By Tanya Manus

It’s baby shower season - today I went to a shower to celebrate the upcoming birth of a co-worker’s baby, then arrived at home to find an e-mail announcing the arrival of a friend’s niece.

All these springtime parties and celebrations call for festive, mom-and-baby-friendly menus. For today’s shower, I took a basket of fresh, cut-up fruit accompanied by Creamy Coconut Dip. Lightly coconutty, this whipped concoction just nicely complemented an array of strawberries, bananas and pineapple.

This recipe is easy, but makes a lot! You’ll have plenty for your next party and some tasty snacking the next day, too.

Creamy Coconut Dip

1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese or neufchatel cheese, softened

15 oz. cream of coconut (you’ll find it in liquor department)

1 (8 oz.) tub Cool Whip, thawed

Beat cream cheese and and cream of coconut in large bowl with wire whisk until well blended. Add whipped topping; gently stir until well blended. Cover. Refrigerate for several hours or until chilled. If desired, garnish with toasted flaked coconut before serving.

Serve with fresh, cut-up fruit or graham crackers. Makes 48 (2 tbsp.) servings.

By Crystal Hohenthaner
Journal staff

To a certain extent I have already admitted to our blog readers that I love sauces. But it is big confession time here: my sauce issues go far deeper than love. I wouldn’t exactly call it obsession, but the truth is I often eat food just for the sauce that is on it.

For example, I had sushi for the first time this week and even though all the rolls were rather silmilar I wanted the roll with the mango sauce on it. Honestly, I just wanted the mango sauce. And about hot fudge sundaes…really why bother with the ice cream? I have been known to eat the fudge sauce all by itself right out of the jar.

I like steak because of the Worchestershire sauce I slather it in. I like waffles (and sausage links) because they can hold so much strawberry syrup. I crave french-fries when I want ketchup. I only like salad because of the ranch dressing. And honestly, when chips and dip are around I basically use the chip as an edible spoon to deliver as much dip to my mouth as possible.

I found some recipes for dipping sauces that are meant to accompany chicken fingers this week. So, since I’m feelin’ saucy, I thought I’d share.

Chicken Fingers With Dipping Sauces
1 cup low-fat plain yogurt
1 pound chicken tenders, all visible fat discarded
Vegetable oil spray

Coating Mixture
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/3 cup dry bread crumbs
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon shredded or grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Honey Mustard Sauce
1/4 cup light sour cream
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon honey

Blackberry Dipping Sauce
1/4 cup all-fruit seedless blackberry spread
2 tablespoons fat-free or light mayonnaise
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Put yogurt in medium bowl. Add chicken, stirring to coat. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly spray baking sheet with vegetable oil spray. In another medium bowl, stir together coating mixture ingredients.

Dip one piece of chicken at a time in the coating mixture, turning gently to coat. Arrange chicken in a single layer on the baking sheet. Lightly spray chicken with vegetable oil spray.

Bake for 20 minutes, until chicken is no longer pink in the center and coating crisp.
Meanwhile, in small bowl, whisk together ingredients for desired sauce. Serve chicken with sauce on the side.

Garlic, how can it taste so good but make your breath smell so bad?

I brought in some dip to work today. Tastefully Simple Garlic, Garlic dip. It tastes awesome. But I only had one bite — two hours ago – and my breath smells bad now. Really bad. So bad that I can smell it!

All the experts say that smell and taste are definitly linked. But in that case, how can something that tastes so good make your breath smell so bad? Onions are the same story. And vinegar. In fact, my friend Jackie made me dinner a few weeks back and she concocted a sherry vinegar and onion sauce for the meal.

As soon as I stepped into her apartment I was afraid. In fact I was regretting the fact that I had said yes to her cooking me dinner. The entire apartment smelled kind of pickled — because of the sherry vinegar in the sauce.

At first I thought the apartment smelled funny because, well she has a male roommate and young men are just notorious for being bad house-keepers and a little smelly to boot. But when I realized that the smell permeating the place was actually the food that Jackie expected me to eat I was afraid.

I briefly tried to think of a bunch of excuses that might allow me to go home. I had nothing. I was going to have to eat it. So we sat at the table, prepared our plates and as I lifted the fork to my mouth to take the first bite I was getting ready to fake a polite response.

But it was actually great! I enjoyed the meal and even got over the smell. That is until I left the apartment. The smell had permeated my clothes. Kind of like when you eat at Subway and when you leave you smell like bread for a couple of days. I hate that. And how is it that the scent of baking bread smells disgusting when it’s in your hair or t-shirt?

Anyway, after my garlic, garlic breath I just had to go on about how smell and taste baffle me.

By Crystal Hohenthaner
Rapid City Journal staff 

I have been told by friends and family members that I have unusual tastes. Okay, I like to eat some weird stuff and I do it in some weird ways.

For example, at restaurants I often eat my salad like one might eat chips and dip. It seems perfectly logical to me — it’s a simple way to ensure the right amount of dressing gets on the lettuce. It’s especially useful with thick dressings like ranch and thousand island. Nonetheless, it drives my father crazy every time the family goes out to eat.

I also have a penchant for sweet and salty food combinations — especially in breakfast food. For example, I really only like sausage if it is dipped in syrup or smeared with jelly. My friend Dee caught me eating turkey sausage patties slathered with strawberry jam just Saturday and she was truly aghast. 

I have even been known to eat my french fries with mustard instead of ketchup. That one really grosses out my sister.

I could probably go on an on about my strange eating habits and tastes (I have some especially interesting tales about Worchestershire sauce), but I’m more interested in the oddities of others. What are the strange things you all like to eat — or even the strange ways you eat them?

By Crystal Hohenthaner
Rapid City Journal staff

 

I have a new-found love of America’s favorite condiment: ketchup. Until recently I was really more of a mustard person. I used to think it silly when people would adorn their food with such an ordinary condiment. Especially when there are so many amazing sauces out there. And I have to say I am definitely a sauce person.

 

Worcestershire, hollandaise, béarnaise, A-1, ranch dressing, cheese sauces of every kind, hot fudge, fruit syrups…oh I could go on forever. Honestly, sometimes I will eat a food just because of the sauce. In fact I ask for extra sauce with everything. But until recently I never found myself craving a particular sauce.

 

In the last few weeks, however, I have had an almost insatiable yearning for ketchup. Maybe I need more lycopene in my diet. Well, for whatever reason this craving exists I have to tell you it is intense. At every meal opportunity in the past few weeks I have wanted something adorned with ketchup.

 

In fact, I’ve eaten more French fries this month than all of last year.

 

As I said, I feel that ketchup is a rather ordinary condiment – which makes me wonder what could my craving for it mean? Is this some window into the make-up of my soul? Deep down am I just a ketchup girl who has been denying it for years? How sad. How ordinary. I mean ketchup isn’t really that special.

I want to be more exotic than ketchup! 

Maybe this strange craving is due to the strange weather we’ve been having lately. That’s it — the weather. I’m not an ordinary ketchup girl!

 

How about you folks? Does anyone have a favorite sauce? Anyone had strange cravings lately along with the strange weather?