Oh am I excited about this. But I’ll start first with a stellar recipe for homemade ranch dressing mix that I found a long time ago on a great site, Family Fresh Meals (www.familyfreshmeals.com). Then we’ll move on to some terrific creativity starring ranch dressing mix:

BEST HOMEMADE RANCH DRESSING MIX

1/2 cup dried buttermilk

2 tablespoons dried parsley

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon dried chopped onion

2 teaspoons dried chives

2 teaspoons dried dill weed

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons pepper

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and mix until well combined. You can store in an airtight container for up to 9 months. To make ranch dressing, use 2 tablespoons of mix to 1 cup of mayonnaise (or a combination of mayonnaise, plain yogurt, and/or sour cream). Then thin this mixture with milk (approximately 1/3 to ½ cup, depending on the consistency you want). Refrigerate for at least 1 hour to allow the flavors to meld.

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With the best ranch dressing recipe established, let’s now look at some of the many things you can do with this mix besides whip up delicious dressing to top a salad.

For starters, sprinkle it over freshly popped, well-buttered popcorn.

Make ranch oven fries. There’s no true recipe for this because it’s not rocket science. Just slice fresh potatoes in strips (with or without the peel); coat them in lots of olive oil. (To easily do this, place spuds in a plastic bag; pour in a generous amount of olive oil, close the bag and shake well until all the potatoes are completely coated.) Spread potatoes evenly over a large parchment-lined baking sheet and sprinkle them with the ranch dressing mix. Bake in an oven preheated to 425°F for 20 minutes.

Make slow cooker ranch pork chops. It doesn’t get better or easier. You need 6, ½-inch thick pork chops, 2 tablespoons of ranch dressing mix, and 1 (10 ounce) can of condensed cream of chicken soup. Place chops in bottom of cooker; spread undiluted soup mix over chops; sprinkle ranch dressing mix over it all. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6 hours. Serve them atop mashed potatoes.

Add 1 tablespoon of ranch dressing mix to a couple cans of black beans. Add a can of drained corn. Heat through and garnish with salsa, diced avocado, a sprinkling of sliced black olives, a jar of pimiento, chopped cilantro, taco strips, and a dollop of sour cream. Voila, now you have a creative take on taco soup. But it’s not really a soup. It’s more like a south of the border stew. You can also add in cooked ground beef. This is healthy, fast, and yummy.

Lastly, how about using this mix in creating an incredibly tasty loaf of bread? There are just some flavors designed to go together. And three of those are cheddar, bacon, and ranch. Toss them into this recipe for an amazing pull-apart bread and you’re minutes away from a splendidly delicious side dish.

RANCH, CHEDDAR, BACON PULL-A-PART BREAD (courtesy of www.copykat.com)

1 (1 pound loaf) sourdough bread

1/2 cup melted butter

1 tablespoon dry ranch salad dressing mix

6 ounces cheddar cheese sliced thin

4 ounces of bacon

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place bacon on a foil lined cookie sheet, and bake bacon for 8 to 10 minutes. Reset the temperature of the oven to 350 degrees. The bacon will be undercooked. Once bacon cools slightly slice bacon into small pieces. In a small pot melt 1/2 cup of butter, and add 1 tablespoon dry ranch dressing mix, stir to combine well. Slice bread diagonally in about 1-inch slices, but do not slice into bread completely, leave a good one inch that is not sliced completely through. Rotate bread 90 degrees and slice again, in 1-inch slices. Push cheese slices into sliced bread. Place bacon slices into sliced bread. Drizzle butter and Ranch dressing mix mixture over the bread. Wrap the bread in foil, and bake for about 10-15 minutes at 350 degrees, and then unwrap the top of the bread and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes.

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I’ll close with just 1 question: How do you use dry ranch dressing mix? We’ve got amazing cooks in the Cook’n family, so let’s hear from you!