Lazy Pimento Cheese

What food made you realize you'd grown up? Spinach? Black eyed peas? Chicken a-la-king? Which dish was the one that your mom would spend the entire meal trying to make you eat, only to meet your firmly clamped teeth, but five, ten, fifteen years down the road you realize hey, this stuff is pretty good?

I remember Cha-Cha trying to make me eat blackeyed peas. She finally managed it by carving the top out of a piece of cornbread and saying they were the eggs in a nest. I probably only ate a total of 10 peas, but that kind of creativity was entirely too much for a five year old to ignore.

Mike still doesn't like pimento cheese and probably never will, but I surprised myself the other day with a craving. It was a warm, beautiful springlike day outside, and my mind went directly to pimento cheese. Blech. Where did that come from? When I was a kid, I would have sooner had a mayonnaise sandwich than pimento cheese (blech). Even in my mind I would think of it not as simply "pimento cheese," but "pimento cheese blech."

What the hell is a pimento, anyway? As a kid I probably didn't like pimento cheese (blech) because it didn't taste like olives. Because after all, green olives are the only known source of pimentos, aren't they? Except for the Wal-mart brand, which replaced its pimentos with some red gelatinous substance that made me think of jelly beans. Hmm. Pimento-flavored jelly beans. Sounds like a case for Bertie Bott.

But I digress.

I did like my cousin Cliff's mama's pimento cheese, but he told me the recipe when I was tipsy, so there's no hope of my remembering it. So I bought 16 ounces of shredded sharp cheddar cheese. Hey, if this was going to be an off-the-top-of-my-head recipe for something I didn't even think I liked, I wasn't going to put an awful lot of effort into it.

16 ounces sharp cheddar. Dumped into a bowl.

Ok. Now what? Pimentos! Took a 4-ounce can and dumped that on top of the cheese.

Pimentos and cheese. Need something to keep them together. What would Mom have used....

Mayonnaise! I added about half a cup. You could probably go lower-fat and use sour cream, but really. It's cheese. There isn't that much help for it.

At this point I stuck my head in the bowl and smelled to see what else it needed. I added a dash of garlic powder, onion powder, and salt. Then I added a few dashes of black pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and Tabasco.

And I stirred it all up.

But it was missing something to make it my own dish. So I gave it 4 or 5 liberal dashes of my favorite, Cheyenne pepper. And there you have it. Fran's pimento cheese.

Oh, and the green beans? They're green bean chips from the Fresh Market. Asher mentioned them the other day, and I had to find out what all the fuss was about. They're delicious!

Hummus

We hope you had a beautiful New Year's Eve. As I've been in quite a Mediterranean mood lately, Mike took me to Petra for dinner. The food was excellent, the atmosphere a hoot, and the company exemplary. We didn't expect it to be such a party, complete with fireworks, champagne, and belly dancers.

Then last night we went out with some of Mike's buddies. More awesome company! Supper was at Keifer's, and I found myself once again craving hummus. I suppose now I've become quite the hummus connoisseur.

Anyway, a funny Adam Sandler movie, Don't Mess with the Zohan came on the TV this morning while we were finishing up our pancakes. It has its moments, and a running joke through the movie was hummus and fizzy-bubbly. So I decided it was high time I figured out how to make this stuff. I remember back in college one of my sorority sisters goofily (and rather drunkenly) saying it was made of chick peas and garbanzo beans (go ahead, say it. you know you want to.), so I set out to find an edible recipe, played around in the kitchen, and was very pleasantly surprised.

Tonight's supper? Sushi and hummus. So cosmopolitan. I might just turn into a chick pea or garbanzo bean myself.

