Caramelized Onion Dip and a CSN Giveaway

Are you ready for some football??  Are you ready to shop??  I can help you with both!

The CSN Stores has graciously offered up a $45 Giftcard for us give away to one of our lucky readers.  Meeting all of your shopping needs, the CSN Stores offers you department after department for your shopping pleasure, including products ranging from backyard swing sets (what kids doesn't want one of those??) and trampolines to hand mixers (I got mine there!) and cooking tools and gadgets.  

Open to our Canadian and US readers, our giveaway will close at 5 PM on Super Bowl Sunday (2/6/11 - 5 PM Pacific Standard Time).  Our house will be hopping with our annual Super Bowl Extravaganza, and Molly (from our last giveaway) and Olivia will work some sort of magic to come up with a random number indicating our fortuitous winner.  

To enter, all you need to do is to leave us a comment below about your favorite Super Bowl treat (feel free to leave a link to your blog!) and who you think will win this year's Big Event.  

If you would like to tweet our giveaway, sign up as a Liv Life follower on Twitter, Facebook, RSS or email, we would truly appreciate it, but you do not need to do this to enter.  (Note... our directions are in Green as I'm pretty darn sure that Greenbay has it in the bag! =0  )

2011 marks Liv Life celebrating it's 8th Annual Super Bowl Extravaganza.  What began as a Super Junk Food Day for my then 6 year old son, two of his friends and their dads has turned into a guest list of 50+ people and more of a gourmet spread including Becky's Famous Football Stromboli (shown at left), Kim's Coconut Mango Chicken Wonton Cups, Naomi's homemade authentic sushi (she's from Japan!), Ellen's Coconut Shrimp, Darlene's guacamole and Claudine's Seven-Layer Dip.  Pringles, M&M's and good old fashioned Queso Dip also grace our table, but the eats have definitely improved over the years.

This year Caramelized Onion Dip will be featured with a big bowl of multi-grain Pita chips on the side.   Rich with the caramelized onions seasoned with a little balsamic and then stirred into cream cheese, we found this dip to be somewhat addicting.  Tasty either warm or cold, this creamy dip is sure to be a winner.

Liv and I are looking forward to your favorite Football treats in the comments below!

Go Packers!!

Caramelized Onion Dip

adapted from one of my favorite appetizer books: Grazing: A Healthier Approach to Snacks and Finger Foods, Julie Van Rosendaal

1 Tbs grape seed oil (or olive or canola oil)

2 - 3 large sweet onions, cut in half and thinly sliced (I used 2)

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 Tbs balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup low fat sour cream

1/2 cup low fat cream cheese (I used a whipped version!)

salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-low heat.  Add the onions and cook, stirring often for about 20 minutes, or until they turn golden.  Add the garlic and balsamic vinegar and cook for another 3 minutes, until deep golden and caramelized.  Set aside to cool slightly.

Transfer onions to a medium bowl and stir in sour cream, cream cheese and salt and pepper.  If desired, whiz in a food processor until smooth.  Cover and chill, or serve warm.  We really liked it both warm and cold!


Note:  I like the "chunks" of onion in my dip, but the slices seemed a bit large.  I used some kitchen shears to cut the onions (just a bit) while they were in the skillet - being careful not to scrape the non-stick pan.