Hot Dip And Other Holiday Appetizer Favorites

Hello friends! I know that haven't posted in a few days. I'm away from home...and my laptop! I spent the weekend throwing a 40th anniversary party for my father and mother-in-law and celebrating Christmas a couple of days early with my husband's side of the family. Hopefully, weather and travel permitting, I'll post the pictures of the red velvet anniversary cake and the pomegranate martinis that we served at the party. In the meantime, check out this hot dip! Such a fancy name, isn't it? Hot. Dip. Well, the name might not have much of a "wow" factor, but once your friends and family get a bite of this you will actually hear the word "Wow!" Usually followed "Mmmmm." and then a question, such as, "who brought this?" or "what's in it?" You might as well print out a couple of copies of this recipe before you take this dip to a party, because chances are, someone will ask you for a copy. My husband is hooked on this stuff. He sort of hovers around me in the kitchen as I'm mixing it up. Unfortunately, he had to miss a party that we were supposed to attend together on the night that I made this. He actually said, "I'm really sorry that I have to miss the party, but I'm even more sorry that I'm going to miss the hot dip!"

It's really simple to make. It kind of reminds me of that cheese ball made with cream cheese and chipped beef and green onions and then rolled in ground pecans. Only you don't have to form this into a ball and it's served all hot and gooey. An improvement, if you ask me. Well, okay. You didn't ask me, but I have the keyboard here. You just mix together cream cheese, sour cream, onion flakes, garlic salt, finely chopped green pepper, and dried or chipped beef (whatever you wanna call it, it's that cheap stuff that I usually find in 2 oz packages by the bologna in the grocery).



Spread the mixture into a baking dish. I like to choose one that's attractive enough to take to a party, since the dish that I bake this in is also the dish that it is served in.



Melt half a stick of butter and pour it over the top of the dip.



Top with 1/4 to 1/2 cups of finely chopped pecans and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.



It should be bubbly around the edges when it's finished. Okay, so in addition to having a lackluster name, it isn't pretty either.



But it sure is good! Within a few hours of taking it out of the oven, here is my casserole dish...nearly scraped clean!



Hot Dip (for Triscuits)

8 oz. cream cheese
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons onion flakes (dried onions)
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 cup green pepper, finely chopped
2 oz. dried beef, chopped
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4- 1/2 cup pecans, finely chopped

Add first 6 ingredients to a bowl. Mix until combined. Spread into a baking dish. Pour melted butter over the top of the cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle with pecans. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Serve with Triscuit crackers.

Here are some more of my favorite appetizer recipes to serve during the holidays:

Spicy Cheeseburger Dip

Bacon and Tomato Cheese Toasts

Cajun Seafood Garlic Bread

Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts

Cheddar Beef Pull Apart Bread

Prosciutto Pinwheels

Ham and Cheese Crescents

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend!