A Taste of Heaven (A Holiday Special)

I can honestly say that nothing makes me quite as happy as having my house full of people while I’m cooking in the kitchen.

I will be a happy girl tomorrow.

Because I love to cook so much, I thought I’d give you guys the recipe for my no-fail, sure-to-please, so-easy-even-a-circus-chimp-could-make-it appetizer. So without further ado, here is KC’s Artichoke Heart Dip:

1 8oz tub of sour cream
1 brick of cream cheese
1 can of artichoke hearts (make sure they are NOT marinated)
1 teaspoon of freshly chopped garlic
1 cup of fresh grated parmesan cheese
1 tblspn of diced scallions
salt
pepper

Preheat oven to 350. In a large mixing bowl combine the sour cream and cream cheese. Mix together with a fork until it’s an even consistency. Stir in ½ cup of parmesan cheese to the mixture. Drain and chop the artichoke hearts and set aside. Dice the garlic and scallions. Gently fold in the artichoke hearts, garlic and scallions to the cream cheese and sour cream. Add a dash of salt and pepper. Using a spatula, put this mixture into a small baking dish. (I use an 8x8 stone dish.) Sprinkle the other ½ cup of parmesan on top and cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 20 minutes or until the sides are bubbling. Once the sides have started to bubble, remove the foil and turn on your broiler. Once the cheese on top turns golden brown, remove from the oven. Be careful to watch the dip when it’s under the broiler because it can burn if left too long.

Serve with sliced bagettes, sliced veggies or with Tostitos Scoops, which are fantastic because you can get a ton of the dip in one of those bad boys.

You can also use this to make stuffed mushrooms. Just take a small spoonful of the uncooked mixture and put it in a large mushroom cap and sprinkle each with some parmesan. If you’re really looking to up your caloric intake, you can add fresh bacon bits to the mixture before you stuff the caps.

Faking modesty isn’t really my thing so I’m just gonna go ahead and brag my ass off about both of these appetizers. I promise that people will love it! I probably make this dip about 10 times a year for different events and people always ask for the recipe. I’ll be making the stuffed mushrooms tomorrow for football watching munchies so if you’re in the Denver metro area, stop by!

I wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving – may it be filled with family, friends, food, football and fun!