I must hate me.  Seriously, because why else would I make a dinner consisting of only finger foods?  While I loooooooove finger foods something fierce, they are one of the harder things to assemble when there’s an assortment.  But here’s what I made for movie night on January 31 (sorry it’s late… been busy with life things as of late): lumpia with sweet and sour sauce, pizza egg rolls, green bean fries, and Greek yogurt spinach dip with broccoli for dipping.  Okay, I didn’t really make the spinach dip (we picked it up at Costco), but someday I will make spinach dip and post the recipe.

Since there were so many things this go round, I’m rapid firing off what I did to make these noms.  Individually, everything is easy.  But everything together in one night with no ahead of time prep work?  I got a little stressed.  Totally worth it in the end though.

While I would love to post my family’s lumpia recipe, it really requires a video tutorial.  Maybe Arc can help me make one sometime, but it’s actually pretty easy to make. But don’t be fooled – even though they’re easy, it’s time consuming.  VERY TIME CONSUMING.  This batch probably took me about 1.5 hours start to finish on just the lumpia.  Essentially you make a filling and wrap it up with the egg roll wrappers.  Okay, it’s not really that simple because there are different kinds of lumpia, but at it’s bare bones basics that’s any egg roll.  Ours is pretty much a pork meatloaf, and we use the square wrappers because I find them easier to roll.  There are usually instructions on the back of the package for rolling.  Bleeerrrrggggg, stay tuned folks!  I might just do a post dedicated to lumpia with graphical tutorials.  I can’t explain it without visuals.  I will, however, post the sweet and sour sauce recipe below as well as I can (meaning not very helpful with measurements).

Pizza egg rolls are so good you’ll wonder why you haven’t done this sooner.  Get yourself some pepperoni, string cheese, and egg roll wrappers.  I split the string cheese in half lengthwise first, then add that with some pepperoni to an egg roll wrapper and roll that up.  Throw it in some hot oil until the egg roll wrapper is crispy and drain on some paper towels.  There.  A recipe in a paragraph.

Green bean fries make a good healthy snack too.  Get your clean green beans on to a baking sheet lined in foil (easy clean-up, yo!) and preheat your oven to something super hot like 450 deg F.  You could also broil them, but you have to watch them.  Dress your green beans in salt, pepper, garlic powder/granules, and grated pecorino romano (or Parmesan).  Throw that into the screaming hot oven for about 10-15 minutes.  Done!  Try it with other veggies too, like broccoli or cauliflower.

And now… an actual recipe.  Sort of…

Sweet and Sour Sauce

Ketchup
White Distilled Vinegar
Sweet Pickle Relish
Sugar (or honey or maple syrup)
Corn starch slurry (optional)

Add ketchup to a pot and put it over medium heat.  Whisk in some vinegar to thin it down.  Add in a good spoonful of sweet pickle relish and pour in a little of that pickle brine too.  Keep it on the heat until it starts to bubble.  Whisk in your sugar (or sweetener of choice) and give your sauce a taste.  If it hits the back of your throat in tartness, add a little more sugar to balance it out.  Keep adjusting your ingredients until you get a sweet and sour you like.  The sauce will be thin, so whisk in some corn starch slurry to thicken it up.  (Don’t know what corn starch slurry is?  Start with a spoonful of corn starch in a bowl, add a little water, and mix until everything is incorporated and liquid.)  Don’t let the sauce come to a boil, but let it bubble over that flame until it’s nice, hot, and thick.  And that’s it.

Seriously, this is how I make this sauce every time because I never measure anything out.  Sometimes I get a huge batch of sauce, other times I get just the right amount. If you end up with too much, make some Sweet and Sour Chicken or find something else to dip into it.  I have faith in you that you can find a way to use it up.