The Book: Big Dip Energy by Alyse Whitney. “99 Parties in a bowl for snacking, dinner, dessert, and beyond!” Y’all know I love a pun, and truly regret that I didn’t come up with this one myself.
Pros:
Very cute and colorful. It’s pun-city in here – she really comes up with some great ones. “In Queso Emergency”. “Cheesy Like Sunday Morning”. She’s really very good. There is a good variety of dips – hearty, healthy, dessert, meaty, vegetarian, etc. She includes a lot of supplemental recipes for crackers, breads, chips etc. with which to dip her dips. I love that she lets you know how far in advance it can be made, and roughly how long it will keep. She has really great pictures of serving suggestions – awesome dishes and set-ups. You can see a lot of work and love in this book.
Cons:
Busy, busy, busy. It’s kind of like one of those Tasty POV cooking videos in book form. Like if books had pop-up ads and comic sans graphics, that’s what it feels like. (The author LOVES fonts. Just loves them. All of them.) It veers from cute to cutesy a bit, which isn’t for me, but I don’t knock it because I’m sure others would enjoy it. Some of the recipes are, like intentionally complicated? I’ll get into that later.
The Recipes:
Caesar Salad Dip:
I was really excited about this one, which featured prominently in her press tour. All the flavors of Caesar salad in dip form. And while it was good, it really was just homemade Caesar dressing with romaine lettuce blended in. It tasted good – like Caesar dressing with a fresh green tang in the background. You can eat it with toasted baguette slices, vegetables, etc. The recipe makes a LOT, like a little too much maybe. You’re basically eating salad dressing – you don’t need to eat a pound of it.
Whipped Peanut Butter Cup Dip:
Desserts aren’t really my jam, but in the interest of giving this book a fair shot I thought I’d try one. All the flavors of peanut butter cups in dip form. I’m starting to see a pattern to her thought process – like when I was trying to pizza-fy everything. This dip was pretty much like a chocolate peanut butter pie recipe, which of course is going to taste good. It was kind of pretty with the layers. Solid recipe, but not a knock-out.
Poutine On The Ritz:
I love the idea of poutine – it has everything I love: French fries, gravy, cheese – but I’ve only ever had good poutine once. It’s not on menus where I live, so when I find it I try it. Recent fails include a poutine burger, and a poutine that was made with TUNA, which they failed to mention on the menu. I got a refund on that. Canned tuna. Yep. Canned tuna gravy.
As a person who rarely reads the instructions before I jump in, I jumped right in. It uses instant mashed potatoes, but is possibly the most complicated instant mashed potato recipe I’ve ever seen. There are usually 2-3 ingredients in instant mashed potatoes: potato flakes, water, and butter. I see no reason for instant mashed potatoes to require 3 ½ cups of chicken stock or milk. Then there’s a basic chicken gravy recipe that is bland and sad. After assembly I realize I’ve made runny instant mashed potatoes and bland gravy. It looks like it came from KFC, but isn’t as flavorful. It wasn’t even worth the effort of trying her fried cheese curd recipe to dip into this dismal, unattractive mess. This isn’t a dip. It’s a solution in search of a problem.
Verdict: Trash
Ugh. I hate to say this, especially since I paid full price for a new hardcover, but while I appreciate the love that went into this book – and I really do respect the writer here – I don’t find the recipes worth it. It’s just not for me, but I’m sure I’ll find a good home for it.
illdothedisheslater 