Happy Football Entertaining!

Happy Fall Everyone! I’ve been on a bit of a hiatus over the summer. Traveling, visiting family and of course, entertaining friends. I have a ton of new ideas, fun and easy recipes and party tips that I will be sharing over the next few weeks.

As some of you may know, I work with Swanson and we spent most of our summer months testing new recipes. I will be sharing those as we move away from the slow pace of the summer into the fall and then onto my favorite time of the year, the Holidays.

With the football season under way, I thought it would be great to kick it off with my favorite football tailgating recipe, the infamous Buffalo Chicken Dip! This dip has become so popular that the Facebook Fan Page has grown to over 10,000 Fans! Check it out here www.facebook.com/buffalochickendip. I would love to hear everyone’s thoughts on their summer and the upcoming fall season. Most of all, I’d love your tips on how you like to spice up tailgating with new recipes and tips.

Until next time, I will be signing off… Enjoy the Buffalo Chicken Dip!

Frank’s® RedHot® Buffalo Chicken Dip:

Ingredients:
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
2 cans (9.75 oz each) Swanson® Premium Chunk Chicken Breast, drained
½ cup Frank’s ® RedHot ® Sauce
½ cup blue cheese salad dressing
½ cup crumbled blue cheese
Assorted fresh vegetables and/or crackers


Directions:
1. Stir cream cheese in 9” deep pie dish until smooth. Stir in remaining ingredients.
2. Bake at 350°F. for 20 min. until hot and bubbling. Stir. Serve with vegetables and crackers.

Tips:

* Substitute ranch dressing for blue cheese dressing and shredded cheddar or mozzarella cheese for blue cheese crumbles.
* Make this in the microwave by heating it on high for 5 minutes instead of baking
* Keep it warm in a crockpot or slow cooker

Here is a great tip if you are grilling: Prepare the dip ahead of time in a heavy-duty disposable foil pan. Before serving, just heat over a medium to medium-high grill, stirring occasionally until dip is hot.

Final Four Recipe Showdown!

Hi March Madness fans! Can you believe the tournament has almost come to an end already? To celebrate the NCAA Final Four games this weekend, I’m hosting a party where I will feature each of the final four recipes from the bracket I posted when all of this March Madness began! As a native of the Philadelphia area, our group will be dressed in blue and white to cheer on Villanova and celebrate their victory in the final seconds against Pittsburgh. If you haven’t seen the amazing footage of their win (shameless plug for my favorite team), you can check it out here. If you’re looking for a great recipes for entertaining this weekend (whether it’s a Final Four party, or just a casual get together) you should check out one of my division championship-themed recipes below! Click on the link above the image for the recipe.

The Entertaining Escapades Final Four:


East: Buffalo Chicken Dip

Midwest: Smokin’ Baby Back Ribs

West: Chicken and Black Bean Quesadilla

South: Hot ‘n’ Honeyed Wings

March Madness Bracket!

So for this year's tournament we came up with a super fun food bracket where we took regional foods and picked who would win based on their popularity in 2008-2009! Since I LOVE Buffalo Chicken Dip, I don't think you'll be surprised to see how I did my picks! You can share this bracket with your friends, family, or readers (if you're a blogger like me). You can also start at the beginning and fill it in yourself. If you'd like a copy of the bracket to fill out e-mail me or leave me a comment!