Buffalo Chicken Dip

My Cousin's Wife, Colette, made the most delicious dip on Christmas. I just had to share the recipe. It is a dip you have to bake and you are supposed to let it cool when you take it out of the oven. However, this dip didn't even last long enough to let it cool. It was soooooooo delicious!

This picture just goes to show that no one could stay away from it long enough for me even to take a picture!!!

So here it is:

Spread one 8 oz. package of cream cheese on the bottom of a dish and cover it with ranch. Then get a can of shredded chicken and sprinkle that over the dish (you may want to make sure that the chicken is small enough for dipping). Then just add cheddar or pepper jack cheese (or a combination of the two) and bake it at about 350 for a little bit, just long enough for the cheese to get all melty and gooey. Then try to let it cool enough for it to firm up a little bit and serve with tortilla chips. We had the scoops, they work the best because with the chicken and everything melting we needed something to hold it in. Enjoy!!

Update: I made this dip for Ross and I last week. Last night we had some when we got home and Ross was literally licking the dish clean. I want to assume that means it was good.

My Borrowed (stolen) Christmas Tradition

One of my BFFs Kristen writes a blog. http://tiny.cc/KsBlog452 It rocks. Check it out. I am always impressed with her writing and her entertaining life. I am also incredibly jealous of her ability to be Suzie homemaker. She has a great eye for decorating, fun and unique craft ideas and can cook/bake with the best of them! She started a tradition with her bf to create an ornament together for each Christmas they are together with something they did that year that was special. http://tiny.cc/KsOrnament Super cute! So of coarse, I copied it. Ross and I decided before Thanksgiving that we would buy each other ornaments that reminded us of each other to get our shared collection going. Well, I realized this probably wouldn't be sustainable year to year. Enter Kristen's tradition. Like I said, I stole it. She is definitely a genius with this one. It is certainly a lot more fun to make an ornament together than try to shop for one alone. It is also kind of fun talking about all the possible themes we could use for the ornament. After the discussion though, I kind of copped out and just did a "First Christmas". However, I love it and it was a blast. I can't wait for next year!

Blue like Jazz: Nonreligious thoughts on Christian Spirituality

Blue like Jazz is my favorite book. I usually come back to it when I am overwhelmed by my life and that is exactly where I've been at these last couple days. I come back to it again and again because I take something new away from it each and every time I read it. It always gives me what I need. I don't think I have ever said this about a book before, but the Author's Note is my favorite part of the book. It certainly isn't long but it is the part of the book that I get the most from almost every time I read the book. I read it over and over and just let myself be enveloped by it like a warm bubble bath absorbs you when you get into the bathtub.



Here is the Note:


I never liked jazz music because jazz music doesn’t resolve. But I was outside the Baghdad Theatre one night when I saw a man playing the saxophone. I stood there for fifteen minutes and he never opened his eyes.

After that I liked jazz music.

Sometimes you have to watch somebody love something before you can love it yourself. It is as if they are showing you the way.

I used to not like God because God didn’t resolve. But that was before any of this happened.

Lately, I have been wondering where my life is going, what do I want my life to be remembered for and what kind of person am I really? I can at times be selfless but more often than not I find myself being selfish. I find myself taking things personally when I know they are not meant to be personal attacks. And I really don't like that about myself. So. How do I change that? What do I have to work on about myself to get to where I want to be? This is why I came back to BLJ.

Yesterday should have been a great day but I found myself making it all about me and as a result missing out on some things that probably would've ended up a little differently had I given them a chance. On my way home I started crying in the car, something I very rarely do. So I called my friend Jenn. She let me cry and get out some of the frustrations I had been feeling over the last couple days. It was after her call that brought me back to reality just by letting me talk about it, that I was able to just let it all go and enjoy the rest of the night, which was a great night! We decorated our tree, took next year's Christmas card photo and had a fun night of dancing to the sugar plum fairy.

This is why I came back to Blue Like Jazz. This book makes me realize that things aren't always all about me, and aren't always what they seem. It teaches me to look a little deeper, try a bit harder, give up to God the things that hurt and sometimes to be upset when I need to be upset.

BLJ has a whimsical way to make you think about the serious things in your life. With Chapters called, Penguin Sex, the Sexy Carrots, and Meeting Girls is Easy, how could you not have fun reading it? However, the message in each of these chapters is far more self-reflective than he would lead you to believe. Donald Miller's writing style is effortless, it is like you are having a conversation with an old and familiar friend who is telling you his take on life, which is always more interesting than mine.

I look forward to reading it over the next couple nights and bringing my life back in focus which is always the result of reading this book. Please check it out, you won't be disappointed.