Artichoke and Red Pepper Dip

So I finally got my stuff together for my professional development session yesterday, and it went very well!  I even had a few teachers tell me that it was one of the most useful and exciting sessions they've been to!  Wow!  What a compliment!  Who knew Voice and Word Choice (Writing Traits) would be so exciting! To test your writing knowledge, what are the other 4 (+1) Writing Traits?  Check the bottom of the post to see if you know the Writing Traits!

http://writing.pppst.com/6traits.html

Dr. Laurie Curtis

Lina Brake

Anyways...that brings me to tonight.  I went to the Kansas Reading Association Meeting.  Dr. Laurie Curtis presented on Brain Based Research and how that effects student learning.  I've known Laurie for several years...she was working on her Ph.D when I was working on my Master's at KState.  We had several classes together.  Now that I'm working on my Ph.D, Laurie is teaching at KState and I've taken classes from her.  She's also on my doctoral committee.  A cool thing about Laurie is that she has the same name as one of my dad's friends...and he's a Dr. Curtis, too!  Long story short...well, a little shorter...I was talking to Laurie and my Bunco friend (and former colleague,) Lina tonight after the presentation about this blog.  I pulled my blog up and scrolled through it.  Lina wanted to know if I had posted about my Artichoke and Red Pepper Dip.  I have not posted the recipe to this yummy dip, so I thought I'd share it tonight.

So thanks for reading all about my presentation, Laurie's presentation, and Lina's request!  Enjoy~

Artichoke and Red Pepper Dip


8 ounces cream cheese (I use Philadelphia: Neufchatel 1/3 Less Fat Cream Cheese)
1/2 c. sour cream (I use reduced fat)
2/3 c. mayo (I'm a sucker for real mayo, so no reduced fat here...although you may try it if you'd like!)
1 can artichoke hearts, well drained and chopped
1 jar roasted red peppers, well drained and chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/8 of an onion, finely diced
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese


Soften the cream cheese.  Stir in the sour cream and mayo.  Add the rest of the ingredients.  Pour into an 9x9 inch baking pan that's been sprayed with Pam (or whatever cooking spray you use.) Bake in a 350* oven for 15-20 minutes, or until heated through.


You can also put this in a small crockpot and serve it hot.  If you use a crockpot, make sure you monitor it...if it gets too hot, it will turn into a sloppy, gooey dip that doesn't look as pretty (but it tastes good!)


Serve with veggies, crackers, chips, etc.  You can serve this dip cold, also.



The Writing Traits are:  Ideas, Voice, Word Choice, Organization, Sentence Fluency, Conventions and the +1 is Presentation!