More Dinners and Fun With Friends!

Wow I am behind on posting. I guess that's what happens when you take every spare minute to make progress on the basement. Getting ready to spray the paint is taking much longer than anticipated. Hopefully we'll make it before it's time to work on the yard.

We have taken some time out to have friends over for dinner. Naturally we invited Brian and Steph because Steph is ready to pop out a darling kiddo here any day. (Send that girl some contraction vibes everyone!) It was great to be able to catch up with them, eat Brian's yummy pie and let the kids play. Note to self: get together with them more often!

We also had Karyn and her family over for dinner. She was serving another one of our friends and I got the opportunity to serve her. It was a wonderful distraction after a horrible experience with Laura at the dentist. We had a great time playing (Jason got lots of kisses), trying out Dance Dance Revolution (now on our list of Wii games to purchase) and eating. Sara and Clara enjoyed getting to know each other better.

My favorite recipe from the evenings was the spinach artichoke dip. The inspiration for the recipe came from Alton Brown, but naturally, I modified it. Here it is.

1 10 oz package thawed, chopped frozen spinach

1 can artichoke hearts chopped

6 ounces cream cheese

1/4 cup sour cream

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/3 cup + 2 T grated Parmesan

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Preheat oven to 350. Drain spinach and chop artichoke hearts. Heat cream cheese in microwave for 1 minute or until hot and soft. Stir in rest of ingredients and put into baking dish. Top with 2 T of parmesan and bake for 20 minutes. Serve with tortilla chips.