I love celebrating my birthday with food!!

My family came for Easter this past weekend, and to celebrate my 30th birthday!!! Saturday night we had a wonderful meal. My parents brought Lobster, Beef Tenderloin, Asparagus and Veggie Kabobs to grill. I made Jo's Rosemary Bread, and a few appetizers. One of my favorite Spring/Summer appetizers is a cheese dip, best served with Club Crackers or Pretzels. I also tried a new recipe...that may require some tweaking before I make it again, but I will make it again!

For the cheese dip, cube 4 oz each of cheddar and pepper jack cheese.

Throw them in the food processor and pulse until they are crumbled. Add in 4 oz of cream cheese and pulse again.

For a little punch, add 3 chopped green onions, the juice of one lime, and 1 TBS of chili sauce or Tabasco. Pulse until combined and chill for a few hours before serving.

Garnish with a few chopped green onions and Enjoy! Even better the next day...and you need a sturdy cracker for dipping- something salty!


Next, I made the Jalapeno Popper Cups. They required frozen phyllo cups, cheddar, jalapeno, cream cheese, bacon and hot sauce.


First, finely chop two jalapenos. I thought that would be too hot so I only used one to start with and it REALLY needed the second jalapeno. Shred the cheese and combine with the cream cheese and hot sauce. I made these on Saturday and had leftover filling...I made them again tonight (Wednesday) and they were so much better after the filling sat for few days. Tonight I also added garlic powder, garlic salt and some juice from my pickled jalapenos.


Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. The recipe calls for bacon bits...but I found crumbled fresh bacon to be much tastier!


Photo of Round Two...with additional seasoning! I wouldn't use the phyllo cups again for this particular recipe- I think it needed a more flavorful base. With some tweaking, the filling was super tasty, but I think I would like it better baked on individual tortilla chips. It really needs the bacon. This is definitely a cute appetizer. I LOVE the concept and think the recipe is an amazing foundation for a great treat. I love true poppers and fully intend to keep playing with this recipe!