Just in time for next years Super Bowl...Hot Jalapeno Popper Dip

Always happy to see this sign.

Hey guys!  It’s been a while since I’ve written anything.  I can tell.  I get a little antsy..introspective. 

It’s been since November..goodness knows I was super busy.  We went to Michigan for Christmas.  It was great to see everyone.  It was great to then come home and get back into our South Carolina routine; a routine devoid of snow. 

My Parents backyard.

I was pretty homesick for Michigan this last trip.  I don’t know if it was that I got to see so many friends this visit.  Or maybe it was driving through the gorgeous countryside or just bumping into random people that I knew at Meijers (I find myself recognizing people in South Carolina and can’t remember if I know them from here or there); I was seriously trying to figure out how to still stay part of it.  My mind even made the leap ahead twenty years to when Al retires…Pure Michigan.

Natalie and Jett exploring.

Past our Christmas, we made it through the long slog of January.  Poor January.  Is it ever celebrated? Besides the first day of the month, how often do we think ahead in November and say, “Man, I can’t wait to see what January holds (besides the 10# the holidays left on my thighs).”  It’s a long waiting game of cold winter.  If you like the cold, I’m sorry if I’ve offended you.  Never have I been so glad to have moved south…I wore my winter coat today to the post office and it was 57 outside with a steady wind.  In Michigan (here she goes again) it would have been time for shorts and t-shirts.

Cold weather calls for comfort food.  Well, honestly, I don’t need an excuse for comfort food.  I smoked a meatloaf tonight for dinner.  Yum.  There was hardly any leftover.  Last night in honor of Super Bowl Sunday I made a Jalapeno Popper Dip.  The recipe follows:

Pretend there's mayo and spices in the picture.

You will need:

All ready for the oven.

 ½ cup diced red onion

½ cup diced and seeded jalapeno pepper

8 oz cream cheese

¾ cup mayo

3 sliced bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled

Reserve 3 tbsp of the bacon grease to cook the veggies in

½ cup sharp shredded cheese

1 tsp garlic powder

½ tsp salt and pepper

1 tbsp hot sauce (if you’d like it hotter)

First, preheat your oven to 350

Cook three strips of bacon until theyre crisp and crumble them up.  Reserve the drippings to cook the veggies.

While the bacon is cooking, dice the onion and jalapeno.  Cook them in the reserved bacon grease until tender. 

Cream together the cream cheese and mayo.  Add the spices, cheese and cooked veggies.  Spread in a cute oven proof dish.  Top with crumbled bacon and some thin slices of jalapeno. 

Bake until hot and bubbly and serve warm with good crackers.

I hope you give it a try.  If you like things spicier, add hot sauce to the cream cheese mixture.  Overall, this recipe is pretty mild 
 Blessings to you this New Year; and hopefully, it won’t be two months until I write again.



Sibling Love.

Little stinker.