Hot Crab Dip in a Bread Bowl

So my amazingly awesome cooking club had a Costume Party at my house this past weekend (I know, I know who has costume parties in November??? But seriously it was awesome -- it might even be better because it's in November.) The plan was to dress in costume, bring a beverage and bring an appetizer and we awarded prizes for best costume, best drink, & best appetizer. Those who truly know me, know how competitive I am. I was determined to win something. For the life of me I couldn't come up with a good costume. I was the Spartan Cheerleader, Ariana, from SNL. It suited me well, but was not a prize-worthy costume. I tried to find a bottle of Arabella wine, because that stuff is great, but apparently they don't sell it in Lancaster County. So I knew I had to compensate by making a delicious appetizer. I settled on crab dip because everyone loves crab dip and I literally googled "best crap dip" to ensure that my crab dip was the best. I found a nice recipe on AllRecipes.com (of course) and made some changes. In the end the crab dip did win first place! Hurray! (But it was a tight race between the hot spinach artichoke dip, the cold spinach dip served in a purple cabbage bowl (scroll to bottom of page, and the addicting onion pretzels) 

Shout out to my friend Jessie who made the 2nd half of the recipe for me. I was getting ready for the party while she carved out the bread bowl. So all credit for the presentation goes to her. THANKS! 

Ingredients:

• 2 cups crabmeat
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 1 cup white Cheddar cheese
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup of pecorino romano cheese
• 1 tablespoon Old Bay Seasoning
• 1 (8 ounce) round loaf of bread
• box of crackers
• 1-2 cucumbers, sliced

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Grease a 9 x 13 casserole dish
3. In a large bowl, combine crabmeat, sour cream, cream cheese, buttermilk, mayonnaise, Monterey Jack cheese, Cheddar cheese, parmesan cheese, old bay seasoning, pecorino romano cheese, garlic, & black pepper.
4. Stir until well mixed. Spoon dip into prepared baking pan. 
5. Bake in preheated oven until top is crusty, about 25 to 30 minutes.
6. Cut the top off the loaf of bread. Hollow out the loaf and cube the top and the removed pieces so that they may be used for dipping. Spoon hot dip into hollow bread loaf. Serve immediately with bread pieces, cucumbers, or crackers for dipping.

Here is the Spinach Dip in a Cabbage Head that my friend Jessie made for her appetizer.

Isn't it beautiful!?!?!? I'll have to ask her for the recipe.

Note the mini-pitas in the back. They were so cute!

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