Swimming Upstream

There is nothing better than Sunday, it’s my favorite day of the week.  Sunday means being lazy, sitting on the couch watching TV. Sunday means sweat pants, no make up,  and putting your hair in a pony tail.  However, the …

What’s Shakin Bacon…..

I am not going to start this post with a promise of not going on another “break” because chances are, I will be disappearing into the abyss of the shoe world, BUT I will do my best to at least post once a month.

I can’t believe it’s 2015, 2014 was a good year in some ways, and in others it was a real mother f*cker (sorry Judy).  I am not sad to close the book on it, but I do wish time would slow down just a little.  I remember being a kid and I couldn’t wait to be a “grown up”, now that I am grown up, I wonder what the rush was……and why I didn’t take more naps!

As the holiday’s were approaching, I was invited to a friends for both Christmas eve, and Christmas day, so I had the opportunity to make 2 dips.  I am only going to post one here, as the other was an update to the first dip I ever did on here, and I will share the “secret” on that post from 2013.  Without further ado here we go, PS this was so good I have made it two times in one week!

INGREDIENTS

6 slices of bacon ( I used a whole pack..ooops)

8 oz softened cream cheese

1/2 cup sour cream

5 oz wilted spinach ( I wilted in the bacon grease)

2.5 oz grated parmesan cheese

1 1/2 tbsp parsley ( I used dried)

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp roasted garlic ( link below)

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/robin-miller/roasted-garlic-recipe.html

salt & pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

I roasted the garlic before I started to put the rest of the ingredients together, and my whole kitchen smelled AMAZING…..

The remaining garlic cloves I had, were spread on crackers, this is a crowd pleaser on its own!

The most important part of this dip is obviously the bacon, it needs to be very crispy, don’t be afraid to use more than 6 slices!

Once the bacon is to your liking…..take out put to the side on a plate. KEEP THE GREASE! At this point you should pre-heat your oven to 350′

For the most part spinach is our healthy friend, it’s there to make us feel like we are eating well, and getting Iron, but its opposite day, and today it’s getting wilted in BACON grease…..you know this way is better 🙂  Set pan aside.

In a large bowl mix together: cream cheese, sour cream, parsley, and our new best friend roasted garlic.  I used a hand blender to mix it all and it came out very creamy, which is what you want.

Use your mini chop to make the bacon into pieces that you can’t just shovel into your mouth, you want this evenly distributed throughout your dip!!

Now add the chopped bacon, wilted spinach, any left over bacon grease, parmesan cheese,  and lemon juice, and mix again.

I had a small casserole dish and dumped it all in there, and it fit perfectly!

Bake for 25-30 minutes, it should be bubbling like a glass of good champagne, and broil for 4 additional minutes.

I actually took a video when it came out of the oven, it was bubbling like crazy, sounded like it was going to taste amazing 🙂

DIPPABLES

Wavy lays, Cucumber, endive (pronounced ENDEEEV, see below)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiD6Ozpv-xg

Rosemary crackers (Trader Joes)

HAPPY DIPPING & HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Oh give me a home where the buffalo dips roam

So the promise of no hiatus has again been broken….I think I have to limit myself to two dips a month and then perhaps I won’t be letting so many people down,  (YES multiple people, won’t name names, have told me they are disappointed in me lol) and their parties won’t be sans dip.

A few months ago, yes months, my little “niece” Bella turned 4.  I have been in her life since before she was born, and every birthday reminds me of how lucky I am to have her in my life….she is pretty perfect.

 

 So, for her special birthday BBQ, I made a Buffalo Chicken dip, that I could have eaten with a fork it was so good.  I know we have all had this, or even a version of this, but this time it was just cheesy, hot happiness.  I honestly think this could be a side dish, taco filling, or even protein on a salad, but for today, let’s use it as a dip shall we. A lot of the guests were doing the Paleo diet (which I have just started doing) and this is very Paleo friendly, and gluten free….if you are lactose intolerant this is not the dip for you ( you know who you are).

INGREDIENTS

1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup hot sauce ( I like red hot)

1/2 cup blue cheese or ranch dressing 

*I did something different this go around, I used ranch dressing, and put blue cheese crumbles into the dip, best of both worlds

2 cups shredded cooked chicken

*sadly I was in a time crunch, I usually use rotisserie chicken, this time canned, still good

1/2 cup shredded cheese ( I used Mozz)

DIRECTIONS

PREHEAT oven to 350°F

Combine ALL ingredients in a baking dish

             

Bake 20 min. or until mixture is heated through

 

 

 

So happy this dip didn’t require a ton of prep, it’s something that can be made in short amount of time, and makes everyone happy!

 

DIPPABLES

Celery, carrots, pita chips, wavy chips

 

HAPPY DIPPING

 

 

I’M BAAAAACK……Baked Ricotta with Lemon, Garlic, and Chives (YUMMY)

I keep promising myself that I will not take another hiatus, but sometimes duty calls.  I have 2 dips up my sleeve, so at least you will have something for the next two weeks.  Come on, did you really want …

Samba, Mambo……SALSA!!!

