Autumn went to her first birthday party this weekend.
Gah! She is going up!! It’s so cute!
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dip
Bacon Feta Guacamole
Disney World whooped our butts!
We hit 3 of 4 parks and walked just under 23 miles as we walked from attraction to attraction from Saturday afternoon to Monday night. It was so much fun getting to visit Disney for our honeymoon/1 year wedding anniversary celebration.
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Roasted Butternut Squash & Goat Cheese Dip
Let’s be honest here, I approach award show season like how I approach the Super Bowl…
I’m in it for the food and booze.
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Drunken Spicy Queso
Hello. I’m Nicole and I’m addicted to food travel shows.
Not that it was exactly a food show, but The Getaway, on Esquire Network, hooked me quickly with the interesting hosts – writers, comedians, actors, models, chefs, etc- each providing an interesting, fun point of view for all the places they visited. Of course, I loved when the featured famous and hole in the wall bars and restaurants. I’m bummed the most recent season is over.
But my favorite new one now is I’ll Have What Phil’s Having, on PBS. The comedic creator of Everybody Loves Raymond takes you around to try our the places that are well known and for places that only locals would know of. I love it.
That is my kind of travel! I definitely travel for the food. The rest of the stuff I see along the way is an added bonus. ha!
Don’t get me wrong, I love every bit of the travel we do, but I just associate the places we see with the food and drinks we enjoyed right along those places, like when we were on the cruise earlier this year, I think back to one of our beach days and I think of the bucket of beer we enjoyed in the shade of our beach umbrellas. Or when we were in Chicago I think about how we had great cinnamon rolls after we wet o the tour of Wrigley Field.
We don’t have any up coming travel planned at this point, but it’s fun to imagine!
Until then I’ll enjoy our time in Boston, at home or out and about. While at home I’m sure we’ll be watching lots of football this season. It’s just a great way to spend an afternoon or evening, while I pack up our stuff… 5 months before we move… because I’m psycho…
A few weeks ago my blogging bestie, Amanda of Fake Ginger, shared a Buzzfeed Food video on her FB page that showcased making this Drunken Queso Dip. I immediately wanted to make it. So I did just that and I’m dadmn glad I did as I loved it.
A simple delicious dip that will be perfect for all your game day football viewing.
Drunken Spicy Queso
Makes 8 servings
Ingredients
- 1 pound block of Jalapeno Velvetta cheese
- 1 12-ounce beer (I used Bud Light Lime)
- 4 plum tomatoes
- Toppings such as cilantro, fresh or pickled jalapeno, diced red onion, avocado, or anything else you care to add
Process
- Cut the cheese into cubes, roughly 1″ big. Add to a medium sized pot with the beer. Cook over medium, stirring occasionally.
- While the cheese and beer are cooking together, halve the tomatoes, scoop out the seeds, then dice.
- Add the tomatoes to the pot once the cheese is melted.
- Pour into a serving bowl and add your toppings.
Inspired by BuzzFeed Food
French Onion Dip
I am all for French Onion Dip made from the Lipton’s packet. It is the best. It is classic.
But there are times when you really should treat yourself to something really great, and, in this case, I made the most incredible homemade French Onion Dip ever.
Like I said, the packet is great, but this homemade version just blows it out of the water. The 2 types of onions – vidalia and shallots- give it layers and layers of flavor. And once you caramelize them you really make them extra tasty and happy.
I have been loving my monthly recipes from the past few years that I have been participating in Secret Recipe Club. There are about a hundred of us that are divided into 4 groups so we can recipes from each other’s blogs every Monday. The general gist of it is that the blog you are assigned is a secret, as well as the recipe that you pick from their recipe archives.
Well, there are a few months every year that have 5 weeks so we have an extra Monday just waiting for a great recipe! The organizer came up with a wonderful idea of having people opt into that extra recipe posting and for having a theme for the recipes.
