Party Foods #14 - Sausage Dip

     Back when my friend Amie Moran was getting married, the two of us sat down and went through all kinds of recipes for hors d' oeuvres and appetizers. That was the type of food they had decided they wanted at their wedding reception, but they most definitely did not want it to look like a high school graduation open house! Other considerations that came into play were, she wanted us to attend the ceremony, so a lot of last minute assembling was out of the question. How to get the most bang for our buck. While they were appetizer type foods, they actually also needed to be filling. We wanted a couple of things that were relatively 'new' at the time.
    We went through my personal recipe file, which was rather limited in that section at the time. We talked about things she had had elsewhere and had liked. And we went through my hanging "gonna try this someday" file.
    That last file gave us some good ideas. Turned out that I had several similar recipes for certain dishes. We went over the variations, and came up with our own version. Yes, we were going to be brave and experiment with them on her close family and friends.
    The cool part was, that both of the things we came up with our own recipes for, were total hits!!! :-D  One of them was the bruschetta, which I've previously posted about.
    The other, was a sausage dip. Originally, we had planned to serve it in phyllo dough cups. I had never worked with the stuff before. And my attempts at making the cups did not produce something I wanted to serve at her reception! Bother! So instead, Brian headed to GFS and picked up box's of several types of crackers, and we gave her back the phyllo dough. The irony was, the crackers cost more than the dough had. We charged her nothing. Wasn't her fault I couldn't get a grip on what I had promised to make for her.
    For her wedding, we served two varieties of the dip - 'normal' and 'zesty hot'. I only made the 'normal' variety for Christmas.

    This week I have been doing the postings about the snackie foods we made for Christmas, due to how how it is New Years and lots of people either attend parties which they are suppose to take "snackie foods" to, or, they make that type of foods to eat while watching the football game on New Years Day. The foods we made were: Fresh Vegetable Pizza, Bacon Cheese Ball, Spinach dip with Pumpernickel, Shrimp Dip, "Italian" Meatballs in Parmesan Sauce and Sausage Dip. This is the last posting about those items. At the bottom of this posting, you will find links to the other "party type foods" I have previously posted about.

    First step - I browned up the sausage in my greased electric skillet, breaking the meat into very small pieces.
   You can use a skillet on the stove if you prefer to.

      (this time I had done up two packages of the sausage)

   When thourally browned, dump onto a cookie sheet lined with three (3) layers of paper towel.   

    Re grease the skillet and melt the butter. Add the green onions.

    Cook till the onions are quite tender.
   
   Add the mushrooms and salt and pepper.

    Add the cream cheese,

     (confession time here - I hadn't correctly calculated how much cream cheese I was going to need for everything, so I only had 8 oz. for this. Which is the amount for a single recipe. But I was making a double recipe. And had thus used double the amount of the other ingredients. It turned out "okay". Maybe "good" even. But not "awesome", like it does when you use the right amounts of everything.. .  Live and learn!)

    breaking it up and smooshing it down. When everything is quite blended

     add the already cooked sausage.

     Sprinkle that with the flour.

     then blend everything together thourally.

     I put it into a crock-pot, set on low.

   
     If it thickens up too much, you can add a little bit of milk, blend it in, and add a bit more if needed. ( <--- BONUS TIP there) Then enjoy!

    This is great served with crackers! I'm betting it would also be good served in a pastry shell. o;-p

    And now for the actual recipe -
       Sausage Dip
          recipe by Amie Moran and Cheryl B.

  (Single batch)
   1 lb. Bob Evans(R) roll Sausage
        either 'regular' or the 'spicy hot' variety - your choice
   2 Tablespoons Butter
   6 Green Onion stems, cut fine
   1 small can Mushrooms, drained and chopped fine
   1/2 teaspoon Salt
   1/2 teaspoon Pepper
    8 oz. Cream Cheese
    4 Tablespoons Flour

   Brown sausage in greased electric skillet, breaking meat into very small pieces. When thourally browned, dump onto a cookie sheet lined with three (3) layers of paper towel.
   Re-grease skillet and melt butter. Add green onion stems and cook till quite tender. Add mushrooms, salt and pepper. Add cream cheese, breakingit up and smooshing it down. When everything is quite blended, add already cooked sausage. Sprinkle with flour and then blend everything together thourally.

