Best and Easiest Feta Cheese Dip: Everythings Betta with Feta!... assuming you like Feta cheese, that is... ~Leigh

I found a pin on Pinterest that was titled, "Feta Dip" with "Everyone begs for the recipe" in the descriptor section. Everyone has different tastes, and Feta (like cilantro) is polarizing. I, personally, really like it and am always looking for a super easy something to whip up to take to knitting night, or any gathering. It doesn't get much easier than this, folks... especially if you have a food processor. The pin took me to a site called Sweet Paul Blog. You literally just dump all the ingredients into a blender or food processor and adjust to taste.



Through 'em all in and go!

From Sweet Paul Blog:
Lemon and feta dip
Serves 4
8oz feta cheese, crumbled
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 clove garlic, chopped
6 tablespoons olive oil+ extra for serving
fresh thyme

Place feta, lemon zest and juice, garlic and olive oil in a blender and blend until smooth.
Spoon into a bowl and drizzle with a little olive oil and sprinkle with thyme.
Serve with grilled tomatoes and grilled pita bread drizzled with olive oil, salt and thyme.

We have a policy in our house to pretty much double the garlic in any recipe and I used a little bit extra olive oil than the recipe calls for... so, again... this can be modified to suit YOUR tastes. I also didn't have any fresh thyme, though I bet that would be wonderful. I also didnt serve with grilled tomatoes... but I did serve it with pita chips. It was a super hit. And, yes... people asked for my recipe.

One quick note though... make sure to remove any lemon seeds that may have made their way in there during the squeezing process. I'm sure thats a no-brainer, but I'm just throwing that out there. If you have even a passing fondness for Feta, you should definetely check this out!

Thanks for reading!~ Leigh

Can Pam Cooking Spray Help Dry Your Nails Quicker?

      
I’ve seen the tip on Pinterest several times now about spraying wet, polished nails with Pam cooking spray. Along with this, I’ve also seen the tip about placing your nails in cold water to aid in the drying process.

I am a nail biter and it is a habit I am forever trying to break. If my nails are painted, I am more likely to not bite them. I’ll go months without biting them and then a switch will flip and then that’s it- nail biter, again.

Well, the holidays are over and I actually have some down time and thought now would be the perfect time to get back on the no-bite train, paint my nails, and try out the above mentioned tip. The pin I used took me to an article on elle.com with all kinds of helpful hints- actually, the remainder of the article was probably more interesting than the ’spraying your hands with cooking lubricant’ bit.

As previously mentioned, when I’m in my “no-bitey” phase my fingernails are pretty much painted all the time. Which means I’ve done a lot of nails in my time.If you are wondering, my “process” starts with the whole cuticle soaking/trimming/pushing rigamarole then into Sally Hansen Hard As Nails as a base coat. Next comes several coats of whatever color- with a minute or so between coats- and then I apply a top coat. For my money, Seche Vite dry Fast Top Coat is the best I’ve found. Obviously, I have my own system that works best for me. But a promise of even FASTER dry nails was tempting.

The instructions, I guess, COULD have been more clear than “spray with Pam.” Who knew? So, I put my regular top coat on, not knowing whether the Pam replaces that step. And then I sprayed my nails with Pam and immediately realized… oh crap… I now have cooking lubricant all over my fingers. There were no suggestions as to how long to keep it on, or when to wash it off. I left it on for about two minutes… then gently washed it off with soap and water. I used my thumb as a test nail, so as not to ruin the ENTIRE manicure if things went south.



Tectonic Shift!

I don't know if you can see, but the entire top layer shifted like a techtonic plate. Glad I only tested it on my thumb. I was able to slide it back and kind of finesse it into normalcy, but I wasn't blown away by Pam's effectiveness. Plus, did I mention that you have to cover your fingers with Pam?

I waited a little longer for the rest of my nails and they dried fine... but, I think the only real "trick" to getting nails to dry is TIME and not touching them- the longer the better. No earth shattering reveal here... but at least I may prevent one person out there from getting Pam all over their kitchen faucet. So, did it work? The answer is a solid YES(?).



Final Result? Shiny... but from Color or Cooking Spray?

Anyone out there got any tips on not biting their nails? I'll test the cold water submersion theory next and let yall know how that works! Science!