Meanwhile, back in adult food world, we were watching an episode of Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives and learned of a diner that makes fried Thanksgiving balls - blobs of mashed potato, stuffing, and turkey hunks that are floured and pan fried.
I skipped about a billion pics at this point - we had a pasta roller to roll out the dough, which was KEY. Here is Mrs. Elle stuffing the sauerkraut pierogi. They were tart.
And the ultimate in fair food - the funnel cake - freshly fried, dusted with powdered sugar, burning hot:
Next, the creamy goodness. Sour cream and mayo - I opted for an almost equal split - maybe a cup of mayo to 2/3 c sour cream? Something along those lines. I also tossed in a splash of Worcestershire sauce. That stuff goes with everything, I swear. I also added sea salt and ground black pepper. Mmm.
Mix mix mix and add splashes of buttermilk as you go - I probably added nearly a half cup when all was said and done. It is still SLIGHTLY thick for a salad, but I'm thinking that most of mine will be used as a dip for strips of bell pepper, carrot sticks, and grape tomatoes.
As our friend PW says, you'll want to play with it - taste as you go, etc. Mine took more salt than I'd expected. Once it sat in the fridge for a while, I ended up adding another pinch of salt. And, for my personal tastes, one minced garlic clove was MORE than enough - the dressing was actually spicy just from one. But that's the beauty of homemade salad dressings - they are endlessly customizable to meet your personal tastes!
Additionally, I made a macaroni salad (served with grilled sausages and baked beans).
For said mac salad, I made a dressing of 1 c mayo, 1/4 (ish) c cider vinegar, 1/2 c sugar, 2 1/2 tbsp prepared mustard, salt, and pepper. I diced up about 1 c of ham, 1 bell pepper, 4 green onions, and 4 stalks of celery. I also threw in 3 grated carrots and a large handful of frozen peas. I prepared 1 1/2 pounds of elbow macaroni in salted water, tossed that with the dressing and then added the veggies. I gave it about 3 hours to chill before eating. It was quite tasty - and a good way to get some needed veggies into a husband who refuses to eat green things. If/when I make it again, I'll probably drop the pasta amount by about a 1/4 lb. to maximize the veggie impact. You could also probably add some diced hard-boiled egg to up the protein ante.
And, as you can see, a large wall of tequilas from which to choose your poison. 
A live salsa band and some interesting dancers made for a fun evening!
Has begun with nuts. I don't know what my problem is lately, but I'm addicted to nuts. It doesn't matter if they are gourmet or just plain ol' Planters out of a vacuum-sealed can, but I love them. And to be honest, they aren't the worst snack in the world. Articles all over the place point to the healthy fats and proteins in nuts as a means to lower the risk of heart disease.* Much better than a sack of greasy chips, eh?
I keep hearing all this press about superfruit. And I've been intrigued by the granddaddy of superfruit, the pomegranate, ever since my Irish roommate (the noncrazy one) would eat them frequently when I lived over there. Miss Elle got me one on a recent trip to the sto' and I finally attempted to eat it last night. It is kind of a PIA. You eat the little jeweled pips. Which are tasty, tart, but tasty. They have a little crunchy bit in the middle. It was kind of fun to pop them out, for a while. It's a dieter's dream of a fruit - it would take forever to eat one. Until you dig too deeply and it squirts out at you, making your hand, arm, shirt, whatever look like a crime scene. I would not be opposed to eating it again - but I may just stick to using the juice!