   Good served with crackers!
   Could be served in phyllo dough cups.
  
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You might also enjoy these postings: 

~ "Party Foods" -
   - #1 - Bean Salsa (also known as "Rugby dip")
   - #2 - 'Polish roses' and Pickle Wraps
   - #3 - Garden Fresh Bruschette
   - #4 - Deviled Eggs
   - #5 - Chocolate Covered Strawberries
   - #6 - Improvised Chili Based Dip Recipe 
   - #7 - Bacon Cheese Ball
   - #8 - My version of Fruit Pizzas
   - #9 - Brownie Cups
   - #10 - My version of Veggie Pizza
   - #11 - My rendition of Spinach Dip   - #12 - Shrimp Dip
   - #13 - 'Italian' Meatballs in Parmesan Sauce

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I 'plan' on linking this particular posting up to:

  ~ "Simply Delish Sunday('s)", are hosted by KB and Whitesnakes, at 'KB and Whitesnakes Home' (http://kbandwhitesnakeshome.blogspot.com)
 ~ "Creative Monday's", are hosted by Clair Justine, at 'Clairejustineoxox' (http://clairejustineoxox.blogspot.com/), and Judy, at 'Judy-H-JS Thoughts' (http://judyh-jsthoughts.blogspot.com/)
  ~ "Homemaker Mondays ... Yours, Mine & Ours", are hosted by Jen, at '11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven'  (http://rtheyallyours.blogspot.com/).
  ~ "Making Your Home Sing Monday('s)", are hosted by Nan, at 'Mom's the Word (I love to hear)'  (http://momstheword--livingforhim.blogspot.com/).
  ~  "Kitchen Tip Tuesday('s)", hosted by Tammy, at 'Tammy's Recipes'  (http://www.tammysrecipes.com/). 
 ~ "Tuesday's Tasty Tidbits", hosted by Susan, at 'Permanent Posies / Creative Chaos' (http://permanentposies.com/)
 ~ "Totally Tasty Tuesdays", are hosted by Mandy, at 'Mandy's Recipe Box' (http://www.mandysrecipebox.blogspot.com/).
  ~ "Tempt My Tummy Tuesday('s)", are hosted by Lisa, at 'Blessed with Grace'  (http://www.blessedwithgrace.net/).
  ~ "Foodie Wednesday('s)", are hosted by Bibi, at 'Daily Organized Chaos' (http://www.dailyorganizedchaos.com/). 
   ~ "These Chicks Cooked Link Party", hosted by Katie L, at 'This Chick Cooks' (http://thischickcooks.blogspot.com)
 ~ "Full Plate Thursday('s)", are hosted by Miz Helen, at 'Miz Helen's Country Cottage' (http://mizhelenscountrycottage.blogspot.com/).   ~ "Foodie Friday('s)", are hosted by "Gollum" (aka: Michael), at 'Designs by Gollum' (http://designsbygollum.blogspot.com/)     
 
LATE add on - 1/25/12 - 
Terri, at 'The Freshman Cook', "Super Bowl Eats and Treats Party!!"
(http://www.thefreshmancook.blogspot.com/2012/01/super-bowl-eats-treats-blog-party.html)

Date night last night ;->

   Brian and I went out on a date last night. Just the two of us! We haven't done that nearly enough lately! After dinner at Logan's(R), we went shopping at Kohl's(R).
   While my side of the family no longer does gift exchanging, and we draw names with our own kids (although everybody gets a gift for the grand children, and will till they reach the age of 18), we do still get our kids "something", as well as fill their stockings. And we do gifts for/with Brian's side of the family. Over the years, I have had great success at finding lots of "perfect gifts", on great sale, at Kohl's(R), close to Christmas. So unless I have something else explicitly in mind, I always just start there.
    Kohl's has this Christmas program, where you earn 'in store credit', based on the amount you spend. The only catch is, that you have to use it between the day after Christmas and New Year's Eve.
    Therefore, we headed back there last evening, to spend those 'free' dollars. We had earned enough, that combined with them being on sale, we were able to get me new shoes (not sure how old the ones I had been wearing were - 3, 4 years?).

