this is a very delicious recipe from my aunt debbie.  i’m sorry for the quality of this iPhone photo, it just doesn’t do this dip justice.  you’ll have to try it for yourself!

• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 1/3 c sour cream
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/8 tsp garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/2 c pizza sauce
• 1/2 c pepperoni
• 1/4 c green onion
• 1/4 c green pepper*
• 1/2 c mozzarella cheese

*other toppings of your choice may be substituted.

1. preheat oven to 350°.
2. beat first five ingredients in a small bowl using mixer.
3. spread in pie dish.  spread pizza sauce over top.
4. chop pepperoni, green onion and green pepper.  sprinkle on top.
5. bake for 10 min.
6. shred cheese and put on top.  bake for 10 more min.
7. serve with breadsticks or crackers.

enjoy!

last friday night was date night, as usual, and we had tickets to go to the local comedy club to see John Pinette (huh-freakin-larious!).  instead of worrying about making it to the restaurant and out in time for the show, i decided to eat dinner in, consisting of fajitas, bran’s fantastic salsa verde, and strawberry lime margaritas.   i relied on my trusty recipe source, allrecipes.com to find a tasty recipe to accompany dinner.  this recipe is what i found.  just in case if you’re wondering, i know i did, a sopapilla is this.

• 12 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 3/4 c sugar
• 3/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 8 oz. can crescent roll dough
• 1/4 c melted butter
• 1/4 c white sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/8 c sliced almonds

1. preheat oven to 350°.
2. beat the cream cheese with 3/4 c sugar and vanilla extract in a bowl until smooth.  unroll the cans of crescent roll, separate into half.  press one piece in the bottom of an 8″ square baking dish.  evenly spread cream cheese mixture into the baking dish, then cover with the remaining piece of crescent dough.
3. drizzle butter evenly over the top of the cheesecake.  stir the remaining sugar together with the cinnamon in a small bowl, and sprinkle over the cheesecake along with the almonds.
4. bake in a preheated oven until crescent dough has puffed and turned golden brown, about 45 min.  cool completely in the pan before cutting and serving.
5. if desired, you can garnish the dish with chocolate syrup and powdered sugar.

enjoy!