Ingredients
2 pounds ground beef
1 small onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound Velveeta cheese
1/2 pound cheddar cheese, shredded (Shred it yourself, don’t buy it shredded.)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
16 ounces salsa, medium preferred (I like to use salsa fresco, but stuff from a jar is fine too.)

Instructions
1. Heat large skillet over medium heat and brown ground beef.  Drain well. 

2. Add remaining ingredients and cook over low heat until cheeses are melted, stirring occasionally. 

3. Serve with chips. 

Note: You can also make this in a slow cooker.  If you have a 3-in-1 slow cooker, you can even sear the meat in the slow cooker! 

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Comments
This is a recipe that Art brought into the family and it’s a tradition in his family for gatherings.  I don’t make it that often, but it’s a nice addition to our New Year’s Day spread. 

Ingredients
8 ounces pesto (storebought or homemade)
1/4 cup pine nuts
21 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
8 ounces sundried tomatoes in oil, drained
1/3 cup tomato paste
3/4 cup butter, room temperature

Instructions
1. Combine pesto and 1/3 cup cream cheese in food processor and process until smooth.  Transfer to medium bowl and stir in pine nuts. 

2. Combine sundried tomatoes, tomato paste, and 1/3 cup cream cheese in food processor and process until smooth.  Transfer to medium bowl. 

3. Combine remaining cream cheese and butter in food processor and process until smooth and fluffy.  Season with salt and pepper. 

4. Spray casserole dish with cooking spray and line with plastic wrap, extending plastic over sides.  Spread 3/4 cup cream cheese-butter mixture over bottom of dish.  Top with half of tomato mixture then 1/2 cup cream cheese-butter mixture, then half of pesto mixture.  Repeat layering with remaining tomato mixture, 1/2 cup cream cheese-butter mixture, then remaining pesto mixture.  Top with remaining cream cheese mixture.  Cover and chill overnight. 

5. To serve, invert torta onto platter and peel off plastic.  Serve with crackers or baguette slices. 

Note: You can skip the baking dish prep and just serve this out of the casserole dish without inverting onto a platter. 

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Comments
This recipe is from Epicurious.  My parents received a similar torta from their neighbors while we were visiting at Christmas and it was delicious!  I decided to find something similar and this was delicious.  I do think it was a bit heavy on the sundried tomatoes, but that will be an easy enough thing to tweak next time and is just my own preference.  This makes a LOT, so be prepared.

Ingredients
8 ounces feta
1 tablespoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced
6 tablespoons of olive oil

Instructions
1. Place feta, lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic and olive oil in a blender or food processor and process until smooth.

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Comments
This recipe is from Love U Madly.  It was super lemony and awesome.  We ate it with crackers and enjoyed it quite a bit.

Ingredients
1 package puff pastry, thawed
12 ounces center cut bacon, cut into small pieces
2 eggs
1 container (5-7 ounces) Garlic and Herb Boursin
1 can (14 ounces) pineapple tidbits, drained
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
Dash cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper
1 1/2 cups Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

Instructions
1. Heat oven to 400*F. 

2. Cook bacon in skillet over medium heat until crisp.  Drain well. 

3. Whisk eggs in medium bowl.  Add Boursin, pineapple, bacon, curry, salt and pepper.  Stir to combine. 

4. Cut each pastry sheet into 12 squares and arrange each square in a cup of a regular size muffin tin.  (You will need two muffin tins for this, or to bake two batches.) 

5. Evenly distribute egg mixture into puff pastry cups and top each with a sprinkle of Monterey Jack cheese. 

6. Bake for 20 minutes or until pastry is golden brown and cheese is melted. 



Comments
This recipe is from Perfecting the Pairing and it was one that I selected for Appetizer Day – New Year’s Eve.  We all loved these and leftovers did not last long at all.  I heated the leftovers in the toaster oven to try to get some of the crispness back and that worked okay, but these are definitely best right out of the oven.

Ingredients
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 ounces lox
2 1/2 tablespoons fresh chives, minced
24 wonton wrappers

Instructions
1. Heat oven to 350*F. 

2. Combine cream cheese, salmon, and chives in medium bowl.  Spray mini muffin tin with cooking spray then place a wonton wrapper in each cup.  Spray tops of wontons with cooking spray then bake 5 minutes. 

3. Spoon 1 tablespoon salmon mixture into each wonton.  Bake 10 to 15 minutes or until wontons are crisp. 



Comments
This recipe is from The Way To His Heart.  It’s a baked take on crab rangoons that uses salmon instead of crab.  The original recipe doesn’t call to prebake the wontons but I wish I had so I’ve included that step in this recipe. 

The flavors were very nice and tasty, Lance and I had them as a lunchtime snack and finished them off pretty quickly!