Certain life choices are so significant that they change who we are. Before undertaking those choices, we are unable to evaluate them from the perspective and values of our future, changed selves. In other words, your present self cannot know whether your future self will enjoy being a parent or not.
Philosopher L.A. Paul University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The Original Nicky Dip
When friends get together for food and drink, the conversation sometimes gets a bit quirky. It was a small get together of six and somehow the conversation turned to dip.
“What’s in that cheese dip you guys made once. It was awesome.”
“We didn’t have any dip tonight. What are you talking about?”
“I had it one of the other times we were together. It had cheese in it.”
Now that was helpful.
“What else was in it? What kind of cheese? What did it taste like? What kind of chips were served? Can you remember anything else about the dip?”
Imagine six people trying to figure out which cheese dip recipe it was based upon a single clue: cheese. Then the quirky one who started the whole quirky conversation said,
“It also had chilies in it.”
“Oh, you must be referring to Nicky’s Cheese Dip.”
To The Box. I found an email dated January 10, 2010 from one to all of us in the group. There it was and here it is.
- 2 eight ounce packages of Philadelphia cream cheese
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 four-ounce can of chopped green chilies, drained
- 2 ounces diced jalapeño peppers
- 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- Blend the cream cheese and mayonnaise using a hand mixer.
- Stir in the Parmesan, peppers and chilies.
- Place mixture into an ovenproof serving or baking dish.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until bubbly and slightly browned.
- Serve warm with chips.
Random thoughts – For the chips use tortilla chips or Frito’s (if you’re into that sort of thing). For some strange reason I always thought this dip had a few dashes of hot sauce in it.  Add a few drops of your favorite hot sauce (trust me on this).  He Who Asked the Question will probably play with this recipe by removing some fat and calories while preserving the original flavor profile.
Do it. And if you come up with a tasty low cal version, please share. Let the cream cheese soften a bit at room temperature. Start the mixer at a slow speed unless you want cream cheese and mayo splattered on the wall.
Strawberry Mousse
- One package unflavored gelatin
- 1/2 cup cold water
- 1 cup strawberries, crushed
- 2 egg whites
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 cup heavy cream whipped
- 1 drop red food coloring
- In a sauce pan soften the gelatin in water.
- Stir over low heat until the gelatin dissolves.
- Crush strawberries, stir into the gelatin mixture.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool.
- Beat egg whites until stiff. Gradually add sugar. Fold in strawberry mixture.
- Whip cream. Fold into the strawberry mixture. Add one drop of red food coloring.
- Pour into individual molds or bowls.
- Garnish with fresh strawberries and chill for four hours.
- Serves 6-8.
“I’m going to make something light for dessert.”
“Like what?”
“Strawberry Mousse and Forgotten Cookies.”
“You forgot what?”
“No, I’m also making cookies to go with the mousse.”
“Why?”
“You’ll see.”
Tips
I crushed the strawberries with a potato masher. You don’t want puree. Leave some chunks. Serve with Forgotten Cookies. You’ll see.
Another recipe saved from its original pen and paper format. One down and several thousand more to go.
Forgotten Cookies
“Why do I always make the dessert?”
“Because you make wonderful desserts and our dinner parties would not be the same without one of your desserts.”
This cookie recipe is a recipe Grandma Beverly used to make. I don’t remember The Boss ever making this cookie. When the offspring were young there were always homemade cookies in the house. Still I’m pretty sure I never had this cookie. Until yesterday. I was forced to sample one before dinner. All I said was
“These things are dangerous!”
- 2 egg whites
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 6 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
- vanilla extract
- dash of salt
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Add dash of salt to the egg whites.
- Beat egg whites until fluffy.
- Gradually add sugar and beat until stiff. Add a few drops of vanilla.
- Fold in pecans and chocolate chips.
- Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Drop by the spoonful onto the cookie sheet.
- Turn oven off and leave the cookies in the oven for a minimum of three hours or overnight.
- Makes about 30 cookies.
I learned the “forgotten” part of the cookie description is when you put the cookie sheet into the oven then turn the oven off. Set it and forget it.
Intersection of Interests
I’ve spent most of my life working in various areas of the life insurance industry. Currently I am back where I started over 41 years ago as an underwriter specializing in mortality risk assessment. My job is to understand what kills people. Sounds simple but it’s not that simple. As a creative and destructive species people have figured out a myriad of ways to kill themselves. When someone applies for life insurance I figure out what is most likely to kill them and charge an appropriate rate for the risk. I really like what I do. Each and every day is another opportunity to learn and improve.
I also love to cook. The Boss has to declare a No Cook Night otherwise I will cook. This love started early watching my father cook supper every night. Dad was a great cook and I had a role model from the beginning. One day I asked him
“Why do you cook?”
“You’ve tasted your Mother’s cooking. Survival.”
Eat to live. Not live to eat. For me, this was a hard lesson learned. Before the age of 20 I weighed over 370 pounds. I’ve used 370 as my highest weight but it could have been higher. I stopped weighing myself because I really didn’t want to know how heavy I was. The story of how is for another time but suffice to say I managed to lose 200 pounds by the time I turned 21. As the years have passed my weight has slowly crept up. I’m proud to be near 190 pounds and approximately 180 pounds lighter than my personal peak. Eat to live, not the other way around. I’ve learned not only how to lose weight but how to keep the pounds off.
