Christmas- Bunco, Wally, and Ornament Exchange!

Every Christmas, a group of gals I know host a Christmas Bunco night with an ornament exchange and a couple games of Wally (see below for how-to). Everybody brings a dish to share with the Hostess providing drinks and dessert so there’s lots of yummies!  The recipe for photo shown here is at the bottom of this blog but for the recipe for MY dish, go to: Poker Night)

THH Tari’s Hidden Valley Ranch Sausage Stars (recipe below)

After we’ve all had snacks, we play two rounds of Bunco.  I ended up being the LAST person to be wearing the Bunco Hat at the end of the night (and came 2nd for most Buncos) so won back my $10 entrance fee.  Woo-hoo!






Then Hungry Housewife Dawn ended up being a top winner of the night with MOST wins!

Dawn with her Bunco Win Prizes

After Bunco, we moved onto the Ornament Exchange.  This is my FAV way to do this!!!  Every person puts their own wrapped ornament in front of them then Co-Hostess Tami reads aloud the story of The Night Before Christmas.  Every time she says the word “THE”, we pass our gift to the right.  Whenever she says “And”, we pass it to the left.  At the end of the poem, whoever’s gift you have in front of you is the one you get to keep!  No “stealing” involved!
After we’ve opened all our gifts, we move onto Round ONE of Wally which involves using quarters followed by Round TWO using dollar bills.

Rules:  You roll the same number of dice that you have Quarters (or Dollars).  As the photo shows above, if you roll a 1,2 or 3, you get to KEEP your money!  BUT if you roll a 4, it goes into the Kitty (the pot).  For a 5, you slide your money to the person to your right or if you do a 6, you pass it to the person to your left.  You do the same thing for EACH dice (for example, if you roll straight 4s, the ENTIRE thing goes into the Kitty!).

Quarter Wally Winner Heather

Eventually, it will dwindle down to just a few people still with money (time depends on # of players- we had 18 women!).  When it’s down to the LAST person, the game is NOT over yet!  She HAS to keep rolling until EVERY Quarter (or $1) is in the Kitty so there is a chance she could lose it all!

Dollar Wally Winner Dalese

If you are playing Quarters, the Winner will get ALL the money in the pot (so that’s $1.25 per person playing).  But if you are playing with one dollar bills, the Winner will get $5 per person so the stakes can get pretty up there (esp if you use $5s or $10s).


Thank you to the hostess- Hungry Housewife Jody for another wonderful, fun night with the girls!

Hidden Valley Ranch Sausage Stars


2 cups (1lb) cooked crumbled sausage
1 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups grated Monterey jack cheese
1 cup prepared Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix
1 can (2.25 oz) sliced black olives
1/2 cup chopped red peppers
1 pkg fresh or frozen wonton wrappers
vegetable oil
Preheat oven to 350′. Blot sausage dry with paper towel and combine with cheeses, salad dressing, olives and red peppers. Lightly grease a mini muffin tin and press 1 wrapper in each cup. Brush with oil. Bake 5 minuted until wrappers are golden brown. remove from tins, place on baking sheet. Fill with sausage mixture. Bake 5 minutes until bubbly.