Fix-It and Forget-It

I sucked in my breath when I heard “artichokes.” They wanted to serve “Roasted Pepper and Artichoke Spread” as an appetizer at the women’s dinner where I had been invited to speak.

Yes, the recipe is in Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook. . . yes, I chose it for the book. No, I am not a picky eater. . . that simply was not allowed in my growing-up home. . . but then, I wasn’t faced with an artichoke until I was out on my own and choosing what to put on my own plate.

My mom got enthused about artichokes sometime after I went to college, and she started adding them to our holiday menus. Our one daughter thinks they’re great. I seem to be the generation that got missed with a taste for the thistle.

But I knew enough to put a recipe with artichokes as a main ingredient in the Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook when it got rave reviews from its tester. I just hadn’t counted on needing to eat it myself—and especially not in full view of an audience when I was the cookbook-author, dinner-guest speaker for a banquet-room full of women last Friday night.

The planning committee for the event had asked me to choose the menu. They wanted to do an all slow-cooker meal, and I went for the Chicken Sweet and Sour, the dish on the cover of my new Fix-It and Forget-It PINK Cookbook—a great entrée—along with a broccoli recipe with big flavor, a refreshing salad, and a chocolate dessert that no one could believe came out of a slow cooker.

But these women were ahead of me on the appetizers. “We want to start with Roasted Pepper and Artichoke Spread.” Of course, I agreed.

I loaded up my little appetizer plate with crackers and fresh veggies for dipping. I left a little corner for my “no-thank-you”-sized serving of the Spread.

I swiped a little dip onto a cracker. It was warm and cheesy-tasting with an interesting vegetable-ish flavor. I went back for a bigger bite.

All around me, women were murmuring about how amazingly good the Spread was. I had to agree. That planning committee had done right by not asking me!

I loved it. . . I loved it. And it’s now on the menu for our next meal with friends or family. Gotta love those people who help you out of your small-minded prejudices.

Here’s my newly claimed recipe—