Friday, December 14, 2012

Cheese and Wine

Chese and wine 002Our Cheese and Wine party for some bowling friends went well on Wednesday night. Even my strawberry Santas worked although the filling became too soft and I had trouble constructing them. I forgot to take a photo of them. We ended up with way too much cheese. The assortment of 6 cheeses on a tray turned oChese and wine 004Chese and wine 003ut to be a heck of a lot of cheese and I ended up giving bags of cheese away. These pix don’t include the cheese and artichoke dip either, obviously I hadn’t heated it up and put it on the table yet.. Then when everyone had eaten their fill, I product the Strawberry Santas which appeared to impress everyone. SantasI thought they looked good, but as I said, I didn’t take a pic. However, I did take a photo of the pathetic last few which we finished for supper on Thursday. the one in the front appears to have collapsed a bit. The thing that staggered me most was once everyone had gone, Matt sat there and finished off the cheese and spicy jam and ate a load of crackers. Most unlike him.
My guests kept yelling at me to get my feet up, got swelling ankles again after my op the other week. Thursday I tried to do just that, but somehow had to keep hopping up to do things. One of those days, so I ended up with a balloon at the end of my leg again. Friday is bowling so I won’t be doing a lot of sitting with my feet up then either. Oh well.
One thing which went down really was the artichoke dip. Can’t remember if I have ever posted it before, but here it is. I got that recipe from a friend at a cookery club, I loved it at the party we went to and have made it a few times since.
Artichoke Dip
1 cup (250 ml) mayonnaiseArtichoke Dip
1 cup (250 ml) shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup (125 ml) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 Tbs (15 ml) grated onion
1/4 tsp (1 ml) hot sauce, or to taste
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 14-oz (390 g) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
Paprika to taste
Instructions:  Combine the mayonnaise, mozzarella, Parmesan, onion, hot sauce, garlic, salt, and pepper in an electric blender or food processor and process until smooth. Add the artichokes and place in a small baking dish. Sprinkle with paprika and bake in a preheated 350F (180C) oven for 20 minutes, until bubbly. Serve warm with crackers or toasted pita bread triangles. Serves 8 to 12.
Have a great day
Jo_thumb[2]

6 comments:

  1. Hi Jo .. the little Santas look fun - and a delicious time was had by all, by the looks of it - and that artichoke dip looks delicious .. cheers Hilary

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    1. Yes, they were fun if somewhat fiddly to make. I love the dip, its delicious.

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  2. Cheese and wine - I could do that. Vegan cheese of course.

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    1. Didn't even know there was such a thing, however, I would have been delighted to get some for you.

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  3. The strawberry Santas are really cool. I think I could make those.

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    1. The main thing is not to let the cheese mixture get too warm. Wish I'd realised before, made it more difficult. Piping onto the bottom half of the berry was OK, but doing the buttons and top knot was difficult. Even then, the hat tended to slip a bit.

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