Tight Ends and Tasty Things

In honor of the Patriots making the playoffs and their crazy win against Baltimore that I'm still having a heart attack over- it's game day food! I'm not sure what was more exciting- the Brady/Edelman/Amendola play or Gronk almost losing his pants! Jokes aside, we came from behind not once, but twice, and the game went until the very last second... or 14 seconds? However you want to look at it, it was a nail biter!  

This is usually one of the busiest times for those poor pizza delivery folk. Solution? Make some good food yourself! The possibilities are endless with different foods you can whip up and show off to your friends- today I opted for some spinach artichoke dip. I've never made it before and I was having a hankering for that hot, gooey, delicious dip! As I just said though, I had no idea what I was doing. So after doing some research I came up with my own concoction. It was amazing by the way.

-1/3 cup shredded Asiago cheese
-1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
-1/3 cup shredded Romano cheese
-8-10 artichoke hearts
-1 box frozen spinach 
-1/3 cup mayonnaise
-8oz room temperature cream cheese 
-1 tbs garlic powder
-1 tbs onion powder
-Salt and pepper to taste

1. Take out your cream cheese at least a half hour prior to making this- it will make things A LOT easier later on when mixing.
2. Preheat your oven to 350F.
3. Fully thaw and drain the spinach. Much like you try your hardest to squeeze into that favorite dress of yours- make the effort and be sure to squeeze all the water out of that spinach! 
4. Chop the artichoke hearts as small or as large as you'd like.
5. In a medium mixing bowl combine all ingredients (leave a little cheese for the top)- be sure everything is very well mixed, you want goodness in every bite!
6. Lightly spray the bottom and sides of a 9x11 baking dish.
7. Pour the dip into the dish in an even layer.
8. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top for a golden crust- YUM.
9. When your oven comes to temperature, slide that dish right in there until the top is golden and the sides are bubbling- mine took about 10 minutes.
-So now your done... I know it's tempting, but please, wait until this cools a bit before digging in. Trust me, it's not pretty. Unlike myself, show some self control will ya?

Since this is a dip, you can stick things in it! A chip, bread, your fork... For this one I got a nice loaf of Italian bread, drizzled with some olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder and stuck it under a low broiler for a couple minutes. Yes, mine were a bit burnt, I must have been too busy trying to gather the skin from my tongue that I burnt off when digging into this bad boy right out of the oven. But doesn't like a little burnt toast? No big deal. Plus, you want the dipper to  be a bit crunchy so it can stand up to the dish, so it's a win!

*Warning* Because of the cheese combo used, this dish has quite the offending smell, but I promise it tastes a million times better than it smells! Just keep that in mind when you're stressing out about how the hot guy you invited to your party is wondering where the smell of dirty feet is coming from. 

                                                                        

Now I'll have to figure out something to make for next week, because Sunday it's onto Indy- bring it on you horses! I have to prepare my eyes for all the beautiful men that will be running around on my TV and I have to prepare my stomach for something else equally yummy : )

-Meaghan