Whipping up Pea Dip while waiting for the repairman...

The washing machine repairman was supposed to come between 8am and noon. I'll let you guess when he came. One upside of feeling like a caged animal on the first non-rainy day in what seems like too many, is that I crossed a few things off my to-do list, including making an appetizer for book club tonight. (Holy run on sentence!!)

Most of my mom friend reading this are thinking (with a smile), "ah right 'book club'". Oh, how I love my book clubs (yes, plural)-- a child-free night, a glass or two of something delicious, some smart conversation, and always some lovely nibbles that we pass off as dinner since no one cares if there's a meat and two veggies when we're at book club.

Anyway, the point of this post is not what I whipped up, but in general having a few go-to recipes up your sleeve. If you have some go to's then making an appetizer, or dinner, on the fly is totally doable.

Based upon what I had on hand this morning, I made my (super easy and always crowd-pleasing) pea dip with frozen peas, parmesan, pine nuts and some fresh mint. Pair the bright green dip with pita chips and I'm ready to go. My other go-to appetizer? Those of you who have been reading a while know that it's filling little phyllo shells with something special be it pestos or Feta and figs, to name just two of the many options. I love trying new recipes out, but it's comforting to have a handful of tried and true ones that I can make with my eyes closed.

p.s. As an added bonus for getting the dip made early in the day, my kids enjoyed a fabulous after school snack.