Appetizers Galore!

I am known at the appetizer queen in my family. My mother has nicknamed me this since everytime we have a family get together I am in charge of the appetizers because I tend to bring really yummy and creative apps.

So today I am sharing some of mine with you! Now I wish I wasn't so lazy with my camera and had pictures to post for you. Yea they are that pretty! Well, maybe pretty isn't the best word but appetizing appetizers is definatly the word! :) I know you like that play on words.

Ok I have totally derailed...

So the first one is Roasted Red Pepper Cheese dip, its cheesy, garlicy(hope thats a word), spicey, and easy! I couldn't think of any more adjectives but I am sure that you can come up with some after making this.

Grab the following ingredients:
1 jar roasted red peppers (drain the liquid and let dry on paper towels)
3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup mayonaise
1/4 cup sour cream
4 cups pepper jack cheese
1 tsp paprika
2 tbl chopped onion
8 oz cream cheese (softened)

Pre heat your oven to 350. Shred your pepper jack cheese, mince your garlic, stick your cream cheese in the microwave for about 10 seconds just to make it easier to mix. Add cream cheese, onion, garlic, mayo, sour cream, paprika and mix together. Once your down mixing add your chopped red pepper and place in a pie pan. Cook for about 35 minutes or until the top is a nice golden brown. Watch this because if you cook it too long the mayo will start to break up and you will get alot of grease which I just blotted off the first time I made it. Serve with yummy french bread rounds.

Next is a paremesan dip with spinach. You can make this with spinach or artichokes but D doesn't care for artichokes so I make it with spinach but I am planning on doing it with artichokes soon and just not telling him. The little devil on my shoulder told me too! I digress...

Ingredients:
1 package thawed chopped spinach
1 cup mayo
1 glove garlic
1 cup paremsan
3 oz cream cheese
1 small onion finely chopped
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp paprika

Mix this all together after you have squeezed out all of the liquid from the spinach. Place in an oven safe dish and sprinkle more parmesan on the top. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. This is yummy with any kind of bread or crackers!

Ok lets see what else do I want to share with you....

Oh Easy Bruchetta!

Serioulsy this is easy and I am betting you have everything on hand except basil.

Ingredients:
Fresh Basil
4 plum tomatoes
pitted Kalimata olives
olive oil
balsamic vinegar

Chop up your basil and throw it in a bowl! Well place, I am picturing you all pulling an Amelia Badelia (please tell me you remember this book!) and really THROWING it in the bowl. Ok then dice your tomatoes and remove seeds then add to the bowl. Chop up some of your kalimata olives so you have about 1/2 a cup and add those to the bowl as well. Add 1/4 cup of olive oil and 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar and toss to coat. Don't over mix because your tomatoes will get mushy. Refrigerate for 30 minutes and serve! This is super yummy on toasted french rounds! You could also chop up some mozzarella and add that before you serve!

I hope you can add this to your Super Bowl appetizer list!! More to come later!

Getting seriously annoyed with D and his damn phone!

Tiger Illustrated.... or Rivals.com... Whatever you call it, I call it the most annoying thing in our marriage during the off season. Besides the humor that I did get off the Lane Kiffen leaving Tennessee and the fans destroying their campus over it.. Seriously why detroy your own campus??

Anyways, so its off season... NOTHING going on with football right now but still D sits on the couch, during movies, in the car, in church, really anywhere reading the boards! What in the world could be that important??? I honestly wish that the internet wasn't on his phone. We can't even watch a movie together without him reading the majority of the time during the movie even if its a good movie. What makes this even more irritating is that he gets mad at me if I read a book. I could read a book during the boys naps and he is watching basketball and he would get annoyed. I NEVER READ!! Ok sorry for the frustration... I have talked to him about this so many times its not like he doesn't know that it annoys me. Can you base a divorce on the fact that our marriage is consummed by a website? Maybe I can say that he is having an affair with sports?? Not that I would divorce him, its just a thought.

My FIRST Clemson Basketball game!

Why have I never been to a Clemson basketball game before?? Well in short because my dad who is the one who raised me on Clemson isn't a basketball fan. I could have gone to a game on my own but being from Columbia the mass of my friends were South Carolina fans. The only time I had ever seen a Clemson basketball game was actually at the Colonial center against South Carolina and I was surrounded by Carolina fans since my old boss gave me his season tickets to that game and he is a Carolina fan. So Tuesday night my mom offered me her tickets to the Wednesday night Clemson vs. UNC game at 9pm. I honestly didn't think D would want to go since he had to work the next day and we wouldn't get home till 1:30am but to my surprise he was all for it! So we drove to Clemson taking the detour through Laurens because of the I-385 north bound closing. We got a few taco's at Super Taco which was SOOOO good! Headed to the game and took our seats! The atmosphere was amazing!! It was like a football game but you are inside so the crowd was even more amazing and loud!! Oh and of course beating UNC for the first time in 10 outings was pretty amazing as well. I will have to say that I can't wait to go to my next Clemson basketball game even though basketball isn't my favorite sport!

Bowl Season!! And now it comes to a close...

The Music City bowl... Seriously thats the bowl we get after winning our division of our conference?? Yes I know we lost to South Carolina... No need to remind me! Yes we lost the ACC Championship.. Again no reminder needed!

But the Music City bowl? OH well we won, so the season ends on a high note. Then to top it all off SOUTH CAROLINA LOST!!!! Seriously that just made my year! They almost get shut out which would have made it even better but the lose was great just the same. I did however watch thinking "How the heck did this team beat us?"

Now the dull months of no college football begins! The National Championship is tonight and although I have temporarly become a Bama fan, ROLL TIDE!, it is the beginning of the end!! I have nothing to look forward to until March madness and even then its just a blip on the radar. Of course you would think I would be looking forward to having some time with my husband not wrapped up in Tiger Illustrated and all of the boards but hell would freeze over before that happened! I swear I will never understand what in the world can take your full attention for so long when there is NO football going on!

Apparently this is the time we recruit or something like that then you have the draft which is not in the least bit interesting since most of the time you are watching a screen count down the time watching nothing but announcers earning their paycheck by blabbing about facts. I am just interesting in watching the first 5 players get drafter then looking up who the Clemson seniors get picked up by.

Well I am getting my grocery list ready and the menu is set for tonights Championship Spectacular!!

Here it is just in case you were wondering!

Stuffed Mushrooms
Firecracker Shrimp
Pico De Gallo
Guacamole
Spinach parmesan dip

Hope you have a great time saying goodbye for now to college football season!