White Pizza Cheese Dip

DIPS. Everyone loves a good dip. And if you don't, we shouldn't be friends.

As easy as it is to run to the store and pick up a container of pre-made dip, trust me, homemade dips are SO much better. Don't get me wrong, I buy pre-made dips all the time, but making your own is so much better for a special occasion. 

When my friends and I had crafts day a few weeks ago, the fatty in my wanted to make something cheesy good. That something cheesy good was this dip. I had a hunch it would be a crowd pleaser.

The result? This dip was gone in about 30 seconds. Ok, maybe 60. 

This dip is easy make and serves about 6-8  people (or about 4 hungry hippos)

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 pink grape tomatoes, cut in half

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 teaspoon pepper

1 1/2 (12 ounces) blocks cream cheese, softened

8 ounces mozzarella cheese, freshly grated

8 ounces provolone cheese, freshly grated

1/4 cup finely grated parmesan cheese + more for garnish

4 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1/4 cup freshly chopped basil leaves

1 tablespoons freshly chopped thyme leaves

1/2 tablespoon freshly chopped oregano leaves

Crackers, chips or bread for dipping

Directions:

Preheat over to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil then place tomatoes on top. Sprinkle with olive oil and salt, then roast for 20-25 mins, until bursting. Set aside. 

While tomatoes are roasting, mix softened cream cheese with about 7 ounces each of provolone and 

mozzarella, then add the parmesan. Stir in fresh herbs, garlic and roasted tomatoes, mixing well to combine.

Transfer mixture to an over-safe baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining provolone and mozzarella. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until top is golden and bubbly. Serve immediately with your choice of crackers chips or bread. 

Eat & Enjoy!

'Cause I like CRAFTING

What is this you ask? It's 'String Art'. What is String Art you ask? Well, let me show you...

If you're intimidated, don't be. This project takes about 2 hours to complete, but it's not too difficult at all. Thanks to Amy (she and I will rule the world one day I'm sure), we decided to have a crafts day and make something decorative. Thank you Presidents Day for giving us the day off!

Our common #obsession with Pinterest led us to this magical piece of art. 

What you'll need for this project:

• A wooden board, about 12x15 (or any size you wish)

• One pack of small nails (I used gold ones)
• String, color of your choice (make sure you have a big enough roll of this so you don't run out)

• Spray paint

• State template 

• Hammer

• Pliers
• Good company (*optional*)

This is Amy (and Wilson)

A BIG thanks to Amy who supplied all of these items. She got everything from Michaels, except for the nails - those she got from OSH. 

So, invite a few friends over (boyfriends included - see above), make some white pizza cheese dip (blog to follow) and get ready to have some fun!

Let's get started.

1. Once you have all of your supplies, spray paint your wood first. I would recommend doing this outside,  cover your area and spray away. You should leave this out to dry for at least an hour. 

2. Once your board is completely dry, it's time to outline your state. After you've printed out your chosen state on a piece of paper, cut it out and place it on your board. With a pencil, outline the state onto your board. 

3. It's hammer time! This next part is a bit tedious, but not too hard. Actually, I thought it was quite relaxing. Insert one nail into your pliers, place it on the outline and hammer away. You should only hammer about halfway down. Once you've outlined   your entire state down with nails, choose a point (I chose to outline a heart in Southern California), and make a small shape with as many nails as you can. This point is where you will loop your string back and forth from. 

4. String it out. To start your string, tie a tight knot around whichever nail you're going to start and finish with. You can trim off the excess when you're all finished. Wrap your string back and forth from the state's edge, to your shape, and repeat about 10 times (this number varies on how many nails you use). 

***Note, make sure you unravel all of your string so it doesn't turn into this:

5. Once you make it all around the state, knot the string around the same nail you started with. AND NOW, YOU'RE DONE. Order some chinese take-out, play some pong or just admire your beautiful masterpiece- or, be like us and do it all. 

Potlucks & Dick-Cup

I had you at dick-cup, didn't I? Tisk, tisk...are potlucks not that exciting to you? Well, they certainly are for me - but let's be honest, they're extra special when dick-cup is involved.

