Raspberry Salsa Black Bean Dip--from the books!

I'm excited to be joining Connie over at "Tales from the Fridge"
for the first "Cook From the Book" challenge.


As some of you know, I have been trying to get myself to "cook from my books" for months now. I have no stick-to-it-ivness, when I am left to my own devices.
There is a poem that describes me perfectly:
 
I Meant To Do My Work Today

by Richard LeGallienne

I meant to do my work today,
But a brown bird sang in the apple tree,
And a butterfly flitted across the field,
And all the leaves were calling me.
And the wind went sighing over the land,
Tossing the grasses to and fro,
And a rainbow held out its shining hand,
So what could I do but laugh and go?

so, there you have it. That is me.


But this time I am determined!! I have made a commitment...I've joined someone else's club.
I decided to just go in order off of my bookshelves, which, when I looked at the next few books, was kind of disappointing to me, as the next few in line aren't my favorites. BUT, I have over 200 cookbooks and a good one will come up in the next 6 months or so, I'm sure.

I just realized...... it'll be 9 years before I get thru this challenge. I have that many cookbooks.

We were invited to a 50th birthday celebration on Saturday night, so to kill 2 birds with one stone, I "cooked from the book"....

this book:
Simple Celebrations (a Beta Sigma Phi Cookbook)
and the recipe I chose was:
Raspberry Salsa and Black Bean Dip (submitted to the BSP cookbook by Lisa C. Reader of Bentonville, Arkansas --1999)

It might not have photographed all that well, but it tasted great!
I asked my husband, the Handyman, before we got to the party, to please eat from my dip, so that it looked like an appetizer people liked.
It turned out, he didn't have to. Everyone said it was really good. In fact, someone I didn't even know, pulled me aside and told me that her husband wanted her to get the recipe.

It's always great when a recipe comes together like that. Especially when I'm brave enough to take it to a party without trying it first.

My Conclusions:
The only thing I have about recipes in a cookbooks such as this (church cookbooks, or organization cookbooks) is that they are not as precise on their directions.

It says to use a 9-inch pan. 9 by ???
Yes, I am the kind of person who needs to know EXACTLY... or just wants to know.

I doubled the recipe and used a 9x11 inch pan, so it was kind of thick.
It's kind of like that 7-layer taco dip, only with a sweet tang and it's warm, "out of the oven" warm.
It's really good, but not so good heated up the next day. The cheese gets hard, and it can never really be melted good enough again....I tried tho. I heated it in the microwave and my 2nd helping in the oven. (smile).

Oh...and apparently drinking wine while shooting blog pictures makes for blurry photos. Who knew?

So, here you have it..... my first entry in "Cook From the Book".
You can join us, I'm sure. It's only 2x a month, so not as much pressure as an every week club.


Raspberry Salsa Black Bean Dip
1/2 red onion, minced
1 (16oz) can black beans, drained
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 (14oz ) jar raspberry salsa
8 oz shredded pepper jack cheese

Layer the red onion, black beans, cream cheese, raspberry salsa and pepper jack cheese in a 9-inch baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until bubbly.
Serve warm with tortilla chips.

The dip at the party  (that sounds like I should have some weird drunk guys picture inserted here)

The table at my friend Shelly's house.  That is not a real cat peering over the table... she has a wonderful mural on her wall.