too. much. food.

a wise woman once told me, 'every time i eat artichoke dip i instantly gain 2 pounds.' i seriously don't doubt the truth of that comment. this stuff is seriously potent... you might as well dump cheese, mayonnaise, and a little more cheese into a blender and drink it... ok that's not entirely true. but it is pretty intense. i am sure i have probably put you all off of it now... lets just say its a seriously delicious melted cheesy goodness. the recipe is one that is meant to be based on one used by the olive garden. i have never had it there so i can't vouch for how close of a match it is... but i know it was super simple to make and very good.

here is the recipe:

ingredients: 8oz cream cheese, 14 ox artichoke hearts drained/chopped, 1/2 cup frozen spinach thawed (i just used two big handfuls of fresh), 1/4 cup mayo, 1/2 cup parmesan, 1 clove garlic finely minced, 1/2 basil, 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese grated, 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt (i didn't have this so didn't bother), and salt/pepper to taste

directions: cream together mayo, cream cheese, parmesan, garlic, basil and garlic salt. mix well. add the artichoke hearts and spinach and mix until blended. grease pan, pour in dip and top with cheese. bake at 350F/180C for 25min or until the top is browned... i like to leave it a little extra so that it is very hot!

we had it with tuc crackers (freddy's favourite crackers of all time) along with cheese and black olive m&s crackers. also had a selection of m&s deli meets... which were so good with the dip.

as if that weren't enough food... i decided to try out a new recipe i found: marshmallow milkshakes.

ingredients: 3 scoops vanilla ice cream, 1 large dollop yoghurt, 1 tablespoon whole milk, 5 jumbo marshmallows, whipped cream

directions: toast marshmallows under a broiler (more on this later) - put the milk, yoghurt, and then ice cream in the blender, blend carefully and just until you get a 'donut' - add three of the toasted marshmallows to the blender, and whirl it until they are just broken up and distributed evenly, be careful not to over blend it - pour shake into a glass, top with a dollop of whipped cream, break the last two marshmallows on top - repeat if necessary. it probably will be.

now... just so you know, these two photos were not taken by me nor were they taken in my house. i got them here. ok... so that is what the marshmallows are supposed to look like: white, fluffy yet firm, browned on top. this, on the other hand, is what my marshmallows looked like

yeeeah. a big fat mess pretty much. i gave it another try though and they turned out better the second time around... still no where close to as gorgeous as they should have been, but hey - i think they tasted the same. that gooey mess is going to haunt you in your sleep...

xx