Dippity doo-dah

We had a really cool visit from Rick and Marilyn who were out for their annual September trek. Marilyn comes out to babysit Kaia while Gen and Sean go on their honeymoon vacation. Apparently all the kids like to have honeymoon vacations where they celebrate their marriages and honeymoons with second, third, fourth, ad nauseum honeymoons.

Courtney's managed to take a trip each year, no matter how tight money is and Lindsay started off by taking a cruise to mark her one-year anniversary. Gen and Sean take a trip each year, and heck, even Colin and Tracy make note of when they met.

Rob and I, on the other hand, have never had a honeymoon, much less a commemorative vacation. All of our money has always either been tied up in the kids, during the first years, then tied up in trying not to go under, which is making us just like everyone else these days.

We had a break from our subsistence-style life when we invited Rick and Marilyn over. We always have so much fun when we have people over. This was a particularly enjoyable occasion because with Rick and Marilyn here there's always more help, along with more fun. Marilyn is great at helping out and Rick is truly a funny guy to have around.

Our menu for gatherings these days tends to be whatever's on sale. the day before everyone came over, Rob and I decided to go shopping and singled out a local Von's (they're the southern California version of Safeway) that always is well stocked. But when we got there there were all kinds of sample stations and people milling about.

We did our shopping, noticing that the store had some new stuff -- like an olive bar, which always looks fascinating, while frightening at the same time. Soon there was an announcement that at 4 o'clock they would be giving everyone 10 percent off their groceries, along with an additional $10 off coupon for orders over $50. It was 3:30 p.m., so we pulled up a chair at the Starbucks and waited.

By the time we left, there wasn't a place left in the parking lot, and we had everything we needed for our little party. This would include stuff for dips. One consensus that's emerged from our gatherings is a love that exists for old-fashioned sour-cream-based dips. I always make the classic, sour cream and Lipton's soups mix, which is hugely popular and always tastes better than any prepared dip. This time I also made a vegetable clam dip, which I ended up eating most of (oink oink). I also made a cheese dip that we put in Ryan and Lindsay's Crock Pot, for which I used peppers from my garden I roasted, along with some pureed chipotle pepper in adobo sauce.

These aren't gourmet or foodie recipes by any means, but I can assure anyone who is looking down his/her nose, if you put these out, they will be wildly popular.

Crab vegetable dip

1 package Knorr's vegetable soup mix
1 can minced clams, drained (you can also make this with crab meat in addition or in place of the clams)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 pint sour cream

Spinach dip
(I haven't made this for the kids yet, but it's a perennial favorite and worth listing. The common presentation is in a loaf of bread --preferably the Hawaiian sweet bread, although I prefer a good rye)

1 packaged Knorrs vegetable soup mix
1 can water chestnuts, sliced or chopped
1 pint sour cream

Cheese chipotle dip

1 large package Velveeta (anyone who has made cheese dips knows that Velveeta will make the dip have a much better texture, just real cheese tends to separate and get gross)
4 cups Mexican-style shredded cheese
8 jalapeno chiles, roasted*, peeled and chopped
3 Anaheim chiles, roasted*, peeled and chopped
4 tablespoons pureed chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
heavy cream

Put all ingredients in a Crock Pot on low heat, except for the heavy cream, and allow to melt. Stir regularly. When all the cheese has melted and you've added all the peppers, the dip will be really thick. Add heavy cream to thin to desired consistency. Remember to check and add more cream during the course of the evening, as the dip with tend to thicken.

*There are a number of ways to roast peppers. You can pierce them with a long-tined fork and roast them directly over a stove flame, if you have a gas burner (be careful to use an oven mitt to hold an all-metal fork) . You can roast them, flattened on a cookie sheet, skin-side up, under a broiler. You can also roast them skin side down on an outdoor grill. The common element, is to roast them until the skin is blackened all over. Don't roast with the non-skin side toward the flame. Then put all the blackened peppers in a paper bag and seal it. Let them sit for about 20 minutes and the skins should peel off easily under running water.