Farewell to a Friend

Tomorrow is my friend Anthony's last day at work.  He is moving out of state and we're all pretty sad about it because he's a really great part of our team.  Because of the fact that we like him, and because we also love any excuse to bring food to work, we're having a potluck.  When I asked Anthony what he wanted me to make, without hesitation he announced that he wanted me to bring Buffalo Chicken Dip.  This is one of those recipes that our family is known for.  Every party we're invited to, we're asked to bring it.  Truth be told it was my husband that made it the first time so he really deserves the credit for our success with it.  Over time, we've tweaked the recipe a little bit from the original Sandra Lee recipe.  We serve it with tortilla chips but you could also use thin crackers (like Wheat Thins) if that floats your boat.

As I made it tonight I was thinking about how so many events seem to include food.  Food has a great ability to both comfort us when we are sad and help us celebrate a happy occasion.  Tomorrow we will say goodbye to our friend and wish him all the best in the future with the help of this yummy little appetizer.  We're really going to miss you Anthony - this one's for you.

Hot Buffalo Chicken Dip

Adapted from a recipe by Sandra Lee

Ingredients:

Cooking spray

8 oz cream cheese, softened

½ cup hot wing sauce

½ cup sour cream

1 tbsp powdered ranch dressing mix

3 cups chicken salad from deli 

2 cups shredded cheddar jack or cheddar cheese

Tortilla chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray a 1 qt casserole dish with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl combine cream cheese, wing sauce, sour cream and ranch dressing mix, stirring until smooth.  Fold in chicken salad and cheese.

Transfer to prepared casserole dish.  Bake in preheated oven 45 minutes until heated through and bubbling.  Serve warm.