   We also picked up a couple of birthday cards (Brian had started looking at them, while I went to the bathroom...). And one item each for our daughter-in-loves. For next Christmas.  No Kayla, you can't just see it now. o;-p    We then hit three other places for other things. All in all, a nice low key evening. Like I said, "Nice!"

   Today we're doing this and that. Tomorrow evening we get to pick our grand kids back up from their mom. :-D  Aw the bliss of their noisiness again! ;-p

   [ For The Record - This was in no way a paid advertisement for any of the listed places or products!!! None of them have any clue I wrote any of this, and probably never will.]

Party foods #13 'Italian' Meatballs in Parmesan Sauce

    Right off the bat, I think that I should make it clear that this is not a "true" 'Italian' recipe for meatballs. I have a feeling that if my Uncle Ernie, who is a 'true' Italian (he married into the family), were to read this recipe, he might shake his head and chuckle over it being called such. But he'd still love me. ;->.
   Why then did I dub it such? I took a recipe for "Cocktail Meatballs" that I got off of the wife of one of Brian's co-workers, many jobs ago. Combined it with a recipe I'd clipped out of some magazine, at some point in time. Added in my imagination. And wrote down what I did as I went along. All the while "hoping" they would turn out!
    See, I have had very few successes when attempting to make meatballs over the years. But I have been ever so determined to conquer doing so!! Why? Because I can barely stand the 'store bought' variety, and most everybody likes meatballs.
    Why don't I like the 'store bought' ones? The fact of how many we both served and ate over our years of working for caterers, probably does have something to do with it. But the biggest reason really, is that I just don't like the taste of the meatballs themselves. Yes, you can put different types of sauces on them. (Trust me, I've had them with LOTS of different ones on them!) But the sauce never penetrates the whole meatball. So you still end up, in the middle of them, tasting only the meatball itself.
    But back to why I dubbed them 'Italian' Meatballs. I had to name them something. And as I read down the list of what I had added, the majority of the items were ingredients that we use in America's renditions of 'Italian' cooking. Make sense?  It did to me.

   This week I have been doing the postings about the snackie foods we made for Christmas, due to how how this weekend is New Years and lots of people either attend parties which they are suppose to take "snackie foods" to, or, they make that type of foods to eat while watching the football game on New Years Day. The foods we made were: Fresh Vegetable Pizza, Bacon Cheese Ball, Spinach dip with Pumpernickel, Shrimp Dip, "Italian" Meatballs in Parmesan Sauce and Sausage Dip.
    Today I am posting the recipe for the Meatballs. At the bottom of this posting, you will find links to the other "party type foods" I have previously posted about. You'll have to come back and visit us again, to find the recipe for the other item. ;->

    I used three of our tubes of Bison meat, as well as one tube of Meijer (R) brand sausage.

     Blended them together, using a pastry blender.

    Add 2 cups fine bread crumbs.

     2/3rds cup of (not fresh) parsley (only because I didn't have fresh ;-p)

     1/3 cup garlic powder, 1/4 cup Italian Seasoning and 1 teaspoon black pepper

     top with 1 cup of fresh grated Parmesan Cheese (store bought - NOT in a green jar)

     Add four (4) large sized eggs. (remember to take a picture of them if you plan on doing your own posting. 8-/) Why eggs?  They help bind / hold everything together. Why did I use four? One for each tube of meat. ;-p  ( <--- BONUS TIPS there)

   Blend everything together, at first using the pastry blender, then switching and using your sprayed hands.

    Spray your cookie scooper, so that you really do make all of your meatballs the same size. Then roll it into better balls (you don't want them flat on one side).

      This recipe made six (6) dozen (= 72) meatballs.

     Bake in sprayed pans at 350o for 40 minutes.

     Place pans up on wire cooling racks and let cool for 20 minutes.

    Meanwhile, start making your sauce.
    Place 1 cup butter in a large sprayed sauce pan (or small dutch oven).

