Chili can be a surprisingly controversial topic. Depending on where a person is from (lookin' at you, Texas), a person may declare strong feelings one way or another for chili that contains beans, no beans, meat, no meat, or even pasta (WTF, Cincinnati?). Even leaving these regional differences aside, most people have a version of chili that they like best, whether it's a cherished family recipe or just something they dreamed up one day in a moment of experimentation (hello, me).

Guys, to shamelessly misquote the Wu-Tang Clan….Cheese Rules Everything Around Me. That’s especially true during Super Bowl season, as I’m not the world’s most crazed football fan, but I am a big fan of game day snacks. What really gets me to the table (or to the bar) every time is hot, cheesy, velvety smooth queso dip.

Our time is coming, mamas. Mother’s Day is around the corner.

This is my third official Mother’s Day as a mom (not counting the one where I was newly pregnant and feeling all fluttery-excited over the idea that I was about to become a mom, with no real clue as to what it would be like), so I can tell you a few things about it.

When I was little, Easter used to mean baskets full of artificially dyed eggs, iridescent plastic shreds of grass, jelly beans and the kind of cheap, waxy chocolate that thrills a kid’s heart before they know what the really good stuff tastes like. I loved them, but it’s been decades since I had an Easter basket like this, and to be honest I hadn’t even really notice that this family tradition had slipped away.

Until, that is, I became a mom.