My husband has to work two shifts today during this Labor Day holiday. May God bless him! He is such a hard and effective worker and I love and admire him very much. I asked St. Joseph, the patron saint of workers, to watch over him and help him during this Labor day that honors those individuals who work hard in their chosen and/or appointed vocations. I can only imagine how hard St. Joseph worked as the foster father of Our Lord, Jesus, and the husband of Mary, the Blessed Mother, caring and providing for the Holy Family. What a powerful intercessor we have in St. Joseph!
You are probably wondering by now, what does this all have to do with “The Dip”? Well, here we go. . .
Yesterday, my husband told me that the people at work were having a potluck for lunch to celebrate Labor Day, and would I please make “The Dip”. I said that I would be happy to make it and that I would double the quantity. In a contest at work held some months ago, his colleagues had previously awarded me with the “most delicious dip” award, giving me a very nice chip and dip bowl. I was so happy they liked it. Consequently, I am giving you this recipe and I hope it pleases you, your family and any guests you entertain. It is best served with ripple chips, little bowl-like Tostito chips or over toasted small slider rolls. It is great for tailgating parties, especially since football season has arrived.
Ingredients:
2 cups of mayo, 1 cup of parmesan cheese, 2 cans of artichoke hearts, 4 small Compari tomatoes or any on-the-vine tomatoes, 1 onion or 7 green onions, garlic salt and freshly ground pepper.
Prep work: I start with getting all of my prep work finished. Dice the artichoke hearts, tomatoes and onion or green onions. With regard to the tomatoes, shake a small amount of garlic salt upon them while you are preparing everything so that the flavors can develop. This really revitalizes the tomatoes.
Put the mayo and parm in a medium to large sized bowl and mix this very well. Because of the saltiness of the parm, you need not add extra salt. Now, add the diced artichokes, tomatoes and onion or green onions to the bowl and again, gently mix all of these ingredients. Grind the pepper over these ingredients after you have finished mixing. I like my grinder to produce larger sized black pepper because it adds to the appearance of the dish and provides the pepper flavor it also needs.
Bake this dip in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes. Enjoy, and don’t forget to thank God for the many blessings He has given to you on this special day, including the ability to taste this dip (LOL!).
Your friendly crippled cook,
Joan