1 can chickpeas or garbanzo beans

2-3 Tablespoons (1/2 lemon) juice of lemon

3 Tablespoons Tahini (you can find it at a superKroger)

1-2 cloves garlic

Red pepper to taste

Salt to taste

Pita bread

Olive oil, fresh parsley, and paprika, or a combination thereof, for garnish

1. Reserve liquid from beans.
2. In a blender, combine beans, lemon juice, Takini, garlic, and seasonings.
3. Add about 1/4 cup of liquid in which beans were packed.
4. Run blender, taste, and add seasonings or liquid depending on the consistency you want.
5. The longer you blend, the fluffier it will be.
6. Garnish with paprika, olive oil, and parsley.

Photo courtesy of The Nibble.

Treasured Trash

This is a page scanned directly out of Mom's black recipe binder. It is a treasure. I particularly love how a little girl carefully put a Merry Christmas stamp on it; I actually remember doing that. It wasn't because this is such a holiday dish as much as it was because that recipe was out at the same time the stamp (with which I was enamored, I mean, what little girl wouldn't be? It has sparkly stars on it.) was out, and I was desperate to try it on something.

My family has always called it "trash." Does your family have a party/Chex/what have you mix with a goofy name? Some Southerners like to coat this stuff in white chocolate and call it white trash, but I'm more of a purist.

Speaking of goofy Christmas traditions, I'd love to hear some of yours. It just doesn't feel like the holidays around here until we watch Mixed Nuts. Mom rented it for the first time more than 10 years ago. We both hated it. It was awful. Tasteless. Disgusting.

Hey, let's watch it again.

And the second time, we GOT it. And laughed ourselves silly. So many phrases around Mom's house comes from that movie, but we don't realize them until we're watching it and find ourselves ruminating, "So THAT's where that phrase comes from!"

In case you can't read the above, here's the transcription:

Nuts & Bolts

1 pound butter

2 or 4 cloves of garlic

1 Tablespoon Worcestershire (Mom can spell it, but she can't say it!)

1 teaspoon Tabasco

Salt to taste

1 box Cheerios

1 box Rice Chex

1 box Kix

1 box stick pretzels

1 pound mixed nuts (one of my all-time favorite Christmas movies)

1. Melt butter in large roaster.
2. Add everything except nuts & pretzels.
3. Toast in 250 degree oven, turning every 20-30 minutes for 2-3 hours.
4. Add nuts & pretzels the last 45 minutes.

Merry Christmas

Sex in a Basket

Don't look too closely at that picture: 1. prices are visible and that's tacky and 2, I never realized how grody the baskets at Fresh Market are. Eiw.

Anyway, Mike had a long day at work yesterday. So I promised to have a suprise happy waiting for him when he got home. Which meant a trip to Fresh Market with Asher. Inspired by Montie's cheese tray on Facebook, I hooked a basket under my arm and picked up whatever tickled my fancy.

I absolutely love antipasto. It is currently my favorite both to fix and to eat. Literally, it means, "before the meal," but last night we made it the whole meal, which is one of my favorite things to do. All you need is a big pretty plate and some imagination. I'm always suprised how many pick-up snacks we keep in the pantry, and antipastos generally end up much bigger than expected at our house.

And Mike loves a cheese plate. So easy to be so fancy! Pick up three different kinds of cheese - our favorites are also the most basic: Stilton (bleu), brie, and an exotic cheddar (though I truly love a good Wensleydale, I can't find them around here without added cranberries). Throw in some sliced fruit and crakers, and you're in business.

These are black figs stuffed with goat cheese and drizzled with honey. I read somewhere that this is the ultimate aphrodisiac. Better than oysters. Better than ginger. Better than cold duck or champagne. Better than Vitamin B-12.

They were pretty good.

So here's what we had for supper last night. From the top: olives stuffed with pimento, Stilton, olives stuffed with anchovies, applewood smoked cheddar, petit brie, and natural almonds.

Not pictured was another tray with black pepper-crusted salami, assorted nuts, sliced apples, grapes, and crackers. And we had fancy dark chocolate and raspberries for dessert. Mike had licorice to round out his suprise.

It made his day.

