Special Post - Halloween 2013

Party Spread
Halloween is a great time of year.  It brings out a lot of creativity in people, including in the food department.  This year I attended a party at a close friend's house and we had a blast.  Everyone had cool and original costumes.  But the food was just as interesting!  The hostess made individual pizzas that had cheese in the shape of ghosts with olive bits for eyes and mouths.  She also made breadsticks into the shape of bones.  For dessert, she made "toe" cookies.  Her daughter made deviled eggs with olive "spiders" on top.  So creative!!!  I wish I had done some more research to make my food more festive.  My dishes included an antipasto platter and a dill dip in a bread bowl, delicious, but I know next year I will make my food a little more Halloween related!  Enjoy the pictures below of some of the party food!

"Ghost Pizzas" by Gail

My antipasto platter which included olives I marinated myself

Breadstick "Bones" by Gail

My dill dip in a bread bowl, a recipe my mom has made for years!

Special Post #6 - Pimento Cheese

I spent 1/2 my childhood in NY and the other half in FL.  In neither of these locales have I found a vast amount of pimento cheese.  But from what I hear, it's extremely popular in the South.  Pimento cheese is something I haven't eaten before, but I kept seeing it on TV and online when searching for recipes.  
After researching a few different recipes, I settled on one that contains a combination of mayo and cream cheese.  Some people make with one or the other, and after seeing a couple of recipes I decided to make it with both.
It was delicious!  Some people eat it just as a dip, but I decided to use it for grilled cheese sandwiches and boy was it ooey gooey cheesy deliciousness!  I think pimento cheese is better warm than cold, but eat it which ever way you like best.
Here is my recipe for it:

Pimento Cheese
Ingredients:
8oz sharp cheddar, grated
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup Hellmann's mayo
1 4oz jar of diced pimentos, drained well (***make sure you drain it or the pimento cheese gets too watery)
2 tsp hot sauce (I use Louisiana's Pure Crystal, always my 1st choice for hot sauce! Use your favorite.)
1 tsp granulated garlic
1 tsp smoked paprika
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Combine all ingredients and mix well.  Let sit in fridge for at least and hour so flavors can meld.  Use a hand mixer or food processor to combine ingredients for a smoother product.

Enjoy!

Super Bowl Sunday Special

Annnnnddd football season has ended! This past Sunday we watched Super Bowl 47, where the Baltimore Ravens beat the San Francisco 49ers. I'm sure there are a lot of people in this country who are sad that the football season ended, but I am not one of those people. For I am a football widdow, and now I get my Sunday's back. At least briefly until NASCAR starts. I'm more of a baseball gal, and while I really would watch any sport live, I have to say, I am glad my Sunday TV programming won't consist of a 100 football games. That being said, I went to a great Super Bowl party this year! The food was AWESOME, and there were so many things to choose from. The hostess had 38lbs of live crawfish flown in from Lousiana, and one of our friends boiled them up in thise delicious seasoning along with lemon, garlic, onions, potatoes, and mushrooms. I tore them up, they were so good! On the spicy side, but we've talked about my branching out in to the spicier side of life lately. There were also other goodies like Buffalo Chicken Dip, a melted cheese dip with sausage and salsa, 2 types of macaroni and cheese, hot dogs, burgers, pasta salad, deviled eggs, little meatballs in a BBQ type sauce, and gumbo. Pretty good spread! My contribution was a chili cheese dip, and that's the recipe I'll be giving in this post. This recipe is SUPER simple, SUPER delicious, and SUPER quick to make. You only need three ingredients (plus a bag of tortilla chips for serving). Make it for your next party, I guarantee it to be a crowd pleaser!

Chili Cheese Dip 

Ingredients:

• 8 oz cream cheese (left come to room temp, about 1-2 hours on your counter)
• 15 oz can chili (pick your fav, w/beans, w/out beans, vegetarian, chicken, etc - it's also delicious with homemade chili, I've tried it before with much success, use 2 cups)
• 8-16 oz shredded cheddar (use as much or as little as you like, you can also use those Mexican blends) 

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Spread cream cheese over the bottom of an oven proof dish. (I use foil pans for parties, either 8in square pans or 9in pie pans, and at home use the same size in your normal bakeware). Top cream cheese with chili. Sprinkle cheddar over top (I like to make sure my top is fully covered in cheddar). Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Serve with tortilla chips. Enjoy!