Definition of Dick-Cup (DC): Dick-Cup is played with an infinite number of people, all of whom have three red solo cups each (must be setup like a pyramid - 2 cups in the back, 1 in the front). Sitting on the floor (in a cross-legged/yoga-like pose), an even number of people must face each other (i.e. 4 people must play against 4 other people). Similar to beer pong, one must throw (or bounce) their ping-pong ball into one of their opponents cups. **Note** The first cup only counts as a made shot if it is bounced in. The back two cups can be made in any fashion. Once an opposite player makes the ball into one of your cups, you must drink the contents before you continue playing. When all of your cups are gone - you are as well. Unlike beer pong, you can throw your ball to any opposite cup, as many times as you have balls. **Note** You're not allowed to block any incoming balls and they can bounce off of any body part to make it in and count. The team to make all their opponents cups first, wins!

*Source: the above definition was written by me with bits and pieces of information that I've gathered from various individuals.

So now you know what DC's all about. It's fun, easy to play and gets everyone in the room involved. (Shout out to Gerkin 2.0!)

POTLUCKS! Not only was DC played all night long last week, but delicious food items set the room up in smoke (literally!) Thank you Alex for hosting this awesome night. Below are some fab recipes that made their way into my tummy-tum-tum.

Mashed Potato Casserole 
(Alex Sale)

Ingredients

1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan (recommended: DiGiorno)
1 (3.6-ounce) packet instant roasted garlic mashed potatoes, made according to package directions and cooled completely
4 eggs, separated
1 tablespoon freshly snipped chives
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter bottom and sides of a 1 1/2-quart souffle dish. Add Parmesan to dish and roll dish to coat inside; set aside.

In medium bowl, stir to combine cooled potatoes, egg yolks, cream, chives, salt and pepper; set aside.

In another medium bowl, use an electric mixer to beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Careful not to overbeat.

Stir 1/3 of egg whites into potato mixture. Gently fold in remaining egg whites until just incorporated.

Transfer to prepared souffle dish and bake in preheated oven 60 to 65 minutes, or until puffy and golden brown.

Minced garlic to taste and graded cheddar cheese on top


Artichoke Spinach Dip
(Sarah Ullman)

Step 1: Go to Gelsons, get 2 containers of pre-made dip

Step 2: Add cheese and put in oven

Step 3: Take out of the oven when people arrive so they think you made it.

 

( ^ reason why I love Sarah) 

 

Homemade Tortilla Chips 

(Jason Eric Gordon)

Ingredients

Corn tortillas

Vegetable oil

Salt

Flat fry plan

 

Directions

 

Cut the tortillas into the shape you want, you can do triangles but strips tend to cook best. Put a layer of oil in the pan, not so much so that the strips would be swimming, but enough for them to soak. Heat the oil and when hot, put the strips in. When they start turning gold and begin to curl, pull them out and put them on a paper towel. Salt them right away, and give them a minute or two to harden. Then serve. For crisper chips leave them cooking in the oil longer.

 

And that's all folks! Hope you have a wonderful week :)

TJ's Pizza

PB Frosted Cupcakes

Cookie Butter Chocolate Cake Bars

COOKIE BUTTER. Ahh, what is cookie butter you ask? It's one of Trader Joe's newest found treasures. Very similar to the consistency of peanut butter, cookie butter is a delicious & irresistible spread that has the taste of gingerbread goodness.

Sitting in my pantry, lonely and desperately looking for something to stick to, the Cookie Butter found its way into a recipe I was whipping up for a work retreat. Never having baked with Cookie Butter before, I had high hopes for it - sure enough, it made my treats to die for.

These treats are simple to make and I guarantee that anyone that has a sweet tooth will undoubtedly love these bars (or you forever). 

Ready, set, BAKE!

