Flavor of the Week {Homemade Ranch Dressing}

Last week I made soda bread for St. Paddy's day which required 1 cup of buttermilk.  Of course you can't buy just 1 cup of buttermilk, no, I had to purchase a whole 1/2 gallon!  (I do know about the trick of adding vinegar to regular milk as a substitute but a friend who claims to be able to tell the difference was coming for dinner, so I didn't want to cheat)  So I've been trying to figure out what do you do with the other 7 cups of buttermilk I have left over and when I saw a recipe for homemade buttermilk ranch in Pioneer Woman's cookbook (which I FINALLY got in the mail yesterday!) I had to try it!  Now I'm not normally a big fan or ranch (I prefer honey French or Caesar) but this homemade version is so yummy and I will never buy another bottle from the grocery store again!  Except for the fresh herbs, I usually keep all of the other ingredients on hand, and since I'm starting my own herb garden and will always have these herbs on hand, it's something that I can easily whip up if the husband tells me at the last minute we're having company!

In case you're wondering what I'm going to do with the rest of the buttermilk, I plan on making some buttermilk biscuits and buttermilk pancakes until this 1/2 gallon is gone!  If they turn out as well as this did, I'll share them with you!

Homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dressing
Ingredients:
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 cup real mayo (I hate real mayo, but the hubby likes it, so I keep it around.  I couldn't tell it was real mayo in this recipe!)
1/2 cup sour cream (another ingredient I'm not a fan of, but again I couldn't even tell it was in there with all the  fresh herbs!)
1/3 cup buttermilk (at the end you can add more if you want it to be less thick)
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 TBSP chopped fresh chives
2 TBSP chopped fresh dill
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
dash of hot sauce (optional. I am a weakling and don't like things spicy so I omitted this)

Step 1:
Sprinkle the salt over the chopped garlic like so

and mash it with a fork until a paste forms

Step 2: 

Add the paste and the remaining ingredients to a bowl

and mix together

Step 3:

Pour over your favorite salad

This also makes a great veggie dip and would probably be great on a baked potato!  What's your favorite thing to eat with ranch dressing?

***EDIT***

After letting this marinade over night, I would change 2 things, less dill and less cayenne.  It's a bit too spicy for me (although the hubby loves it) and the dill flavor is just a bit more than I like!