Photo by Christopher Gardner
Pre-heat oven to 375°.
Use a large oven-safe casserole dish. Layer artichoke hearts over bottom of dish, topped with spinach. In a separate bowl, blend cream cheese, mayonnaise and butter until fluffy. Stir in milk, and pour mixture over spinach and artichokes. Sprinkle with pepper and cheese.
Bake 40 minutes. Let cool before slicing.
Upon serving, discover the long, coiled carcass of an earthworm nestled among the spinach leaves. Shriek like a Valley girl. Jump around the kitchen shaking your hands violently in a vain attempt to rid yourself of cooked worm cooties.
Sit down and write Safeway a polite yet pointed letter. Carefully cut out, and enclose, the manufacturer's bar codes from the spinach packages in question. Note also the phrase on the packaging that reads, "SATISFACTION GUARANTEED." Be very clear about the fact that the earthworm does not satisfy your expectations for clean, high-quality frozen produce. Eventually, you may expect to receive a couple of coupons in the mail.
Eat the casserole anyway. Serves 4.
The Frisco Kid is generally to be found all likkered up and spoiling for a fight. She's a sexy Wild West gunslinger in the great tradition of Annie Oakley and Calamity Jane, only a little less with the sharpshooting and a little more with the booze-fueled marathons of Star Trek and sodomy.