Fancy French Fries

Well, I lied.  It's not so much that the French fries are fancy, but the way they are presented.  You know, there are whole books written about how to present food attractively and I live by the motto "it's all about the presentation."

Southern Living had this idea featured under "Appetizers", but we served them as part of the dinner, because French fries go much better with BBQ ribs and chicken than they would as an appetizer.  The French fries are called Salt-and-Pepper Oven Fries but they really they are Ore Ida "fast food" fries sprinkled with pepper and Kosher salt and served with a Lemon-Garlic Mayo dipping sauce.

Ingredients for the sauce
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup mayo
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Combine minced garlic and lemon juice in a bowl.  Let stand for 5 minutes.  Add the mayo and parsley.  Stir well.  Add salt and pepper.

I served the French fries and dipping sauce in some small ice cream sundae bowls.  They were the perfect size!

St. Patrick's Day is on Wednesday and if you don't have much time to prepare something extravagant, here's an easy dessert.  It's not green, but if you love chocolate and mint, you'll love this.

You need one package of brownie mix, a cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips, and peppermint extract.  Prepare the brownie mix as directed.  At the end, mix in one teaspoon of peppermint extract and the chocolate chips.  Bake in a 9x13 or 7x11 pan and serve!  The subtle mint flavor is so good you'll never want to make normal brownies again!