Boiled Peanuts

ARE IN!!! Am beside myself with excitement. Do you know what this means? Do you??? It means we're close to fall, the end of 200 degree weather, the start of football games, closer to crazy trips to who-knows-where, David's wedding in October, and the final trips out on the boat.

I remember the first time I had boiled peanuts as a child. It was about 26 years ago on the front porch of a BBQ joint that is now an Italian restaurant on Lake Harbor Drive. Dad and I would spend Sunday afternoons with his sailplane club, but before we set off, we would have lunch there. It was divine. You ordered inside, where I remember the dark walls and counter were rough-hewn wood that smelled deliciously smoky, and there was a red, white, and blue cardboard placque on the counter in which patrons were encouraged to insert quarters. I couldn't read at the time, but Dad told me it was for a charity.

Once ordered, the gang and we would sit in the breeze under the fans on the shady front porch on picnic tables, surrounded by the same wonderful-smelling wood. Dad always ordered a pulled pork sandwich for me, but when I was really young I remember I would only eat the boiled peanuts. And a Sunkist. Only a Sunkist would do. Sunkist and boiled peanuts: doesn't get any better than that. My favorite trick was to eat the peanut meat, put the halves of the shell back together, and hand it to Dad as if it was whole. It looked whole to me.

Then we were off to go up in the sailplanes. That was a really neat experience. I'm told Dad raised me in a sailplane: he would take me up in his lap as an infant, and we would bond and enjoy each other's company. When I was old enough, he would put me in the front seat and steer from the back. I remember the initial gentle yank on the ground as the tow plane started up, the drag and slight heave as we left the earth, and how hard I had to pull to let go of the towing plane.

Once up and unhooked from the tow, it was very, very quiet up there. No engine noise, as there was no engine. The only sound was the wind and each other's voice. You could see brilliant sunshine and the sparkling reservoir. Dad remembers the minute I outgrew sailplanes as a child: apparently I told him, "I'm tired of this. All we do is go around in circles." Now as a grownup, I would cherish another flight.

Where was I? Oh yeah. Boiled peanuts.

I remember the first time I had boiled peanuts as an adult. I was with Mike in Florida, visiting his parents for the first time. Nervous was not the word: I was terrified. Mikey-Doo has always loved boiled peanuts, so his mom made some for his homecoming. I was astonished. I had only ever seen them at that BBQ place and on the side of the road, and who knows what kind of magic side-of-the-road chefs can produce. Wide-eyed and open-mouthed, I asked Judy, "How did you make boiled peanuts?!?" To which she very politely replied (wondering what kind of idiot her son was dating, I'm sure), "Well, you put them in a pot and boil them. With salt."

Did I mention I was born blonde?

So here's how you make boiled peanuts, courtesy of Judy Peacock:

3-5 pounds green peanuts. Be sure to get green peanuts: they are available in the produce section of the Kroger, usually next to the watermelons, onions, and potatoes.
1/2 - 3/4 cup salt. I use kosher because it's less expensive.
Water.
A big pot.

1. Put peanuts in pot.
2. Cover with water so they have enough room to float and move around a little.
3. Dump a lot of salt in there. Maybe 1/3 cup to start.
4. Cover and bring to a boil.
5. After about 45 minutes, pull one out with tongs, rinse with cold water, and check for texture and saltiness.
6. It probably won't be salty enough. Here's where your cook's intuition comes in. I have never used a whole cup of salt for a batch of boiled peanuts. So as long as you don't go over a cup, put in as much as you think you need and taste every half hour or so. It's really a taste thing: Mike likes them salty.
7. I boiled this last batch for a total of 2 1/2 hours. Think like a side-of-the-road chef and just leave them simmering until good and mushy.

I've tried all kinds of additions: oyster sauce, crab boil, Louisiana hot sauce. That was funny. The Louisiana hot sauce vaporized and left me coughing. When the cat started coughing, I realized I was about to hurt the both of us with the toxic fumes. Mike came home to a house with all windows and doors wide open on a 96 degree day. And I have found that hands-down the best seasoning it good old-fashioned salt.

