SPINACH AND ARTICHOKE DIP

YUM!!! Just in time for your New Year's Eve party snack list! Don't you just love a nice, piping hot dish of Spinach and Artichoke Dip with chips? I sure do! This one turned out AMAZING! It baked up so nice in my Pampered Chef pie plate too. It was the perfect size for it. The recipe made a bit more than I had planned on, but that's ok, because it tastes just as good warmed up the next day! ENJOY!

SPINACH AND ARTICHOKE DIP

1 (8 oz) softened cream cheese
1 cup sour cream
1 cup prepared Alfredo sauce (or you can substitute mayonnaise)
3/4 cup shredded Parmesan Cheese
1 (10 oz) pkg frozen spinach, thawed and water squeezed out
1 jar marinated artichoke hearts, chopped
1/2 stick melted butter
1 tsp. minced garlic
8 oz shredded Monterey Jack Cheese (divided)

Preheat oven to 375. In mixing bowl combine cream cheese and sour cream. Beat until combined. Mix in alfredo sauce (or mayo) and stir to combine. Then add next 5 ingredients one by one mixing well after each to make sure it is well combined. Lastly, add 4 oz of the shredded Monterey Jack Cheese and stir well. Pour mixture into pie plate and bake for 15 - 20 minutes or until light brown on top and bubbly. Remove from oven, sprinkle remaining 4 oz of shredded monterey jack cheese over top. Return to oven for an additional 5 minutes to melt cheese. Serve with Tortilla or pita chips or any other dipper of your choice!

MOLTEN CHOCOLATE LAVA CAKES

The weather here in MO has been gorgeous all week, so hubby and I decided to grill out last night. Dinner time for us coincided with our youngest daughter and her husband's return from spending Christmas week in IA, so we invited them to come over and join us. Since their 1st anniversary is today, I made these last night as a special celebration treat for them. They received thumbs up all around, so that was the green light I needed to put them on here for you all to try.  WARNING: These are very rich! I expected the inside to be a thinner consistency. It was very ooey, gooey, yummy though. Served these with vanilla ice cream, as a dollop of whipped cream just wouldn't have been enough! SUPER easy to make though. Went together in a snap! And the bake time is only about 12 - 14 min, so quick and easy dessert. Most lava cakes are made with bakers chocolate. This recipe calls for chocolate chips. That enticed me to try it, as most cooks already have chocolate chips in the pantry.

MOLTEN CHOCOLATE LAVA CAKES

1/4 sticks unsalted butter
Granulated sugar (for the ramekins)

1 stick unsalted butter
6 oz semisweet chocolate chips
3 eggs
3 egg yolks
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar (plus a little more for dusting)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup flour
6 ramekins

Preheat oven to 425. Soften the 1/4 stick of butter and coat the inside of your ramekins with it. Sprinkle granulated sugar inside each ramekin, turning to coat all sides of it with the sugar. Set those aside.

Put the remaining stick of butter and the chocolate chips in a large mixing bowl. Set the bowl on top of a saucepan filled with 1" of boiling water. Be sure that the bowl is not touching the water. Gently stir the butter and chocolate together until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove from the heat.
In separate mixing bowl combine the eggs, egg yolks, powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat until it doubles in size and gets very thick and pale colored.
Gently and slowly mix the melted chocolate into the egg mixture. Temper it first, so the eggs don't start to "cook." Once the chocolate is combined with the eggs, gently stir in the flour. Whisk to combine. Divide the batter among the prepared ramekins. Arrange the ramekins on a baking sheet and bake in preheated oven for 14 - 15 minutes. Remove the cakes from the oven and let rest for 3 - 4 minutes.
Remove the cakes from the ramekins and arrange them on individual serving plates. Dust with powdered sugar. Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream and a hot cup of coffee!