Chunky Clam and Bacon Dip (Page 20)

RECIPE #1168

• Date: Monday, May 10, 2010 --7pm
• Location: Berkeley, CA
• Kitchen: Our Temporary California Home
• Dining Companion: Matty
• Recipe Rating: B+
  

I am trying to make some progress on the Hors D'Oeuvres and First Courses section in The Book, so I chose this recipe to make with dinner a few weeks back. It sounded a bit gross to me -- canned clams made into a dip -- but actually the dish turned out much better than I expected. I started by cooking some bacon. Then I whisked together cream cheese, sour cream, some of the juice that the clams were canned in, minced canned clams, bacon, red bell pepper, scallions, basil, horseradish, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, and Tabasco. It sounds a little gross, no? Actually, though, it tasted pretty good! The many ingredients came together well, both in flavor and in texture, to form something that was certainly better than the sum of its parts. My one complaint was that the ratio of cream cheese and sour cream to other ingredients was a bit too high. There was just too much creamy base for the dip. Other than that it was good!

The recipe is here.

As promised, some pictures from our wedding ceremony, which took place one year ago this weekend. We had the ceremony in our apartment. It was cozy, but everyone fit, and it was so nice to get married at home! Here's a picture of my special gentleman's parents coming down the aisle:


And then my parents:

We had such a small wedding that we didn't have any bridesmaids or groomsmen. We did, however, have a flower boy/ring bearer. Emilee's son Sam had both duties, and he was only 14 months old at the time. Needless to say, he didn't exactly understand what he was supposed to do. We tied the rings to his back so he didn't lose/eat them. Rachel tried to convince him to carry the flowers down the aisle, but he seemed confused by the offer:


He walked right by the flowers, and then wandered down the aisle. So cute!



We had four readings in our ceremony, done by our friends Rachel, PJ, and Juice, and my brother Spencer. Below is a picture of Spencer:


Our friend Paul is a wonderful jazz guitarist, and he played a song during the ceremony:


My best friend Emilee officiated our wedding, and she did such a beautiful job! It made the ceremony very personal to have someone that we are so close to marry us. My special gentleman and I wrote our own vows, and here we are exchanging them:


Then it was time for the exchanging of the rings:

Married!



Walking down the street outside our apartment after the ceremony:

Enjoying a kiss in downtown Bloomington:



Rings!


The start of a wonderful marriage:


The ceremony was just as I had hoped it would be!