until hot and bubbly. Stir, and serve with corn scoops, celery sticks, and/or chips.