If You Like Avocados, Try This

 I found this Avocado Dip Recipe because I needed something to put on my Quinoa and Spinach Patties.  (Those are also pretty good.  So if you like quinoa you should try those too.  They are from Skinny Taste.)

My husband and I have been trying to make lunches that are not just a bunch of deli meat sandwiches. We aren't going crazy with health food.  Just trying to get in some vegetables and grains sometimes.  So quinoa patties.  But I thought they could use a little something.  So I browsed around and found this Avocado Dip Recipe from Dinner At The Zoo.  

It is easy to make.  You basically just throw all the ingredients in the food processor and blitz it until it is smooth.  So it doesn't take long to whip up.  All of the lime juice stops the avocado from turning black so it keeps in the fridge for a couple of days so you can make it ahead if you like.  

It has a nice fresh taste.  Kind of refreshing.  I actually put extra jalapeno in mine because I like the heat but you, of course, can put as much or as little as you like to control the heat level.  There is some sour cream in this but I like that it is not mostly sour cream or mayonnaise.  And lets face it, I love cilantro and will put it on or in almost everything.  So I'm happy to have so much in this.

  

Like I said I put it on the Quinoa Patties and really enjoyed that. And then when I was making Quick and Easy Salmon Cakes later (from Feasting At Home) I remembered this Avocado Dip and made it again and again was pleased with what it added to the dish.  I can see myself putting this on all sorts of things.  It is recommended that you put it on chips, crackers or veggies, and I can see all of those choices being very tasty.  I could also see myself using this as a spread on a chicken sandwich.  I think it would fit in a lot of different places.  I will hold onto this recipe because I'm sure I'll be making it again.

Today on the Calendar

 Today is National Scrabble Day!

Now, I have never been much of a fan of Scrabble.  That might be due to the fact that I have never been much good at spelling.  My husband is a fan.  So it is lucky that in this day and age you no longer need another person to play.  So go out there and play a game of Scrabble!

Annoying Book Review

 Annoying by Joe Palca and Flora Lichtman

 (from the book jacket)

Annoyances are everywhere: annoying sounds, annoying smells, annoying drivers, annoying friends, annoying strangers, annoying spouses.  There’s nowhere to hind, and no one is immune.

In Annoying, NPR Science Correspondent Joe Palca and Science Friday’s Flora Lichtman dig through the scientific literature in search of explanations for what gets under our skin.

In this widely ranging scientific tour, you’ll meet researchers who have made strides in understanding why some things tick us off.  You’ll find out why blabbing on cell phones is so irritating and why you can’t help but tune in.  You will learn the secrets of trash talk and how athletes overcome it, or don’t.  You’ll hear about an illness that makes people annoyed to the point of dysfunction and visit a tiny island where no one seems annoyed.  You’ll discover why chili peppers stand on the cusp between pleasant and painful, why odor is so powerful and how skunks have taken advantage, why raw onion fumes make us cry, and why some chemicals have been irritating life on Earth for half a billion years.  The science is there.  You just have to know where to look.

 

I picked up this book partly because I wanted to know how you make a scientific study of something that seems so subjective.  I also wanted to see if knowing why something annoyed me helped me be any less annoyed.  The second part didn’t work out so well for me.  And the first part turned out to be a very complex thing that touched on many aspects of science and journeyed to others parts of the world.  This appealed more to my love of general science than I thought it would because it explores so many fields.  It goes from defining annoyance (is it just a mild form of anger?), to how our vision and sense of smell works, to medicine, to music, to mouse genetics, to cultural differences, to why quirks in your spouse are cute when you first get married but years later make you want to tear your hair out.  It covers sights, sounds, smells, events and other people’s behavior and why they all annoy us.  And though there is a lot that is subjective and unique to an individual there are patterns and scientific reasons why almost everyone in the world hates cell phone conversations they feel are forced upon them and the sound of nails on a chalkboard.  All the bits and pieces taken individually are interesting and the fact that the search for the answer to one question leads to all these places makes the whole even more interesting.  Can I avoid getting annoyed now?  No.  Not by a long shot.  But in some way, it does help knowing that I’m not just being cranky all the time.  That there is science to back up feelings. Some times.

National Siblings Day

 Happy National Siblings Day!!