Food From The Garden

Growing up, I loved French Onion dip on everything. My grandparents lived out in the country on a lake and always hosted the 4th of July party at which family and friends would gather, and that was where I was first introduced to it, as we always used to have chips while we waited for the food and the Frito Lay French Onion Dip was one of the choices for dips, but I thought the broader term "condiment" was a better fit. Quite funny, it was also at that same party (but I don't think it was the same year. I don't remember for sure) that I learned what "condiment" meant. My great aunt was one of the first people to arrive that year and she and my grandparents put me on duty taking people's orders so grandpa knew what to put on the grill, and after I did that, they asked me to set up the condiments, and I looked for opportunities to use that word all throughout the day because, like any kid, I loved to learn "big words" and felt grown up using them...

Every one of us has had an everyday object, food, idea, concept, something that was just part of their everyday-ness of everyday, until it was brought to life. That's what today's recipe is. Some of you probably know that I make my own green juices all the time and most of the time I don't follow a recipe for them. Usually I'll just throw in whatever produce I've got hanging around and/or is on sale. But occasionally I do follow a recipe. I devised this one this past Advent for a church function. It was just my monthly meeting with the Creation Care Team but we decided to, instead of prioritizing agenda items (even though we did hit them), have a mini party where everyone who is able to bring in a little treat to share does so and we just chat. In other words, a meeting where the main objective was to build camaraderie. I brought the Trader Joe's Beet Crackers, two choices of dips for which they'd be the vehicles, and this green juice. This green juice was i...