BRADY'S PEPPER CHEESE DIP

Brady and I took imaginary trips to exotic locales, and described to each other what we saw and ate and wore. We imagined background music and artistic edits, as if we were constantly watching a movie of our life together that wasn't really our life. In our literal, real-time life, we barely left the two-mile radius around my apartment. We called it the Bermuda Triangle, and it amused us to be so in love that we lost touch with the outside world. Or it amused us to think we were so in love with each other that little else mattered. When our relationship was tested -- I worked long hours tearing the perforated edges off standardized tests and his ex-girlfriend (with whom he was still incredibly smitten) moved into the Bermuda Triangle -- he realized that he had essentially wasted a lot of time taking the said imaginary trips. But no time spent with another person is ever wasted (if I believed that it was I'd have to shoot myself), and in many ways the trip we took to Paris was better than my actual trip to Paris two years later. Walking with Brady along the Seine with imaginary rain falling and ABBA's "Our Last Summer" in my head is still one of my favorite boy memories. Sad, but true.

Brady's mother gave him this pepper cheese dip recipe, which we ate with nearly everything. When you make it you'll immediately understand -- I'm serious.

1 (10-ounce) package Monterey Jack cheese

1 (10-ounce) package Monterey Jack cheese with jalapenos 1 can chopped green chiles 
1 2/3 cups Hellman's or Best Foods mayonnaise

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Chop or grate the cheeses and stir in the chiles and mayonnaise. Spoon into a casserole and bake for 45 minutes. Serve with tortilla chips or anything else that's languishing in your cupboard.