Fall, Football and Food!

Get excited guys!  I'm posting an amazing recipe below!!! So many of you who know me, know that summer is my all time favorite time of year because I love the sun, pool, and being tan  :)  As summer comes to an end however that means fall is coming and football season is here!  I LOVE me some college football and cheering on my boys from Michigan State!   Being in Tennessee has kind of put a damper on my celebrating of anything MSU since everyone here is obsessed with University of Tennessee, which I get.... but also I'm not a UT fan so I've spent a lot of time watching football by myself.  Wah wah... I know. ​

Now, this summer I started playing on a slow pitch softball team and met some awesome people!  These awesome people invited me to a UT football tailgate and game last weekend and to their house to watch UT play today!  As you know, I'm not a UT fan, but I am a football fan!   So I'm pretty excited for this afternoon :)  Being a good guest I'm working on make some yummy food to bring with me for the game... I went back and forth between a ton of options of appetizer ideas.  Buffalo chicken dip, different kinds of pinwheels, sliders, dips.... SO MANY OPTIONS!!!!

I finally ended up choosing dill pickle dip because lets be honest 99.9% of people love dill pickles and who doesn't love dip?!  So here it goes!  I'm giving you my all time favorite dill pickle dip!

Dill Pickle Dip Recipe

This recipe isn't really the healthiest if you use it regular cream cheese. I have made it with fat free cream cheese and it tastes fantastic, but it didn't mix as well. I think maybe it was because I added the pickle juice too quickly and it got to watery...but I will be trying again when it isn't for a group of people like it is today! I will update you on the fat free cream cheese in a few weeks :)

Ingredients:
1.5 cups finely diced dill pickles (my favorite are Claussen, picture below! )
1 (8 ounce) package of cream cheese, softened
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 cup sliced ham, cut into small pieces
1 - 2 tablespoons pickle juice (Amount will vary)

1. In a medium bowl mix pickles, cream cheese, garlic powder, salt and ham.
2. Add a teaspoon of pickle juice gradually until you get the mixture to dipping consistency.  (It may be more or less than 1 teaspoon)  
3. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes
4. Serve chilled with crackers, chips or vegetables (My favorite are Dill, Sea Salt and Olive Oil Triscuits!)