So for this inaugural extra recipe week I was assigned the blog Culinary Adventures with Camilla with the theme of “Tailgate Foods”. So I quickly began scouring her blog for the perfect food that you would love to eat while cheering on your favorite team make the big play, score a touchdown, and win the game.
I was so freaking excited when I saw this French Onion Dip recipe.It is the perfect tailgate food. The perfect foot to nosh on while watching football (or my favorite- NASCAR!). I just had to make it. And I am so glad that I did!!!
The dip was a big bowl of creamy, dreamy delicious goodness that was basically irresistible. I had to put the dang bowl and bag of chips away- far, far away- so that I could stop shoveling in into my mouth. OMG.
Grab a bag of ruffled potato chips and dig in!!!!
French Onion Dip
Makes
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 2 sweet Vidalia onions, diced
- 2-3 shallots, minced
- freshly ground sea salt and pepper
- 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 Cup sour cream
- 1/2 Cup mayonnaise (I insist on Hellman’s)
Process
- In a saute pan over medium-low heat add oil, heat and add onions, shallots.
- Cook the onions and shallots until they are caramelized, about 20-30 minutes. Stir regularly. Add the salt, pepper, and Worcestershire Sauce.
- Pour into a large bowl and set aside to cool.
- Once cool, add the sour cream and mayonnaise. Mix well, to fully combine. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours prior to serving.
Adapted from Culinary Adventures from Camilla
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Check out all of the other great bloggers participating in this BONUS Secret Recipe Club post this month. Get ready for some delicious Tailgating Food!!
Texas Queso Dip
When Price and I went to visit our friends Natalie and Jason in Austin last year we fell in love with all of the food we had there. Everything was incredible. I couldn’t get enough of the tacos, bbq, agua fresca, and, of course, queso. (Also couldn’t get enough time hanging with great friends, natch.)
Each and everything we ate was amazing for a different reason. The fantastic Mexican we had at Chuy’s, to the BBQ we got to go after a night of drinking, to the chicken on a biscuit from Whataburger immediately after some bar hoping.
But the one thing that was a constant was the queso we had. We had it every change we had and even while we lamented ‘no more queso’ we loved it. I think there really is a limit to the amount of queso/cheese a person can eat in a few days and I think we were fast approaching that limit. But really, worth indulge. Or at least that is what I kept telling myself after dipped another chip in.
Well since this weekend’s upcoming NASCAR race is at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, I figured that I had to share something for my Sprint Cup Snack that I loved so much about my visit to Texas. Now don’t give me any lip about how Austin and Fort Worth are not that close to each other- 3 hr drive or so- because I say what goes on this blog! ha!
Plus any excuse to eat queso is okay for me.
Natalie emailed me her recipe for queso at a moment’s notice. True friends understand the love of cheese (even if she has gone Paleo now). And let me tell you it was fantastic!!
The queso is incredibly easy to make and would be fantastic to whip up for watching any sporting event, a movie, or having friends over for a side splitting night of Cards Against Humanity. << come over, let’s hang and just be ridiculous.
If you can whip up some simple pico de gallo and can melt some cheese in milk, then you are all set. It’s basically that, plus making a simple rue to thicken it all up. So, so much better than the queso you get in the jar that you microwave. Was that even necessary to say?!?! duh!!
Obviously, queso is best piping hot so it’s super ooey gooey yummy. If you have a little crock pot dip warmer then I suggest you use that to keep it hot and everyone happy.
Dig in!!!!
Texas Queso Dip
Makes 8 snack servings
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 1/4 cups milk, room temperature-ish
- 2 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Pico De Gallo
- 3 plum tomatoes
- 1/2 of a red onion
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
- 1/2 a hass avocado
- 2 jalapenos, seeds removed
- 1 clove garlic
- juice of 1 lime
- salt and pepper
Process
- Remove the milk from the refrigerator, set aside.