      When enough of the butter is melted to fully cover the bottom of your pan, dump in 2 cups chopped onion.

     ( as you can see from the picture, we used a mixture of Spanish Onion and the white ends of Green Onions.)

      Simmer on low until the onions turn clear, stirring occasionally.
     Add 2 cups of the fresh grated real Parmesan cheese, and blend everything together.

     Dump in 3 cups regular flour.

       Blend it all of the way into the butter mixture, until it's a lumpy, blurry (sorry!) mess.

       Add 1/3 of a gallon (in other words, I forgot to measure) of whole milk.

      Stir constantly over medium high heat, until it bubbles and thickens.

      Turn burner off!  (No, I didn't forget. Just don't want you to either.)

     Put one layer of the cooled meatballs into the sprayed liner of your crock-pot.

      Keep adding layers till you've got all of your meatballs in. (You get far more meatballs in by layering them in, then you do by just dumping them in. < --- BONUS TIP there)

       If this took you too long and your sauce got a top layer on top of it, use a whisk to get everything smooth again. ( <-- 'Nother BONUS TIP ;->)

      Pour the sauce in on the meatballs. Use a long handle spoon, run it down the sides all around the crockpot, helping the sauce sink in further. This in turn will help you add more of the sauce to the pot. You might be able to add all of your sauce. You might not.

    Cook on high for about a half hour to help get the meatballs heated through again, then cook on low for a couple of hours.

     Yes, this could easily be made up a couple of days ahead of time and stored in your fridge. Just let the crock itself loose a lot of it's chill, before putting it in it's base and plugging it in. 

    And now for the actual recipe -
       'Italian'  Meatballs in Parmesan Sauce
               recipe by Cheryl B.     

     Meatballs:
     3 pkgs. Bison Meat
     1 (16 oz) pkg Ground Sausage
     2 cups fine Bread Crumbs
     2/3 cup Parsley Flakes
     1/3 cup Garlic Powder
     1/4 cup Italian Seasoning
     1 teaspoon ground Black Pepper
     1 cup shredded fresh Parmesan Cheese
     4 large Eggs

     Blend the meats together. Dump on the rest of the ingredients in order given, and blend everything together thourally. Use a sprayed cookie scoop and then your hands to from the meatballs. Place them in greased baking pans.
     Bake at 350o for 40 minutes.
     Cool in the pans on wire racks.

    Sauce:
    1 cup Butter
    2 cups finely chopped Onion
    2 cups shredded fresh Parmesan Cheese
    3 cups Flour
    1/3 gallon whole White Milk

    Put the butter in a large, sprayed, sauce pan. When melted butter covers the bottom of your pan, dump in the chopped onion. Simmer over med. high heat until onions turn clear, stirring occasionally.  Then add the Parmesan Cheese and stir it into the butter mixture.  Dump in the flour and stir till it's all blended in. Pour in the milk, stirring constantly until mixture bubbles and thickens.

    Layer by layer place meatballs into sprayed liner of crockpot. Pour the sauce over the top, helping it in, by running a long handled spoon around the sides. Place cover on top. Heat on high for a half hour, then on low for a few hours.

   This could easily be made up a couple of days ahead of time and stored in your fridge. Just let the crock itself loose a lot of it's chill, before putting it in it's base and plugging it in. 

~ ~ ;-> ~ ~ ;-> ~ ~ ;-> ~ ~ ;-> ~ ~ ;-> ~ ~ ;-> ~ ~ ;-> ~ ~ ;->
You might also enjoy these postings:

~ "Party Foods" -
   - #1 - Bean Salsa (also known as "Rugby dip")
   - #2 - 'Polish roses' and Pickle Wraps
   - #3 - Garden Fresh Bruschette
   - #4 - Deviled Eggs
   - #5 - Chocolate Covered Strawberries
   - #6 - Improvised Chili Based Dip Recipe 
   - #7 - Bacon Cheese Ball
   - #8 - My version of Fruit Pizzas
   - #9 - Brownie Cups
   - #10 - My version of Veggie Pizza
   - #11 - My rendition of Spinach Dip
   - #12 - Shrimp Dip

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I 'plan' on linking this particular posting up to:

  ~ "Foodie Friday('s)", are hosted by "Gollum" (aka: Michael), at 'Designs by Gollum' (http://designsbygollum.blogspot.com/)     
  ~ "Simply Delish Sunday('s)", are hosted by KB and Whitesnakes, at 'KB and Whitesnakes Home' (http://kbandwhitesnakeshome.blogspot.com)
 ~ "Creative Monday's", are hosted by Clair Justine, at 'Clairejustineoxox' (http://clairejustineoxox.blogspot.com/), and Judy, at 'Judy-H-JS Thoughts' (http://judyh-jsthoughts.blogspot.com/)
  ~ "Homemaker Mondays ... Yours, Mine & Ours", are hosted by Jen, at '11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven'  (http://rtheyallyours.blogspot.com/).
  ~ "Making Your Home Sing Monday('s)", are hosted by Nan, at 'Mom's the Word (I love to hear)'  (http://momstheword--livingforhim.blogspot.com/).
  ~  "Kitchen Tip Tuesday('s)", hosted by Tammy, at 'Tammy's Recipes'  (http://www.tammysrecipes.com/).
 ~ "Tuesday's Tasty Tidbits", hosted by Susan, at 'Permanent Posies / Creative Chaos' (http://permanentposies.com/)
 ~ "Totally Tasty Tuesdays", are hosted by Mandy, at 'Mandy's Recipe Box' (http://www.mandysrecipebox.blogspot.com/).
  ~ "Tempt My Tummy Tuesday('s)", are hosted by Lisa, at 'Blessed with Grace'  (http://www.blessedwithgrace.net/).
    ~ "Foodie Wednesday('s)", are hosted by Bibi, at 'Daily Organized Chaos' (http://www.dailyorganizedchaos.com/). 
   ~ "These Chicks Cooked Link Party", hosted by Katie L, at 'This Chick Cooks' (http://thischickcooks.blogspot.com)
 ~ "Full Plate Thursday('s)", are hosted by Miz Helen, at 'Miz Helen's Country Cottage' (http://mizhelenscountrycottage.blogspot.com/). 

Oops, wrong word... chuckle, chuckle...

    The task I tackled and accomplished yesterday afternoon, effected my vertigo far greater than I had predicted it would. That's life. But that's also why I headed up to bed quite early last evening. Sometimes just laying still on my right side helps.
    Brian leaned over to kiss the still awake me, after he came up a couple of hours later.
    "Are you wearing lip gloss?" I asked.
    In a comical, but highly offended tone, he replied, "I do not wear lip gloss!"
    "Chuckle, chuckle, chuckle"
    He snorted and moved further away from me.
    "(Chuckle) Did you put on your Vaseline lip gel before coming to bed?"
    "THAT, I did do"
    I kept chuckling.... he harrumphed me. More chuckling....

    [I prefer regular 'flavor' Chap Stick (R). He, on the other hand, prefers Vaseline's lip therapy (R). ]

Party foods #12 - Shrimp Dip

    The year before Brian and I were married, my family went up to Sutton's Bay, Michigan on vacation. (A beautiful area!!). My parents had rented a cabin and is often the case, we became 'friends' with the people staying in a nearby cabin. At one point, we were getting together and of course we were going to eat. Seeings how I had my own 'wheels' (a red 1976 Buick Skyhawk), I was sent into town to pick up a few ingredients (a task I enjoyed doing!! o;-p) The list given to me by the lady from the neighboring cottage, included canned shrimp. I was happy to pick it up, just had plans on not eating even a bite of the stuff!
   See, I do NOT like any type of "sea food". Not fresh. Not canned. Not frozen. I do not like it 'Sam I am!!' ;-p  My husband does. Most of my close girl friends do. But I do not!
   At least usually. There have been two exceptions. One of them being the Shrimp dip. Figures, eh?
   The irony is, I also as a rule do not care for Triscuit (R) crackers. Which is what the lady served the shrimp dip with. But somehow, some way, which I have yet to figure out, the combination of the two was great!!! To the point that I always wished I had gotten the recipe from her!
    Then one time (s-e-v-r-a-l years ago now), as I was browsing through my sisters copy of a little cookbook made up by Better Homes and Gardens Realtors, There was the recipe! I knew it was the same, because I clearly remembered what all (or at lest the main ingredients) the lady had put in hers.
    The first time I made it for Brian, he was quite amazed I liked it, due to how often he had tried to get me to like "sea food" products. Maybe I like it because the shrimp is diced up very fine and thus blend ever so much better with the other ingredients. I still do not know 'the why' for sure.

