Kay Wheeler Moore

Welcome to my blog

Hello. . .

The Newfangled Country Gardener is for anyone who has a garden, would like to have a garden, or who simply enjoys eating the garden-fresh way. I don't claim to be an expert; in this blog I'm simply sharing some of the experiences my husband and I have in preparing food that is home-grown.

About the author

Kay Wheeler Moore is the author of a new cookbook, Way Back in the Country Garden, that features six generations of recipes that call for ingredients that are fresh from the garden. With home gardening surging in popularity as frugal people become more resourceful, this recipe collection and the stories that accompany it ideally will inspire others to cook the garden-fresh way and to preserve their own family food stories as well. The stories in this book center around the Three Red-Haired Miller Girls (Kay's mother and aunts) who grew up in Delta County, TX, with their own backyard garden so lavish that they felt as though they were royalty after their Mama wielded her kitchen magic on all that was homegrown. Introduced in Kay's previous book, Way Back in the Country, the lively Miller Girls again draw readers into their growing-up world, in which a stringent economic era--not unlike today's tight times--saw people turn to the earth to put food on the table for their loved ones. The rollicking yarns (all with recipes attached) have love, family, and faith as common denominators and show how food evocatively bonds us to our life experiences.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

"Good for Your Botty" Dip, with spinach and artichokes, lives up to its nickname

A most unorthodox photo in "Newfangled" today, but the event was not one that happens along every day. Our grandmunchkin—the one who's visiting this week for Camp G&G—turned 1 over the weekend. All stops were pulled out to help him celebrate.

The author of this blog looks slightly daft because she's wearing a robot headdress and gears earrings to blend in with the party's robot theme. The little one’s daddy, in his spare time, is a dedicated high-school robotics coach, so robots are highly significant in this family. What better birthday party theme than having ’Bots galore decking the halls?

That’s why I called my dip, pictured here, “Good for Your Botty” dip. That wasn’t its official name. In the Kroger grocery circular in which the recipe was featured, it was called Spinach Artichoke Dip. But when you got through reading the ingredients, it indeed was “Good for Your Botty”, so that’s what I nicknamed it to contribute to the spirit of the party.

Fresh spinach (the recipe called for frozen, but I had a bag of fresh on hand) and canned artichoke hearts were the key elements of this dip, which can be used with crackers, tortilla chips, or bagel chips. Mayo (I used the Kraft olive-oil variety), fat-free sour cream, and Parmesan and pepper jack cheese rounded out the items on the ingredient list.

The dip was very good for the “botty”. The Kroger circular featured it as a tailgate/game day fave; it certainly was a star among our ’bot enthusiasts.

Spinach Artichoke (a.k.a. “Good for Your Botty”) Dip

1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, or 10 ounces fresh spinach
2 (13-ounce) cans of artichoke hearts, drained
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup fat-free sour cream
1 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1 1/4 cup pepper jack cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook the spinach in microwave for 5 minutes (4 minutes for fresh spinach); squeeze dry. Place artichoke hearts in food processor and chop. Combine spinach, artichoke hearts, mayo, sour cream, Parmesan, and 1/4 cup of pepper jack cheese; stir well. Spray baking dish with nonstick cooking spray; transfer mixed ingredients to the baking dish. Cover the top with the remaining 1 cup pepper jack cheese. Bake for 30 minutes. Serve with bagel chips, tortilla chips, or crackers. Refrigerate any leftovers. Makes 6-8 servings.

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