The best way to preserve peanuts so you can have boiled peanuts during the winter and spring months is to freeze them green. I have heard a rumor of a place out from Hazlehurst where you can buy green peanuts by the bushel. If that comes to fruition this year, I'll buy the whole thing, put them in ziploc bags, and freeze them raw. When you're ready for freshed boiled goobers, just take them out of the ziploc straight to boiling water.

With salt.

Marvelous Medora

Check out what I won in a giveaway from the talented Hannah!

They are different and light and healthy and oh-so delicious. We highly recommend them!

Pear Chutney

Remember Cindy's yard with the pears? And the dogs who loved them? We were able to glean a bushel of pears. In spite of the dogs, that was the easy part: the hard part was finding a recipe suitable for them!

The winning recipe was this pear chutney from Worth Savoring: Literary, Visual, and Culinary Creations from the Hills of North Mississippi by the Union County Historical Society - New Albany, Mississippi.

25 large, firm pears
1 pound dark raisins
1 Tablespoon ground ginger
1 Tablespoon ground cloves
1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
8 small, green, hot peppers
1 1/2 pints cinder vinegar
5 pounds sugar
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup salt
2 cups pecans



- Mix sugar and vinegar in very large pot in which you'll boil chutney.
- Peel and slice pears.

- Remove seeds from peppers and grind.

- Grind garlic.

- Mix well with spices (stir - do not mix with blender).

- Put all except for nuts in the pot with sugar and vinegar; stir.

- Keep nuts out until last.

- Boil for 30 minutes and add nuts the last 15 minutes.

- Pack in sterilized jars and seal.

Worth noting: this is wonderful served over cream cheese for an appetizer spread or is a delightful condiment for chicken or pork.

Be careful with those hot peppers. I used some mature jalapenos out of the backyard, and though they have made my hands sting a little bit before, I developed some pretty bad chemical burns this time. They stung and burned for about 7 hours after I was done with the chutney. I should've used gloves!

Grilled Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Jalapeno Peppers

The yard just keeps spitting out hot jalapeno peppers, and I'm loving trying to find out how many recipes I can make with them. My talented cousin Katy suggested this awesome recipe. Mike's favorite Mexican food is chile rellno, or a stuffed and fried chili pepper, so I thought I'd try something similar on the grill with bacon. Mike loved them; now we don't know which to fix: these or the jalapeno poppers!

4 ounces cream cheese

3 cloves garlic

pinch of salt

dash of pepper

dash of cayenne pepper

handful of fresh cilantro, basil, parsley, and oregano (a little of each to make one handful total)

6 jalapeno peppers

6 slices bacon

• Place cheese, garlic, salt, peppers, and herbs in a small food processor and blend together. This can be done beforehand to let the flavors bloom.
• Set the grill on medium or the oven on 350 degrees.
• With a sharp knife, make a slit down the side of the jalapeno - don't cut it entirely in half.
• Squeeze the top and bottom to open the slit up like a coin purse.
• With a small spoon, scoop out as many seeds as you want (the more seeds you leave in there, the hotter it will be).
• Stuff peppers with cheese mixture.
• Wrap with bacon and trim off extra bacon if desired.
• Secure with a toothpick - Mike doesn't like a lot of bacon, so I made it one layer and toothpicked both the top and bottom. But if you want to really wrap your pepper, just use one pick in the middle. You can also skewer them for one-step flipping.
• Grill for 20-30 minutes or set them on a cooling rack on a cookie sheet and cook in oven for about 45 minutes or until bacon is fully cooked.
• Toward the end, you can kick up the grill or oven heat to finish up cooking the bacon.

The low carb version? Replace the herbed cream cheese with shrimp, a little minced garlic, and a spritz of lemon juice.

