Sunday, December 6, 2009

Popeye says eat your spinach!

And trust me, once you give this recipe a whirl, you'll gobble it right up! It's such an easy recipe to put together that it will absolutely be a staple in our home for party food.

I found this recipe on AllRecipes.com and adapted it slightly. I changed up the amount of mayonnaise and added in a block of cream cheese for some added texture and it worked beautifully! I also upped the amount of spinach to ensure that Popeye would be satisfied with the amount of spinach in each bite!

I served my dip with a crudite of veggies and some butter crackers and it was devoured! If you're not an onion fan, you may not dig this dip, as you do use leek soup mix. Other than that, it's a hit from start to finish!

Enjoy.

Spinach Dip

009

Ingredients

3/4 cup mayonaise

16 ounces sour cream

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 package dry leek soup mix

4 ounce can water chestnuts, drained and rough chopped

10 ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

Directions

In a medium bowl, mix together mayonnaise, sour cream, cream cheese, dry leek soup mix, water chestnuts and spinach.

Chill in the refrigerator overnight and serve the next day in a bread bowl.

O-R-E-O... ooooh! Sing it with me...

Oreos may very well be one of my favorite cookies. So it was a total let down when my sister in law announced she was not making her usual Oreo truffles as her cookie swap cookie. I decided that it just isn't Christmas without the truffles, and I made a batch!

They are super easy to make, require little ingredients, and are always a hit!

Enjoy :)

Oreo Truffles

004

Ingredients

16 ounce package of Oreos

8 ounce block cream cheese, softened

16 ounces candy melts, in whatever flavor or color you want your shell to be

Directions

Place entire package of Oreos into food processor and grind until they are a fine crumb consistency.

Combine cream cheese and Oreo crumbs in a big mixing bowl until it has formed a dough (the oil in the cookies will give the dough a nice sheen and will prevent the cream cheese from sticking to anything but the Oreos).

Use a cookie scoop to scoop out bits of the dough (I used a 1 inch cookie scoop) and roll into balls.

Once your balls are formed, you can melt your chocolate and then dip them in the melted chocolate (follow the directions on your packaging for melting of the chocolate). When dipping, I use two oversized spoons to roll the balls back and forth in.

Place the balls on a wax paper lined cookie sheet and chill in the freezer.

Yield: 24-26 1-inch balls.

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Eggnog is the drink of the God's.

Well probably not, but I have such an affinity to it that I have to limit my consumption. I've resorted to using philosophy's Old Fashioned Eggnog 3 in 1 Body Wash to get more of a fix. But I digress...

Last night was my hubby's annual family cookie swap and being the newest member of their fam, I volunteered to host and provide the snacky bits. One of the hits of the spread was this easy peasy Eggnog Cake. As much as I enjoy a scratch cake, one that comes from a box saves time and with the week I'd had this week, I was looking for as many time saving things that I could.

This cake is super moist and dense all at the same time... the eggnog, rum, and nutmeg flavors work so beautifully together to make this cake a new favorite in our house for years to come!

Enjoy!

Eggnog Cake

055





Ingredients - Cake:

4 Tablespoons butter or margarine

1 packaged yellow cake mix

1 1/2 cups commercially prepared eggnog

2 eggs

1 teaspoon rum extract

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Ingredients - Glaze:
2c. powdered sugar
2T. melted butter
3T. eggnog
1t. vanilla

Directions - Cake:
In a large mixing bowl, beat the cake mix, eggnog, eggs, rum extract, nutmeg and melted butter on low speed for 30 seconds or just til moistened. Beat on medium for 2 minutes or until smooth. Pour into greased bundt pan.
Bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.
Poke holes in the hot cake and brush with half of the eggnog glaze.
Cool for 15 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. Drizzle with remaining glaze.

Directions - Glaze:
Combine the glaze ingredients in a bowl, whisk well. Add more eggnog if needed for a consistency that will drizzle from a spoon.