Annie, LOL well, I wouldn't go that far as everything we ate at the party tonight was delicious! There was a lasagna, shrimp and cocktail sauce, assorted flavors of hummus, tortilla chips, brownies (I didn't have one lol), crab balls, melon balls with prosciutto and something else (I forget-I didn't eat one of those, and some buffalo chicken dip (which was my first time trying it and it was delicious!). There were also assorted beverages (beer and wine for the alcohol, lemonade, iced tea, soda, and water for the non-alcoholic beverages). It was very good. Brad AKA Moonwolf

Thanks Flamey! Ladies, why so much guilt over being invited to a party? I love to go to home based parties.....Southern Living, Premeire Jewelry, Scentsy, Pampered Chef....just to name a few and I never feel obligated to buy something. But the things I have bought, I love. I just got a beautiful turquoise bracelet from Premeire and I absolutely love it. Like Flamey said, I sell Mary Kay but you'd almost never know it. I love the product and couldn't find a consultant that had it on hand so I decided to get into it just so I wouldn't have to wait two weeks to get my cleanser/moisturizer. Turns out, I found out lots of people love the products and order from me. I don't do "parties" as much....they're too much work! LOL I prefer to give samples or if they'd rather, I'll do a one-on-one facial and usually,once they try our line, they love it. They know I'll keep what they use in stock and I can deliver it to them that day. The Pink Truth....yes, I've read that website before. I'm sure if you search, you can find negative articles about anything. Of course there are jaded people all over this world and people who like to stir up hate. I like to live my life by the Golden Rule....treat people the way I'd like to be treated. It seems to work for me. Home based businesses can be a great way to earn extra money and I totally support women who try to do that. It's not easy to get it off the ground and it helps to have the help of friends to get you started but if you absolutely don't want to go, then don't. If they are true friends, they wouldn't end a friendship over you not attending their party. My own mother doesn't use Mary Kay. She prefers to buy Avon from her friend....says her friend, who's a widow, needs the money more. I'm OK with that. I would never want anyone to purchase anything from me out of feeling obligated. In fact, I tell my customers, if they ever buy anything from me and they find they don't love it, then let me know and I'll either refund their money or trade them something that they will love. I want them to be happy. Those of you who hate it when your friends invite you to these parties, would you feel just a little left out if you didn't get invited? Maybe that's why they invite you....so you won't get your feelings hurt. Don't be mad....just let them know that you can't attend. Or explain to them that you don't like these type of parties. A true friend would understand.

I frequently make a dill dip, and I add a bit of lemon juice and garlic to it. I bought a small bunch of dill (for $1.00) at the Hollywood Farmers' Market last Sunday, but I used most of it to make a large batch of tartar sauce, which is similar to your dill dip, but it has pickles in it. It is definitely a good idea to use fresh dill (if possible) instead of dried, as it will have more flavor. I planted some dill seeds last week, and they are just now beginning to come up. Have you tried growing dill yourself? I have a lot of parsley in my yard right now - that is also easy to grow. If you add garlic and lemon to your dip, you can use regular salt instead of seasoned salt. I mash the garlic in a mortar & pestle with a bit of Kosher salt to make a paste, and I substitute this for seasoned salt. If you use dried onions instead of fresh (I use chives because I also have those in my yard), you will probably need to thin the dip a bit, but lemon juice will work for that. You might want to add some freshly ground black pepper also. Using cream cheese instead of mayo will also make the dip too thick, but you can use it if you thin it with milk or lemon juice.

This will be served with some Town House sea salt pita chips. Hopefully, there will also be some sliced party baguette as well. It's thick enough to eat by itself, but it can be put on crackers, chips, even lettuce leaves. The local store we used to get it from doesn't make it anymore at their deli (hasn't for a long time), so I was happy that I got the flavor just right. I enjoyed making this because most of the ingredients were already on hand. All we had to buy was the imitation crab, onion & chive cream cheese, and the pita chips. I will be making it again in the future. Brad AKA Moonwolf