I’m a published writer. It’s been decades since I’ve published any of my writing but I’m still a published writer. I maintain two blogs and a journal. This short piece started in my journal and ended up public. This food blog got started to share family recipes. Over time it has changed to the point where I now describe this blog as a food memoir. Now I’m beginning to think the description should be changed again. There is a lot more space devoted to nutrition science which used to be posted on my other blog. For now though, food memoir still works.
One of the fascinating things about writing here is how the recipes are not the dishes I grew up with eating my Dad’s cooking. You also won’t find a lot of the recipes I made years ago for my own family. Some family favorites are here but not many Box Project recipes. For example I pulled one of my “favorites” from the box, handwritten on a white lined 3 x 5 index card. It’s an old James Beard chicken recipe that is delicious. When was the last time I made this dish? I can’t remember. I suspect that many of the recipes I considered to be family favorites I no longer make. What I’m learning is I don’t cook nor eat the same as I did when I was younger. As Dr. Wareham says you start with one good habit at a time. I say you also stop one bad habit at a time (but I did quit smoking, drinking Jack, and start running all at the same time).
The writing, research, and recipes that end up here are mostly where I am at now. And that’s fine. There’s a pot of Vegan Chili Beans on the stove as I’m writing. Defiinitely not a family favorite recipe from the past. But it might just become a family favorite for now and the future.
Growing Bunnies 06.15.17
This is the last photo of the Patio Bunnies. Sometime last night they all hopped away.
Pet Exposure may Reduce Allergy and Obesity – ScienceDaily
The latest findings from Kozyrskyj and her team’s work on fecal samples collected from infants registered in the Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development study build on two decades of research that show children who grow up with dogs have lower rates of asthma.
When the kids were little we didn’t have furry friends in the house. We thought this would be bad for the allergies. Turns out we may have been wrong.
Your Mother and I apologize for your childhood canine deprivation syndrome.
The Dot Project
Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.
Steve Jobs
Sunday mornings are wonderful time for reflection. I’ve kept a personal journal for many, many years. Warren Bennis once wrote that maintaining a journal and periodically taking a look back on your writings was The Path to Wisdom. I agree with Bennis on this point. Looking back helps you understand where you’ve been, where you are, and most importantly where you are going.
I was looking for something else in my journal and stumbled back on a section titled
The Dot Project.
There wasn’t much written there so I started adding Dots this morning. After a few Dots I realized I actually started The Dot Project in earnest here with the post Nothing to Do With Food. For the longest time I kept my journal private. But something is telling me that this is where some of my private thoughts should be shared.
The Dot Project lives here.
Nothing to Do With Food
This post has nothing to do with food. When I was a kid my Dad drove a beat up Chevy. It was a sixties type of car, not real fancy but got us from Point A to Point B. Dad literally drove that thing until it fell apart. Ten years ago I bought a 2006 Ford Taurus used with 15,366 miles on the odometer. I wanted a reliable car that I could drive until it fell apart.
The manager at the local auto shop I use told me this car was the best 06 Taurus he had ever seen. I said no. I told him this was the best 06 Taurus he’ll ever see.  The CD player just might keep and never spit out your CD. Every now and then the fan for the AC sounds like Tweety Bird. But I just got the car back from the shop after its 60,000 mile maintenance.
I plan on driving this thing until it falls apart but I might not live that long.
Black-Eyed Pea Dip
Source: Zannie’s Black-Eyed Pea Dip | The Pioneer Woman
Ingredients
- 2 to 3 cups cooked Black-eyed Peas
- 1/4 whole sweet onion, chopped
- 1/4 cup Sour Cream
- 8 slices Jalapenos
- 1 cup Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese
- 1/2 cup Salsa
- Hot Sauce (optional)
- Garlic powder, a dash or two
- Salt And Black Pepper To Taste
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Drain black-eyed peas and mash, leaving some whole.
Add all other ingredients, stirring to combine.
Spread into a 1 1/2 quart baking dish and bake for 20 to 30 minutes until hot and bubbly.
Serve warm with tortilla chips.
I stole this recipe. I did the usual change one or two things but refuse to claim this recipe as an original. Instead of canned beans I prepared my own from dried beans. The hot sauce is optional because I forgot to add it and when we started to chow down the dip didn’t really need any more heat. As far as bean dips go this recipe is a keeper. There were only six people at the gathering and we ate it all. So the recipe serves six.
The stuffed mushrooms all got eaten too but that’s another recipe for another day.
Helpful Hints – This is a Texas thing, black eyed peas for good luck at New Year’s. So here are a few hints. Salsa is not optional and I think I used a half cup but since I tossed and didn’t measure it might have been a little less or a little more. Hell on the Red from Telephone Texas. Use a different salsa but the dip won’t taste the same. If you like your dip spicy add more jalapenos. Add hot sauce too but it better be a good Tex-Mexican hot sauce. Don’t do the sriracha thing that everyone else does or it won’t taste the same. Â
garyskitchen.net 