Dive into [a Rabbit Hole]

for a DIP

No skinny dipping here; full fat and the secret ingredient. 

I thought about my upcoming vacation and how much I love snacks, especially chips. 

Potato chips.

I am particularly fond of them with cottage cheese. That combo used to be strange and would have qualified as a weird FU's [Food Unions]. But I find not only are many people eating cottage cheese and chips, but there is also a new cottage cheese resurgence.

If you want to get fancier than plain cottage cheese, I found this recipe. Here’s the link if you are not a purist like me. Kati’s Dip

I'm going to report back on the cottage cheese phenomenon. Plus, I need to find a new personal weird FU.

Daydreaming about chips brought me to dips for chips. I remembered this nostalgic, oddly delicious, very PINK chip dip my mom used to make. At first, I thought it was made of cottage cheese, but after googling and further thought, it was cream cheese. All dips in the '60s were cream cheese based. 

It could have been jello molds that had cottage cheese.

Hmm, another blog post.

I liked to help my mom get ready for her card parties. That's when the dip recipe came out. I wasn't sure I liked it, but I liked potato chips, so I kept dipping, and it grew on me. We also skewered salami and cheese cubes on toothpicks, and there were always bars. 

Envision this; all could be served on just one trendy, rectangle glass plate. It had little glass balls all around the edge. The bottom of the plate was ribbed, and they were THE luncheon, card party, plate. I think every ‘60s hostess had a version. Why? There was a place for everything! The snacks, dessert, your coffee cup, and your cigarette. Yes, built-in ashtrays!

Dip your toe in with me. 

Anchor Hocking started making the Berwick pattern, otherwise known as Boopie. The dishes were a huge hit. There is a similar set by Imperial called the Candlewick pattern; the biggest difference is the glass beads. On Boopie, they are very close together, and Candlewicks are spread apart. 

I have the dishes now and believe mine to be Hazel Atlas Candlewick Circa 1940-1950. The set was called a "snack - sip and smoke" set because of the design- as mentioned, there is a section for your food, a place for your cup, and one section is an ashtray!

Note the ash tray!

So Mad Men, right?!

My kids are not interested in them. They will end up in my shop sooner than later. So should you need a set up vintage plates/ashtrays, do let me know.  

Oh my gosh! I just realized I might have the punch bowl to this set too! I gotta dig that up because that has some value! 

Back to the PINK dip. I recalled it being very oniony. I was also pretty sure French dressing gave it its lovely hue.

Time to google the recipe. 

I found a blog post from Plowing Through Life with a recipe that looks about right. Except I know for sure we had minced whole onion in it. DIVE in here 

Plowing Through Life’s dip is much more attractive than our ’60s version which was a very pale Pepto Bismol pink.

The secret ingredient for the dip was French Dressing.

I'm trying to recall the bottle. It could have been Kraft or Wishbone, and it was certainly an orange dressing, not to be confused with Western or Catalina. 

Don’t confuse it with Casino either!

Ready to descend? 

In the 1896 Boston Cooking School Cookbook (the first and original Fannie Farmer Cookbook), the section on Salad Dressings begins with French Dressing, which calls for simply oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper. 

There is some debate about who actually "invented" the orange stuff; most roads lead to the Milani brand, which started selling its orange dressing around 1920 or so. They were the first to commercially produce it. They called their dressing "1890 French Dressing." A 1947 New York Times article claims, "On the shelves at Gimbels, you'll find 1890 French dressing manufactured by Louis Milani Foods. It is made, the company says, according to a recipe that originated in Paris at that time and was brought to this country after the fall of France. This slightly sweet preparation, which contains a generous amount of tomatoes, costs 29 cents for eight ounces."

I couldn’t find a photo or add for the bottle but there’s always a matchbook out there!

In 1925, Kraft, previously just a cheese company, introduced salad dressing products after purchasing several regional mayonnaise companies, including the Milani Company. In 1931 Kraft was manufacturing French Dressing under their name, and by the 1940s, it had also used the Miracle Whip brand name to create Miracle French Dressing - which had just a "leetle" garlic, [say that with a heavy fake French accent].

just a leetle garlic

By the 1950s, recipes for "French Dressing" doctored up the original vinaigrette with paprika, chili sauce, tomato ketchup, and even tomato soup. The Joy Of Cooking has over three pages of variations on French Dressing.

Let’s get back to DIPS. 

It seems the best dips have a secret ingredient. 

The most simple dip was The California Dip, AKA The French Onion Dip. It was basically sour cream and the secret ingredient Lipton Onion Soup Mix, and with a ruffled chip, it was, and can still be, delightful. 

Here’s the recipe!

Clam Dips were all the rage back in the '60s and '70s. My mother-in Law had a secret ingredient of a green onion powdered mix that she only could find in Florida and had it sent here. That's all I remember, but if anyone should know what this wonder was called, fill me in!

The recipe was cream cheese base with a can of minced clams, and I'm betting the selection of minced clam brands was pretty limited back then, especially in MN. Next, add garlic powder, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper, and that secret green onion mix. 

In the '80s, I was making some dips. My stand-by was Spinach Dip, and this recipe is exactly how I made it. 

The secret ingredient here, you may think, would be the Knorr Swiss soup mix, but honestly, for me, it is definitely the water chestnuts. Do not exclude them! 

And we served it with Fritos. So damn good. 

We also served Fritos with the Hormel Chili and Velveeta Cheese Dip. Yes, I actually made that stuff. And I actually ate that stuff. And reheated it— a couple of times. I may or may not have food poisoned myself and JZ. However, that will remain a secret. 

Then there's the hot artichoke dip. Not only did home cooks make this, but the restaurants started adding it to their menus. Personally, I'm over it. I would not make it or order it. But it wasn't really a chip dip, anyway.

I will probably never eat the Hormel chili dip again either for obvious reasons, not the food poising one. 

I'd love to add more nostalgic dips for a Part II version to this list. Email me all your gems and highlight that secret ingredient.

The chip itself, what's your fave, wavy or not? I generally prefer wavy with a preference for Kettle Crinkle Cut. But extra crispy is more critical. And just because I don't dive into chips all the time anymore, if I'm going to, it's going to be an amazing chip. My go-to now is not wavy, it's a super crispy one from Route 11 Chips. I carry three flavors that rotate, but Mama Zuma's is a mainstay.

Oh Hey! great display piece! Want to read about it? Go HERE!

I have a terrible time resisting the chips if I am sampling them. I will find any excuse to walk by the table. 

Thank goodness I don't have the pink dip near.