Wow, did I ever have a great time last night!

I spent yesterday in the kitchen. I wanted to have lots of good stuff for Terry and John when they came. I made the new crab dip, and it turned out good, but it needed more hot sauce and more lemon juice. I was glad I hadn't put more butter in it, it was borderline too greasy. Here is the recipe for the miracle topping that is good on EVERYTHING:

Miracle Topping: Ingredients:

1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1/4 cup butter, softened
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
small bunch of garlic chives, chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt lots of hot sauce

Just spread that over anything, throw it under the broiler, and wait until it gets lightly browned. It is so good you could eat it off Rush Limbaugh's ass, I swear as I sit here. Now the recipe called originally for regular chives. I grow my own garlic chives in the back yard, and they really make this taste special. I have never seen any others like these, they look like liriope (border grass, or monkey grass here in the south), but they are most savory and excellent for cooking. I got them as starters from a friend that she dug up out of her yard. I have never seen any like this in the nursery for sale, but I guess regular chives would do. Or you could come see me and ask me nicely for a starter..

I also made (finally) a successful copy of a buffalo chicken pizza. I had eaten one in a restaurant and just went nuts for it, but the first time I tried it I messed it up. The one Saturday night turned out perfect though. I subbed out Quorn for the chicken, but in something like that, you can't even tell the difference.

I made a homemade espinacha con queso as well, and I got it too hot. Too many jalapenos. The last time I got it too sweet by using fat free cream. I guess I'll get the hang of it eventually. It was pretty good, but I wanted it to be better. I'm trying to copy a recipe from a Tex-Mex place where I used to work, they made the best I ever tasted. I'm getting closer, but I'm not there yet. For those of you who don't know, that cheese dip they charge you $3 a bowl for in the Mexican restaurant is just White American Cheese with milk, melted and stirred together. Of course it isn't really Mexican, they just make that for us Gringos, but we buy tons of it.

I made a custard pie, which is Terry's favorite, for him to take home, and a pan of mix brownies. They are reliable, and honestly, I had spent all day in the kitchen at that point. I'll admit that I am not a huge brownie person, but the Betty Crocker Hershey's Triple Chocolate Chunk Brownie Mix is kick-ass! Those of you who are going to do so may proceed to look down your nose.

The visit was great. It was SO wonderful to see Terry. We don't see each other that often any more, but I really love him. There are no friends like old friends. People who used to know you when you were still young and hot LOL. We were going to watch movies, and ended up not watching a single one. We ate and talked, and laughed, and drank until about 2am. I am dead today, but it was fabulous.