Clam Dip

Every holiday my mother made her famous

CLAM DIP.

It was so tasty, it was the only thing we ate on

New Year's Day while playing family games.

Mom's Famous Clam Dip

1  8 oz. block of cream cheese

1 can minced clams & the clam juice

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

2 Tbs. Worcestershire Sauce

Open the can of minced clams.

Leave the lid on and drain the

clam juice into a bowl

and set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl,

beat together the cream cheese, garlic powder

and Worcestershire Sauce.

Add clam juice until you get the dip thickness you prefer.

I usually add about half the clam juice.

Beat until smooth.

Stir in the minced clams with a spoon.

Best when refrigerated for

at least one hour to meld flavors.

Serve with wavy potato chips

People will plant themselves by this dip

and it will be GONE!

I have to make FOUR-times the recipe

at Christmas and New Year's.

Swiss Cheese & Onion Cracker Spread

Looking for an awesome and easy appetizer?

I got this recipe from my friend Sally years ago when were were single career gals.

Sally would make this cracker spread and

we would eat just this for dinner as we gabbed with girlfriends.  It brings back many fun memories,

And, it's a snap to make!

I like to name recipes after the people who gave them to me,

So this is called:

Sally's Swiss Cheese and Onion Cracker Spread

1 block baby Swiss cheese grated (I buy the half moon as seen in pic above)

1/2 cup chopped green onions (the green part only)

1 tea. garlic powder

1/2 cup of mayonnaise

Grate the Swiss cheese by hand or use your food processor as I do.

Dump the shredded cheese into a mixing bowl.

Chop the green part of the green onions to equal a half cup.

Mix the chopped green onions with the grated Swiss cheese.

Add the teaspoon of garlic powder and mix well.

Add the mayonnaise and mix everything together.

This cracker spread is especially festive to serve in the fall.

I pull out my pretty Thanksgiving turkey platter.

I serve the spread with BIG Cheeze-it crackers which are bright orange...

and look VERY fallish!

Your guests will gobble this up!

I never have any leftovers...

Guacamole

As my summer herb garden continues to thrive,

It's time to make my guacamole and use some of that cilantro!

Here's a recipe I have tweaked to SCRUMPTIOUS.

Jill's Guacamole

3 avacados

1/2 med. red onion chopped

1 fresh lime

1/2  jalapeno pepper (next to bell peppers in produce section)

1 lg. tomato seeded and chopped

2 TBS chopped fresh cilantro or to taste (with fresh herbs in the produce section)

salt and pepper to taste

The most important ingredient in guacamole is the avacado

If the avacado isn't the perfect ripeness, the guacamole will be bland.

Select avacados by squeezing in the store.

If they're hard, you can buy them for guacamole later in the week.

If the fruit is overly mushy...don't buy it!

A soft, but not mushy avacado is perfect.

Start by cutting it lengthwise and twisting it around the large pit.

Remove the pit...

and scoop the pretty green stuff into a mixing bowl.

Do this with all three avacados.

Squeeze in the juice from one fresh lime.

Avacados turn brown FAST. The lime will add flavore and retain the bright green color.

Smush this together with a potato masher.

Finely chop the onion. I prefer a red onion, but only had a yellow onion on hand.

You can adjust the amount to your taste.

Seed and dice one tomato. I used a Roma, but am waiting on my own garden tomatoes.

Remove seeds and finely chop half a jalapeno pepper.

This process always takes my breath away.

BEWARE...avoid breathing in the HOTNESS when removing seeds!

Chop and add the cilantro.

Salt and pepper to taste.

I garnish mine with a blob of sour cream, sliced black olives, a few diced tomatoes and cilantro.

If I have cheddar cheese, I grate some on top.

Serve in a festive bowl with tortilla chips.

My husband plopped some on his tacos for dinner.

Since I grow a small herb garden by my back porch, we mix up guacamole all the time in the summer.

It's great for serving guests at backyard barbecues.

I actually want to grow avacados,

but read on the Internet you need a tropical climate.

I live in Michigan, so I guess plucking them from the grocery store produce section is good enough.

Enjoy this summery recipe!