2 Sisters 2 Cities

Posted by Keelin Hollenbeck on February 11, 2014

Valentine’s Day is almost here and if your haven’t started thinking about gifts for your loved ones, I have just the idea for you! For my Christmas gift to my co-workers and friends this year, I made mason jars filled with homemade candy. I then covered the jar with muslin fabric (stenciled with the holiday greeting “cheers!”) and tied it on with red and green ribbon. Like most things around here, I finished it late the day before I was handing them out with no day light left. Therefore, I never came up with a good picture to share with you all.

After thinking about what I could make and write about on the blog for Valentine’s Day, I thought of re-creating the gift jars, except for a Valentine’s day gift. Mason jars are such a cute way to gift and are usually less than a dollar. The jars can be filled with whatever store-bought candy or homemade candy you would like to fill them with. For Christmas I filled them with crock pot candies and peanut brittle. The crock pot candy was so popular that I decided to fill my jars with them again because it was so simple to make. I had originally planned to make homemade peanut butter cups for my jars, but had run out of time and calories!

Muslin fabric is one of the cheapest kinds of fabric you can buy. I bought four yards at Christmas time and used a 50% off coupon so it ended up costing about four dollars! I will have enough fabric to make gift jars for every holiday for the rest of my life! As for ribbon, I always stock up on the 50 cent Offray ribbon at the craft stores in all the colors and different sizes. For 50 cents, you just can’t go wrong! I love combining different colors and sizes for a texture effect. Mason jars can be bought at the grocery store, Target or even Amazon for less than a dollar each.

If this project is last minute for you, think about using store-bought Valentine’s Day candies such as conversation hearts, M&M’s, Reese’s, Mini Snickers, and or Hershey’s Kisses. I also came up with a list of homemade candies that you could gift in these jars if you have more time (lucky!)

From our Blog:

From Other Blogs:

Homemade Peanut Butter Cups from Brown Eyed Baker
Valentine’s Day Homemade Gumdrops from Mom on Timeout
Peanut Butter Pretzel Truffles from Annie’s Eats
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles from Inside BruCrew Life

Materials:

Muslin Fabric
Fabric Scissors
Fabric Paint
Foam Brush
Heart Stencil (or card stock paper with a heart cut out of it)
Rubber Band
Colored Ribbons
Mason Jars, cleaned and dried
Tags

Cut muslin fabric in a 6-inch circle. Stencil the middle of fabric with heart by dabbing fabric paint with a foam brush. Make sure to put scrap paper underneath because some paint might bleed through.

Let the fabric dry.

Fill your jars with candy and close with lids.

Take the fabric circle on the top of the lid and place rubber band to hold it in place around the lid.

Cut about 2 feet of each ribbon color you intend to use. Double knot the ribbon on top of the rubber band and then carefully pull the rubber band out from below so that ribbon remains holding the fabric over lid.

String tag onto of the ribbons and then tie bow on top. Ta da! Happy Valentine’s Day!

Posted by Meaghan Barry on February 7, 2014

It’s officially one week until Valentine’s Day and I have got some serious planning to do! I have yet to make a single treat or card and our V’day menu remains a blank sheet of paper. I figured a Valentine’s Day round-up was in order to spark some serious inspiration!

Cutout Sugar Cookies with Buttercream Frosting

These heart-shaped Cutout Sugar Cookies with Buttercream Frosting have recently been our most popular post and for good reason! They are amazingly delicious cutout cookies without all the fuss that royal icing requires.

Valentine's Day M&M Cookies {from 2 Sisters 2 Cities}

I also love these these M&M cookies. While I made them for the first time last year for Valentine’s Day, I made them throughout the year with various colored M&Ms.

Golden-Oreo-Truffles

These Golden Oreo Truffles are only 5 ingredients and are perfectly easy to make for your sweetheart!

chocolate_covered_strawberries

It’s also a great time of year to make Chocolate-Covered Strawberries (or pretzels or bananas!)

