Mexican Comfort Foods...

Mom and Dad are in El Paso this morning, heading across the border into Mexico later today.  It will be the first stamp on their new passports, so to celebrate, I thought I'd share a couple of my favorite Mexican comfort foods.  The Mexican clam dip is one that Casey or Jamie found on www.epicurious.com, our favorite food website, for Mom's 50th Birthday celebration in Boone, nine years ago this week in fact.  It was so good! Everyone loved it, and it has since become a family staple.  The second one, Sopapilla Cheesecake, is a new one from my friend, Rachel.  I made it for everyone when we were in Miami last month, and let's just say it was a huge hit! Uncles Dave and Mike were scraping the crumbs from the pan! 

Mexican Clam Dip
12 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 (6 oz.) cup salsa verde
1 40z. can diced green chilies
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 6.5oz. cans chopped clams, drained well
Fritos for dipping (Yes, it must be Fritos, not Tostitos. Trust me.)
Beat cream cheese till smooth. Add the salsa, chilies, and cilantro. Add the clams and mix well.  Add salt and pepper and more cilantro to taste. Transfer to an ovenproof dish. Bake at 350 till bubbly, about 30 minutes.

Sopapilla Cheesecake
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 (8 ounce) cans refrigerated crescent rolls
3/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup honey
Preheat an oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Beat the cream cheese with 1 cup of sugar and the vanilla extract in a bowl until smooth. Unroll the cans of crescent roll dough, and use a rolling pin to shape each piece into 9x13 inch rectangles. Press one piece into the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Evenly spread the cream cheese mixture into the baking dish, then cover with the remaining piece of crescent dough. Stir together 3/4 cup of sugar, cinnamon, and butter. Dot the mixture over the top of the cheesecake.  Bake in the preheated oven until the crescent dough has puffed and turned golden brown, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and drizzle with honey. Cool completely in the pan before cutting, or serve it hot and gooey!

Enjoy!