Chip Dip

Christmastime gives me so much 'Mom' material I can barely keep up.  This isn't necessarily just a Christmas recipe, but one my family always had on Christmas Eve.  We call it Pond Family Chip Dip.  Or just Chip Dip, but I guess a more appropriate name would be Onion Dip.  Not French Onion, just Onion Dip.  My mom always made it in mass quantities partly because we always had a crowd, but partly because it was always everyone's favorite.  It's only appropriate that I made it today in her mixer and the photo above shows it in her Chip Dip bowl.  I don't know that this bowl saw any other kind of dip than Chip Dip.

It originated from my Dad's side, as his Mom, our Mimi, as we called her, would make it.  My Dad's Brother carries on the tradition as well, but makes it a bit different than my Mom.  My Uncle's is a bit sweeter and my Mom's is a bit more oniony.

There is of course no real recipe of how my Mom made it and adapted it.  Fortunately the Christmas before my Mom died I happened to wake up early.  My Mom was always the first one up and especially on Christmas Eve there was a lot of action going on in the kitchen.  I think by the time I got up she had already made her potatoes and crust for her quiche and numerous other recipes I have yet to post here.

I remember sitting at the counter by the Kitchen Aid while she was making Chip Dip.  As I sat down with a cup of coffee, she asked me, "Want to learn how to make Chip Dip?"  So I sat and watched and took it all in.  My Mom didn't measure.  As I think I've written here before, she was certainly not a measurer.  There was a lot of squirting from the ketchup bottle, pouring of the Worcestershire and sprinkling of my mom's favorite ingredient, Seasoned Salt.  Then she would just continue to taste it.  She had probably made it hundreds of times, so certainly didn't need a recipe.  Then she would turn on the mixer and just let it whirl.  My Mom used that Kitchen Aid Mixer for everything.  She would whip this dip for probably 15-20 minutes to get in a creamy consistency.  Maybe that's why her first mixer went kaput at some point.  She definitely put it to good use.

It was over a year before I tried it on my own.  There was a lot of tasting involved to figure out how to get it just right.  I had to test the color, the consistency and of course the flavor, but I think I got pretty close.  After getting the approval of my Dad I think it must be as close as any of us will ever get it.  Although I think that my Mom would laugh at this recipe and that it only lists to use three packages of cream cheese, I don't think she ever made it with less than ten since we always had at least 20 people over for Christmas Eve.  Try it for yourself.  Maybe it'll be a Christmas tradition in your family too....

Trish's Tips:  My Mom never took the time to bring the cream cheese to room temperature, but it really does help to keep the lumps out.  Taste as you go and make it your own.  Add more onion or more Worcestershire if you like a sharper flavor and more ketchup if you like it sweeter.

Pond Family Chip Dip

Ingredients:

3 - 8 oz. packages of cream cheese (1 1/2 lbs total)
4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
3 TBL plus 1 tsp Ketchup
1/2 tsp seasoned salt
1/4 cup grated onion with juice (about 1/2 of small onion)
1 TBL milk (optional)

Directions:

Grate Onion on small side of box grater.  It should be just a pulp with no visible chunks of onion.  Put cream cheese in mixer.  Beat until soft.  Turn mixer off, scrape sides of bowl and turn on low.  Slowly add Worcestershire, Ketchup and seasoned salt.  Mix until smooth.  Add milk if needed for smoother consistency.  You may need depending on how juicy your onion is.

Cocktail Nuts

Cocktail nuts always remind me of my mom.  She was a member of a very exclusive Yahtzee Club in my neighborhood growing up where the neighborhood ladies would get together and play Yahtzee once a month to the wee hours.  My siblings and I could never sleep that night and would watch TV in my parents' room to the hoots of the Yahtzee ladies.  They always had a good time.  I always remember as a kid loving the one time a year that my mom hosted because that meant hors d'oeuvres for dinner.  It was my favorite dinner then and is my favorite dinner now.

The Yahtzee rules entailed that each member would only host once a year, but on that day of the year the hostess did everything, all the food, drinks, etc.  I remember my mom deciding what to make and getting it all prepped the day of.   She would set up card tables in the living room and on each table were a bowl of M&M's and a bowl of nuts.  I think she would make sure not to set those tables up too early because the M&M's were quite a draw for us as kids.   As an adult, the nuts are more of a draw for me.

These aren't the cocktail nuts that my mom would have, but I think she would have liked them.  They are a little bit sweet and a little bit spicy.  I brought them to a Christmas Party that I went to this weekend and they were a hit.  I used my favorite nuts: walnuts, pecans and almonds, although I still found myself picking out all the pecans.  Use your favorites.  They would also be a great homemade gift and are pretty simple to make.  Enjoy!

Trish's Tips:  Make sure to really let the nuts glaze and cook for the last part.  If not the sugar won't fully dissolve in the water and evenly coat and you will get more of a grainy texture.  Either way it will still be good, but will clump together more.  I made this mistake once.

Spiced Nuts
Adapted from Emeril Lagasse

Ingredients:
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
4 C unsalted mixed nuts, such as walnuts, almonds and pecans
4 TBL unsalted butter, cut into pieces
6 TBL brown sugar
1 tsp salt

Directions:
Line baking sheet with aluminum foil.  Put aside.  Mix spices and reserve.  Heat the nuts in a dry skillet over medium-high heat and cook, stirring frequently until they begin to toast about 5 minutes.  Add the butter and cook, stirring, until the butter melts and the nuts begin to darken, about 1-2 minutes.  Add the spices, the sugar, 1 TBL water and the salt and cook, stirring, until the sauce thickens and the nuts are glazed about 5 minutes.

Remove the nuts from the heat and transfer to the baking sheet, separating with a fork.  Let the nuts stand until cooled and the sugar has hardened, about 10 minutes.  Store in an airtight container.