Last night it was my turn to hostess for my Bunko group.  Whew!  That was a lot of work, but God helped me be a blessing and my husband was so generous to allow me to prepare a FEAST of appetizers and banished himself and the children from the upstairs of our home for a few hours!  (mostly anyway, they came in a got food and wandered in and out...  I HATE it when people shoo their children away like flies and my children are welcome to be with me as long as they are not obnoxious about it!)

Anyway, here is the menu I prepared:

7 layer Bean Dip and tortilla chips (actually, I didn't count and I didn't use a recipe, so I am not sure it really had 7 layers! It had homemade guacamole, refried beans, cheese, sour cream mixed with taco seasoning, plain yogurt, black olives, green onions, diced tomatoes..  let's see that's 9 layers and NOT in that order....LOL!)

Shrimp cocktail with cream cheese and Ritz crackers (This is just a block of cream cheese with shrimp and cocktail sauce poured over it and served with Ritz crackers)

Salmon Dip with Garlic Toast chips (smoked salmon mixed with mayo, cream cheese, sour cream, tabasco, dill, onion salt, garlic powder, parsley, pepper, salt)

Fruit Tray (fromCostco: had three kinds of melon and pineapple)

Veggie Tray (from Costco: baby carrots, snap peas, cherry tomatoes, broccoli, peppers and two kinds of dip)

Turtle Cake (but I didn't make that...  my friend, Diana brought it...  so yummy...  devil's food cake layered with caramel and nuts!)

cookies (I also didn't make...  Malynda brought them)

Homemade "Gourmet" Pizza (Whole Grain crust, homemade Italian dressing instead of red sauce, artichoke heart, feta cheese, mozarella, tomato slices and grilled chicken)

Banana-Nut-Chocolate chip whole grain muffins

Leek Onion dip in a Whole Grain bread bowl served with extra bread for dipping

Sweet and Sour Meatballs (I didn't have time to make homemade meatballs this time...  bought them at Costco and made the sauce with chili sauce, lemon juice, brown sugar, and apple jelly)

In case you are interested:

The homemade guacamole was just 2 avacados, a dash of lime juice, salt and plain yogurt.  I don't like guacamole, but I LOVE this!

The homemade Italian dressing was basalmic vinegar, olive oil, garlic, onion powder, salt, honey, basil and oregano)

I put out coffee and a nice selection of teas and a lot of cold water bottles and we had a lot of fun!!!

Actually, it went remarkably well...  when you get 12 women together and many are unsaved there is usually some catty behavior, but there really wasn't. Thank-you for your prayers... those of you who knew I was worried and stressed about this "event"!!!!

Now, for those of you who are wondering...  WHAT is BUNKO? 

There are MANY, MANY different Bunko groups and they all have their own set of rules, but I can just tell you how our group does it.

We play with three tables...  four at each table.  The person across the table from you is your partner for that round. 

We play 24 rounds. 

Each table has 3 dice.  The first round you get a point for each 1 you roll.  Round 2 is 2's, round 3 is 3's and so on.  We go from 1-6 four times.  Yes, I know you could have figured that part out yourself...  6x4=24!  LOL!

Each person at the table takes turn rolling the 3 dice.  If you roll the target number you can roll again.  If not, you pass the dice to the next person.  If you roll any 3 of a kind you get 5 points... unless you roll three 1's when it is not a round where 1 is the target number.  Then you get a "WIPEOUT" and you wipe out all the points you and your partner have accumulated for that round and have to start over.

If you roll a three of a kind of the target number then you get a "BUNKO"!  That is worth 21 points!!!

One table is deemed the "head table".  They start and end play each round by ringing a bell.  When one of the teams at the head table reaches 21 play for that round ends. (if someone is mid-roll they can finish and if there is a tie a tie-breaker can be rolled.)

The winning team at the head table stays where they are sitting.  The losing team at the head table moves to Table 3, but are no longer partners.  They partner up with the losing team from the previous round at table 3. 

The winners from Table 3 move up to Table 2, but are no longer partners with each other.  They partner up with the losers at table 2.  And as you probably guessed, the winners at table 2 move up to table 1 and remain partners!

Each person gets a scorecard at the beginning of the game that they have randomly drawn.  ON the back is a position (i.e. Table 2 Seat 2) that tells them where to begin. On the front you write your name and then the card is numbered from 1-6 four times with a blank next to each one.  On those blanks we keep track of wins and losses....  we just write W for win an L for loss. 

Also on the scorecard is the word, BUNKO.  The first time you score a Bunko you circle the letter B.  The next time the U and so on. 

Then, below that is the word, WIPEOUT. Same concept...  the first time you get a wipeout you circle the W and so on. 

At the end of the evening you tally up number of wins, number of losses, number of Bunkos, number of wipeouts AND...  oh yes, I forgot to mention that when you get a BUNKO, you are supposed to YELL "BUNKO"!  We have a big black and pink Die that is then thrown at...  I mean TO the Bunko scorer.  Some groups have a Bunko bag with a secret prize in it or something like that b/c the LAST person who has it gets to keep what's inside of the bag.  (In our case, the last person with the Bunko die gets $5). 

Okay...  here's where I may offend someone...  let me preface this by saying that I TOTALLY disagree with gambling and am not in anyway endorsing gambling, but feel this is different b/c it is a pre determined set amount that I budget for entertainment each month...  (although some groups place with gifts, gift cards or things like that...) our group does play with money. Each player puts in $10.  The person with the most Bunkos gets $40,the person with the most wins gets $30, the person with the most losses gets $20 and the person with the most Wipeouts gets $15.  The remaining 7 players fold up their scorecard and put it into a drawing.  The consolation prize is the remaining $10...  the other 6 players say, "Oh well!" and just enjoy a $10 well spent for fun, food and laughter! 

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