The Holidays seem to be the time of year for everyone to break out their favorite dip recepies to share at Christmas and New Years parties. In my family growing up it was and still is my mom's Shrimp Dip. This year was no different, on Christmas morning we went to my parents house and my mom had prepared breakfast foods for everyone, I got snooping in the refrigerator and sure enough there was a big bowl of her famous Shrimp Dip so I pulled it out. It is so good it's good for any time of day so we had it for breakfast and returned through out the day for our fix, after all it's going to be another year before we eat it again.
This year though we had additional dip days added to our Holiday Season. I prepared lunch for my staff at work and one of the dishes was my own rendition of my mom's Shrimp Dip. When I cook a recipe that I get from someone else I always like to make it mine so I am not just ripping off and getting credit for someone else's creation, so I play with it a bit to make it mine. As far as the Shrimp Dip I made it a Seafood Dip by adding Crab Meat to it. It was a hit at the lunch. Nery took several dips the next day for her work unit to eat and they were a hit there as well.
Another opportunity to show off our dip talents was at Dick's Market "Dip Off", that's right Dick's held a dip off for people to bring their favorite dips in and they had a group of judges from their deli judge the dips and gave three prizes one $100.00 prize and two $25.00 prizes. Nery convinced me that we should enter the Dip Off. She wanted me to enter my Blue Cheese Dip/Salad Dressing and the Seafood Dip, she entered a dip which was a thinned down version of our broccoli casserole and a baked onion dip which was her first attempt at this new creation.
We went in confident that either the Blue Cheese or the Seafood would win something. But alas neither won anything nor did the broccoli dip, but Nery's new creation the Baked Onion Dip took second place and she won a $25.00 prize.
The first prize winner was a carmel toffee dip for apples which was good but I lean more to the savory not the sweet. After the awards were passed out all of the contestant were able to sample all the entries. There was one entry that I thought hands down should have won, it was a Sun Dried Tomato with Greek olives and cheese dip that would also make a fantastic pizza topping. I want that recipe but the lady who made it disappeared and I was unable to get it from her. I thought however that they were spot on with Nery's Onion Dip I would have given it 2nd place after the Sun Dried Tomato Dip. Congratulations Nery on a great creation!!
It was a lot of fun but I am now dipped out for another 11 months until we break out the dips again for another Holiday Season
Recipes:
Blue Cheese Dressing
1 jar of Mayo
1 tub of crumbled blue cheese
3/4 cup of buttermilk
1tbl spoon dill
2 tsp bon appetite or celery salt
1 tsp dried mustard
1tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
2 cloves garlic minced then mashed to a paste with a pinch of salt and a drop of olive oil.
place the mayo in a mixing bowl then pour the buttermilk into the mayo jar and shake well to clear the remaining mayo from the jar. Pour this over the mayo in the mixing bowl then add all the other ingredients and mix well. It tastes best if you make it a day ahead and let it marinate in the fridge over night.
serve with fresh vegetables, wings or as a salad dressing
Seafood Dip
2 blocks of Cream Cheese
2 cans of crumble shrimp
1 can of crab meat
1 cup mayo
1 cup of Miracle Whip
1/4 cup ketchup
garlic salt to taste
canned milk to thin to desired consistency
mix well and serve with chips or crackers
Nery's Prize Winning Baked Onion Dip
2 blocks cream cheese
1/2 cup mayo
1/2 cup caramelized onion
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
dash of fajita seasoning
bake until it bubbles about 30 mins.
serve hot with chips or crackers
Nery and I took a short trip to Lytle ranch this weekend after attending a wedding reception for our daughter in law's sister in St George. There wasn't a huge varity of birds but the ones we did see were quite active. Pictured are Phainopepla and Verdin and a picture of Beaver Dam Wash.
