Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Veggies and Dip



Wouldn't it be funny to put out a huge bowl of whole root vegetables with your dish of dip? Just to see what people would do? No? Oh. For some reason, it seems hilarious to me. Then again, I was once arranging lodging for an especially difficult and prickly visiting poet who had requested an elaborate fruit bowl, and the idea of leaving her a whole watermelon with a plastic spork kept me entertained for nearly a week.

Anyways, the new food column is fancy holiday veggies and dip, and even if it might usually be enough to tear open a bag of baby carrots and bloop out a dish of ranch dressing, please go check it out. Oheveteli has already suggested that it's "not the sexiest topic" but oh, the possibilities are endless. Don't make me post the dirty dip photos.

22 comments:

  1. Anonymous9:29 AM

    now see, I find that funny :-)
    shari

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  2. The watermelon and the spork is pretty funny. :)

    This is a great dish and you used radishes!

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  3. Anonymous10:02 AM

    It is funny. I'm reminded of my neighbor who has a similar sense of humor at Halloween. She keeps a "special" treat bowl for the trick-or-treaters whom she knows personally. For them, she pulls out a large bowl filled with onions, potatoes, yams, etc. Whatever she has in the kitchen. You would be surprised at the number of children who look at her puzzled, shrug their shoulders and pick out a vegetable for their goodie bag.

    Oh - she gives them a piece of candy, too.

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  4. oooh- I want to see the dirty dip photos!

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  5. yummy-looking at all those veggies makes me hungry, and what a great idea instead of the salad that nobody ever wants but me! This will keep my 8 and 5 year old busy while I cook and a great way to get the veggies in them before the carb attack of Thanksgiving dinner. BTW-I vote for a cranberry sauce recipe-I've made it fresh the last couple years but I am always looking for new recipes..and can't we get the cake recipe too. Greedy I know!

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  6. Anonymous3:26 PM

    The watermelon and the spork had me laugh out loud. We all seem to share your sense of humor. For example, I googled your name and chex mix to get your chex mix recipe. From December 2006 I ran across a post that lamented what to do with the remaining "cheese pumpkin" from your farm share after the "cheese pumpkin empanadas" did not receive rave reviews and the pumpkin was taking up much needed refrigerator space for the incoming turkey. What to do? The first comment on the blog was from Swistly who said simply, "I suggest cheese pumpkin compost." I'm still laughing out loud at that suggestion! And then I got sucked into reading other posts and comments and ran across the photo and the suggestion that you use the "boob pinata" photo for your next book cover! Once again, you and this community have provided me with a visceral reminder of why I need to keep up the kegles!

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  7. Anonymous3:47 PM

    Ack! It's driving me batty that you won't say who this difficult female poet is--and it's the second time you've written about her (that I'm aware of, and I've been a long-time reader). I must know! Can you give us a phonetic clue? It rhymes with "weather mcwho" or "Terry I love her" or "caroling porche" or "Mayans Angelo." (I'm sweatin' trying to think of my contemporary living female poets.)

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  8. No joke, my former step-dad made a "root salad" as the *entree* for vegetarian guests at our house one Thanksgiving. Urf! It was terrible! As you might expect for anything featuring rutabaga. Actually, I'm sure it could be good, but this was a guy who, when my mom was first dating him, made us hot dogs cut up in barbecue sauce and dished it out like it was heaven on earth. This year, my vegan 7th Day Adventist father-in-law is here for Thanksgiving, so no beefurkey this year.

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  9. Maybe this Thanksgiving we'll put out all food in it's pre-cooked form. The table could just be bags of groceries and we could see who comes up with the best plate of food.

    And how is it that I haven't found this blog before now? That's insane. I've been following you over on Wondertime forever. (If you really are Catherine Newman and not some weirdo single, I mean married white female type).

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  10. spork and a watermelon. lol.

    My mother (thevegetarian) would love this. Thanks for sharing.

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  11. Wendy, it's really her. She posted a reading she was doing on this site and I went and it really was her.

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  12. This is perfect- this very afternoon I am expected to come up with some kind of elaborate veggie tray, complete with homemade dip (because Marzetti's is just TOO provincial for certain relatives!) Thanks!

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  13. I had to add another post here that has nothing to do with the vegetables and all about the GINGERBREAD!

    My son and I decided to try it out this weekend. He was able to most of it and on a cold, snowy day warm gingerbread hits the spot. You don't even understand how picky this 8-year old is (no pasta, potatoes, rice or anything mexican, italian, to name a few) but he ate 3 pieces of gingerbread and loved it! I also took some to church for after lunch and everyone raved about it. So yeah for that recipe, it's a keeper.

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  14. Oh come on.. post the dirty dip photos... lol I need something to entertain me while I'm being induced tomorrow! lol

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  15. I'm still reeling at the idea of a poet able to weild enough power + influence to demand annoying fruit bowls. (and I would have gone with a bowl full of spiky fruit, which is why I'm not in the Pleasing Poet business.)

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  16. As long as we're posting off topic about the gingerbread, may I add.... I said on the original thread that I shared it with the neighbors. The mom next door reported back that her 5 year old devoured it and wondered aloud, "This is SO GOOD. I wonder what her secret ingredient is? Oh, I know!!! I bet it's GINGER!" As Catherine would say: Indeed.

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  17. Anonymous9:21 AM

    Happy Thanksgiving! I hope your day is joyful and full of blessings.

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  18. Anonymous12:55 AM

    Someone commented about black strap molasses in the wondertime gingerbread post because of the iron comment you made (although she thought it was calcium) so I bought some, thinking I'd up the nutrition and I was at the new bulk store (shameful admission here, I should return to the small health food store, but the big store is so bright especially with all the Christmas goodies, we're making houses tomorrow, which comes up again in this crazy long post), it is also much lower in calories - thankfully I didn't try it in the gingerbread recipe, instead in gingerbread cookies - I thought perhaps while decorating our houses tomorrow, someone may want to eat some, and I thought homemade cookies would be better. Perhaps, if I wasn't gagging because of the blackstrap molasses. My words of advice - if you want to test it in the gingerbread, be sure it isn't when you want to sever it to anyone else. Ick, I had to make some chocolate chip cookies (sacrifice though this is) to appease my mouth.

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  19. Anonymous1:43 AM

    oooh, great idea.

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  20. I made the gingerbread and had only blackstrap molasses to use in the recipe. I used half molasses and half honey because the flavor of the blackstrap kind is so intense. It turned out perfectly!

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  21. Anonymous9:19 AM

    I must retract my comments about the awful nature of blackstrap - everyone else is eating above mentioned cookies, even the children!

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  22. Anonymous10:29 PM

    every time i read one of your pieces in wondertime i laugh out loud. my husband thinks i'm crazy...he always asks if i'm reading "that funny woman" again. thank you for your wonderful writing! the spork made me get tears in my eyes!

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