Archives for August 2011

DipTacular ’11

31 August 2011 by

Listen. I had every intention of having some sassy little blog button made for today’s festivities.

But then I spent yesterday morning putting out about nineteen fires before I spent a chunk of yesterday afternoon in a meeting and then I had another meeting last night and then my head exploded and then as you might imagine I really needed some rest.

So my circumstances didn’t really, um, cooperate with the creation of a cute bloggy button. I do hope you understand.

Anyway, I’m just as excited as I can be about seeing all of your dip recipes, mainly because I adore dips. I think my fondness for dip probably has something to do with the fact that I never seem to tire of cream cheese, cheddar cheese, Swiss cheese, Provolone cheese, Pepper Jack cheese, American cheese or Parmesan cheese. And also sour cream. Amen.

This past spring Melanie sent me a dip recipe that I’d seen before but never gotten around to trying, and when I finally tried it a few days later, I nearly wept with gratitude. It’s so delicious – a real crowd-pleaser – and it’s even better if you make it a day in advance.

Plus, it’s loaded with vegetables, so I like to tell myself that it’s totally healthy.

Southwestern Tossed Salad

2 cups fresh, frozen (and thawed) or canned corn kernels
1 can of black beans, rinsed
2 roma tomatoes (or a carton of grape/cherry tomatoes halved or quartered)
4 green onions, chopped
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
1 avocado, diced
4 ounces of feta or cotija cheese, crumbled (I used tomato & basil feta, and it was perfection)

Dressing:

1/3 cup olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons grated lime zest
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Combine all of the dressing ingredients and set aside. Combine the salad ingredients and pour the dressing over it. It tastes even better if you let it all marinate for a few hours (wait and add the avocado right before you serve if it’s going to marinate awhile). Serve as a salad or with tortilla chips as a dip.

That dressing. MY WORD, THAT DRESSING.

And since it’s been a few years since I posted this next delight, I thought DipTacular would be an excellent time to share it. It’s my favorite dip ever (EVER) (EVER!), and even though it might require a little advance planning to secure one of the ingredients, it’s well worth the time and effort. Because SWEET MERCY AT THE TASTY.

Captain Rodney Cheese Bake, aka THE BEST THING YOU WILL EVER EAT IN YOUR WHOLE LIFE EVER

1/2 cup mayonaise
8 oz. cream cheese-softened
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
2 green onions chopped
6 Ritz crackers crumbled
8 slices cooked, crumbled bacon
1/2 cup Boucan Glaze (Oh my merciful heavens at the sheer volume of deliciousness in this stuff. It should be illegal. But I am so glad that it isn’t.)

Mix first 4 ingredients, then spread in a square casserole dish. Sprinkle crackers on top. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Then sprinkle bacon on top and drizzle sauce over all. Serve with your favorite crackers, pita chips, etc.

I should probably warn you that the Captain Rodney’s dip may result in some spontaneous bouts of praise. Just consider yourself warned as I’d hate for you to sustain any sort of dip-related injury due to the impromptu flailing of appendages.

Bon DipTacular, y’all.

Remember: If you add your link to the Mr. Linky, make sure to use the URL for your specific post, not just a link to the front page of your blog or your Facebook page. A specific link will help us find your recipes!

Filed Under: Rambling

Long-Time Listener, First-Time Caller

29 August 2011 by

I don’t know why I seem to forget from year to year, but this is the week when the state of Alabama just LOSES ITS MIND. The fact that college football is just right around the corner seems to put some extra spring in people’s steps, and there’s lots of speculation and analysis and all-around giddyness. When I was running errands this afternoon I had three different conversations about the Bulldogs within a 30 minute time span, and it just tickled me to no end since we’re normally not really on the radar when it comes to Bama and Auburn fans’ preseason thoughts.

BUT. This year the Bulldogs are coming off a strong 2010 season, and SUPPOSEDLY we’re going to be pretty good. However, any State fan knows that the inclusion of the word SUPPOSEDLY is essential; we’re unaccustomed to things like accolades, hype, rankings, etc., so as always I’m approaching the upcoming season with a cautious optimism. Granted, there’s more optimism than usual on my part, but EASY DOES IT. Better to be the quietly confident team that surprises everybody than the trash-talking team that’s 0-4 come October.

All that being said, let’s go ahead and enjoy this little treasure, shall we?

Tonight at supper D and I were talking about the joys of sports call-in shows during this time of year, mainly because everybody fancies themselves an expert even though they’re ultimately just talking about a bunch of hypotheticals and unknowns. Today I actually rolled my eyes when I was listening to one of the early morning shows because it was all so, I don’t know, UTTERLY RIDICULOUS. I didn’t transcribe the conversations, so I don’t have any direct quotes, but I will say that it all made about as much sense as this:

Caller: “Well, um, I was just wonderin’, y’all. If Coach Saban got bit by a saber tooth tiger on his way to practice today, do you still think that Gene Chizik would start Barrett Trotter at QB this Saturday?”

Long-Suffering Radio Host: “Gosh, I haven’t really thought about that scenario, but why would something about Alabama affect the QB situation at Auburn? I don’t really understand…”

Caller: “Well, I’m gonna tell ya, Jay. The saber tooth tiger was a dangerous animal. And if it did bite Coach Saban – I’m not sayin’ that it will, I’m just sayin’ IF IT DID – then I don’t think Coach Chizik could feel safe playin’ Barrett. What with the saber-tooths on the loose and all.”

Sweet mercy I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.

And finally, in the event that Texas A&M might perhaps maybe HYPOTHETICALLY find itself feeling right at home in the SEC at some point in the next few days, I would just like to (HYPOTHETICALLY) say “WELCOME, AGGIES.” I think the (HYPOTHETICAL) A&M move is great for them and great for the SEC. And quite frankly I would be tickled to (HYPOTHETICALLY) see a little more maroon in the conference.