     Like I've mentioned the last two days, this week I am doing the postings about the snackie foods we made for Christmas, due to how how next weekend is New Years and lots of people either attend parties which they are suppose to take "snackie foods" to, or, they make that type of foods to eat while watching the football game on New Years Day. The foods we made were: Fresh Vegetable Pizza, Bacon Cheese Ball, Spinach dip with Pumpernickel, Shrimp Dip, "Italian" Meatballs in Parmesan Sauce and Sausage Dip.
    Today I am posting the recipe for the Shrimp Dip. At the bottom of this posting, you will find links to the other "party type foods" I have previously posted about. You'll have to come back and visit us again, to find the recipes for the other items. ;->

     First step is to soften even further, your room temp cream cheese. Short stints in the microwave work great for this! ( <-- BONUS TIP there)

     Get it nice and smooth.

     Blend in the mayo.

     Add the finely chopped celery.

     The finely chopped onions.

       (we were making a double recipe)

    The miniature shrimp, diced small
       [we used frozen shrimp, thawed and drained]

        (I always dice it much smaller than this! But Brian did the dicing, and when he asked me if it was chopped down enough, I said sure, seeings how I knew that would make me leave more of it for him o;->)

     Add the lemon juice

     Blend everything together thourally and chill.

    And now for the actual recipe -
          Shrimp Dip
              from the lady at the rented cabins, as well as the BH&G Realtors Cookbook

    8 oz. of Cream Cheese
    1/2 cup Mayo
    1/2 cup finely diced Celery
    2 Tablespoons dried onion
          - OR - 1/4 cup fresh onion, chopped very fine
    1 can miniature shrimp, drained, and chopped small
         - OR - frozen shrimp, thawed, drained, and finely chopped
    1 1/2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice

    Get your cream cheese good and soft, and 'blend' it till smooth. Blend in the mayo, then the diced celery, the onion, the chopped shrimp and the lemon juice.
     Chill!
    Serve with crackers, especially the Triscuit ones.  ;->

~ ~ ;-> ~ ~ ;-> ~ ~ ;-> ~ ~ ;-> ~ ~ ;-> ~ ~ ;-> ~ ~ ;-> ~ ~ ;->
You might also enjoy these postings:

~ "Party Foods" -
   - #1 - Bean Salsa (also known as "Rugby dip")
   - #2 - 'Polish roses' and Pickle Wraps
   - #3 - Garden Fresh Bruschette
   - #4 - Deviled Eggs
   - #5 - Chocolate Covered Strawberries
   - #6 - Improvised Chili Based Dip Recipe 
   - #7 - Bacon Cheese Ball
   - #8 - My version of Fruit Pizzas
   - #9 - Brownie Cups
   - #10 - My version of Veggie Pizza
   - #11 - My rendition of Spinach Dip

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I 'plan' on linking this particular posting up to:

