Victorious!

Yay! The $18 Parmesan cheese paid off. I won the "Veggie" dip category, and here's a pic of me with my "trophy" (a bucket filled with fake plastic veggies). There were a lot of delicious dips (20-30) and 4 categories... Tailgate, Veggie, TBD (To Be Determined... a mix of random dips), and Sweet. I didn't have time to prepare the entire dip that morning, so I brought my supplies to work, and I had to get out a cutting board and chop some artichoke hearts at my desk.

I can't take too much credit--this recipe was one that my aunt Catherine made at our house once several years ago, and I used a modification of the following recipe for the contest:

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/quick_and_easy_artichoke_dip/

I add a clove of crushed garlic, too. Yum... so simple, but very tasty. Thanks Aunt Cate for your inspiration!

Also, I might post the other dip winners, stay tuned.

Parmesan on my mind...

Tonight I ventured to the east side of Milwaukee and made a stop at Whole Foods. And I was out of groceries. And I happened to be hungry. A dangerous combination. I grabbed a plate of hot food from their carry-out area and ate a tasty meal (I even tried a cube of tofu--not my favorite, I discovered) and set out to get some groceries. I walked up and down aisle after beautiful aisle, admiring the sparkling floors and neatly stocked shelves and eyeing all of the delicious food options. I did pretty well--in terms of holding myself back--mostly buying produce and some lactose-free milk (I think I might be lactose intolerant, but that's another story). 

But, I made one ridiculous splurge. $18 for a wedge of aged Parmesan. The reason? Well, for one, it looked beautiful. I didn't know Parmesan could look beautiful until I saw this table stocked with Parmesan the last time I was in the store. Imported from Italy, aged for over 24 months, a warm, pale yellow... I knew it was just what I needed.

You see, this week is the "Dip-Off" at work. We're each submitting our best dip recipe for the masses to sample and then deem the winner. I signed up with determination, with last February's chili cook-off in mind. It had been a disaster. I tried to make a white chicken chili, but I didn't have a recipe--I just winged it, and it was much more like soup than chili. I was the only one I know of who received no votes. Sad. I knew that I hadn't put my best effort into the chili cook-off, and feeling humbled, I knew next time I'd have to bring my A-game.

And thus, the $18 Parmesan. This time, I'm making an artichoke dip, and I'm determined to prove myself to my co-workers. I even invested in a crock pot (a good excuse to buy one anyway) and best yet, I'm actually following a tried-and-true recipe (with a little bit of modifying, of course). All I have to say is that this Parmesan better be good.

I'll keep you posted.