It is football season and my husband, Jay, loves chips and dip. He has never met a dip he didn’t love. It is game day, so I decided to throw together some snacks and toss them on the kitchen island. I have a feeling the boys will come by- fingers crossed- and maybe even a few friends. In typical fashion, I made a little something (this cowboy caviar) and purchased some things as well.
Many recipes for cowyboy caviar call for avocados and cilantro, but here is my take on it. Avocados can turn to mush, they need to be perfectly ripe and they aren’t very good left over. As for cilantro- did you know 10% of people find it tastes like soap. Turns out, they share a common smell-receptor gene cluster called OR6A2. I am in this group. So if you love it, add it. Cilantro is a hard no for me.
Many of you have asked me to link to things in the pics. I am new at this and it is hard to link some of my things, especially my Memaw’s melmac bowls from the 50’s. But as for the cute table runner, I took a chance last year on this pvc table runner. Turns out, it is one of my favorite things. It was long, and it curls on the end, so don’t expect it to hang down. I cut a piece for our bar and a piece for the island. The edges curl around the top and it wipes off very easily. So I actually got two runners out of the one purchase. When I am done, they just roll right up and I throw them in the china cabinet.
There is a cute orange and white custom glass plate with a tiny square of red in the corner. It was a wedding present to Jay and I from our friends, Franklin and Jennifer. The plate was a custom piece from Kim Currin Creations- Glassworks. The red is for Jay- he is my Alabama guy.
I have a Nora Fleming cocktail napkin holder that I am a little obsessed with- the corner mini is interchangeable-and don’t ask me how many minis I have. Cocktail napkins are my thing and I even have them organized in zip lock bags. And if you ever see the Nora Fleming Frankenstein hand mini for a reasonable amount of money- text me immediately. Of course, today I have inserted the football mini. We have a great, local store called Southern Traditions and they carry many of the Nora Fleming pieces and also the minis. I always buy local when I can.
Cowboy Caviar
Ingredients
1 can black eyed peas, rinsed and drained
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can corn, rinsed and drained
1 jalapeno, diced
1 red onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
Dressing
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
juice of 1 lime
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
Directions
Mix dressing ingredients into a jar and shake. Mix dip ingredients in a bowl and stir in the dressing.
Make this recipe your own. Add cilantro, add the zest of the lime. Turn up the acid and add an additional lime. Toss in a cucumber. Add white beans. There are endless options to change up this recipe.
