"Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity."

Voltaire

"One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating."

Luciano Pavarotti

"It's so beautifully arranged on the plate - you know someone's fingers have been all over it."

Julia Childs

• Hot chilies have oil in them, even dried ones, which means that it’s easy to rub off on your fingers. Wear plastic gloves if you have even the slightest cut or nick on your hands. Don’t wipe your eyes. And if you grind them in a processor, wait until the motion inside the bowl has completely stopped to avoid getting microscopic bits in the air and, consequently, in your face.
• Steam is hotter than water, which means it cooks things faster (very fast, pay attention). It also retains flavor, color and nutrition better than boiling.
• Dried food has more concentrated flavor than fresh. So dried fruit, vegetables and herbs can be used in less quantity than fresh. And use less, also, if you think the finished product is going to be around for a while. Some flavors tend to take over with age.

I cut up broccoli, zucchini, portabella mushrooms, yellow squash, various kinds of peppers (different colors), some small cubes of marinated and baked tofu, cherry tomatoes and bread cubes. I got the bread cubes by scooping out a large round loaf of good country style bread. I filled the hollow with a good supply of dip (in this case, a mixture of sour cream, wasabi horseradish, mustard, honey, etc.) And it was a great hit.

Alas, as usual, I made too much. What to do with the leftovers? I prepped it for multiple uses by breaking down all the ingredients separately. I froze the bread cubes (bread pudding anyone?), threw the tofu in a stir fry the next night, removed the dip from the bread, and separated the tomatoes from the other veggies.

The tomatoes went into a couple of salad servings, the bread now laced with the dip was great for a couple of unusual sandwiches, some of the veggies went into that stir fry with the leftover tofu, and the other veggies got eaten in two ways: the first just as they had been at the party—dip and eat; the second was to dice and stir fry the remaining veggies and combine them with the remaining dip to which I had added 3 whole eggs, all of which in turn was poured into a pie shell and baked into an unusual quiche. There were four individual meals and a quiche that served four out of otherwise very perishable leftovers.