Pinch Hitting: Buffalo Chicken Dip

When Joe first met our friend Doug, it was love at first sight. Aside from their mutual enjoyment of baseball, comic books and Wii, Joe was smitten with the Buffalo Chicken Dip that Doug made for our first get together with he and his wife Christina. Joe loved it so much, in fact, that poor Doug now has to make the dip every time he knows he's going to see Joe. We were supposed to get together with Doug and Christina for dinner and Wii on Saturday night, but poor Christina got sick and had to cancel. Upon hearing that our plans were cancelled, Joe (after inquiring about Christina's health, of course...) promptly cried, "No dip?!?!" Followed by "Well, Doug's not sick. He could come over here!" In order to ease the pain of Joe's Doug-less night, I offered to make buffalo chicken dip for him myself. I hit Google and searched for a recipe that sounded about right, and settled on this one from Frank's RedHot. This dip is super easy to put together and is spicy and creamy - pure heaven, in Joe's opinion. He assured me that it was just as good as Doug's dip, but he may have been just sparing my feelings. Feel better Christina - Joe misses your husband! :)

Buffalo Chicken Dip

8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup blue cheese or ranch salad dressing
1/2 cup any flavor hot sauce
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese or shredded mozzarella cheese
2 cans (9.75 oz. each) Premium Chunk Chicken Breast in Water, drained

Heat oven to 350°F. Place cream cheese into deep baking dish. Stir until smooth. Mix in salad dressing, hot sauce and cheese. Stir in chicken. Bake 20 min. or until mixture is heated through; stir. Garnish as desired. Serve with crackers or vegetables.

Microwave Directions: Prepare as above. Place in microwave-safe dish. Microwave, uncovered, on HIGH 5 min. until hot, stirring halfway through cooking.

Slow Cooker Method: Combine ingredients as directed above. Place mixture into small slow cooker. Cover pot. Heat on HIGH setting for 1 1/2 hours until hot and bubbly or on LOW setting for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Stir.

Cheese, Glorious Cheese

Anyone else remember that commercial? At least I think it's from a commercial, unless all these cheese has just gone to my head. On Saturday Joe's aunt invited the family over for dinner and I was asked to bring an appetizer. Joe's mom was making spinach dip, so I didn't want to do anything similar, but I also didn't want anything too time consuming. So I was thrilled when I remembered this cheese ball that I saw on Carrie's blog. I mean, who doesn't like cheese? This sucker was devoured at our get together and everyone raved about it. Which was kind of amazing considering that I got all distracted with my food processor and totally forgot to add any seasoning. Luckily, I had chosen to use regular sharp cheddar and a tomato basil cheddar, which added some kick. But next time I'll remember the seasoning, although there were certainly no complaints as is!

Cheese Ball

8 oz. block sharp cheddar cheese
4 oz. block white cheddar (I used tomato basil cheddar)
8 oz. cream cheese
1 clove garlic
1 teaspoon parsley
1 teaspoon onion powder
Salt and pepper to taste

In a food processor fitted with the shredding disk, shred cheddar and pepper jack cheese. Empty the cheese from the workbowl and place the metal blade into the bottom of the bowl.
Add the cream cheese, garlic and remaining seasonings into the workbowl and process for one minute. Add in the shredded cheese and process for 1-2 minutes or until everything is well mixed and creamy.Roll into a ball, with the bottom flat then roll some shredded cheese around the edges refrigerate until ready to serve, serve with crackers, triscuits, or pretzels.

Taking a dip

This month Joe's grandfather turned 90 years old. To celebrate, the family through a huge party with all his friends and family. It was a great day. My contribution to the party was two appetizers, one being this spinach dip. I love this dip. Love it. It's so simple to make but tastes great. Plus I love that it's served in a bread bowl with bread for dipping. I love me some bread. This dip is always gobbled up right away, and this time was no exception. The recipe is below, but first let me say happy birthday, Freddie! I wish you 90 more wonderful years!

Spinach Dip

1 (16 ounce) container sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 packet vegetable soup mix
1 box frozen chopped spinach, thawed

In a bowl, stir together the sour cream, mayo and soup mix. Squeeze spinach to eliminate excess water and add to sour cream mixture. Stir to combine. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Best served in a bread bowl with chunks of fresh bread for dipping!

Pinwheel, Pinwheel

Does anyone else remember that old kids' show from the 80's? Every time I think of this appetizer the Pinwheel theme song runs through my head - Pinwheel, pinwheel spinning around, look at my pinwheel and see what I've found...

Anyhow, this is the first time I've made these tortilla pinwheels, but it won't be the last. This is seriously the easiest appetizer ever. You can pretty much put any filling you choose in the tortillas - I went with roast beef, turkey and cheddar cheese. These were gone in a matter of minutes so they must have been good! As my brother-in-law said, they taste just like mini sandwiches.

Tortilla Pinwheels

5 large flour tortillas
1 container garlic and chive cream cheese
roast beef
turkey
shredded cheddar cheese

Spread tortillas with cream cheese and sprinkle with shredded cheddar. Top cheese with meat and roll tortilla tightly. Refrigerate a few hours or overnight. Slice rolls and serve.