Dallas is back!  I’m not referring to the third largest city in Texas.  Nor, am I talking about the world famous Cowboy football team.  No, my excitement is the return of the soapiest of soap operas…the best of ‘80’s television…the show that bought the world together with the question, “Who shot J.R.?”

There are only a handful of television shows that I enjoy watching, but none of them compare to how I followed “Dallas”. As I watched the new pilot introducing another generation of deceit and betrayal, I was engulfed in memories of that time of my life.  My eldest son, Jeffery, was my partner in these escapades.  When the “new” J.R. stated “Blood is thicker than water, but oil is thicker than both” I laughed out loud and texted Jeff that I missed him.

I was working for a local newspaper at the time.  I sold advertising, did my layouts and since this was in the days before computers, the paper was put together the old-fashioned way, cut and paste.  This was a weekly paper that was “put to bed” on Fridays.  Friday evening, that is, we still worked the full day.  My job was to make certain all of my ads were finished, perfect and in place.  I also pasted the classified pages.  I couldn’t leave until all was complete.

I tried to finish before Dallas began, but this didn’t always happen.  On those evenings, I would call home and my children would hold the phone up to the television so I could at least hear what was happening.  My boss hated this, but as I was extremely efficient he really didn’t have much argument, but he did have a plan.

He leased more space and enlarged the office.  The space used for pasting the paper had no telephone outlets.  (Remember, this was before cell phones!)  Not to be bested, I would announce I was taking a break (which was greatly frowned upon) and drove to a dear friend’s home that was very close to the office. Together, Shirley and I watched the saga of the Ewing clan.

As I became more efficient, with better timing, I was able to complete my news duties and slide home just as the show began.  I would run in the house to find my family in front of the television.  My chair was waiting with a glass of iced tea beside it.  The 1980 cliffhanger, “Who Shot J.R.?”, remains one of the most-watched episodes on TV with more than 41 million viewers.  I’m so glad I was one of them.

With thoughts of the Ewing Ranch I remembered a recipe I created for a healthier version of ranch dressing.  Enjoy…

Ranch Dressing

1 cup Greek yogurt

1/2 mayonnaise

2 cups low fat buttermilk

1 garlic clove

2 whole green onions

Fresh herbs including dill, basil, parsley and thyme.

Juice of 1 lemon

Sea salt (to taste)

Freshly ground black pepper (lots!)

Place everything in blender on high until combined

Cooks tips:  A great way to change this dressing is to add other ingredients such as chipotle peppers and adobe or avocado.  The dressing with chipotle and adobe is great on tacos!