Grilled Toast

Part of this blog's reason for being is to record my triumphs and (usually spectacular) failures in the kitchen. I haven't yet shown the "my cup runneth over" chocolate pound cake because it makes me so mad every time I make it. It's to do with both the type of flour I'm using and the fact that I keep putting extra goodies in it. I've gone so far as to write, "TOO DAMN BIG FOR CHA-CHA'S BUNDT CAKE PAN," in pen in my favorite cookbook, over which I'm sure the generations to come will laugh.

But I digress.

Most of theses dishes are completely experimental, meaning I'm sitting on the couch thinking, "Hmm.... I like bacon. And I like corn. Let's try them together!" And if it's good enough to remember, I have to put it up here so I can look back to it myself. That being said, I in no way mean for this post to be patronizing, but Mike and I didn't even know you could make toast on the grill. Yeah, fire + bread = toast, but who thinks like that anyway? Light dawns on yonder brow.

Back to Mayberry? Yeah, try back to the Copper Age.

So planning ahead, I knew I would be grilling steaks to go with my bruschetta last night, and I figured it was a shame to waste all that good hot grill space when I had toast to make too. So here's what I did:

• Go buy a loaf of Italian or French bread. You can most likely get your baker to pre-slice it for you, but I forgot to ask mine to do it on the diagonal to make it more authentic.
• With a pastry brush, brush both sides with olive oil.
• Rub with fresh garlic.
• Follow with some freshly-cracked pepper.
• Lay it out on the grill, usually close to the hottest part until brown.
• Flip.

This exercsise is also a GREAT way to find out exactly which spots on the grill are hotter than others. For instance, I learned that the back of our grill is much more warm than the front, which stands to reason with how our grill top opens. And I didn't burn any pieces to a crisp or have to pull out the fire extinguisher. Cha-Cha would be proud.

Bruschetta

Yeah, I'm going to brag on the backyard. Everything in these photos came from out of our own dirt! Even the onions. Derived from the Italian word bruscare, which means "to toast," this is one of my favorite antipasto dishes. I was also rather tired of salsa. I never dreamed my tomato and jalapeno plants would produce so much.

To make this dish, I peeled the tomatoes and chopped everything up. The herbs are basil and parsley. Dumped it in a bowl with a little olive oil and about 2 teaspoons of plain white vinegar to help the flavors bloom. Take some Italian or French bread, brush with olive oil and cracked pepper, toast or better yet- grill it, and you'll have one tasty antipasto.

Tonight's supper menu? Grilled steaks, curried rice noodles, and bruschetta on grilled toast with Dyed in the Wool South Island New Zealand Pinot Noir and mojitos. For dessert: dark chocolate pound cake or lemon bars with blueberries.

Jalapeno Poppers

With homemade jalapenos! Mike found these huge babies in the garden yesterday afternoon, and I was in the mood for something spicy. I love this recipe: the sweet of garlic, cilantro, and cream cheese with the spicy of jalapeno and cayenne pepper, the softness of cheese and crunch of Japanese bread crumbs come together for a great appetizer. I was just playing around, so this recipe is very small: serves only two.

3 large jalapenos, split in half and seeded
2 ounces cream cheese
4 ounces shredded cheese of your choice (mozzarella, cheddar, stilton, whatever you want)
1 teaspoon mayonnaise
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 Tablespoon cilantro
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 egg
hot sauce (optional)
1 teaspoon milk
1/2-3/4 cup Japanese bread crumbs

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Lightly grease a baking sheet.
• For a more soft pepper, blanch them for 2 minutes in boiling water, then transfer to ice water. If you want a crunchier snack, shorten the blanching time or skip altogether.
• In a small food processor, combine well the cream cheese, other cheese, garlic, cilantro, and peppers.
• Wisk together the egg, how sauce, and milk in a medium-sized bowl.
• Put the Japanese bread crumbs in a bowl next to the egg mixture.
• Stuff the cheese mixture into the peppers.
• Dip/dredge the stuffed peppers into the egg, then place in the Japanese bread crumbs and toss crumbs on top. Shake excess crumbs off and place onto baking sheet.
• Bake at 350 for 30 minutes; until the crumbs are golden brown.

