Sumptuous Seafood Dip

A delightful dip loaded with a trifecta of seafood! Lobster, shrimp and crab in a creamy cheesy sauce laced with capers, celery, onion, garlic and seasonings to tempt your taste buds. The seafood selections can be swapped out as you please to customize the dip to your preferences. This dip would be an ideal way to start out a Feast of the Seven Fishes during the holidays yet equally welcome at a summer cocktail party. I like it best served warm, but it is also delicious served straight from the fridge. You can make it ahead of time and warm it up for the party–the dip will keep well for several days in the fridge. The other thing I love about this dip is you don’t have to live on the coast to make it. I used frozen and canned seafood and it still tasted amazing! I can only imagine how good it would taste made with fresh seafood.

The holidays are upon us … holiday feasts and parties are in full swing. My Wednesday night circle of yoga friends have an annual tradition of a white elephant party every year. First we do yoga in our friend’s furniture store (where we do yoga every Wednesday night all year round), then we gather around a “picnic” on a tablecloth set out on the floor, filled with all sorts of delicacies because everyone in the group brings something delicious … and plenty of choices for drinks. There is always wine, quite often a cocktail or two, and sometimes some craft beer makes its way to our holiday party as well. This year was no exception! We had sangria, limoncello, prosecco and red wine, a fabulous selection of craft beer and a huge spread of foods, both sweet and savory.

It always feels kind of funny, sitting amongst so many beautiful tables and chairs, beds, bookshelves and so many other beautiful furnishings and yet we all plunk ourselves down on the floor and gather round a feast on a tablecloth on the floor, but we don’t want to damage any of the tables or chairs with our antics, so out of respect for my friend who owns the store, we always feast on the floor. This year we had four or five spills, so I think it was definitely a good thing we weren’t on one of the tables.

This dip was my contribution to the feast. Thinking that nobody else was bringing veggies (boy was I wrong!), I brought lots of veggie dippers in addition to crackers and chips. I warmed my dip briefly in the microwave, just until warm, and served it on a tray with all the dippers. Everyone tried it and I know it was well received because people kept on dipping. Others brought cheeses and meats, cocktail shrimp, stuffed shells, a fruit tray, spinach/artichoke dip, hummus, pimento cheese and more … and then the desserts! An assortment of fabulous cookies, fudge and homemade candies was laid out so we could finish off the feast in style.

Once we were all stuffed from our feasting, we moved back to our yoga space where we placed all the white elephant gifts in the middle, then we took turns choosing or stealing gifts. This has been a holiday tradition with this group for many years. Everyone gets a number (mine was #7 this year) and we take turns either choosing from the pile of presents or stealing someone else’s gift that has already been opened. At the end, the person who had #1 gets one more chance to stay with the gift they have or steal from someone else. Technically, white elephant gifts are supposed to be something you have but no longer use or want, but people have been known to purchase things that they thought would be funny or appropriate for the occasion. Our white elephant game is great fun and typically involves lots of laughs. Some presents make repeat appearances over the years. The best “surprise” this year was a gift from last year that came back, but it had been transformed from a rather strange looking wine bottle candle holder into a beautiful wine rack. That was the gift that got stolen at the end, of course.

But let’s talk about this dip a bit more … not only is it chock full of good things like seafood and garlic and cheese, it’s also really quite healthy. It’s both low in carbs and high in protein, plus it’s a good source of calcium too. If you use healthy dippers, you’re treating your body as well as your taste buds. That’s the best kind of appetizer, if you ask me.

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