Buffalo Chicken Dip

This recipe comes from Eric's aunt Sally. Every year his family has a Christmas celebration/family reunion a few days after Christmas, and Eric's aunt always makes this amazing buffalo chicken dip (she also makes chocolate chip muffins to die for). Eric took some to work for the lunch and said all his co-workers were jealous.

Ingredients:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup buttermilk ranch dressing
1/2 cup Buffalo style hot sauce
1/3 cup mozzarella cheese
20 ounces canned chicken, drained

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In an 8x8-inch pan, combine the cream cheese, dressing, hot sauce, and cheese. Stir in the chicken.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until dip is thoroughly heated.

Serve with chips or crackers.

Enjoy!

~Krissy

More Appetizer Recipes:
Homemade Pepper Jack Cheez-its
Homemade Pita Chips 
Homemade Pizza Rolls
Hot Spinach and Artichoke Dip
Fried Dill Pickles

Cinnamon-Sugar Pastry with Pumpkin Dip

Pumpkin dip with cinnamon-sugar pastries

Eric's all-time favorite pie is pumpkin pie. This year he asked if I could make my pumpkin dip instead of pumpkin pie. That's how good this dip is.

I serve the dip on cinnamon-sugar pastry or ro-ro's as my maternal grandmother would say. She died when my mom was still growing up, but whenever my mom baked a pie from scratch, she would turn the dough scraps into what my grandmother coined as ro-ro's. For ro-ro's, cut the dough in strips, roll them into a log then dip them in a mix of cinnamon and sugar, and bake them. Instead of rolling the dough into bit-size logs, I use cookie cutters on the dough.

The pumpkin dip and sugar-cinnamon pastry make a great appetizer for an autumn dinner party or even Thanksgiving.

Pumpkin Dip

Pumpkin Dip

Ingredients:
8 ounce brick of cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 8-ounce tub cool whip, thawed

Beat the cream cheese in a bowl until it's creamy. Add sugar, pumpkin puree, and pumpkin pie spice and mix well. Gently fold in cool whip. Serve or cover and store in the refrigerator.

Cinnamon-sugar pastries

Cinnamon-Sugar Pastry

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup shortening
5 to 7 tablespoon cold water
cinnamon-sugar mix (recipe to follow)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix flour and salt in a large bowl. Cut in shortening using two knives until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add 1 tablespoon of water at a time until the mixture is moist and can be pressed into a ball. Shape into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and store in the refrigerator for 10 to 15 minutes.

On a lightly floured board or work surface, roll the dough out so it has a 1/8-inch thickness. Cut out shapes using small cookie cutters (I used leaf and acorn cookie cutters). Dredge the pastry shapes in cinnamon-sugar mix, shake off extra spices, and place on a cookie sheet. Cook for 5 to 8 minutes or until the bottoms are slightly golden. Serve warm with pumpkin dip.

Cinnamon-Sugar Recipe

Mix 1/2 cup granulated sugar with 1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon. Store in an air-tight container at room temperature.

Enjoy!

~Krissy

More Autumn Recipes:
Acorn Donuts 
Pumpkin Swirl Brownies 
Pumpkin Bread 
Pumpkin Penne Casserole 
Cinnamon-Sugar Pastry with Pumpkin Dip 

Cheesy Twisty Straws

In the middle of writing an article for work today (I work from home) I got a craving for cheesy twisty straws so I stopped half way through my article and went into the kitchen to make pastry dough. The pastry recipe is very simple and versatile. It works for pies, cheesy straws, and some other recipes I'm going to share with you in the coming weeks. The cheesy twisty straws themselves are great for party appetizers or just a yummy snack.

Cheesy Twisty Straws

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup shortening
5 to 7 tablespoon cold water
1/2 cup grated cheddar
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan, plus extra
McCormick Crusting Blends--Garlic, Lemon and Rosemary, optional

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix flour and salt in a large bowl. Cut in shortening using two knives until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add 1 tablespoon of water at a time until the mixture is moist and can be pressed into a ball. Shape into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and store in the refrigerator for 10 to 15 minutes.

On a lightly floured board or work surface, knead the cheddar and Parmesan into the dough. Roll the dough out so its about a quarter inch in thickness. Cut into strips that are about six inches long and a quarter inch wide. Twist two strips of dough together and place on a baking sheet. Or roll out ropes of dough and twist them together to make the straws. Sprinkle generously with extra Parmesan cheese and herbs. You can also replace the crusting blend with thyme, rosemary, or garlic powder. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until the bottoms are slightly golden brown. Serve warm.

Acorn Cheesy Pastries

If you are feeling fall inspired as I always am this time of year, instead of making cheesy twisty straws, roll out the dough and cut out acorns and leaves using cookie cutters.

Enjoy!

~Krissy

Hot Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Last summer when on vacation with Eric and his family, his mom bought some spinach and artichoke dip for us to try. I'd never had artichoke in any way, shape or form before. Man, was I missing out. This dip was AMAZING. So I had to find a way to make it on my own. Here it is. It's easy and made in the slow cooker.

Ingredients:
10 ounce package of frozen spinach, thawed, drained, and chopped
1 (14-ounce) can of artichoke hearts, drained and coarsely chopped
1 1/4 cup Alfredo sauce
1/2 mayo
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 cup mozzarella cheese

Directions: 
Mix all the ingredients together in the slow cooker. Turn the cooker on low and cook for 2 to 4 hours. Serve with baguette slices or crackers.

Enjoy! 

~Krissy