Taco Dip

I made this dip for a pool party with the girls & I pretty much took home an empty plate by the end of the day. I have made this several times for various get-togethers & it is always a winner amongst the crowd.

Taco Dip

8oz cream cheese

8oz sour cream

2 T finely chopped onion

1 pkg taco seasoning

shredded lettuce

shredded cheddar cheese

1 med tomato - chopped

1 small jar sliced black olives

Mix cream cheese, sour cream, onion & taco seasoning together. Spread on a 10"-12" platter.

Top with shredded lettuce, cheese, tomatoes & olives & serve with Doritos or tortilla chips. Enjoy!

Panini's

This past summer I have been on a "panini-kick" & have enjoyed making & eating these yummy sandwiches for lunch & dinner. I first fell in love with the Tomato, Basil, Mozzerella panini at Panera Bread & after studying the ingredients in the sandwich I thought I could easily whip one of these up at home. 

So I went out & bought a Cuisinart Panini Maker at Kohl's:

 

Then I bought the ingredients to replicate the Panera sandwich.

Tomato, Mozzarella, Basil Panini

Ciabatta bread

Sun-dried tomato spread

Mozzarella cheese ball

1 small, ripe tomato

fresh basil

Layer all ingredients on the sandwich & toast in panini press for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. I must say it is pretty much EXACT to the Panera sandwich & cost much less!

I also love this sandwich:

Avocado, Swiss, Turkey panini:

Ciabatta bread

Chipotle mayo

deli turkey

deli baby swiss cheese

sliced avocado

sliced red onion

1 small tomato, sliced

Layer all ingredients on the sandwich & toast in panini press for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted:

Mmmm Mmmm good!!!

Pumpkin Bread

2 weeks ago it was the beginning of Sept & when 9/1 rolls around I consider this the first day of fall around here. So I lit the fall candles, set out the fall decor & kicked off the season by making some pumpkin bread.

This recipe makes 2 loaves so I ended up giving one to my friend Keri, who also shares my love of fall & kept the other loaf which lasted less than 8 hours in  our house. 

 

Pumpkin Bread

3 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups solid pack pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling)

1 cup Crisco veg oil

3 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 cup chopped walnuts, optional

1 cup raisins, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 2 loaf pans with no-stick cooking spray.

In a med bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg & salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the pumpkin, Crisco oil, sugar & eggs & mix well until blended. Add dry ingredients & mix well. By hand, stir in walnuts & raisins. Divide batter between prepared loaf pans & bake for 50-55 minutes, or until knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cool in pans on a wire rack for 15 minutes then remove from pans & cool completely. Slice & enjoy!