The Dunwoody Dip

It was a weekend of parties. My favorite was the annual St. Luke's Presbyterian Church adult party, each year held in a private home. Despite pouring rain and a rapidly lowering temperature, it was well attended and very enjoyable. Lots of delicious food - guests brought appetizers, desserts, and sides for the ham.

One appetizer caught T's attention. Somehow I've lived in Dunwoody nearly ten years without enjoying or hearing about the Dunwoody Dip. When I got up Sunday morning, he'd Googled the recipe and found a reference in a Colorado patio store flyer, of all places. I'll check among my girl friends, but the ingredients sound like what I tasted.

Dunwoody Dip
1 pound Jimmy Dean hot sausage
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese
2 cans Rotel tomatoes
1 large bag Tostido scoops

Crumble and brown sausage in large fry pan. DO NOT DRAIN.

Add cream cheese and Rotel tomatoes. Stir until blended and creamy. Place in casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes until edges are bubbly.

Serve with Tostido scoops.

I found time Saturday and Sunday to work on a few last-minute Christmas gifts. Dishcloths are a favorite. It's fun to create a stack of complementary patterns and colors. For a special volunteer at Dunwoody Nature Center, I worked with two patterns from Mason-Dixon Knitting: the Ballband Dishcloth from their book and the Lobby Dishcloth, "hidden" in an extended version of one of their posts: http://www.masondixonknitting.com/archives/2007_12.html. Since it's so gray outside, I chose a cheery turqoise and yellow combination that turned out really well. Now I want to make some for myself, but that'll wait until all the Christmas knitting is finished.

What a crazy Southern winter. Last week, it was nearly 80 degrees. This morning, it was a frigid 27 degrees F. I didn't see too many critters scurrying about as I drove into the Nature Center and the bees were huddled in a tight ball around their queen in the indoors demonstration hive. I'm wearing many layers to offset the chill. All in all, though, I do appreciate the cold. Too much more warm weather and the plants and trees might have tried a premature bloom that would have ruined the spring for fruits and flowers!

I'm writing the pattern for a modular felted handbag I created this summer. It's a bit complicated, and I don't want to miss any details. But my goal is to post it, with pictures, some time this week. Stay tuned!