3 Layer Brownies- chocolate chip cookies, Oreos, and brownies together in one bar!

Or you could package up these amazing Three Layer Brownies to give out as gifts for Valentine’s Day! The three layers include chocolate chip cookies, Oreos and brownies…wow!

Our Red Velvet Cupcakes were recently selected as part of the Blog Better Boston {hub}LINKS newsletter as part of their “Let’s Talk Love” round-up. Here were the other blog posts that were selected as part of this week’s theme:

hublinks-featured-blogger-LOVE

Looking to buy your sweetie a V-day gift? Mandy’s Money has a guide that covers gifts of various price points.
Who doesn’t love wedding photos? Lindsay’s Look takes us back to her wedding, 3 years ago.
DIY to your heart’s content with these Valentine’s Day DIYs (that aren’t cheesy) from Design Fixation.
Three words: Red. Velvet. Cupcakes. Two Sisters Two Cities has the recipe…and it involves cinnamon cream cheese icing.
This Valentine’s Day themed shoot from Stephanie Rita Photography is just too cute!
Want kissable lips? Cobbs Hill has the recipe for this two step process.
Inspired by grammar school valentines, Glitter Trim cooked up these adorable envelope cookies.
Wearing your heart on your sleeve is so last year! Style Tab recommends wearing it on your sunglasses instead.

Happy Valentine’s Day planning!

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Posted by Keelin Hollenbeck on February 6, 2014

Root Beer Floats

Do you remember the days of letter jackets, Sadie Hawkins dances, and hanging out at the soda shop after school? Yeah I don’t… I wasn’t born yet. I did have a poodle skirt and saddle shoes for a Halloween costume though. I am also pretty sure I kept wearing the saddle shoes well after Halloween because I thought I was “wicked” cool. (Wicked is a term used in the Syracuse and Boston area that in essence means really really or like totally… Yup that’s my technical definition.)

Vanilla Ice Cream for Float
Why am I referring to soda shops and saddle shoes? That’s because today’s recipe is the Root Beer Float, a favorite throwback recipe in my home.

Root Beer Poured into Float

My mom and I made some fantastic root beer floats when she came to visit in November. Due to Thanksgiving sides, Christmas cookies, and appetizer craziness around here, I hadn’t had a chance to post about them. While we were making the floats, we recalled how grandma called root beer floats, Brown Cows, and ones made with cola and vanilla ice cream, Black Cows. This sparked a conversation and some googling to see what other types of floats are out there.

There are a lot of types of soda floats! A Boston Cooler is when you made a float with ginger ale and vanilla ice cream (originated in Detroit not Boston- sorry M!) A Snow White is a when you make a float with lemon-lime soda and vanilla ice cream. Then, there is an Orange Cow with orange soda and Purple Cows with grape soda, both with vanilla ice cream. You can get crazy with some Beer floats or Shakin’ Jesse, which is Guinness and vanilla ice cream. Who knew you could make this many floats, but my favorite will always be the Root Beer Float!

Root Beer Floats

Author: 2 Sisters 2 Cities

Ingredients

Root Beer
Vanilla Ice Cream

Variations:

Cola and Vanilla Ice Cream
Orange Soda and Vanilla Ice Cream
Grape Soda and Vanilla Ice Cream
Root Beer and Chocolate Ice Cream
Lemon-Lime Soda and Vanilla Ice Cream
Ginger Ale and Vanilla Ice Cream

Instructions

In a glass add in two scoops of ice cream and then slowly pour in soda until glass is filled.
Serve with a straw and a spoon.

Posted by Meaghan Barry on February 1, 2014

Taco Dip

It’s been awhile since my last post and I decided to dive back into things with an easy recipe. I’m far too often guilty of trying to come up with new and creative (and often complicated) recipes whenever we have guests visit. However, with the birth of baby N, there are just not enough hours in the day to make every recipe that I would like to make. I’ve come to the realization that it’s perfectly acceptable most of the time to just stick with easy, classic recipes. This recipe for taco dip can be whipped up in no time at all! If you are on the search for an easy recipe to add to your menu for this Super Bowl Sunday, this one has your name all over it (in cheese!)

taco dip

K actually posted this recipe for taco dip back in 2011, but we are trying to redo any of our old posts that did not have pictures or just have really bad pictures. If you search through some of our archives, you can definitely see some of these photos for yourselves (I’m looking at you blurry iPhone photos of burnt lamb sliders…I’m not going to even link to it I’m so embarrassed.) One of the many side benefits of working on our blog is that it has definitely honed our photography skills. While I definitely still need to learn a lot more, blogging has definitely served as a catalyst to learn much more about photography.

taco dip

I accidentally bought the multi-grain version Tostitos scoops at the grocery store, however I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked them. Serve this dip with any type of tortilla chip you prefer. You could also mix up this recipe a bit by adding more layers…diced green chills, sliced black olives, or black beans would all be interesting options to add.

Taco Dip

Author: 2 Sisters 2 Cities

Prep time: 1 hour 10 mins

Total time: 1 hour 10 mins

Ingredients

8 oz. block of light cream cheese
16 oz. light sour cream
1 packet of taco seasoning (or try 2 tablespoons homemade taco seasoning)
1 jar of salsa
Shredded iceberg lettuce
2 small or 1 large tomatoes chopped
Shredded Mexican cheese
Tortilla chips

Instructions

Allow the cream cheese to come to room temperature. Once the cream cheese is softened, combine with sour cream and taco seasoning until smooth (you can mix it together by hand or mix with an electric stand mixer using the paddle attachment.) Spread the mixture out onto a 9×13-inch or an 8×10-inch pan evenly. Let it set by refrigerating it for an hour.
After an hour or right before you are ready to serve it, use a spatula to spread the jar of salsa evenly over the top of the cream cheese/ sour cream mixture. Next, put the shredded iceberg lettuce on top (you can use as much as you want, I put on about 1½-2 cups), followed by the chopped tomatoes. Finally you sprinkle the shredded cheese on top of everything until it is well covered (about 1½ cups).

Posted by Meaghan Barry on January 31, 2014

Disclosure: We are being compensated by GSUSA for our participation in this campaign as part of the Mom It Forward Blogger Network. All opinions are our own.

Blog Tour Image 2

While we have spent the past week focusing on this weekend’s Super Bowl Sunday, next weekend also has a fun event going on- it’s Girl Scout Cookie Weekend! Keelin and I both have fond memories of being Brownies as little girls. I had so much fun at our weekly meet-ups and loved earning badges throughout the year. I remember sitting in my bedroom admiring all the various badges on my sash. I also loved wearing my Brownie uniform to school each week with my Brownie friends.

One thing that many people associate with the Girl Scouts program are their cookies. This annual tradition is the largest fundraiser for local Girl Scout troops. In fact, after the costs of the cookies are paid for, all revenue stays with the local Girl Scout council. Cookie selling also helps girls with five life skills: goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills, and business ethics.

Fellow Massachusetts residents: more information on the Girl Scouts of Central and Western Massachusetts can be found on their website Time Well Spent. They will also be hosting Fork It Over, a competitive, culinary fundraising event featuring some of the region’s top chefs who create original appetizers and desserts using Girl Scout cookies and present their creations to the public and a distinguished panel of judges at Coral Seafood on Thursday, February 6 from 5 – 7 pm. More details and ticket information can be found on Time Well Spent website.

Starting February 7th through 9th, please support your neighborhood Girl Scout for National Girl Scout Cookie Weekend! You can also visit the National Girl Scout Cookie Weekend website to learn more about how to buy cookies. You can also follow Girl Scouts on Pinterest and Facebook for more cookie information!

Girl Scouts

What’s your favorite Girl Scout Cookie? For me, it has to be a toss-up between Thin Mints and Samoas…I can’t wait for my boxes to arrive!

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Posted by Keelin Hollenbeck on January 31, 2014

Southwest Wontons

Here we are- just a few days from Super Bowl Sunday! Are you ready for your party? What appetizer or snacks are you going to be bringing or sharing? Meagh and I have plenty of recipes to share. Have you tried our:

Just a few ideas in case you haven’t been thinking about it 24/7 like some of us (ehhmm.)

I saw this recipe for Southwest Wontons a year ago and have been dying to make it ever since! It’s taken me a year because I was looking for a good opportunity to post about them. I should have made them sooner because they are so good! I actually made them twice because my first photo shoot was too dark. These wontons could be good dipped in just sour cream, but I went ahead and created my own chipotle lime dipping sauce that pairs perfectly with the wontons (if I do say so myself!)

As I have said before, I hate frying food- not even for health reasons, but because I am clumsy and how it makes the whole house smell like fried food. I wasn’t offended by this frying though because I only used about 1/2 inch of oil in my pan. Each wonton only fries for about a minute a side too so it’s really quick! I made the filling and dip ahead, then put the wontons together and fried them right before we were ready to eat them.

Southwest Wontons with Chipotle Lime Dipping Sauce

Southwest Wontons

Ingredients

1 cup frozen corn, thawed
½ red pepper, seeded, ribbed and chopped
½ poblano pepper, seeded, ribbed and chopped
½ small yellow onion
1 block reduced fat cream cheese (8 oz), at room temperature
kosher salt, to taste
fresh cracked pepper, to taste
30-40 wonton wrappers
Canola oil, for frying

Instructions

In a medium bowl mix together the first 5 ingredients. Add in salt and pepper to taste.
Heat a skillet with about ½ inch of canola oil on medium-medium-high heat, depending on your stovetop (mine runs a bit slower to heat up then others).
Take wonton papers and spoon about 1-2 tsp of filling in the middle of the wonton. Moisten the edges of the wonton by running you finger lightly moistened by dipping in water along the edges of the wonton. Fold the wonton in half so that opposite corners are meeting and press edges together. Your first wonton with be the determent of how much filling you should be using, just enough to fill but not too much it is overflowing. Make sure wontons are sealed completely or they are going to splash oil all over the place!
Once all wontons are filled, line a couple plates with paper towels. To determine if the oil is ready to fry, stick the edge of a toothpick in the oil tosee if it sizzles. Fry the wonton in groups of 4-5 so they are not touching. Flip after about 1 minute. Cook other side for another minute until golden brown, remove from oil to paper towels. Repeat for remaining wontons.

Southwest Wontons and dip

Chipotle Lime Dipping Sauce

Ingredients

2 chipotle peppers in adobo, chopped
1 cup light sour cream
¼ cup light mayonnaise
Juice from 1 lime
¼ cup chopped cilantro

Instructions

In the bowl of a food processor add all the ingredients. Process for about 30-45 second until all ingredients are combined. Place dipping sauce in a airtight bowl and let chill at least 1 hour before serving.

Source- Wontons adapted from Shared Appetite and Chipotle Lime Dipping Sauce is a 2s2c original

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Posted by Keelin Hollenbeck on January 30, 2014

Hummus

When I first started out working in New York City, I lived in Hoboken, NJ with one of my college roommates. I had grown up on homemade hummus, but my food processor at the time was one of those mini-prep food processors handed down from my mom. Making hummus in this mini-prep was impossible and messy! We started to buy Sabra hummus and Stacy’s pita chips at the grocery store because of the ease and we soon became addicted! We would eat an entire container for dinner some nights.

Pita Chip Dipped in Hummus

Before Christmas, my boyfriend Matt returned from a business trip in Israel, he too has discovered the love for hummus and pita chips. When we went to visit my family, my mom had made homemade hummus and whole wheat pita chips. With a mouthful of hummus and pita chips Matt asked, “why haven’t you ever made this for me?” Truthfully, I forgotten about how delicious and easy to make homemade hummus was. Now that I had a large-sized food processor there were no more excuses.

I have been making a batch of hummus and pita chips every weekend since we have come home. The first batch I made was too garlicky, the second batch was a little too dry, but by the third batch I had perfected the recipe. Here it is to share!

