Hillshire Farm Lit’l Smokies Party Animals for the Super Bowl and Valentine’s Day

No gathering is quite complete in our family without bacon wrapped Lit’l Smokies from Hillshire Farm. If we are serving appetizers for the holidays or a big game, they are sure to be there. So when I was asked to try creating some fun party animals with them, I couldn’t refuse. They certainly take the fun  up a notch.

Have you seen them yet?

I loved the idea of creating little football dogs so I went to work creating the Pigskin Party Animal. I’m a huge football fan so this was a great project for me.

Ingredients

(20 servings)
1 pkg. Hillshire Farm Lit’l Smokies^®
1 pkg. cheese slices
Mustard
Piping bag and fine tip nozzle

Directions

Heat Hillshire Farm Lit’l Smokies® according to package directions.
Slice cheese into 1/8 inch wide strips.
Wrap cheese slices around the dog 1/2 inch from either end (zone).
Lace up your little Pigskins by piping in mustard lines.

I couldn’t seem to locate some of my fine decorating tips so I ended up using a 5. I highly recommend a 1 or a 3 so your lines aren’t quite so thick. Also be sure to let your Lit’l Smokies cool a bit and dry them off with a paper towel for easier handling. Otherwise the cheese will be harder to work with. I went with a ultra thin pepper jack which added a nice little kick. Be sure not to decorate them too far in advance your the mustard will soak into the dog.

Of course the Super Bowl is an obvious choice for these little bites of heaven, but what about trying out something fun for Valentine’s Day? I developed my own dog, the Love Pup, who is just waiting to give his heart valentine to someone special.

Ingredients
(20 servings)
1 pkg. Hillshire Farm Lit’l Smokies®
1 pkg. cheese slices
1 pkg. pepperoni slices
Mustard or ketchup
Piping bag and fine tip nozzle

Directions

Heat Hillshire Farm Lit’l Smokies® according to package directions.
Slice cheese into 1/4 inch wide strips.
Add a bit of mustard (or ketchup) to the back of the dog and place on cheese strip. Add a dot of mustard to the front on the dog, 2/3 of the way down.
Bring one side of cheese sliced down at an angle over mustard dot. Repeat with other side, adding more mustard if needed.
Cut pepperoni slice in half. Fold in half. Using kitchen scissors, cut out small heart as you would if it were paper.
Add a little mustard to back of heart and secure to front where the ends of the cheese slice meet. Your love pup should appear to be holding a heart.
Pipe a face on your love pup.

You can choose to go with smaller hearts like I did and use half a slice of pepperoni or you can go for a larger design and use a whole slice. Cutting the pepperoni hearts is really much like working with paper. Super easy and lots of fun.

Be sure to follow Hillshire Farm on Facebook to stay up to date on all the latest product news and fun with Lit’l Smokies. And definitely check out the Lit’l Smokies Party Bowl 2014 pinterest board for more great ideas!

 

I was compensated for this post however all thoughts are my own.