Well, I’m just mad about the whole thing.
I don’t really mind being “of a certain age” because people are nice to me.
I’m not even offended when I don’t understand what young people are talking about half the time, and it doesn’t bother me when I occasionally lose things at home. Most of the time I find them.
What does bother me about getting older is that my ears are getting bigger.
Have you noticed this? As people age, their ears get bigger. Men don’t seem to care — and if they don’t notice, it’s just as well because they can’t do anything about it — but women do care. We have the advantage because we can style our hair to cover the ears. Not all hairstyles do this covering, and after “a certain age” many women go about with their big ears showing.
There are things that can comfort us when we think of this and other often unwanted changes that age brings. One of these is the Chipped Beef Dip shared with us today by Denise McCormack of Westminster Baptist Church in South Carolina’s Upstate. Rev. Randy Keasler is the pastor and has served the church for 20 or so years. Organized in 1831, it is part of the Beaverdam Baptist Association, where David Shirley serves as director of missions.
Denise and her husband, Rick, came to Westminster in 1978 from Hickory, N.C., because of his job. They liked the town, its people and location, and have been here since that time. Rick, now retired, serves as mayor of Westminster, and the couple have a daughter, Erwin. She and her husband, Will Pope, have three children: Bonnie, Everette and Sims.
In addition to her job at Blue Ridge Electric Co-op, Denise is a busy girl at her church. She teaches the adult women’s Sunday school class and is part of the church choir. Her musical skills don’t end with the singing, and when needed she substitutes for the pianist and organist during services.
At home, Denise enjoys sewing and knitting, but her favorite is quilting. A member of the Quilters Guild, she and the other women have made quilts for the hospital, women’s shelter and others during their monthly meetings.
Perhaps they occasionally serve today’s snack dish. She got the recipe from Nellie Campbell, a co-worker at Blue Ridge, who sometimes brought it for an office snack.
We thank Denise for sharing this with us. The little dip goes together easily and will find a useful place among your recipes. The recipe makes about three cups, but there probably won’t be any leftovers. If there are, refrigerate, but allow the dip to come to room temperature for easy spreading for the next use.
You can offer this easy-to-make and prettily served dish as an appetizer for arriving dinner guests, serve it as a snack during TV ball games, or let your guests enjoy this while you finish preparing … Sunday Dinner.
Chipped Beef Dip
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
- ¼ cup finely chopped green pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic salt
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 3-oz. package dried beef, chopped
- 2 tablespoons dehydrated onion
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ cup pecans, coarsely chopped
Mix the softened cream cheese with the dried beef, green pepper, onion, garlic salt, pepper and sour cream. Place in a shallow baking/serving dish and top with the chopped pecans. Dot with the butter.
Bake at 350 degrees for 25-35 minutes until thoroughly heated. Serve with Wheat Thins or similar crackers.
Have a recipe? sundaydinner@baptistcourier.com