I Put My Hand Up On Your Hip...When I Dip, You Dip, We Dip

Yesterday was Labor Day (no work!) so we had a cookout with some coworkers at the Hopkins' house. It's always nice to get together with good friends, since we cannot travel home to see family. Also, you don't really get three day weekends when you work at a church. So we made the most of our Monday by spending it with the Hopkins, Cleary and Epperson family. I love each of these families very very much. My assignment was to bring a dip (hence the Freak Nasty blog title). It's a dip that my friend Caitlin loves (shout out to Caitlin, "Wut up gurl!"). And it's a dip that I would like to share with the bloggy world:

1 small can chopped green chiles

1 small can chopped black olives

2 green onions - chopped

2 tomatoes - chopped

16 oz Monterrey Jack cheese

1 packet of Good Seasoning's Zesty Italian dressing (make dressing according to packet)

Mix above ingredients in a bowl and chill for at least 3 hours.

Old Fashioned Peach Pie

We had a bar-b-que at our house after church today. Tyler made some rockin good burgers and I made my very first peach pie. I used fresh peaches from the Farmer's Market. This is the recipe:

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 Ingredients

• 1 (15 ounce) package pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
• 1 egg, beaten
• 5 cups sliced peeled peaches
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons butter

 

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (220 degrees C). 
2. Line the bottom and sides of a 9 inch pie plate with one of the pie crusts. Brush with some of the beaten egg to keep the dough from becoming soggy later.
3. Place the sliced peaches in a large bowl, and sprinkle with lemon juice. Mix gently. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Pour over the peaches, and mix gently. Pour into the pie crust, and dot with butter. Cover with the other pie crust, and fold the edges under. Flute the edges to seal or press the edges with the tines of a fork dipped in egg. Brush the remaining egg over the top crust. Cut several slits in the top crust to vent steam.
4. Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven, then reduce the heat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and bake for an additional 30 to 35 minutes, until the crust is brown and the juice begins to bubble through the vents. If the edges brown to fast, cover them with strips of aluminum foil about halfway through baking. Cool before serving. This tastes better warm than hot.
   
   Amount Per Serving  Calories: 428 | Total Fat: 19.8g | Cholesterol: 34mg
   
   
   
   
   
   

Shortening

I was a pretty lousy child. I never helped my mom out in the kitchen, not even when I was a teenager and completely capable (forgive me, Mom). The worst part, is my mom worked full time from when I was in early elementary school all the way through my freshman year of high school. And during those years, without fail, she always had dinner on the table. I mean, we're talking good home cooking, not like Stouffer's Lasagna. And I never contributed an ounce. All I remember is complaining about having to clear my dishes off the table and put them in the dishwasher - woopty do. Again, Mom, so sorry. The few times she convinced me to help her bake, my motivation for assisting was not so that I could learn something about cooking, but so that I could devour the cookie dough covered egg beater after the ingredients had been thoroughly mixed. I know, I'm telling you, I was a real piece of work.

I remember helping her with Christmas Tree Coffee and chocolate chip cookies. She would always unscrew  the cap on the extract and let me inhale a quick whiff of the best smell on earth - vanilla. To this day, I prefer a vanilla candle over all other scents. Maybe it's because of that memory I have with my mom? Even more fun than the vanilla sniffing, was the song we sang every time the recipe called for shortening. She would grab it out of the cubbard and we would sing in together, "Mammy's little baby loves shortnen' shortnen', Mammy's little baby loves shortnen' bread." That's the only line we knew, so we would repeat it a few times. I am smiling right now as I type the lyrics, because it is just such a wonderful memory. I found this great acoustic cover of "Shortnen' Bread" for your listening pleasure:



Are these guys legit, or what?

Why is it that mom's always make the best chocolate chip cookie? I have the exact same recipe as hers and mine are not near as good. They're not bad, they just aren't Mom's. I think there's something to be said about that phrase "made with love." Since I cannot recreate my mom's cookies, I had to find my own recipe. Who knows, maybe someday I will have a daughter that will talk about these cookies like they are the best cookie ever...

Chocolate Chip Cookies:
1 cup butter-flavored shortening  
3/4 cup brown sugar 
3/4 cup white sugar 
2 eggs  
1 teaspoon vanilla 
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 
1 teaspoon baking soda  
1/2 teaspoon salt 
2 cups oats  
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, cream shortening, brown sugar and granulated sugar. Add eggs and vanilla and mix thoroughly. Combine the baking soda, salt and flour and stir into creamed mixture. Add oatmeal and chocolate chips and stir until well blended. Drop by tablespoons full onto greased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes.