Purling Oaks

Justified!

Hours spent browsing Pinterest.....JUSTIFIED!

'Twas the night before Christmas and, well, I was not in my 'kerchief nor was Dan in his cap.  We were returning from dashing through the snow to G'Ma S's house where we enjoyed Christmas Eve festivities.  I knew I need to bring a dish to our next stop tomorrow morning, but what?  (Yes, I did leave my plans open until less than 24 hours before the event.  I worked well under pressure, this time.)  For inspiration, I pulled out my iPhone to check my Pinterest boards.  Hmmm, the mexi-corn dip looked good....so we decided to stop in Columbus at the Pick N'Save and get the ingredients.  Oh you may have guessed my problem.  Being Christmas Eve, the grocery store had closed about 25 minutes ago!  Oh boy.  

Never fear, KwikTrip and Walgreens were open in Columbus..........although I had to make a few modestly creative substitutions.  :D  

Here's the resulting recipe that has been tested twice and won the Clean Bowl award each time:

Corn/Veggie/Taco Dip

One 7 oz can of Niblets corn, drained

1/3 of a 16.5 oz jar of Tostitos Chunky Salsa (medium) - drained a bit in a fine strainer

4 green onions, sliced thinly - both green and white parts

1/3 cup (or so) of chopped green pepper.  I also used a combo of red and green in one version-either works.

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup mayonaise

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/4 teaspoon taco seasoning (I used Bold Taco from Penzey's)

Mix all ingredients together and refrigerate at least two hours; overnight is better.  Serve with Fritos Scoops or some other sturdy-type chip.  The Pinterest version used a can of hot Rotel and a can of green chiles---things just.not.available at a KwikTrip or Walgreens on Christmas Eve in Wisconsin.   I do know that this version will be a must-do-again for me.

******************************************************

I also made one of the cute projects I've seen on Pinterest - a little Clementine candle.  Since the pin did not link to instructions, I Googled "Clementine candle" and found the original reference and instructions.  I was entertained.....and it burned for about an hour.  Fun. 

 

I'm looking forward to what the new year will bring.  Six months ago, I thought I had a good idea of my immediate and mid-term future.  Ha.  Double Ha!  Have plans, my dear, but be flexible.  And healthy.  Healthy will take you places.

Happy New Year!

 

 

This Morning's Coffee

• I am just about recovered from the stomach "flu" that is apparently making the rounds in Wisconsin and maybe Chicago.  I could have picked it up on a day-trip to Chicago on Monday.  At least it has a relatively short duration.
• So far, deer hunting yielded four deer, now in the freezer apportioned into usable bits, or should that be "bites."  I say "so far" because today is day 3 of a four day antlerless season and Dan is considering going out tomorrow.
• The Christmas tree is up but is bare of ornaments.  Decorating is one of today's to-dos.
• I ground wheat berries to make bread last week.  (Tasty bread, btw)  We were running low on regular flour, so I used some of the ground in my sourdough starter when I fed it last week.  I was a bit worried that I may have killed it but it is working fine today for another loaf.  Whew.  
• I need to research grinding wheat berries.  I just threw them in the Vitamix although I don't have the special dry blade set up.  The result was fine good, but certainly of a "stone-ground" texture.
• I read Fate's Edge by Ilona Andrews this week on my iPad Kindle app.  It is the third in the authors' (two authors, one name) Edge series and I found it to be a very enjoyable read.  
• I also read Cat Tales by Faith Hunter, a collection of four short stories in the Jane Yellowrock series.  I enjoyed this for the back stories (and the writing) but you may wish to read the first in the series before you read this collection.  
• I'm still working on my holiday shopping and wondering if I'll make any headway on my list this weekend.  I'll see what the energy level dictates tomorrow.  I am at the point where I've done all the web-shopping and now need to interact with real people in retail establishments.  o.O
• Pinterest is a time-sink...a marvelous time-sink...but one just the same.  Just sayin'.........