The story of how I met Kathleen is one of the best examples of "wow, what a small world it is." You see, I found her then wedding blog on another site that my work had been featured on and every few days would find myself checking in to read how everything was going with planning. Around the same time, I went to watch soccer with my sister and two of her friends- one of which was Emily. Fast forward a few months and while looking through photos of Emily's younger sister's wedding on Facebook I realized that I'd already seen them. On Kathleen's blog. Because they were of Kathleen's wedding. So yea. All that time we were each reading a "strangers" blog, our sisters were actually hanging out in real life. Small world, right? Anyhow. When we found that out we quickly made lunch plans, went to Lavish together, and have kept in touch via emails, twitter, and the blogs all while trying to make real plans again sometime soon. So when it came to having a "blog friend" guest post, I knew I wanted to have Kathleen stop by since if it wasn't for her blog, (and our sisters) we'd never have become real friends to begin with. And if you haven't read her blog yet, go do that now.You'll thank me when her old timey Tuesdays bring back familiar childhood memories!
Hey y’all! I’m honored to be here guest-posting while Courtney is off with her husband exploring the open road. The only instruction she gave me was to write something that had to do with summer, so here goes!
One of the highlights of my summers has always been an extended-family beach trip to the coast of South Carolina. For as long as I can remember—with the exception of a few summers during our college years—we’ve decamped to a place called DeBordieu for a week with my dad’s cousins and their kids, who range in age from a year or two younger than me to a year or two older than my big sister. Sometimes my dad’s folks and his cousins’ parents came too. As much fun as these trips were back in the day, they’ve been even more awesome in recent years since we’ve all graduated to grown-up status and added a few hilarious spouses and adorable babies to the mix. The only drawback is that the bill we run up at the package store is markedly higher than it used to be.
After so many years vacationing together, we’ve developed a few hallowed beach traditions, most of them revolving around food. We aren’t going to the beach this year—the cousin calendars didn’t jive, alas!—since it's August (aka beach time) I’m bringing the beach to my place via this classic family recipe.
The quintessential DeBordieu crowd-pleaser is something we call Beach Nachos, usually served as an appetizer. They could not possibly be simpler, and they could not possibly be more delicious. You will need:
- 1 bag Nacho Cheese Doritos
- 1 hunk jalapeno jack cheese, grated
- 1 small can green chiles
Doritos, really? you might be thinking. Yes, Doritos! Don’t knock it ‘til you’ve tried it. Plus, Beach Nachos carry the seal of approval of Aunt Connie, our family’s resident health nut, so they can’t be all that bad.
I digress. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread the Doritos on a rimmed baking sheet or jelly-roll pan and sprinkle as much grated cheese as you like over the chips, followed by the green chiles. Bake for 7-8 minutes, or until the cheese starts to melt and some of the edges of the chips begin to brown. Remove the nachos from the oven, place the pan on hot pads in the middle of the table, and get the hell out of the way lest your arm get taken off by the hungry masses!
Of course, just as cookies are for the recently health-conscious Cookie Monster, Beach Nachos are a sometime food. That’s part of what makes them so special—and also what makes it okay to ravenously wolf down fake-cheese chips covered in actual cheese a few times every summer.
*all photos via Kathleen