Super cheese dip or tasty sauce . . . soup?

I may have shared this before but summer is always a good time for a reminder. One of the most popular items I can offer at an informal party or barbecue is a spicy cheese dip. The recipe is simple and you can get very creative with it and it can't go wrong.

1-2 pounds of processed cheddar cheese. This is the block of semi-soft cheese you can find in the refrigerated section of the store.
1 16-ounce jar of your favorite salsa
1 small can of chilies - your choice for hotness
1 small can of sliced black olives
Lots of tortilla chips and a platter of crisp vegetables like broccoli, celery sticks, cauliflower, Bell pepper, jicama, etc.

If you have a crock pot, you don't have to worry about it at all. Just put all the ingredients except for the tortilla chips into the crock pot, set it on low and come by to stir it once in awhile as it melts.

You can also do this in a stove top pot but have to pay more attention so it doesn't burn.

You can set the crock pot right on your serving table with a ladle so people can help themselves. If you are putting it out from the stove, make sure your serving dish is microwaveable so you can reheat it from time to time.

This also makes a nice sauce for burritos or over grilled chicken. I like it over boiled potatoes for a fast lunch. I've even thinned down leftovers of this dip with milk, added 2 cups of steamed mixed vegetables and 1 1/2 cups of diced chicken for a hearty soup.

Fast and Easy Side Dish for Dinner . . .

I like to serve salads instead of a steamed vegetable in the summer. For one reason, it is usually too hot to enjoy a warm meal. For another reason, summer produce is abundant and it is nice to incorporate health and tasty in the same plate. This recipe goes well with just about anything but if you are serving Mexican food, it will be even better.

Easy Corn Salad
2 cups frozen corn, defrosted and drained (If you have fresh corn, use that!)
1/2 cup canned garbonzo beans, drained
1/2 green Bell pepper, finely diced
1/2 red Bell pepper, finely diced
1 Jalepeno pepper, roasted, skinned, seeded, and diced*
1 large tomato, diced
1/4 cup red onion, minced
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
zest of one lime
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix to combine. Prepare a few hours ahead of time so the ingredients can marinate. You can bring it up to room temperature to serve or right from the
refrigerator.

*To roast the Jalepeno pepper, you can hold it over the flame of the stove until it gets a bit charred or under the broiler. Most of the skin will peel off. Slice, remove the seeds, dice, and use as directed. Remember to protect your hands because the oil from the pepper will stay on the skin and burn a bit.

On the lighter side of life . . .

"No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets."
-- Edward Abbey

"Money doesn't always bring happiness. People with ten million dollars are no happier than people with nine million dollars."
-- Hobart Brown

"Somebody has to do something, and it's just incredibly pathetic that it has to be us."
-- Jerry Garcia

The Media doesn't seem to represent everyone . . .

For a long time, the news we get on most stations doesn't always report the news as it actually happens or bother to give it much air time at all. When there is a gathering of liberals protesting something, the small crowd that actually shows up is multiplied to the thousands by the time the liberal media reports and films it for viewer consumption. However, if the Tea Party or any other more conservative faction makes a stand that is in opposition to the liberal mind set, it is minimalized or mentioned in passing as the news program goes to commercial.

This week, the Catholic Church filed suit against Washington's mandate that would force Catholic institutions to go against their teachings and conscience and provide birth control and worse in their hospitals and at their colleges. The message we get is that the Catholics hate women and want to deprive them of 'women's health' coverage.

First of all, contraception is readily available these days so why should anyone be charged and responsible for people getting birth control? Second, contraceptives come with serious health warnings so why should they be considered 'women's health' coverage? Third, the rights of Catholics to worship according to their Church Laws is being taken away with the mandatory strictures being forced upon them.

Many of the bishops and cardinals have been trying to deal with the president and the liberal powers that he to not go against our Catholic rights as citizens to no avail. For some reason, the president thinks he will get votes in November by putting down the Catholic Church and forcing it to abide by his mandate.

I imagine he and Washington were taken aback when, in a concerted effort, many lawsuits were filed against them this week. In a fair and unbiased society, this would have been more than huge news and be reported on constantly with minute by minute updates on what is happening, reactions, etc. Sadly, if you want the news, these days, the media isn't the place to go for it. In fact, one group, MRCTV, sent someone out to ask people's reaction to this amazing turn of events. Ninety percent of the people hadn't heard about it. Let's see . . . The Catholic Church sues the US Government and it isn't on the headline of every television and rado news report? It isn't on the front page of the newspaper until it is settled? It is a sad world where the media protects the government yet expects the citizens to support their newspapers and programs.

