fiesta!

last week dan and i hosted a fiesta dinner party at our apartment for some friends that live in the neighborhood.



the other people provided all the fixin's for tacos- tomatoes, salsa, sour cream, mexican shredded cheese, tortillas, refried beans, etc.

we mixed some morningstar farms soy crumbles with some taco seasoning in a frying pan and served it in place of ground beef.

but i made my mom's mexican layers dip (with a few alterations, because i'm a picky eater) and served it with spicy black bean tortilla chips- yum!
it was super easy to make and disappeared in about ten minutes.

Mexican Layers Dip:

Ingredients:
*1 can refried beans (we use the vegetarian kind.)
*3-4 tbsp medium salsa
*2 avocados
*1 lemon
*1 pt sour cream
*1 pkg taco seasoning
*8 oz. shredded cheddar
*8 oz. shredded pepper jack (i really like the weight watchers mexican blend!)
*1 small can black olives
*1 chopped tomato
*handful of chopped green onions (optional)

Directions:
1. mix together beans and salsa in a bowl and spread in the bottom of serving dish (we use one of those square pyrex baking dishes...i don't know the dimensions because i'm not at home to check!)
2. mash together avocados and juice of one lemon, and spread over bean mixture.
3. mix together sour cream and taco seasoning, and layer over avocados.
4. sprinkle cheeses over existing layers.
5. garnish with black olives and chopped tomato, and green onions if you choose. or, try adding jalepenos, corn, or other toppings you love.

all done! easy peasy!


now, here is the part i'm REALLY proud of.
i made dessert.
what kind, you ask?

SOPAPILLA CHEESECAKE.
and it was phenomenal.

Sopapilla Cheesecake:

Ingredients:
* 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
* 1 cup white sugar
* 1 teaspoon Mexican vanilla extract (i actually used the paste from the inside of real mexican vanilla beans (2), because i liked the look and taste of it.)
* 2 (8 ounce) cans refrigerated crescent rolls OR one premade graham cracker piecrust
* 3/4 cup white sugar
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
* 1/4 cup honey

Directions:
1. preheat an oven to 350F. Prepare a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
2. beat the cream cheese with 1 cup of sugar and the vanilla extract/paste in a bowl until smooth.
3. if you use the crescent dough crust, unroll the cans of crescent roll dough, and use a rolling pin to shape each piece into rectangles. press one piece into the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. evenly spread the cream cheese mixture into the baking dish, then cover with the remaining piece of crescent dough.
otherwise, pour mixture into premade piecrust.
4. stir together 3/4 cup of sugar, cinnamon, and butter. Dot the mixture over the top of the cheesecake.
5. bake until the crescent dough has puffed and turned golden brown, about 30 minutes. remove from the oven and drizzle with honey. cool completely in the pan before cutting.

note: if you use the graham cracker crust, the honey might be a bit much because the whole product is already quite sweet. the crescent dough is a bit more reminiscent of real sopapillas.

serve, and watch it disappear before your very eyes.

i'm sorry i don't have pictures of these! i made them before i started this blog. i'll be sure to post them the next time i make this.