It has been so hot in Oklahoma that the birds have turned the bird bath into a hot tub! 103º on Saturday with a heat index of 111º. Finally, yesterday we got a good storm and things have cooled down some. But I have a feeling, not for long. I’m making lots of cool meals on these hot days.

Have you ever taken one of those tests where the very first question says to go to the last question and the last question tells you to just answer the last question and stop? How many of you actually did what the test told you to do? Or did you just go through the entire test and answer all the questions and THEN get to the last one? And did you feel like the dolt that you were?

Yeah, well. That was me. I was “Miss Answer-All-The-Questions-NOW” dummy – but only the first time. However, it appears that I still have this block about reading directions.

Two weeks ago, it was announced at church that we would have a potluck dinner July 23rd – yesterday. In the bulletin was a list that indicated the first letter of last names, divided into food groups. That way, there would be equal amounts of salads, meats, veggies and desserts.

So, Saturday night, I was trying to figure out what I could make, right then, that would save me from getting up early on Sunday morning. I settled on Cowboy Caviar – my version. Yes. Cowboy Caviar. That’s what we call it here in Oklahoma. No, cowboys don’t lay eggs, but they can’t afford those expensive fish ones either. So there you go. Cowboy Caviar. I had taken a bunch of recipes for Cowboy Caviar and combined and removed and added to come up with my favorite method. I lovingly toiled over my project and proudly displayed the really large bowl of the tasty stuff to Mr. Fix-It. His comment was, “Isn’t that an awfully lot of Cowboy Caviar?” No. No it wasn’t. It was going to a BAPTIST church potluck lunch. Need I say more?

I put the large bowl of ingredients into the frig to marinate overnight and began cleaning up. It was then that the thought crossed my mind that food groups had been assigned. Oh no. Hopefully, W was assigned to salads?? I ran to the computer, pulled up our church website and searched for the list. There is was. W….desserts. Great. And so, I got up at 6 am and threw together my favorite Old Fashioned Chocolate Pie. I grabbed a can of whipped cream, for the pie, and Mr. Fix-It and I transported a hot, chocolate pie – straight out of the oven – with the Cowboy Caviar to church, where I put the pie in the frig to see if I could get it cooled down in time.

Long story short, we came home with an empty pie tin and an empty crystal bowl, all of the pie and Cowboy Caviar having been consumed. And then I took a nap. But I thought that I would share my Cowboy Caviar recipe with you because I bet you’d like to have something easy for a potluck dinner or for a great side on one of these really hot evenings.

Dressing:

Directions:
In a large bowl, toss all of the vegetable ingredients. Set aside

In a medium bowl, add all sauce ingredients and whisk until sugar is mostly dissolved. Pour over vegetables and toss well until all of the vegetables are coated.

Cover bowl of Cowboy Caviar with plastic wrap and refrigerate 12-24 hours before serving.

Serve with tortilla chips.