- To make the pico de gallo, dice the cored tomatoes, onion, and avocado. Mince the jalapenos and garlic. Combine together and add the cilantro, lime juice, and a generous amount of salt and pepper.
- To make the cheese sauce, melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and cook to make a rue, whisking constantly until golden, about 2 minutes. Continue whisking and slowly add the milk. Bring the mixture to a steady simmer, whisking constantly, until thickened, about 2 minutes.
- Combine the cheese sauce and pico de gallo together and enjoy!
slightly adapted from my friend Natalie
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{Sprint Cup Snacks Track Facts}
Texas Motor Speedway seat a whopping 190,000+ people to watch a race. Repeat… 190k+. That was about 3 times the number of people in my whole town when I was growing up. Insane. But everything is bigger in Texas!
Besides being big, it’s also fast. It’s one of the fasted non-restrictor plate races in the series with qualifying speeds in excess of 192 mph and corner entry speeds over 200 mph. And in 2006 for the Dickies 500 qualifying, Brian Vickers shattered the qualifying record at Texas with a speed of 196.235 mph. Crazy.
Gotta enjoy this weekend’s race under the lights!
Track: 1.5 miles
Shape: Oval
Banking: 24 degrees in the turns
Surface: Asphalt
Capacity: 191,122… yep a lot of people!!!!
Race: 334-laps for 501 miles
2012 winner: Greg Briffle
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Party Pico de Gallo
Price and I recently had a party at our place for my birthday. It was centered around a Mexican theme so I’ll be posting a few recipes from that that works well for a fiesta or just a great gathering. Enjoy!
Pico de Gallo is one of my favorite things to have on hand for topping on our dinners because it’s a great addition to chicken, steak, pork, or even a salad. But I really love to share at a party. Chips and dip are classic party foods and there is a great reason for it. They are filling, great finger foods, and can be centrally located on a coffee table while people are gathered around.
I much prefer poco de gallo over a jarred salsa. There is no comparison really. Pico de gallo has such a fresh, vibrant taste from all the fresh vegetables in the mix. The lime juice really helps all the flavors intensify as well. I feel that little home made touches like this really make a meal so much people. Also when you serve this to guests they notice the homemade touch.
With the Super Bowl coming up this weekend this would be great to throw together for the big game, but really making a big batch works well for any sporting event or gathering, especially Cinco De Mayo. I suggest serving it with some tortilla chips, corn chips, pita chips, or celery at your next party.
Party Sized Pico de Gallo
Serves 20-25 people
Ingredients
- 4 pounds of Roma tomatoes
- 2 large red onions
- 4-6 cloves minced garlic
- 5-6 jalapeños
- large handful (approximately half a bunch) of cilantro
- juice of 2 limes
- salt and pepper
Process
- Dice both onions and put into a large bowl.
- Remove the tops of the tomatoes. Halve the tomatoes length wise, halve again. Remove the seeds by sliding you knife along the inner membrane. Cut the flesh into long strips and the run your knife through the strips for a small dice. Add tomatoes to the onions.
- Add the garlic.
- Mince the jalapeños by cutting off their tops, halving them, removing the seeds (optional), and running your knife along the pieces until they are uniformly small. Add to the mixture in the bowl.
- Take your fresh cilantro and evenly chop the pieces, stems included. Add to the mixture.
- Squeeze 2 limes over the mixture. Gently mix the pico de gallo.
- Add salt and pepper to taste. Give another quick toss to incorporate.
Very Cheesy Jalapeño Popper Dip
This Very Cheesy Jalapeño Popper Dip is a party favorite. Skip the tedious poppers and mix up this jalapeno popper dip- easy & delicious. Spicy too!
Post from 2/3/2011, photos updated 2/25/18
Post Contains Affiliate Links. Read my full disclosure HERE
One of my favorite foods to eat while watching football is a jalapeno popper. I love the crunch from the outside breading, the heat from the jalapeno, and creamy, cheesy filling. The perfect bite!
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