Football Season

"Foos-ball? Buncha overgrown
monsters man-handlin' each other... "
-Mama Boucher, the Waterboy

Like many of you, my husband, Ian, spent the majority of the day with his eyes glued to the TV.  Yes folks, college football was the order of the day.  Admittedly, I'm not a huge football fan. While I like to see UW do well,  I don't have a favorite team, I have no clue who won the Super Bowl last year, or who won the college championship (What is that even called?). What I DO like about football season, is the social aspect.  Getting together with friends to watch a game can be a lot of fun - I guess I like any reason to entertain.   Football season is also a great opportunity for slow-cooking foods like casseroles, soups, stews, chili, etc - more on that later on.

 In honor of the start of the season, I thought I'd share a super easy dip recipe.  This is a big-time crowd pleaser, especially for the guys. By no means lo-cal or healthy, but really tasty. If you need something to take to a tailgate or to someone's house, I hope you give this one a whirl!

Buffalo Chicken Dip

• 1 1/2 cups chopped/shredded chicken breast.  Super easy if use a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store, or just bake off or poach some chicken breasts
• 3/4 cup hot sauce (I like to use Texas Pete or Franks Red Hot - you can use more if you like things really spicy, or a little less if you don't like things too spicy)
• 1 block cream cheese
• 3/4 cup ranch dressing
• 1 bag of shredded cheddar cheese (I like to use Sargento's medium cheddar)

In a sauce pan, combine the chicken breast and hot sauce.  Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes.  Then add the cream cheese and ranch.  Continue to cook, stirring constantly until the the cream cheese is totally melted. At this point, add half of the bag of cheddar cheese.  Stir to mix well.  Take the dip mixture, and pour into a glass baking dish, then top with the other half of the cheddar.  At this point you can either let the dip cool and then refrigerate for later, or put it right into the oven. Regardless of whether your serving it now or later, you do need to bake it at 350 degrees until the cheese on top is all melted and bubbly, obviously this takes longer if you're heating it from the fridge temp.

Serve with sliced baguette, celery sticks, and Ian's favorite - Fritos scoops.

And for my college buddies... GO HUSKIES!!