I usually add chopped spinach to my hot artichoke dip, it makes it a bit healthier--or at least that's what I like to tell myself! Just thaw and squeeze dry (really squeeze it!) frozen chopped spinach and add it in.

Another nice variation is to add cooked minced/shredded white meat chicken, to add some protein to (and reduce the fat whallop of) each serving. But, admittedly, it's less "da bomb" that way.

As for keeping it warm for a couple of hours, see if anyone has one of those 1960s era electric warming trays to set your dish on. You know, the kind that is probably orange or avocado colored...