So it’s been almost 4 weeks since my last post.  I promised myself when I started this blog six months ago, that I would post every single week, so I am apologizing to myself, and to Sandy Gist, who keeps …

Getting to the heart of the matter

You work so hard, you boil, you broil, you bake, you bbq….then you pull, poke, and chew….UNTIL you get to the heart…of an artichoke. I have to admit, I am the girl who buys artichokes, cooks them, and eats 2 and leave the rest to become this years science fair entry, in the back of the fridge. I have tried every recipe on pinterest, and all good, but at the end of the day, just too much work….so this week we have an artichoke dip, that gives you all the love and flavor of these very stubborn, but yummy vegetables.

Last weekend, I made my way down to Carlsbad to visit some friends, other crazies who love to cook, eat, and drink as much as I do. A few months ago, I went down to see them, and forgot to bring the dip (https://thetripledipper.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=136&action=edit), so I had to make up for it this trip. Not only did I make tonight’s feature, BUT I remade last weeks, and actually remembered making it this time…sorry mom 😉

They gave amazing reviews to last weeks, I changed it up a bit and added applewood bacon, not just regular bacon, and it did add just that one touch that it may have been missing. However, this dip, was gone in an instant, total crowd pleaser…here goes.

INGREDIENTS

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts, thoroughly drained. (when you think you have drained them, keep going, you’re not even close)

1 to 2 garlic cloves, minced ( I used 4)

5 oz of goat cheese, softened. Depending how much you love goat cheese, use more or less

½ cup shredded parmesan cheese

Dash of cayenne pepper….give it a kick and use TWO

Dash of cracked black pepper

DIRECTIONS

I think the reason I was so excited to find and modify this dip was because it didn’t contain mayonnaise, it’s the devil, and really good for nothing….blech.

Pre-heat oven to 350′

Let all 3 cheeses soften for a bit, I left them on the counter for about 45 minutes, it really made the mixing without a hand blender much easier. Put all the cheeses, the cayenne, and black pepper together and mix until smooth.

Take your very very drained artichokes and put them in the food processor, mini chop, or if you are confident in your ability to keep all 10 digits on your hands, use a knife….chop coarsley, and fold into cheese mixture.

Place this yummy concoction into a a baking dish, I used a metal pie tin, but you can really use anything that can be put in the oven. (These would be really cute in individual ramekins at a dinner party)

Bake for 25-30 mins until the dip is browned slightly and bubbly.

DIPPABLES

We used a whole bunch of different things, but really we only needed a fork. Get a baguette, and lightly toast it, this was my favorite. We also used ridged chips, rosemary crackers http://www.traderjoes.com/fearless-flyer/article.asp?article_id=907, and some very yummy, but very not appreciated vegetables (endive, cucumber, and peppers)

This was one of my favorite dips to make, and this was for sure be served at a party in the near future…..

Happy Dipping!

* next week we have a dip that was requested by a very special man in my life…..wait and see.

 

“Radishes, though often eaten, are miserable things…”‘

A truer statement has never been spoken, and this was said back in 1846,  by William Andrus Alcott .  Why do these wonderfully beautiful, bitter, and crunchy salad toppers get such a bad rap? I love salad, I think the lettuce is the bummer, if I could have a bowl full of veggies, crunchy toppings, and dressing multiple times a day, I would be a happy girl.  I have just started putting radishes in my salad, and I find the thinner they are the better they taste, so the dip I made is a great way to ease into this delicious yet misunderstood veggie…..

As with the ricotta dip I made 2 weeks ago (sorry I have been tardy, shoes trump dip) I brought this to a friends house to try, and to get honest opinions….I actually tried this out on two different nights, and when I tell you the adjustment I made you will understand why.

INGREDIENTS

1 pound radishes (about 25), julienned, plus whole radishes, for serving (I used my mini chop)

3 ounces feta cheese, crumbled (3/4 cup) I doubled, b/c I love cheese!

1 1/4 cups sour cream

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest, plus 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from 2 lemons) I USED SUGGESTED AMOUNT OF JUICE….TOO MUCH

1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt

1/3 cup chopped fresh dill

DIRECTIONS

*Much like the dip, this has just the right amount of steps*

Combine julienned radishes, sour cream, feta, lemon zest and juice, salt, and dill.

A monkey could make this 🙂

DIPPABLES

Radishes (duh)

Potato chips (come with ridged or don’t come at all)

Pita Chips

Any amazingly crunchy vegetable, will accompany this dip very well

 

Here was the rub with this dip….sometimes I follow directions TOO closely, and I definitely used too much lemon juice….I just went for it, so when I went to serve it, it was a little too liquidy….So, the next night I had some friends over, and decided to throw the directions out, used 1/2 the amount, and then….viola perfect!

I promise my next post, will be chock full of jokes, and my normal funniness ( I am funny), but right now I am going to pass out…..

Happy Dipping