The people who do hear about this mandate against the Catholic Church don't feel it applies to them. Today, they take away the Catholic's right to live by their Faith and conscience. Do the other religions think they are safe, too? We are just the first step and they hope that once the 'big' power falls, the rest will be easy to dismiss.

I have to wonder how that massive percentage of Catholics feel about what they have helped bring about with their vote for an anti-life president back in 2008?

Springing into Summer in the garden . . .

 I was up early this morning so the dog and I went out to see how the garden grows. My husband puts a lot of effort into it every year. The best part is watching the little plants and seedlings grow and flourish as the months go by.

When we moved into this house, we didn't realize we had a treat awaiting our first Spring here until the blackberries showed up along the back wall. They take very little attention except for some water and always reward us with several big bowls of sun-warmed fruit. The blackberries seldom make it into any baking. The first year, we got just a few berries. By accident, my older son mowed all the plants to the ground and we sadly figured that was the end of that. The following Spring, however, they came back ten times as strong with a lot more fruit. I guess the plants had gotten straggly and needed that shock.

My husband's favorite flower in the garden is his Star Jasmine plant. The tiny white flowers are pretty but the scent is amazing.

We tried growing green beans this year and it looks like we are having beginner's luck as they are taking over their half of the garden. You need acres of the plants to have a lot of meals from them but we are excited about the prospect of even have two or three meal times with our own grown green beans.

We have also figured out that since Basil goes to flower and seed rather quickly, my husband has three pots with staggered plantings so we should always have lots of the tasty green leaves on hand for Italian cooking. There is nothing like adding a quarter cup of freshly picked Basil to your pasta sauce just before serving.

The tomatoes are showing a lot of blossoms which we hope promises another bumper crop of them this year. We learned that you cannot plant tomatoes in the same place two years in a row. They tend to deplete the soil and by the second year, the ugly tomato worms have discovered them.

I have hopes for my little pomegranite tree this year. It has a lot of big, red blossoms so it may be possible that I will have my own fruit to enjoy this Fall.

The orange and lemon tree have finished their blooming and tiny oranges and lemons are showing up among the leaves.

Interesting that anyone can believe there is no God when He goes to all this trouble to renew our earth on schedule.

Yet Another Oatmeal Cookie

As you might have noticed, my favorite cookie is oatmeal and I'm always looking for ways to tweak the recipe to see if I can add another layer of flavor to the basic one. There also seems to be a mind set of less guilt involved in eating oatmeal cookies because they do have oatmeal in them and we all know oatmeal is good for us. Don't think about the sugar and butter!

YET ANOTHER OATMEAL COOKIE
1 cup butter, softened (not melted!)
1 cup dark brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs, well beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour extract
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoon cinammon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cloves
3 cups oatmeal - not the instant type
1 cup dried cranberries (1/4 cup fresh orange juice, tablepoon of brandy.)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Soak the cranberries in 1/4 cup fresh orange juice with a tablespoon of brandy. Beat eggs and vanilla together. Stir in the cranberries and let them soak for an hour.  My mother taught me to infuse dried fruit, raisins, or such before baking to keep the moisture in the fruit. If you don't have time, just keep going and you will still get a good cookie.

Preheat over to 350 degrees and line your baking sheets with parchment or grease them with vegetable oil spray.

Whip together the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy.  Stir in the dry ingredients until and mix well.  Add in the egg  and cranberry mixture. If you have a stand mixture with a paddle, this works well. Then add oatmeal, nuts and mix well. Scoop into walnut-sized balls and place about 1 1/2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.  Bake 8-10 minutes. Allow to  cool on baking sheet until firm enough to transfer to wire rack.

Made about 2 1/2 to 3 dozen cookies depending on the size.

Ideas . . .
Try half raisins and half cranberries or go totally with the raisins.
Add 1/2 cup or so of your favorite chocolate or white chips to the mix.
Peanuts would making an interesting flavor profile.
Half dried cranberries and half candied pineapple bits. I wouldn't soak the pineapple.
Leave out the fruit and nuts and go with a basic oatmeal cookie.

The liberal mind set . . .

"It's weird, Obama says he was born in HAWAII, his literary agent says he was born in KENYA, and yet, the LIBERAL media still claim he was born in a MANGER!" -Jodi Miller