 ~ "Full Plate Thursday('s)", are hosted by Miz Helen, at 'Miz Helen's Country Cottage' (http://mizhelenscountrycottage.blogspot.com/).  
  ~ "Foodie Friday('s)", are hosted by "Gollum" (aka: Michael), at 'Designs by Gollum' (http://designsbygollum.blogspot.com/)     
  ~ "Simply Delish Sunday('s)", are hosted by KB and Whitesnakes, at 'KB and Whitesnakes Home' (http://kbandwhitesnakeshome.blogspot.com)
  ~ "Homemaker Mondays ... Yours, Mine & Ours", are hosted by Jen, at '11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven'  (http://rtheyallyours.blogspot.com/).
  ~ "Making Your Home Sing Monday('s)", are hosted by Nan, at 'Mom's the Word (I love to hear)'  (http://momstheword--livingforhim.blogspot.com/).
  ~  "Kitchen Tip Tuesday('s)", hosted by Tammy, at 'Tammy's Recipes'  (http://www.tammysrecipes.com/).
 ~ "Tuesday's Tasty Tidbits", hosted by Susan, at 'Permanent Posies / Creative Chaos' (http://permanentposies.com/)
 ~ "Totally Tasty Tuesdays", are hosted by Mandy, at 'Mandy's Recipe Box' (http://www.mandysrecipebox.blogspot.com/).
  ~ "Tempt My Tummy Tuesday('s)", are hosted by Lisa, at 'Blessed with Grace'  (http://www.blessedwithgrace.net/).
    ~ "Foodie Wednesday('s)", are hosted by Bibi, at 'Daily Organized Chaos' (http://www.dailyorganizedchaos.com/). 
   ~ "These Chicks Cooked Link Party", hosted by Katie L, at 'This Chick Cooks' (http://thischickcooks.blogspot.com)
  

Party Foods #11 - my rendition of Spinach Dip with Pumpernickel

     As I said yesterday, "Seeings how next weekend is New Years and lots of people either attend parties which they are suppose to take "snackie foods" to, or, they make that type of foods to eat while watching the football game on New Years Day, I decided to do the posting about those type of foods first. (how was that for a nice long sentence? o;-p)"
   "Besides the five types of pies we took (which will probably be the series I blog about after these snackie food recipes), we also took - Fresh Vegetable Pizza, Bacon Cheese Ball, Spinach dip with Pumpernickel, Shrimp Dip, "Italian" Meatballs in Parmesan Sauce and Sausage Dip.
     Today I am going to post about my rendition of Spinach Dip. At the bottom of this posting, you will find links to the other "party type foods" I have previously posted about. You'll have to come back and visit us again, to find the recipes for the other items. ;->"

    First step is to thaw your package of frozen chopped spinach. I use a 2 pound bag of it.

     Once completely thawed, drain it (otherwise your end result will be a gross color green soggy mess. Blah!!!). After letting it sit in the strainer for awhile, I press the spinach up the sides, sort of like "lining" the strainer with it, pressing hard as I go. If it still feels too moist, I take a couple of bunched up paper towels and press them hard all around. While you don't want it bone dry (although technically no bones are involved o;-p), you don't want it "squishy" either! ( <--- BONUS TIPS there)

     Dump the drained spinach into a medium sized mixing bowl and add the sour cream.

     And the mayonnaise (NOT Miracle Whip, though we love that stuff!)

     Thourally mix the three things together.

       Add the dried package of vegetable soup mix.

     Take some of the chopped carrots which you didn't use on your veggie pizza and chop them up into very fine small pieces.
        (most of these still needed chopped)

     Stir the soup mix and chopped carrots into everything else.

     Dump in the cut green onion stems.

     See how even all of the pieces are?  That's due to the fact that the other person helping me do prep work on Saturday, was "our" Amanda.  :-D 

     [for the record, there is NO mess beside her... just more figmentations of your imagination!!!  Well... there won't be after New Years Weekend...  ]

    Often they breeze in and out of town, for this or that family function and I never even get a glimpse of her, especially since being 'Ms. Vertigo' has kept me from attending church services. But this time, this time, I not only got to see and hug (:-D) her, we also had the wonderful privilege of spending a few hours with her. What fun!!! THANK-YOU Lord (as well as Amanda's husband and mom ;-]) for such a blessing as that!
   She steadily worked away at cutting up the green onions for all of the various recipes, while adding her wonderful sense of sarcasm and humor to everything going on. Delightful!

       Some people save the chopped pimento and use it as garnish on top of the finished product. I just add it right in with everything else.

   Brian likes water chestnuts in the spinach dip. I buy the ones that come in a can (not sure if they come in any other form, now that I think about it....)  Finely chop up the drained water chestnuts.

