YAY NEW DISHWASHER!



It got installed this afternoon. The couple who installed it were pretty nice, when I warned them there might be dead mice behind the old one (there weren't) the guy just kind of laughed and said he didn't care, as long as the mice didn't run up his arm.

There was a tense moment - like so many things in this house, stuff has been retrofitted and put in wonky and wrong. The tile floor (which you can see in the bottom of the photo) was apparently put in AFTER the old dishwasher. The guy was afraid at first they wouldn't be able to get the old washer out or fit the new one in.

But fortunately (as you can see), they were, by both of them kind of shimmying it into place.

(There were no dead mice behind the old dishwasher, but there was a great mass of pecan shells from the mouse that inhabited there previously. I took a few moments to sweep them all up, and I'm hoping that Hantavirus isn't present here... I think what I had WERE in fact fieldmice.)

So, to celebrate the nice new dishwasher - and my being able to cook again without casting a jaundiced eye on how many pots and pans and little glass dishes (for separating eggs and such) that I use, here are two festive recipes. Both of these are for the FFFFF we do in my department (five-day feast of festive finger foods), a/k/a exam week nibbles.

Recipe the first:

Taco Dip.

1 lb ground beef (or turkey, or prepared TVP)
1 packet taco seasoning, or your preferred mix for seasoning a pound of whatever protein item you make tacos out of
1, 8 ounce can tomato sauce. (Just plain tomato sauce. I use Contadina brand)
1, 16 ounce can of refried beans (you can, and I did, use fat-free here)
1, 8 ounce cup of sour cream (again, you can use the lowfat kind. Daisy makes a very good low-fat variety if you can get it)
shredded cheese - cheddar or "Mexican blend"

Brown the beef in a skillet. Drain off excess fat (if necessary) and add the seasoning. Turn the heat down, add the tomato sauce and refried beans, stir well until completely combined. Pack into a 10" glass pie plate or comparable-sized dish and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Right before serving, spread the sour cream over the top and sprinkle with cheese. Serve with tortilla chips. This is meant to be eaten as a cold dip. It's surprisingly good given how simple it is.

Recipe the second:

This is actually a fairly old recipe, one that one of the long-time members of my parents' church contributed to a church cookbook.

Cranberry-raspberry jelly candies

1 16 ounce can jellied cranberry sauce (the kind that splorps out of the can and has the ridges on it)

3, 3-ounce boxes of raspberry gelatin

1 cup sugar

Mix the three (do not add extra liquid, warns the original recipe). Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the cranberry sauce has melted and the gelatin and sugar are fully dissolved. This will take a long time. Don't rush it. I rushed it one year and got soup instead of candies. It can take up to 20 minutes. (You can add 1/2 cup or so of chopped walnuts at the end if you like)

Then, let the mix cool 20 minutes, stirring every now and then. Spoon it into a well-buttered 8" square pan. Let cool and set up overnight at room temperature - do not refrigerate.

The next day, turn the candy (you may need to "peel" it out of the pan) onto a wax paper with sugar heaped on it. (The candy is very sticky). Cut the candy into small squares or rectangles with either a knife or kitchen shears (I found the shears easier). Roll each piece in granulated sugar so that they won't stick together.

These are very good - they are kind of like a softer version of a gumdrop - and they keep well for a very long time if you keep them in a cool dry place.