We have “Mexican Night” at our house quite frequently. Pretty much anytime I see a commercial for a Mexican restaurant, or if someone is making Mexican food on the Food Network, or maybe the wind blows a certain way…I announce we’ll be having Mexican food for dinner. This happens A LOT. And my hubby loves it; simply because he gets a chance to make his (of course, I offer advice from time to time) homemade salsa. We’ve gotten to the point where we wouldn’t dare eat salsa out of a jar because we’re so spoiled to the homemade stuff. And with it being so darn simple to throw together, that’s an ok thing! We like to change it up a lot, but for the most part, it pretty much stays the same. Addictive, not-too-spicy and it gets better the longer it sits….perfect salsa!

Joel’s Salsa

1 can diced tomatoes
1 Jalapeno or Serrano chile, seeded and roughly chopped
1 handful chopped cilantro (however much you prefer- we like lots!)
juice of 1 or 2 limes, depending on how juicy they are
half an onion, roughly chopped
1 small garlic clove, roughly chopped
salt to taste (start with a teaspoon and go from there)
Tony Chacherie’s Cajun Seasoning, to taste (just a little)
1/2 teaspoon Cumin

Put all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until everything is well mixed. Taste for seasoning and add extra seasoning or lime juice as needed. Refrigerate for at least 2-3 hours; overnight is best.

*This tastes fantastic with a couple of Chipotle Chilis in Adobo thrown in instead of the fresh Jalapeno – it adds a great smokey flavor!

Now for my personal favorite – the Guacamole! I could seriously sit down and eat an entire bowl of this stuff all by myself…heck, sometimes I do! There’s just something about the creamy, chunky, salty, tanginess that gets me super excited…this girl loves her guac, ok? To be perfectly honest, most of the time, I make my guacamole by throwing in a few spoonfuls of jarred Chipotle salsa, lime juice and garlic salt (don’t judge me, you guacamole snobs!) and it’s perfectly, wonderfully delicious. This time, however, hubby and I wanted to make the real deal. Fresh tomatoes, garlic, onion, lime juice…the whole works. There’s a restaurant we go to with my parents a lot that makes excellent homemade guacamole and this really reminded me of it. It was gooooood.

Amy’s Guacamole

2 ripe avocados, peeled and roughly chopped
1 tomato, diced
1 clove garlic, grated (I don’t want to bite into a big chunk of garlic or onion…I grate it on my microplane!)
1/4 an onion, grated
juice of 1-2 limes, depending on how juicy they are
handful of cilantro, finely chopped
salt to taste

Mix all ingredients in a medium bowl; slightly mash the avocado to make it creamier. Taste for seasoning and add more salt as needed. Serve immediately.
*A drop or two of olive oil will make it extra-creamy!

With all this salsa and guacamole around, make sure you’ve got plenty of chips! The super-thin kind are our absolute favorites!

I had heard of this dip about a thousand times – its called “crack dip” because its supposedly quite addicting. I thought, “hmm, anything with that title must be good!”, and then I read the ingredient list – canned chicken, buffalo sauce, blue cheese, ranch dressing….? BLECH! I’m sorry but that does NOT sound like something I would want to put in my mouth. So I never made it. I mean, I’ve gotta draw the line somewhere, right? It wasn’t until I was perusing some of my favorite food blogs looking for Super Bowl recipes that I found this recipe, once again. The guys over at The Bitten Word were raving about this dip – and that got me curious, I mean, if those guys like it then surely I could give it a try. So I did, and I took it to the Super Bowl party. As it turns out, this dip really is like crack…I could sit there and fill my cake hole all day! Hubby and I are both big blue cheese fans, so of course we loved it – but here’s a little warning for those of you who are picky eaters (ahem, my sister) – if you don’t like buffalo sauce and/or blue cheese, this dip isn’t for you.  And even if you don’t like those things, still give it a try – you might be pleasantly surprised. Everybody at the party loved it! So without further ado – CRACK DIP!!!

Buffalo Chicken Dip (AKA: Crack Dip)
-as seen on The Bitten Word, who adapted it from Frank’s Red Hot

8 ounce package of cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup ranch salad dressing
1/4 cup blue cheese salad dressing
1/2 cup buffalo sauce or buffalo style barbecue sauce
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese (shredded mozzarella cheese can be substituted)
2 cans chicken breast (or if you’re uncomfortable with canned meat, you can shred up a rotisserie chicken. Snob. Hehe..just kiddin’ ya’ll!)

