In the span of seven days, I had people, mostly family, over for appetizers or dinner on four separate occasions. If it’s not the same people each time, I tend to repeat at least one or two of the dishes, over and over.

This time around, one of the easy appetizers I put out was a mix of two of my favorite frozen items from Trader Joe’s.

I like TJ’s frozen Creamy Spinach & Artichoke Dip and I love their frozen Mexican-Style Roasted Corn with Cotija Cheese.

I thought that they would be great mixed together and served warm with chips. I was correct!

First cook the corn according to the package directions. It has yummy frozen sauce chunks just as their risotto and some of their other frozen products do … yummy!

Next, microwave the spinach-artichoke dip according to the package directions, then add as much corn as you would like. I added about 1 cup of corn.

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The 4th of July is two weeks from today. It’s not too soon to start planning the menu for your party or the dish that you plan to bring to that party you’re invited to.

Even if the “party” is just you and the kids waving around sparklers in your backyard, you need some fun festive food.

I’ve got just the thing for you.

I am in the middle of a week-long set of private cooking classes. We made a super simple Fruit Flag for dessert. Obviously, no recipe is needed!!

Skewers + Strawberries, Blueberries & Bananas = USA Flag

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Yesterday I did my dip picks for the Super Bowl, today we have the real contenders. I failed to mention on yesterday’s post that light cream cheese may be used in each and every one of the four dips, with virtually no taste difference. Please just don’t use the non-fat disgusting cardboard thing they call cream cheese. That stuff should be illegal! There are a plethora of lovely non-fat dairy products, but non-fat cream cheese is not one of them.

Thinly sliced and lightly toasted French bread, baguette, or sourdough work perfect for both dips.  For the pizza dip, the bread simulates a pizza crust and for the clam dip, it reminds me of enjoying clam chowder in a sourdough bowl on Pier 39 in beautiful San Fran. Which coincidentally, is where I am headed later today to visit my sweet Marissa – for a food and a shopping-filled weekend!

Happy Super Bowl Weekend!

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Tonight I was shocked to discover that I have not posted my biggest “go-to” and one of my all-time favorite recipes ever! The discovery occurred when I had about twenty good friends over to support another good friend in her new business venture.  You see, my friend Ronnie is a fashion consultant and I hosted a home party for her tonight.  

I served my Caesar Dip, which I have been making and serving at parties for the past two decades. Just ask any one of the employees at my husband’s office and they will tell you that they have had Caesar Dip.  We hosted the office Christmas Party for about 10 years running and it was there on the buffet year after year.

So when a bunch of the ladies tonight were asking for the recipe, I was telling them to look here on the blog. One of them said they didn’t think it was posted – lo and behold, she was right! Honestly, I would have thought that it would have been one of, if not, the very first recipes I would have put up.

My favorite crudités to serve with the dip and the ones I think to compliment it the best are Belgian endive spears, cherry tomatoes, and new or fingerling potatoes. For the potatoes, just boil in salted water until they are easily pierced with a paring knife, drain, and while still wet, toss in Kosher or sea salt.

Usually, when a recipe is written and the list of ingredients is given, they are listed not only in the order they are added, but also in “most” to “least” order. For example, 1 cup milk, 1/2 sour cream, 1/4 cup salsa, 3 tablespoons horseradish, etc… but here I list the first 3 ingredients out of that order and instead in order of cleanest to messiest. Use a 1/2 cup dry measuring cup for all three and you won’t have to wash it in between. And, of course, I also use the little cubes of garlic from Trader Joe’s to make this even quicker and easier. So here it is, my favorite recipe ever…

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It is “birthday week” around here. Marissa’s was yesterday, and today is Blake’s 12 birthday!  Blake is one of three sons of our very best friends in the world! His parents are Dr. Jeffrey and Jennifer Markett, who live in St. Charles, Illinois. Jeff is my husband’s best friend from college. He was our best man and is godfather to both Marissa and Connor. Jennifer is my best friend, whom I just adore… more on her tomorrow… Until then, Happy Birthday Blakey! We Love YOU!

In Blake’s honor, today we have a seven-layer dip that I’ve never seen a kid turn their nose up at. Use this recipe as a guide, you can add in or sub out so many great ingredients; such as shredded lettuce, roasted red pepper strips, chopped jalapenos, sliced black olives, and chopped tomatoes, etc.  In the picture below, I assembled the dish with a cut-away, so you can see the layers.  Then I just filled it all in after snapping the photo, don’t want you to think I served it this way! 🙂
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