Baking with Betty: Dunwoody Dip

You're probably asking yourself, what is Dunwoody Dip? And it's a great question! It's easy to make. Melty. Cheesy. Meaty. A little bit spicy. And everyone LOVES it!  The origin, though, it's a more difficult to nail down.  My grandmother, who is from Dunwoody, Ga, actually heard about this dip when she was visiting friends in Denver.  Urban legend has it that some guy brought the dip to a party in Denver and when prompted for a name he stalled and said "Dunwoody Dip." Because, apparently he was from Dunwoody.   Who really knows?

All I do know, is that this dip is yummy, very easy to make, and is always the first gone at a party or family get together.  Also, Eric might have married me because of this...

Dunwoody Dip

Ingredients:

• One tube of Jimmy Dean Hot Sausage
• Two cans of Rotel Tomatoes - Hot
• Two bars of Cream Cheese
• Big bag of Fritos Scoops

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325.
2. In a large frying pan over medium-ish heat, brown the sausage.  Drain.  Return to pan.
3. Add cream cheese and Rotel.  Stirring and breaking up cream cheese until the cream cheese is completely melted and the ingredients are well mixed.
4. Pour into a medium sized baking dish.  Bake uncovered until it bubbles around the edges.  About 25-40 minutes (depending on your oven & baking dish).

Tips & Variations:

Sausage:

I often use reduced fat or sodium sausage in lieu of the "hot".  You can also experiment with the maple or other favors.  Also, to keep the fat content down, I rinse the sausage with hot water as I'm draining off the grease.

Cream Cheese:

I've found that brand name or store brand cream cheese work equally as well.  I often use the store brand to keep the costs down.  I also always use the 1/3 less fat.  I don't recommend the fat free.  I haven't tried any flavored cream cheese.  The chive one might be nice!

Rotel:

I don't care for spicy foods, so I usually pick either hot sausage or hot Rotel, not both.  And some grocery stores don't carry all the varieties of Rotel.  Get what you can and/or what your taste buds can tolerate.

Chips:

Your choice of party scoops!  I like Tositos Baked Scoops.  I've even been known to eat it with celery sticks.  And I'm tempted to put it on a grilled cheese.

To bring to parties:

It's best hot.  If I am going to a party where the dish won't be served right away, I mix the ingredients on the stove top and put them in the baking dish, but don't bake it.  I'll take it to the party and throw it in the oven about 20-30 minutes before snack time.  I like this method better than reheating the already baked dip.

Happy Dipping :)