This one is from Judy. AKA Ms. Judy or Ju-Ju. She is my wonderful next-door neighbor here in KY who takes very good care of me and my family. She watches Gretchen for me when I need a nap or when I want to go volunteer in the school. She has every kitchen item if I ever need to borrow something, she gives me hand-me-down clothes, picks things up at the store for me, buys doo-dads for the kids, and sends over food on a regular basis. She and her husband "Mr. Greggy" even started a tradition of "Friday Treat Day" for my kids. Every Friday after school, the kids run straight to their house to get their Friday Treat. Then they hang out there for a little while to get their little weekly fix of TV.
Well, Judy has a LOT of cookbooks. And one that she let me borrow is "Best of Top Secret Recipes." They are copy-cat recipes of a lot of popular restaurant dishes. You got to check it out! ... there are some great recipes in there! Browsing through it I found not only how to make Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies (which is a fun family activity that I'll save for another post), but also this little gem: Olive Garden's Hot Artichoke-Spinach Dip. Yum, yum! My good friend Erin just e-mailed me for the recipe this morning, so I thought I'd post it here. Enjoy.
Ingredients:
1/2 C frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1 C chopped artichoke hearts (canned or frozen and thawed)
8 oz cream cheese
1/2 C grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 t crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 t salt
1/8 t garlic powder
dash ground pepper
Serve with:
crackers, chips, or sliced and toasted bread
Directions:
Boil the spinach and artichoke hearts in a cup of water in a small saucepan over medium heat until tender (about 10 minutes). Drain in a colander when done.
Heat the cream cheese in a small bowl in the microwave set on high for 1 minute. Or, use a saucepan to heat the cheese over medium heat just until hot.
Add the spinach and artichoke hearts to the cream cheese and stir well.
Add the remaining ingredients to the cream cheese and combine.
Serve hot with crackers, chips or toasted bread for dipping.
Serves 4 as an appetizer