Sure, it's a labor of love, but dang, is it good. I've also heard of wrapping the stuffed peppers in bacon and grilling them until the bacon is done (omitting the dredging and Japanese bread crumbs), but that's for another day and another post.

Sausage Balls

I almost never put these out so neatly on the pan when I'm cooking them, but they were kind of big, and I woke up in an orderly mood this morning. Usually I just dump them in a sausage-cheesiness free-for-all.

This is one of my favorite breakfast-for-overnight-company dishes. You can make them up to 3 days in advance, and they'll keep in the fridge until you're ready for them. I believe I've even frozen these before.

3 1/2 cups Bisquick
1 pound sausage (hot or mild, depending on taste)
10 ounces "coon" or sharp cheddar cheese, grated

1. Find a good show on TV.
2. Take off your rings.
3. With your hands, thoroughly squish all three ingredients together.
4. Roll about a tablespoon between your palms to form a ball.
5. Repeat.
6. Repeat.
7. Repeat. (etc. until it's all balled up)
8. Preheat oven to 325 degrees and cook for about 25 minutes.

If you want to make these into hors d'oeuves, take some green olives, pat them dry on paper towels, and mold the sausage mixture over each olive. You can use almost anything - bleu cheese, spiced pecans, anchovies. Be creative!

A note about the spiciness of the sausage: I use the bulk sausage that says "HOT" on it. Then again, I like Thai that's evil-priest-of-the-jungle spicy. The cheese and Bisquick will dilute the hotness considerably. But if you don't like spicy, try the mild first.

Edamame

I've heard that the Japanese language does not have a word or phrase for "hot flash" because women simply do not have them. This is largely contributed to eating soy, tofu, fish, and the other healthy stuff the Japanese eat.

I might never order edamame in a restaurant again. It's as easy as boiling the beans for 5-6 minutes and sprinkling some kosher salt over them!

Yep, that's steam rising. Oh so delicious.

Artichoke Dip

(Ann, this one's for you.)

Last night we had such a lovely time with lovely friends. Mom wanted some grilled salmon, and I LOVE how salmon, cream cheese, and Triscuits go together. So I figured a good beginner to the meal would be an artichoke/cream cheese dip served on top of Triscuits.

Ann wanted the recipe, and I was busy in the kitchen, so Mom gave her the closest thing I had in a cookbook - the Amerigo's version - but I had to tweak this recipe to go with what was in my kitchen. After so much calling out, "but I used mozzarella instead of Swiss," and "I added a couple cloves of garlic!" I realized the version I was serving didn't have much to do with the version in the book.

So here 'tis:

1 (8 ounce) package Neufchatel cream cheese
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 cloves garlic
3 cups mozzarella cheese
Black pepper to taste
Red pepper flakes to taste
1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained
2 green onions, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350 or get a fondue pot ready.
2. In the bowl of a food processor, cream the cream cheese, mayonnaise, sour cream, Parmesan, and garlic until well combined.
3. Add mozzarella, peppers, and other seasonings (to taste), and pulse until combined.
4. Add artichoke hearts last and pulse unitl just combined.
5. Transfer to a 9x9 Pyrex dish or a fondue pot and stir in the green onion.
6. Either bake the Pyrex for 40-45 minutes, until bubbly and browned, or set the fondue pot on medium-low, stirring occasionally, and serve immediately with Triscuits or your choice cracker.
7. Serves 6-8

Photo courtesy of the California Artichoke Advisory Board. It's the official vegetable of Monterey.

Fancy Herbed Crackers

Let's HEAR IT for spring.

Truly my favorite time of year. I tend to become one of these irritating people, smiling and singing and trying my damnedest to whistle during this time of year. I can feel it in my bones - trading suntan lotion in for dry skin lotion, lovely afternoon lunches taken outside to get as much Vitamin D as possible, laugher, friends, longer days, sandals, grilling, skiing, and generally unfurling myself mentally and physically from the tightly-curled ball I have become during the winter months.

