I love cooking for people. I think it’s one of the things I like most to do. Unfortunately, i haven’t done a lot of it in the past few years. My last apartment was far away from everyone and my current apartment does not lend itself well to entertaining. But! Fun fact. If we’re friends and I find out your birthday is some sort of weird “national day of something” I will take full advantage. January 29th is a friend’s birthday and also National Corn Chip day. I knew she wouldn’t be in on her birthday (we work together) so I was trying to decide how to celebrate. I was thinking about just sending some flowers with a “Happy Corn Chip Day” message. Lame. Then I tried to think if someone would deliver chips. How do you even google that? And then I thought about a little more and a plan started forming. To start I knew I needed the right chips. Anna’s Taqueria has some of the best chips in the city of Boston and there’s an Anna’s right in my neighborhood. Done. Also done? The taco I bought while I was there. Mmmmmm. Tacooooo.

Then: the dips. I have a guac recipe I love from my cuisinart food processor manual. And then I needed some more dips/salsas. And that’s where google stepped in. I settled on a salsa from the pioneer woman (because that blog is fantastic), a tomatillo salsa because I wanted to cook with tomatillos (a first!), and a white bean dip with bacon because bacon. Armed with my recipes I went shopping and then I proceeded to organize, destroy, and reorganize my kitchen. All while watching the Newsroom season 1 for a third time on my phone gripped to a cabinet handle. And of course I took pictures of the process.

The ingredients. I will note I came home with tomato puree and not whole tomatoes and no green onions so I had to go back out. Also the red onion and paste were actually for a recipe I had decided not to use but forgot to update my shopping list

I forgot the picture of everything washed. I’m sad now. That looked nice.

Cutting and chopping is so soothing. I forgot to take the picture before I put the tomatillos, onion, and jalapeno in the oven so that’s what was in the big empty space. Also, the chip bag turned into “trash” and was super helpful to have that so close

Roasting vegetables!

I was cruising along and then looked up and realized I had officially exploded all over the kitchen

Guac was done, and tester chips to make sure everything was good

I cleaned that food processor 4! times. This was the main working area and when I moved all the bowls etc. to clean I found drips and drops everywhere.

Roasted vegetables cooling and beans cooked in the bacon fat after the garlic was added. The recipe was right. Garlic cooking in bacon fat smells amaaaaaaazing. See also, my hands still smell like garlic nearly 24 hours later despite using my little stainless steel garlic-smell remove tool

This salsa was so easy and is so tasty and it makes about 100 gallons. Also. I forgot the garlic! Sads

4 bags of chips, 4 dips.

Wrapped up all pretty. Each tag has a partying corn chip. Because – have you met me? Of course it had a partying corn chip on it.

So there you have it. Happy National Corn Chip Day!! As I said in the not-birthday card “go find someone with a sombrero and some margaritas and have a party”. I’ll just be over here with the guac that wouldn’t “fit” in the jar. What. I had to fit in the pit. And some air…

Hearts and corn chips!

Recipes:

Guac (see page 14)

Salsa

Tomatillo Salsa

White Bean