Bid Farewell to Fall Break

I'm sad to say that today is my last day of fall break. But we are excited about our small group tonight! It's our turn to provide the snacks for the night, and as always, I had a stack of recipes I've been wanting to try. I use opportunities like this to try out new recipes that I wouldn't normally cook for just Jonathan and me. I had already bought all the ingredients for a Tiramisu Layer Cake that I intended to make for our dental school's Cake-Off for Breast Cancer. Unfortunately, I was SO overloaded with school the week of the cake-off that I didn't have time to make it. So today, I pulled all of those ingredients out of the fridge and made this:

I feel like the cake turned out really well, and I can't wait to dig into it tonight. I also made a recipe called Hot Corn Dip from this website. I followed the recipe exactly.

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 1/2 cups corn kernels (I used frozen fresh corn)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup finely chopped yellow onions
• 1/2 cup finely chopped roasted red bell peppers (from a jar)
• 1/4 cup chopped green onions (green and white parts)
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
  
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1 cup monterey jack and cheddar blend, shredded
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• Tortilla chips, for dipping

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add the corn, salt, and black pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl. Melt the remaining tablespoon of butter in the skillet. Add the onions and bell peppers and cook, stirring often, until the onions are wilted, about 2 minutes. Add the green onions, jalapeno, and garlic and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes, or until the vegetables are softened. Transfer to the bowl with the corn.

Add 1/2 C mayo, cayenne pepper, half of the monterey jack/cheddar and mix well. Pour into an 8-inch square baking dish or pie dish, and sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Bake until bubbly and golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Serve hot with tortilla chips or Fritos.

Here are the vegetables right after they were sauteed:

And here's the final product, ready to be popped into the oven:

I also made my ham and cheese slider rolls, but I've already made a post about those. Here's a special shout-out to my mom who has inspired my love for cooking by teaching me her tricks from an early age. Love you Mom!