I love spring.

So in the spirit, this post includes a recipe that involves no cooking whatsoever. And people will think you've slaved over a hot stove for hours. It has become one of my favorite afternoon snacks that isn't as good for you as (but tastes way better than) an apple, but better for you than say, a chili dog. The photo doesn't really do them justice: the crackers have the same consistency and taste as if they have been baked in butter in a single layer on a cookie sheet, then sprinkled deliberately with the herbs. Good news: this recipe involves neither butter nor the irritating and time-consuming frustration of lining a cookie sheet with one layer of freakin' crackers.

Our good friend Nash gave us our first taste (pardon the pun) of this dish as a side to shrimp bisque, and I think it's a great, easier, and perhaps slightly healthier alternative to garlic bread for any dish from casseroles to appetizers to croutons. Be creative. I know it's in you - after all, spring is just around the corner.

Ingredients:

• One large box of saltine crackers - four tubes to a box. I buy the cheapest ones I can find: the special value ones at the Kroger for $.88 a box do nicely.
• 1 1/3 cups canola oil
• 1 envelope ranch dressing mix
• Crushed red pepper to taste (I use about 1 1/2 teaspoons)
• Garlic Powder to taste (I use about 1 teaspoon)
• Dill to taste (I use about 2 1/2 teaspoons)

1. Open the crackers and put all into a gallon size plastic sealable bag.
2. Thoroughly mix together oil, ranch dressing mix, red pepper, garlic powder, and dill.
3. While it's still swirling around, pour it over the crackers in the bag.
4. Turn the bag over, upside down, and sideways every half hour.
5. In two to three hours, the crackers will have absorbed the oil and spices.
6. Store the crackers in an airtight plastic container. They keep a long time.

Ugly Dip

Another hit of last night's party was some homemade salsa. I remember the first time I ever enjoyed this dish: Mike and I were dating, and he took me to a friend's dinner party. Instructed to bring a dip, he made this recipe, and I distinctly remember riding in the truck after he picked me up, carrying it in a hot pink plastic bowl in my lap. We still have that bowl.

Since then, Mike has made the dip several times, but since it's a time-consuming labor of love, and since he wanted it for last night's party, this was my first time to make it. The recipe comes from Sugar Beach: A Cookbook by The Junior Service League Fort Walton Beach, Florida. Mike's mom Judy had inscribed it "Merry Christmas, 1984," and the front page has "Granddoll's" (Mike's mother's mother) written in pencil. I never met Granddoll, but I can't help but think we would enjoy each other.

"Excellent, but UGLY!" (I don't agree with this statement at all - I think it's actually a very nice looking salsa. It just needs a good stir every now and then.)

4 large tomatoes, peeled and finely chopped
4 green onions, minced
1 (4 ounce) can jalapenos, drained and finely chopped
1 (4 1/2 ounce) can black olives, finely chopped
3 Tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon garlic salt
2 teaspoons vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Mix all ingredients and chill overnight.


2. Serve with tortilla chips.


3. Serves 10.

Lou Baughman

You know I can't follow a recipe to save my life. I had some fresh cilantro out in the yard, and as the weather is about to kill it off, I harvested as much as I dared, chopped it up, and dumped it in the dip. To me, you can't get too much cilantro in salsa. For more green, I also added a small can of diced roasted green chilies. Since we were serving more than 10, I added a few tomatoes and green onions, used a large can of black olives, and added jalapenos and the jalapeno juice to taste. I love the spicy! And lime juice is a must.

To chop olives, tomatoes, and jalapenos, I used the small chopping plate on the Vegetable Chop and Measure from Williams-Sonoma. The olives and jalapenos, I just dumped in the chopper and closed the lid. The tomatoes took the longest: I peeled them, then sliced them in half. I then sliced thinly those halves to result in a cubing effect when I put them in the Chop & Measure.