Football Season is HERE!

Football season is finally here!  If you know my family (and you all do if you are reading this) you know that football seasons puts a perma-grin on my mom and makes me pretty happy too.  We didn't get to watch too much this opening weekend because of all the activities on the lake (a post on that later), but I at least got a small taste of it.

And speaking of taste, football season also means food.  Appetizers, specifically.  I am a HUGE fan on appetizers.  Give me a good bloody mary (or glass of wine or sometimes even a nice cold beer), along with some great appetizers and I am set.  I don't even need "real food"* as Ward says. So I have been searching through some recipes and found a couple of good ones that I thought I would post.  They are not your usual "chips and salsa" (although a couple are oldies but goodies) so are fun to make if you are having people over.  Eat up and ROLL TIDE!

White Pizza Dip (Lipton)

1 envelope Lipton® Recipe Secrets® Savory Herb with Garlic Soup Mix
1 container (16 oz.) sour cream
1 cup (8 oz.) ricotta cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup (1 oz.) chopped pepperoni
1 loaf Italian or French bread, sliced

Preheat oven to 350°. In shallow 1-quart casserole, combine Lipton® Recipe Secrets® Savory Herb with Garlic Soup Mix, sour cream, ricotta cheese, 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese and pepperoni. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese. Bake uncovered 30 minutes or until heated through. Serve with bread.

            - As an aside, I also think that this would be good with fritos!

RO*TEL Sausage Balls


1 lb sausage
3 cups Bisquick
8 oz Cheese Whiz
1 can RO*TEL diced tomatoes with green chilies

Pulse RO*TEL in food processor until the tomatoes are broken up into smaller chunks; 10-15 pules.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine sausage, Bisquick, Cheese Whiz and RO*TEL. Mix until thoroughly combined. Shape into 1-inch balls. (May be frozen at this point).
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until golden brown.

Beer Cheese Dip (YUM!!)

2 cups sharp cheddar, shredded
2 (8 oz.) blocks cream cheese, sofened
1 pkt. ranch dressing mix
1/2 cup beer
Dash of seasoning salt or garlic salt (optional)

Mix all together until well blended.  I think that it works best if you mis the frist three ingredients together and then add the beer.  Chill for several hours before serving or make the day before.  Serves lots!

Layered Mediterranean Dip

2 containers of Hummus
1 jar Marinated Artichokes, drained and chopped
1 large jar Kalamata Olives, drained and chopped
1 bunch of green onions, chopped
Pepperchini peppers, drained and sliced
1.5 jars of Sun-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped
Feta Cheese
Pine Nuts, toasted

You can make this as large or small as you need.  The hummus should be on the bottom and the feta & pine nuts on the top.  Layer the rest in the order listed above.  Serve with Stacy's pita chips.

              - This recipe is really great and gives you a little creative license.  You can always leave out any       ingredient you don't like (i.e. when I made it I did it without the olives since Ted doesn't like olives and it was still fantastic!)


* "Real food" according to Ward is a meal.  Anything else is just snacking and apparently doesn't count.  This always cracks me up since he eats like a bird.