Ingredients:

1 (18.25oz) package funfetti cake mix

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 cup cookie butter

2 eggs

1 (12 oz) package semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

2 teaspoons butter

2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Add the cake mix, melted butter, cookie butter and eggs into a bowl and mix together. It will be more cookie dough like than cake batter. Reserve about 1 1/2 cups of the mixture for crumbling on the top. Press the remaining mixture into a 9x13 pan.

Melt the chocolate chips, condensed milk and butter together on medium hear. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Pour this mixture across the top of the cookie butter mixture in your pan, speeding it around evenly. 

Crumble the 1 1/2 cups of reserved cookie butter mixture across the top of the chocolate. 

Bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool completely (overnight is best) before cutting into bars. 

Eat & Enjoy!

Mac & Cheese Bites

Summer. Is. Almost. Here.

Okay, not really...but, I'm hoping my positive thinking will make it get here quicker. We're already in April, which means let's get rid of those showers and start jumping into those flowers!

Don't judge me.

Anywho, besides the crazy wind yesterday (that happened to break the glass doors at my gym), it was a beautiful sunny day. What made the day even better was a bbq at my friends place (thanks Angie!) in Manhattan Beach. Gorgeous place, amazing location, delicious food.

I decided to make these things bites for the shindig...they were simple and oh so delicious! Definitely a great finger food to have at your next party.

Mac & Cheese Bites 

 (makes 12 bites/"muffins")

• 2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup milk
• 1 1/2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
• 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. In a small bowl, stir together the bread crumbs, olive oil and salt; set aside.
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the macaroni and cook for about 8 minutes, it should still be a little bit firm. Remove from the heat, drain and return to the pan; stir in the butter and egg until pasta is evenly coated. Reserve 1/2 cup of sharp Cheddar cheese and stir the remaining Cheddar cheese, milk and mozzarella cheese into the pasta. Spoon into the prepared muffin/cupcake tin. Sprinkle the reserved cheese and the bread crumb mixture over the tops.
3. Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the topping is nicely browned. Allow the muffins to cool for a few minutes before removing from the pan. This will allow the cheese to set and they will hold their muffin shape.

Thank you AllRecipes.com for this delicious recipe!

Eat & Enjoy!

7-Layer Dip

hi.

hello.

it's me, remember me? the brunette girl that sits in the corner - in front of the large window? keep thinking...there you go, it's SHABBY. 

I have a delicious and EASY recipe for you today. Drum roll...

7-Layer Dip...Mmmmm. 

This dip is a great crowd pleaser and super simple to whip up. Total prep time was only about 30 minutes and that's only because I wanted to make my layers perfect.

What are you waiting for? Make this NOW. 

Ingredients:

1 can (16 oz.) refried beans

2 medium avocados

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 1/4 cups sour cream

1 package taco season mix (I only used half)

1 small onion, chopped

3 tomatoes, chopped

1/2 cup sliced olives

16 oz. grated cheddar cheese

Tortilla chips

Directions:

Spread refried beans on a large plate (I used a 9" baking dish). Mash avocados in a separate bowl. Add lemon juice and pepper. Mix well and then spread over refried beans.

Combine sour cream and taco seasoning mix. Spread over refried bean mixture. Top with tomatoes, onions, olives and cheese. Serve with tortilla chips.

Eat & Enjoy!

One last thing.. I'd like to make a shout-out to my super friend Jacob Welshans; Mr. Sundays With Jake. Thank you for making my awesome new logo!! It's a work in progress, but it's looking fab so far!

Coachella FOOD

Woah. If you thought you were excited for the announcement of the Coachella lineup last week, just wait until the food lineup is released.

Being a Coachella virgin, I'm suuper excited to attend Indio this year. Florence? Radio Head? The Shins...David Guetta! The list goes on and on. Suffice it to say, it's going to be one heck of a FUN weekend.

What's even more exciting is the mass amount of food choices that will accompany the great music. At least - that's what I'm hoping for. I mean, there has to be some interesting and wacky food options there, right? If not, i'm banking on the campers to supply me with some smores.

If you're impatient like me, just look above to get a "glimpse" of what to expect this year...

Eeeee...can't wait!!