Not to mention that Melanie and I would host a whale of a tailgate shindig when State and A&M (HYPOTHETICALLY) play each other in their first (HYPOTHETICAL) intra-conference game.

HYPOTHETICALLY.

College football starts in less than 72 hours, y’all. We’ll have our 2011 DipTacular on Wednesday. And yes, in case you were wondering, it really is the most wonderful time of the year.

Giddy up.

Filed Under: Beloved Bulldogs

Short Notice, I Know…

28 August 2011 by

…but does anybody have any interest in participating in a little impromptu DipTacular this Wednesday? College football starts Thursday, you know, and since our last DipTacular was a couple of years ago, I thought maybe y’all might have some new dip recipes to share.

Here’s how it would work: on Wednesday you’d post two or fourteen of your favorite dips on your blog or Facebook page (you could post your recipes as a note and then make sure your note setting is public), then you’d copy the URL of your blog post and add it to a Mr. Linky that I’ll have posted here.

I’m assuming, of course, that everyone still enjoys dip. Perhaps the dip landscape has changed in the last two years. Maybe cupcake craze has dictated that cupcakes are the new dip. But with football season just a few days a way, I can’t help but think that at least a few of us would enjoy some dip-related inspiration.

No pressure, though – and if nobody’s up for it I’m sure we’ll all still be able to find some new and exciting uses for cream cheese this fall. I just figured that it couldn’t hurt to ask.

So if you’re interested, just leave a comment. If there are at least, say, 25 people who are game, then we’ll plan to have a little dip party on Wednesday.

Hope y’all have had a great weekend!

Filed Under: Bloggity Fun, Cooking

Etc. And So On And So Forth Amen (Round Two)

25 August 2011 by

Okay – let’s see if this post behaves now. It was in a state of utter rebellion when I tried to publish it earlier today.

– Brant Hansen’s post about a recent visit to Hollister is hilarious. Here it is. I think you’ll enjoy it.

– College football is only nine seven (I stand corrected) :-) days away. I can barely contain my joy.

– Recently I have noticed that I am unable to watch an entire episode of Project Runway without falling asleep. And it’s not because I’m bored. On the contrary, I’m generally pretty fascinated by the proceedings and engaged when I watch. Even still, it never fails: at some point between the runway show and the elimination, I doze off.

The other day it dawned on me that the culprit may very well be the trance-like music that plays in the background when the contestants are standing on the runway for critique. I know that it probably sounds crazy, but y’all, I think that Project Runway may very well be featuring some narcolepsy-inducing music. Has anyone else struggled with this TV-watching inconvenience? Or do I just need to buy me a sweatshirt that says “Mamaw Likes Her Naps” and be done with it?

– Speaking of TV, I have a post up over at Ree’s blog about my favorite TV couples. And Melanie wrote a post about the five books she can read over and over again. We’re having big fun writing about all of our pop culture favorites. It sort of feels like a bloggy summer camp.

– A couple of days ago I bought the new Selah CD, Hope of a Broken World. Sweet mercy it is some musical goodness. And if you’d like a little sneak preview, may I suggest watching this video? Maybe starting it around the 3:40 mark if you don’t have a full 8 minutes to spare?

See? I rest my case.

– Pat Summitt. My goodness. She absolutely personifies grace in the face of adversity. That’s all I know to say.

– This morning I decided that every girl over the age of, say, 17 needs a sequin tank top. I bought one on a lark earlier this year, not because I wanted to walk around in a tank top (MY WORD, NO – I am far too paranoid about my arms) but because I thought it would make a fun layering piece underneath some form of Maude-esque cardigan. I have enjoyed it so much, and even though it seemed like such an uncharacteristic way to spend $20 at the time, I’m so glad I stepped out of my comfort zone as far as All Things Shiny are concerned. There are tons of cute sequin tops online; I love this one, this one – not to mention this one. And all of these.

(I haven’t done any official research, that has to be the girliest paragraph of this, my 41st year.)

(I’m almost certain of it.)

– A couple of weeks ago LoraLynn and I made a spontaneous trip to the movies and saw a late-night showing of The Help. I thought it was wonderful. And also: the Southern accents were fantastic. Have y’all seen it? Did you enjoy it?

Filed Under: Daily Awesome

The Blog Has Lost Its Mind

25 August 2011 by

There appear to be some technical difficulties here at BooMama, Inc.

Our crackerjack technical team (meaning, you know, ME) hopes to have everything back to normal soon.

:-)

Filed Under: Rambling

The Boy, The Kite And The Wind

24 August 2011 by

A week or so ago a friend emailed me about a children’s book he thought I might like. I don’t typically do a lot of reviews or recommendations for children’s books because I just can’t keep up with everything that’s out there, not to mention that there are a lot of bloggers who do that sort of thing way more efficiently and effectively than I do. But the simplicity of the title really grabbed my attention, so I told my friend I’d check it out and made a mental note to visit the book’s website just as soon as I had a chance.

Sure enough, I looked at the website later that day. And. My goodness. There’s just no way I could’ve known that a video for the book was going to reduce me to a blubbering mess.

The Boy, the Kite, and the Wind from Improbable Philanthropist on Vimeo.

If you’re interested, you can order the book here. It looks like the illustrations are absolutely beautiful, and I can’t wait until our copy comes in the mail and we get to see it in person!

p.s. Nobody paid me or gave me anything to mention this book.

p.p.s. Just to be clear.

p.p.p.s. Thank you and have a delightful day.

Filed Under: Rambling
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