Hummus and Whole Wheat Pita Chips

Hummus

Author: 2 Sisters 2 Cities

Ingredients

2 cloves of garlic, inside green stem removed*
4 tbsp. chickpea water (the liquid from the chickpea can)
2 cans of chickpeas, rinsed thoroughly
⅓ cup tahini
6 tbsp. lemon juice, freshly squeezed (about 2 lemons)
2 tsp. Kosher salt
10 splashed of hot sauce (I used Franks, so if using a more concentrated hot sauce start with less)

*When you slice a piece of garlic in half lengthwise, you will see a green stemlike thing. Pull it out and throw it away. I always thought that this was some sort of kitchen myth so I stopped doing it awhile ago. I learned from David Lebovitz taste test post that if you aren't cooking the garlic, the green germ inside makes your dish bitter. Since we aren't cooking this garlic get those green centers out. Batches 1 and 2 of my hummus had the centers in them ,and the third batch did not. I could taste the difference!

Instructions

Cut garlic in half to remove the green centers.
Next cut the cloves into even sized pieces and throw them into the bowl of your food processor. Turn the food processor on and break the garlic up into smaller pieces.
Add chickpeas, 2 tbsp of chick pea water, tahini, lemon juice, salt, and hot sauce. Process for about 30 seconds, add in additional 2 tbsp of water, food process again until desired thickness.

Hummus and Pita Chips

Whole Wheat Pita Chips

Author: 2 Sisters 2 Cities

Ingredients

Whole wheat pocket pitas
2-4 tbsp olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly cracked pepper

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with non-stick silicone mats or parchment paper.
With a bread or serrated knife take a pita and cut into 8 equal triangles (like a pizza.) Take each triangle and peel into two pieces (using pocket pitas). Repeat for all pitas.
Starting with 2 tbsp. of olive oil in a small bowl use a pastry brush to brush each side of the pita with olive oil. Use additional olive oil as needed.
Spread the pitas out on two baking sheets and sprinkle with kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper.
Bake 1 sheet at a time for 8 minutes, turning pitas halfway through and baking an additional 4-5 minutes until golden brown
Repeat for second batch, let pitas cool and store in a airtight container until serving.

Source- Both Hummus and Pitas are adapted from Ina Garten

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Posted by Keelin Hollenbeck on January 29, 2014

Pretzels Dogs

I am a huge fan of both hot dogs and homemade pretzels. Although I have never ordered a pretzel dog from Auntie Anne’s, they have always intrigued me. A football classic around this house is hot dogs cut into fourths and wrapped in crescent rolls, i.e. pigs in a blanket. When I saw recipes for pretzels dogs on a few blogs, I knew trying out mini pretzel dogs was in order.

Wrap Dough around Hot Dog

These mini pretzel dogs are made with Nathan’s Skinless Beef Franks wrapped in a perfect homemade pretzel. I prefer Nathan’s hot dogs because they taste great. Plus, they are from New York so it always makes me happy to see them over here in California. I added some cheese to the insides of half the pretzel dogs to test it out. The results were amazing! To do this, I made a lengthwise slit in the hot dog and folded some pieces of of deli American cheese in there.

Cheese Dogs

I had got the idea to add cheese from a dinner that we made on occasion growing up (and one that I still dream about!) My mom made us homemade meals practically every night so she absolutely hates when we rave about the “Crescent Roll hot dog” dinners we used to have. Her eyes are probably rolling right now as she reads this. A Crescent Roll Hot Dog is when you take a full hot dog, make a lengthwise slit in the middle, stuff a folded half piece of American cheese, roll it in crescent roll dough and bake it together. It’s very similar to how I make pigs in a blankets nowadays, except with a whole hot dog and the addition of cheese. What can I say- it was the 80’s and early 90’s!

Cheesy Mini Pretzel Dogs

These pretzel dogs were so good! I served them warm with deli mustard to dip. Although these are best fresh from the oven, I froze the other half of them for Superbowl Sunday and I am going to reheat them at 350 degrees F for 10-12 minutes until they are heated up again.

Mini Pretzels Dogs and Mustard

Mini Pretzel Dogs

Ingredients

For Pretzel Dough

1½ cups warm water (110-115 degrees F)
1 tbsp. granulated sugar
2¼ tsp. active dry yeast (or one packet)
22 oz. AP flour (about 4½ cups)
2 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. butter, melted and brought back to room temperature

For Boiling Mixture

14 cups of water
1 cup baking soda

For Assembly

8 pack of hot dogs, cut into fourths for 32 hot dog pieces
1 large egg beaten with 1 tsp. water
Pretzel salt or course salt
4 slices of American Cheese (optional)

Instructions

In the bowl of your mixer (with dough hook attachment) add warm water and sugar. Sprinkle the yeast on top of the the water and let sit for 5 minutes.
Once the yeast is foamy, add in the flour,salt, and melted butter. Mix on low until the dough is combined. Take the speed up to around medium and mix the dough until it is smooth and easily pulls away from the sides of the mixer bowl. Knead for an additional 4 minutes at medium speed.
Coat a separate large bowl with some canola oil. Take dough ball from mixer bowl, scraping dough off the sides of the bowl if needed and place in oiled bowl. Turn to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set bowl in a warm draft free place for 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper. If using parchment paper spray with cooking spray to prevent sticking.
Once the dough has risen, turn out on a lightly oiled surface. Divide dough evenly into 32 pieces. This is done easily if you divide dough in half and then divide each half into halves, continuing until there is 32 equal sized pieces.
Take one dough ball and roll out 12-18 inch piece rope. Take hot dog piece and starting at the end of the hot dog, wrap the dough around the hot dog so that it is completely covered in dough (like a cocoon or mummy). Make sure to seal ends and where ever the dough is touching so that it stays connected and completely sealed during baking. Unlike Pigs in a Blanket you are covering the entire hot dog with dough. Repeat for all dough and hot dog pieces.
*to add cheese- take hot dog pieces before wrapping and make a slit lengthwise making sure to not cut through the hot dog all they way. Take a piece of American cheese and divide it up into 8 pieces. Take one of the pieces and gently fold it so it is around the same size as the slit made in the hot dog. Stuff the cheese into the slit and then wrap hot dog piece with dough like above directions.
In a large pot add 14 cups of water and 1 cup of baking soda. Bring to a boil.
Once the water comes to a boil, gently drop a few wrapped hot dogs into the pot and let cook for 30 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon and line up on baking sheet, leaving about one inch in between each. Repeat for all wrapped hot dogs.
Take the egg beaten with 1 tsp. of water and gently brush boiled pretzels with the egg mixture. Top with course salt.
Bake each cookie sheet separately for about 12-14 minutes until golden brown. Let cool for a few minutes before serving.

Source- slightly adapted from Joy The Baker

Mini Pretzel Dogs

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Posted by Keelin Hollenbeck on January 23, 2014

Mexican Pinwheels Dipped in Salsa

With the Super Bowl in a couple of weeks and it being award season, it is most certainly appetizer time! We had a chance for both the San Francisco and the New England football teams to play in the Super Bowl for another Sister City Super Bowl showdown, but that didn’t happen this year.

If you thought my spinach artichoke dip was easy, wait until you try this one. My mom made these for us growing up a few times and when I moved off on my own, it was one of the recipes she typed up for me. I have a college binder with all the original recipes I used when I first started cooking on my own. Every time I would come home to visit my mom she would give me another collections of recipes that I loved growing up or that I needed to try. Luckily now that we all follow blogs and have similar cookbooks, we share recipes all the time. I still keep these recipes in the original binder even though I have switched over to fancier Martha Stewart binders for my other recipe collections.

Mexican Pinwheels

There are only five ingredients in this recipe: flour tortillas, cream cheese, a can of chopped black olives, a can of chopped green chiles, and chopped onion. Also, the only thing you really need to do is chop an onion because you can buy the olives and green chiles pre-chopped! Oh yeah, oh yeah! The perfect dipping sauce for this? Salsa! I basically live off of Tostitos Salsa in medium heat. I put it on everything from baked potatoes to scrambled egg whites. These probably would also pair well with sour cream or guacamole!

