What game day or tailgate party would be complete without Pigs-in-a-Blanket? For those of you that are not familiar with this dish, it is simply a hot dog or smoky bite size sausage wrapped in a crescent roll then baked until golden brown.  

Our family has made many variations of pigs-in-a-blanket from small bite sized appetizers to full length hot dogs.  We have made them plain or sometimes add cheese before wrapping and baking.  Tonight I had made a large pot of chili and thought I would try a new spin on this family favorite. I decided to make these into more of a “popper” instead of the traditional way which is to wrap the dog/sausage in a crescent roll. For my new spin I decided to unroll the crescents and press all the seams together to make one large sheet, of course if you can find crescent sheets those would work also, then cut the sheets into strips and then I divided the strips into three, I ended up with rectangular strips about 2 inches in length.  I then pressed half down into an ungreased non-stick mini muffin pan, put about a 1/2 – 3/4 teaspoon chili, sprinkled some cheese and added the hot dog/sausage.  After filling I then took the excess, folded it over, tucked the end under and baked until golden.  They turned out to be a hit with my boys and with a few simple dips, such as queso cheese and sour cream, they were gone before the 1st Quarter ended.

These are not only perfect for game day, they are great for any type of party or if you make them in the full length version they can be fun meal for the whole family.