    Then mix every thing together till it's thourally blended.

   Chill.

   Now, some people buy a round loaf of pumpernickel bread, tear small pieces out of the middle of the top, until they have a hole the size of the spinach dip they made, and when it's time to serve, use the bread bowl they created to serve the dip in, putting the ripped out pieces of bread as well as some veggies around the bowl on the serving platter. It does look nice that way.
   But this time, I just put the dip in a cute retro bowl, we cut pieces of a regularly sliced loaf of pumpernickel into fourths and put them into a small wooden bowl next to it.
   Feel free to use which ever method works best for your occasion!

   And now for the actual recipe -
       My rendition of Spinach Dip with Pumpernickel
              adapted from the recipe we had gotten from our friend Patty Doren

    1 - 2 pound pkg. of frozen chopped spinach, drained!
    1 cup Sour Cream
    1 cup Mayonnaise (NOT Miracle Whip)
    1 pkg. dried Vegetable Soup Mix
    1 cup finely chopped Carrots
    1 to 1 1/2 cups Green Onion Tops
    1 small jar Pimento, chopped
    1 medium sized jar Water Chestnuts, chopped

    1 loaf Pumpernickel Bread

    In a medium sized bowl, stir together the well drained chopped spinach, sour cream and mayo. Add the dry soup mix and chopped carrots and blend everything together. Dump in the cut green onion stems, chopped pimento and chopped water chestnuts. Blend everything together THOURALLY. 

    Chill.

   Serve either in a 'bowl' made out of a round loaf of pumpernickel bread - or - serve in a regular bowl, with pieces of pumpernickel bread on the side, as well as cut vegetables.

    Enjoy, because this too is good for you! ;->

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You might also enjoy these postings:

~ "Party Foods" -
   - #1 - Bean Salsa (also known as "Rugby dip")
   - #2 - 'Polish roses' and Pickle Wraps
   - #3 - Garden Fresh Bruschette
   - #4 - Deviled Eggs
   - #5 - Chocolate Covered Strawberries
   - #6 - Improvised Chili Based Dip Recipe 
   - #7 - Bacon Cheese Ball
   - #8 - My version of Fruit Pizzas
   - #9 - Brownie Cups
   - #10 - My version of Veggie Pizza

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I 'plan' on linking this particular posting up to:

   ~ "Foodie Wednesday('s)", are hosted by Bibi, at 'Daily Organized Chaos' (http://www.dailyorganizedchaos.com/). 
   ~ "These Chicks Cooked Link Party", hosted by Katie L, at 'This Chick Cooks' (http://thischickcooks.blogspot.com)
 ~ "Full Plate Thursday('s)", are hosted by Miz Helen, at 'Miz Helen's Country Cottage' (http://mizhelenscountrycottage.blogspot.com/).  
  ~ "Foodie Friday('s)", are hosted by "Gollum" (aka: Michael), at 'Designs by Gollum' (http://designsbygollum.blogspot.com/)     
~ "Simply Delish Sunday('s)", are hosted by KB and Whitesnakes, at 'KB and Whitesnakes Home' (http://kbandwhitesnakeshome.blogspot.com)
  ~ "Homemaker Mondays ... Yours, Mine & Ours", are hosted by Jen, at '11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven'  (http://rtheyallyours.blogspot.com/).
  ~ "Making Your Home Sing Monday('s)", are hosted by Nan, at 'Mom's the Word (I love to hear)'  (http://momstheword--livingforhim.blogspot.com/).
  ~  "Kitchen Tip Tuesday('s)", hosted by Tammy, at 'Tammy's Recipes'  (http://www.tammysrecipes.com/).
 ~ "Tuesday's Tasty Tidbits", hosted by Susan, at 'Permanent Posies / Creative Chaos' (http://permanentposies.com/)
 ~ "Totally Tasty Tuesdays", are hosted by Mandy, at 'Mandy's Recipe Box' (http://www.mandysrecipebox.blogspot.com/).
  ~ "Tempt My Tummy Tuesday('s)", are hosted by Lisa, at 'Blessed with Grace'  (http://www.blessedwithgrace.net/).