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. In a deep baking dish, mix cream cheese, salad dress, buffalo sauce, and cheese. Stir until combined. Stir in chicken.
Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes, until the dish is heated through.  Serve with crackers, pita chips, sliced bread or vegetables.

NOTE:  Depending on your tastes and the ingredients on hand, you can use 1/2 cup ranch or blue cheese salad rather than 1/4 cup of each.  Similarly, you can mix blue cheese and mozzarella, or use portions of each.

*I used sliced baguettes and celery for dipping…mmm, MMMM!

A few weeks ago, we had our good friends Michael and Andrea (who happens to be a fantastic photographer) over for snacks and a Harry Potter fest. I had no idea what I was going to serve, but I knew I didn’t want it to be too fussy or involved – it was supposed to be just junky snack food, after all! So I decided to flip through one of my Gooseberry Patch cookbooks that is specifically for having company and found this recipe. Cream cheese, chicken, cilantro, rotel tomatoes….how can you go wrong with that cast of characters?! Sure enough, this was some seriously good dip – in fact, these little roll-ups didn’t even make it out of the kitchen! Once hubby and Mikey got a taste, they pretty much devoured them in no time. So, needless to say, I didn’t wait long before making it again – this time for my mom, who was visiting for a couple of days (the ultimate test, mind you).  Thankfully, she loved it too! In fact, she didn’t wait long before making it herself! This is good dip, people.

The recipe is for dipping, but they also suggest spreading the dip on torillas, rolling them up and slicing them to make roll-ups, which is what I chose to do – perfect for parties!

Festive Chicken Enchilada Dip
- Gooseberry Patch “Come On Over”

2 8-oz. packages cream cheese, softened
1 1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon minced garlic (I used garlic powder)
1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
cayenne pepper to taste
salt to taste
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and chopped or shredded
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
4 green onions, chopped (I used onion powder)
10-oz. can diced tomatoes with green chiles (Rotel tomatoes)

Mix cheeses together until well blended; add remaining ingredients and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Serves 6-8.

A few years ago (before I was married, still in college, and living at home with my parents), we lived in a house next door to our really good friends, Chris and Scott (and their two boys). Its so nice to live next door to your friends – you can just walk right over and hang out whenever you want (and they have a really nice pool, so they probably saw more of us than they cared to!). Anyway, Chris is a really good cook – one of those kinds of people who can just throw something together with a few random pantry items and create a fantastic dish (I wish I were one of those kinds of people. But hey, I’m not bitter…..stinking clever people with their stinking pantry items……), which is how this tasty dip came to be. I don’t remember the specifics, but here’s gist of the story – (sorry, Chris, if I totally botch this up….) apparently, Chris found out she needed to entertain some last minute guests (probably my parents) and needed to serve a little something to “nibble on”. She searched the fridge and pantry for anything she could throw together and came up with a refreshing, delicious black bean and corn concoction she dubbed, “On Demand Dip”. Well, needless to say, it was a huge hit at her little get-together, and now me, my mom and my sister serve it at most of our get-togethers! I’ve taken it to one of Joel’s family shindigs and it was a big hit! You’ll definitely want to serve this at your next party – its a perfect alternative to regular bean dips or cheese balls! Perfect for summer! Oh! – and it gets better the longer it sits in the fridge!

On Demand Dip

- by Chris

If I’ve somehow changed it up from the original recipe – sorry, Chris!
A lot of these ingredients are just thrown in there according to how much you like, so just taste is as you go a long and add as needed!

1 regular size can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 regular size can Rotel tomatoes, with their juice
1 regular size can white shoepeg Corn, drained
a handful of chopped fresh cilantro (as much or as little as you want – we like a lot!)
Juice of 1-2 limes (Or more if you want – this is what gives it most of the flavor)
Salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste

Mix all ingredients in a medium-sized bowl and refrigerate for at least an hour (Like I said, it gets better the longer it sits). Serve with tortilla chips (Tostito’s “Scoops” are best, in my opinion!)

MMMMMM!! Thanks, Chris!