Once a week I play bridge. Except this summer where travel baseball has taken over my life and I’ve missed several weeks of play. Today, my girlfriends are coming over to play bridge and I’m so excited!

Usually while we play we have glasses of white wine and some sort of small snack. Today, I’m making my famous (and ridiculously simple) Smoked Salmon Dip. Not only because it’s easy and everyone loves it - but because it feels like a perfect summer appetizer.

It’s only a few ingredients, so use good ones. My smoked fish (I’m using trout) is from my boys going fishing earlier this summer so I know it’s delicious and fresh. Because you’re only using 1/2 pound - buy a good one! In Seattle, most grocers have great smoked fish but you can also head over to the docks at the base of Magnolia and pick up fish that you know came straight out of the sea.

Smoked Salmon Dip

1/2 pound smoked salmon (or trout)

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

zest of 1/2 lemon

1/2 jalapeño, grated

juice of 1 lemon

1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons mayonnaise (or more if needed)

salt + pepper

STEP 1

In a bowl, combine all of the ingredients, except the mayonnaise and blend. Use a hand mixer, a stand mixer, a cuisinart, or a potato masher (heaven help your arm)

STEP 2

When blended, add the mayonnaise and blend until the texture is fluffy and creamy. Serve with crackers and cucumber slices.

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Last year I discovered that it is perfectly acceptable in the south to put pimento cheese on white bread and call it a sandwich! A SANDWICH! Out of the very best cheese + squishy white bread. Who has been keeping this miracle from me?!

I have a girlfriend who makes a version of this regularly for parties. It’s good, but there was something missing. That’s when I found out she doesn’t use mayo in hers. It’s the mayo that makes it a spreadable delight! And I know there will be discussion about the kind of mayo I choose. I cannot be talked out of my Best Foods mayo. I know there are lots of in the Duke’s camp. And they also can’t be swayed. So you use your mayo that you prefer. Just know that the correct mayo is Best Foods.

I also use a hand mixer when I make this. It feels more authentic. The stand mixer is great. But doesn’t it feel like a good southern kitchen would use a hand mixer instead? And I like to be sure that I don’t over mix this. Using the freshly grated cheese can lead to clumping if you aren’t careful. The hand mixer lets you get in all the corners of the bowl. Which does let you mix it a little easier.

If you’re thinking of using pre shredded, shredded cheese, let me advise against it. Preshredded cheese get a little coating of potato starch or other starch to make sure it doesn’t clump in the package. I think the starch does something weird when you try to mix it all together - the cheese just doesn’t blend right.

At the Masters, they serve pimento cheese sandwiches. This is the most epic way you could possibly serve pimento cheese. But it’s also perfectly acceptable to serve with celery, Ritz crackers, salami - whatever else you like on a charcuterie board. But I can’t tell you how good it is on white bread.

Epic Pimento cheese Spread

2 cups freshly shredded cheese

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

1/2 cup mayonnaise

4 ounces pimento

1/2 jalapeño, shredded

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

2-4 shakes Tabasco sauce

STEP 1

Grate the cheese yourself. The combine the mayonnaise, cream cheese, and the grated cheese with a hand mixer or a stand mixer.

STEP 2

Grate in the jalapeño and add the pimento. Mix together.

STEP 3

Add the spices and mix one last time. Spread on white bread or eat with Ritz cracker and celery.

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These are actually the perfect appetizer. I had forgotten about them for years and then I was scrambling for the perfect appetizer for a party and remembered I used to make these all the time. Like ALL THE TIME. The first time I made them for a group people - twenty years ago - everyone was RAVING about them. And that was one of the critical moments in my life when I realized food was my special skill.

These are not hard. My go-to ingredients are tomato paste + tapenade. It’s salty, mostly premade, simple, and kind of tastes like pizza. But I also use pesto when that’s what I have. I have tried fresh vegetables - spinach, tomato, even fresh basil leaves and that doesn’t work. It’s too liquid-y and it makes the pastry all weird. You’re always welcome to try it, but I tried it for you.

Flaky Tapenade Bites

makes 2 dozen

1 package puff pastry

1/2 cup tomato paste

1/2 cup tapanade

STEP 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Unroll the puff pastry sheet onto a floured cutting board and roll out slightly until you can’t see the lines anymore.

STEP 2

Use half of the tomato paste on each roll. Spread it out evenly over the sheet. Top with the tapenade in an even coat. Roll up the pastry and slice into 1/2 inch pieces.

STEP 3

Pop each slice on a lined baking sheet. Bake 20 minutes until puffed and crispy. Remove from the baking sheet and cool on a cooling rack.

Serve warm or room temperature.

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Americano Cocktail

Delightfully simple and totally refreshing. Simple enough to make a batch of them, and a perfect compliment with the flaky tapenade bites!

Happy Fourth of July! We spend the holiday at our family beach compound at whidbey island. We eat an excessive amount of food, drink too many cocktails, and blow things up. This crab dip is on steady rotation. I cannot encourage you enough to make this dip! If you don’t have crab, you can sub in artichoke hearts and no one cares. It’s still delish.

Hot Dungeoness Crab Dip

8 oz cream cheese

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup sour cream

2 tablespoons chopped chives

1/2 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning

1 teaspoon worchestershire

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/2 - 2 teaspoons hot sauce (to taste!)

1 pound dungeoness crab

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

STEP 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a stand mixer, or with a hand held blender, combine all of the ingredients except the crab and parmesan cheese.

STEP 2

When everything else is combined, carefully stir in the crab to the cream cheese mix. Spread in an oven proof dish and top with parmesan cheese. I like to use a pie tin or an 8” pan for the dip so it’s one thin layer with the crispy cheese on top.

STEP 3

Pop into the oven and bake about 15-20 minutes until bubbly and the cheese turns golden brown. Serve with crackers or cucumber slices.