All Other Nights

We recently read All Other Nights by Dara Horn. I personally loved this book. I am normally the girl who shows up with half of the book read so everyone has to tip toe around the ending just in case I decide one day to finish. I actually read every single word of this book and was grabbed from the moment I read that Jacob was taking a cruise to New Orleans trapped in a wooden barrel. This Civil War era historical fiction is the story of loyalty and the unexpected paths it can lead one down.

Sadly our discussion of the book was a brief one, but that is usually the case since we are a group of girls who love good food even better than good books. Jay Jay is our "Appetizer Queen". She made a warm artichoke dip served in a bread bowl. Nadean prepared a delicious dinner of red wine marinated flank steak, baked acorn squash, and green beans. We finished the evening with cinnamon cheesecake dessert that Judy made. Enjoy the recipe for Jay Jay's artichoke dip.

Bread Bowl Artichoke Dip

Ingredients:

2 16-oz sourdough bread rounds (about 6-in. diameter), divided

Vegetable oil

4 oz cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup milk

1 can (14 oz) artichoke hearts in water, drained

1 1.4-oz or one 1.8-ox box (2 envelopes) vegetable soup mix

1 garlic clove, pressed

1 lemon

1 container (8-oz) sour cream

Grated Fresh Parmesan Cheese (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Slice off top of one bread round to create a lid. Carefully remove center of bread round to form a 4 1/2-inch-wide and 2-inch-deep well for dip. Slice center of first and entire second bread round into 1-inch cubes. Place bread bowl on center of Large Round Stone with Handles. Arrange bread cubes around bowl; spray with vegetable oil.

2. In classic batter bowl, whisk cream cheese until smooth. Add milk to cream cheese; whisk until smooth. Chop artichoke hears using food chopper. Add artichokes, soup mix and garlic to batter bowl; mix well. Microwave on HIGH 5-7 minutes or until hot (do not boil). Juice lemon to measure 2 tbsp juice. Stir juice and sour cream into hot artichoke mixture; pour into bread bowl.

3. If desired, grate Parmesan cheese over bread bowl and bread cubes. Lean lid against bread bowl. Bake 13-15 minutes or until bread cubes and top of dip are golden brown. Remove from oven; serve immediately.

Yield: 12 servings