Ranch Dip or Dressing

There is a preservative sensitivity in my household, and it’s a preservative that’s used in a lot of bottled salad dressings, so I’ve been trying to find an easy everyday ranch dressing recipe to use instead and this one’s pretty good. I like it best as a dip but you can thin it with milk or water to make it a salad dressing. I wanted to use a dried spice mix I can keep in the pantry (instead of having to find and chop up a bunch of fresh herbs and whatnot), and I didn’t want to have to use a lot of other ingredients, so it’s just sour cream or mayonnaise, spice mix, lemon juice, and salt. I prefer sour cream, my husband prefers mayonnaise, or any combination of the two is pretty good. If you’re avoiding dairy, you can use just mayonnaise - most kinds of mayonnaise have no dairy in them. 

For this recipe, you’ll have to mix up a batch of the spice mix and you’ll have extra leftover, but it’d probably be really good as a seasoning for chicken or pork, or vegetables, or a cheese ball, or on popcorn. It's also great if you add it to a basic vinaigrette. Or save the extra for another batch later. I make a lot of it so that I can make multiple batches before I have to mix up more spices. 

SPICE MIX
2 parts dried parsley
2 parts garlic powder
2 parts onion powder
2 parts dried onion flakes
1 part dried dill weed
1 part ground black pepper
1 part dried chives

Use a teaspoon to measure out each part to make enough for one batch (plus a little extra), or use a tablespoon to make enough for five batches (plus a little extra). Grind up the dried parsley, onion flakes, and dried chives with a mortar & pestle or spice grinder if you want a smoother consistency. Don’t grind up the pepper too finely or it’ll be too strong (or measure out whole peppercorns and then grind them up). Mix well. Store the extra in a spice jar. 

DIP / DRESSING
1 cup sour cream or mayonnaise
2 tablespoons spice mix 
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste (not needed if you use only mayonnaise)
juice of half a lemon, or to taste
milk or water to desired consistency 

Mix together the sour cream or mayonnaise, spice mix, and lemon juice. Add salt if using sour cream. If you use sour cream and want to thin it out to make it a salad dressing, add splashes of milk or water and mix well until it’s the desired consistency. If it tastes like it needs a little more of something, add more lemon juice and salt. Chill for an hour to let the flavors develop. 

Makes about 1 cup. Should keep for up to a week in the fridge. 

Melon Martini

I wanted to make a green cocktail for St. Patrick's Day, and came up with the following. And it’s so good! Tart and fruity but not too sweet, and a pretty emerald green color. I’m definitely going to be making more of these, even when it’s not St. Patrick’s Day. You can use gin or vodka (or maybe white rum or tequila). I prefer gin and used Hendrick's. I used both lemon and lime juice, but you can use one or the other or any combination of the two. If you don’t have blue curaçao, you can use triple sec instead but the drink will be a lime green color instead of an emerald green.

1 oz gin or vodka

1 oz Midori or other green melon liqueur 

1 oz fresh lemon or lime juice 

1/2 oz blue curaçao

1/2 oz simple syrup 

garnish: maraschino cherries or an orange slice

Shake with ice in a cocktail shaker until very cold, then double strain into a martini glass. Garnish with maraschino cherries or an orange slice.