Who? What? I thought I knew. And a bonus recipe for you.

A couple weeks ago I was on a walk and ran into someone I hadn't seen for some time.  I waved and loudly called out "Well hello there how are you?  Haven't seen you in years."  As the distance between us lessened I was faced with the unfortunate reality that not only had I not seen her in years, I'd actually never seen this person.  Ever.  Did not know her.  She just kind of looked at me and kind of awkwardly said "Hi.  Fine." Looked a little frightened as she walked on by.  And I just kind of awkwardly moseyed out of her range of vision.  Man, I really don't enjoy those moments of mistaken identity.  

Of course I've also had the reverse situation where someone calls out to me and upon looking closely at my face they retract their "Hello" with something like, "never mind, you're not who I thought you were."  Accompanied by a frown.  You've probably been in similar situations.  No big deal really, just kind of awkward.  I would advise that you don't ask the person "Who did you think I was?"  The answer can be a blow to your psyche.  In my case they've almost always mistaken me for someone considerably older than me.  Could it just once be someone young and gorgeous?  Never mind.  I'll abandon that dream.

Then there are times when you might find yourself in a restaurant with an exotic type menu where you cannot determine the exact identity of what you are about to consume.  Mistaken identity of this nature can be pretty distressing, too.  In our younger years my beloved husband and I ordered "sweet breads", thinking we would be indulging in a delightful pastry-ish dessert.  Oh my.  Do you know what sweet breads are? Unfortunately we did not.  We took a bite though.  Just one.  Was not sweet, nor was it a pastry of any sort. According to Wikipedia, it's either the thymus gland or pancreas from beef, lamb, or sometimes pork.  Be warned.  Learn from our ignorance. Protect your digestive tract.  Just say no to sweet breads.  

A few years ago we went to a Christmas party at our friends Lori, Tom & Bobbi Jo's.  They really know how to prepare a banquet of delectable food.  And none of it was unidentifiable or exotic, well the pumpkin soup bordered on exotic (and quite delicious).  Anyway, I of course took some of everything.  I piled a large amount of what I thought was a  salad on my plate.  And I later learned it was a dip for chips or crackers.  

No big deal really, I could have eaten two bowls of it and called it salad and been quite happy.  It.  Was.  Fabulous.  Just say yes to anything served at the home of these three folks.  No need to confirm the identity of what you're about to consume at their parties.  

I asked Bobbi Jo for the recipe and she gave me a list of the ingredients and advised to just add or subtract whatever you want.  As you like.  Very delicious. Especially with those "scoop" tortilla chips.  You know, like tiny little salad bowls. To fill up with tiny little salads.  I'm giving you my version of her recipe, as I like it.

 Cucumber Pico/Salsa

   5 medium cucumbers, or 2 of those big seedless cucumbers, peeled & diced 

   1 can original Rotel undrained (or 2 cans if you like)

   1/4 cup vinegar, any kind.  I've used apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar

   1 pkg of dry ranch dressing mix (or 2 packages if you like)

   1 large (pint-size) container of fresh pico de gallo (like from the produce section at Dillons often on the very top shelf out of eyesight)  Or, you can chop up onion, tomatoes, jalapenos and cilantro in the same quantity.  I am lazy.  I buy the pico.  It works well.

   Garlic salt to taste

   Lemon pepper to taste.

Put the cucumbers, Rotel, pico de gallo (or chopped veggies) in a large bowl.  Sprinkle the dry ranch over and add the vinegar.  Stir it all up well then add garlic salt and lemon pepper to taste.  

Simple and delicious.  Nice alternative to traditional tomato salsa.  As a dip.  Or be like me and just go crazy and eat a whole bowl of the stuff.  Mmmmm good. Here's a pic.  (I drained off some of the liquid for this pic).  It's really wonderful with crackers or chips.  Amazing how something as mild tasting as cucumbers can enhance a recipe. And they smell so good when you're dicing them!  

Mmmmm  good.