Pinwheels

What do you need to do to make them? Follow the easy recipe below!

Mexican Pinwheels

Ingredients

2 blocks of reduced-fat cream cheese, at room temperature
1- 4 oz. can of chopped green chilies, drained
1- 4 oz. can of chopped black olives, drained
½ onion, finely chopped
12-14 flour tortillas

Instructions

In a medium sized bowl, mix together cream cheese, green chilies, black olives, and onion. Stir it all together so that it is all mixed together and evenly distributed.
Take a pile of flour tortillas and place them between 2 paper towels. Microwave them for about 20 seconds, to soften them so they are easier to roll.
Take a tortillas and spread about 3-4 tbsp. of the cream cheese mixture on the tortillas. Roll the tortillas up like a jelly roll, tight enough so there isn't any gaps but not too right that you are squeezing the cream cheese out.
Once rolled set seam side down on some laid out plastic wrap. Continue for the rest of tortillas until you use up all of the filling. When done rolling the tortillas, tightly wrap up the rolls in the plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 2 hours or more.
Once chilled, take tortilla rolls out and slice them in ½-3/4 inch slices, tossing out the ends (or eating.) Continue with remaining tortillas.
Serve with salsa.

Looking for more game day recipes? Check out our 2013 Super Bowl Recipe Round-Up and the appetizer section of the 2S2C Recipe Index! We’ll also be sharing a few more favorite game day appetizer recipes over the next week!

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Posted by Keelin Hollenbeck on January 14, 2014

Spinach Artichoke Dip

It is football playoff season and you know what that means…appetizers! I have several great recipes for appetizers to share with you this month leading up to Super Bowl weekend. Matt and I have been toughing it out for you the last couple of weekends and have had a few meals of just appetizers so I could share these with you. It’s been real tough… you’re welcome! We are going to start this Superbowl party off with one of my all-time favorite dips, the spinach artichoke dip.

Chips and Spinach Dip

There was a time period that this was one of those appetizers I would always order off a restaurant’s menu. In college, two of our local bars had the most amazing spinach artichokes dips. They both had a cream cheese base with big chunks of artichoke hearts and not too much spinach. Served with either slices of toasted french bread or tortilla chips, I could not get enough of these dips!

I have played around with several recipes over the years trying to recreate the creaminess and thickness that the dip had from those bars. I think I have come really close with this recipe. I have brought this dip to several different parties and it is always gone within minutes.

Creamy Spinach Artichoke Dip

The best part about this dip (besides the dip itself!) is that it is so easy to put together and it can be done ahead of time. I am one of those people who goes frantic an hour before I am hosting a party so I have learned to serve things I can make ahead. This helps me actually enjoy the party I am throwing. It can be put together the day before and once it is constructed, you just cover the casserole dish with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator until you are ready to bake it.

When I am making the dip for just Matt and myself, I either make half the recipe or split the dip into two dishes and freeze one. The leftover dip can be reheated and enjoyed again. It is a very forgivable dish. Serve it with tortilla chips, toasted French bread slices, crostini, pita chips, and or veggies. Goooo football teams to be determined and even more so, bring on the appetizers!

Spinach Artichoke Dip

Ingredients

½ cup light sour cream
½ cup light mayonnaise
3 garlic cloves, minced
¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 -14 oz. can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1- 10 oz. package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry
2 -8 oz. packages ⅓ less fat cream cheese, at room temperature
2 cup part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded and divided
½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a large bowl combine sour cream, mayonnaise, garlic, pepper, artichokes, spinach, and cream cheese.
Add in 1½ cup of the shredded mozzarella and ¼ cup of the shredded Parmesan to the dip mixture.
Take dip mixture and spread out into an oven-safe 1½-quart casserole pan or baking dish.
Sprinkle with remained mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.
Bake for 30 minutes or until bubbly.
Serve with tortilla chips, toasted French bread slices, crostini, pita chips, and/or veggies.

Source– Adapted from Cooking Light

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