With the holidays quickly approaching, our house is becoming entertaining headquarters. Mind you, I am not complaining, I actually love having everyone here to celebrate because: 1. Because I’m a control freak 2. I just love making new dishes and signature cocktails for all to enjoy! 

I am thrilled to partner with The Home Depot to show you one of my favorite dips that is sure to be a crowd-pleaser! If you are new around here then you probably don’t know that we have been cooking on our Traeger Grill for a little over a year now and we recently upgraded to The Traeger Timberland 1300 Grill! Traeger Grill is a convection-based wood pellet grill where high tech meets old fashioned grilling. But I like to think of the Timberland 1300 as the MAC DADDY of Traeger grills. You can typically see me skipping all the way to the deck to start my grilling experience.

The amazing thing about purchasing a grill at The Home Depot is that they offer FREE DELIVERY on all grills purchased online. If anyone purchases a grill valued at $399 and above in-store, they also will qualify for FREE ASSEMBLY and delivery. Now if you’ve seen my last escapade of trying to put a grill together, y’all know “assembly included” is a complete must for me.

There are a lot of reasons why Traeger is KING but here are some of my favorite reasons: 

• Equipped with smart, WiFIRE technology and all-new D2 Drivetrain (The new D2 drive-train will deliver maximum flavor to your food thanks to its broader temperature ranges).

• Control your wi-fi pellet grill anywhere with the WiFIRE digital controller which allows you to set and adjust temperatures and monitor cooking from your smartphone.

• Designed with 6-in-1 functionality to grill, smoke, bake, roast, braise and barbecue with consistent results. We ain’t just grillin’ over here!

Built-in main rack plus middle and upper racks provide 1300 sq. inches of cooking surface for a big ol’ Brisket or as Traeger states it can hold the following: up to 60 hamburgers, 12 chickens, 82 hot dogs, or 14 racks of ribs (no, not all at once). Let’s just say WOAH!

• Three cooking tiers include two dual-position removable racks.

• Double-wall stainless-steel interior helps maintain even temperature and keep smoke inside.

• Fueled by all-natural wood pellets for real wood-fired flavor 

• Easy to use + easy cleanup 

Here is my favorite Traeger dip recipe which is a complete hit with family and friends and makes me look like a gourmet! TA-DA please welcome The Smokey Jalapeño Pancetta Popper Dip!! This is perfect for game day or the holidays and will keep the crowds at bay while I pull a full meal together. It’s cheesy, comforting, and provides a little bit of HEAT! Try this recipe for yourself and let me know what you think! 

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INGREDIENTS

For the Dip:

• 2 8-ounce packages of cream cheese softened

• 1 cup sour cream

• 4 ounces diced jalapenos

• 2 jalapeno seeded and diced (optional)

• 1 ½ cups shredded cheddar cheese

• ¾ cup shredded parmesan cheese

• 4 ounces of cooked pancetta 

• ¼ cup green onion

For the Topping:

• 1 cup Panko bread crumbs

• 4 tablespoons butter melted

• ¼ cup shredded parmesan cheese

• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley chopped

INSTRUCTIONS

• Preheat Traeger to 225 degrees and put on Super Smoke setting 

• Prepare a cast iron skill or an 8×8 pan (coat the pan with butter) 

• In a medium-size bowl with a mixer on medium mix together the cream

• cheese and sour cream until smooth

• Stir in the pancetta, jalapenos, cheddar cheese, parmesan cheese, and

• green onion

• Spread into prepared dish

• Combine the bread crumbs with the butter, parmesan cheese, and parsley.

• Sprinkle over the cream cheese mixture

• Place in the Traeger for  10 minutes on Super Smoke (this step is the best part and provides that smokey flavor)

• Then turn up the heat to 400 degrees and grill for 10 -15 additional minutes or until hot and bread topping is golden brown

• Dig In!