What I can say about this amazingly nostalgic dip other than it’s two ingredients and it’s really good! My grandma used to make this for every family vacation we’d take. Three a year to be exact. I feel like a lot of my grandma’s recipe skills were so brilliant because they were all money-conscious. We didn’t grow up poor, but she comes from a different time. Whether it’s Fettucine Aglio e Olio (I Oy) or Tuna Mac (Linguini in a Tuna Tomato Sauce), she grew up with some of the simplest recipes that cost so little. This recipe represents growing up in a different era and that you don’t need much to make a great dip. Some of these cheese spreads can cost upwards of $10! My Gram knew to stick to what tasted good and bulk it up to serve a family with cream cheese. You’re saving big bucks here! My grandma would always use Merkt’s cheddar cheese spread, A local Wisconsin company that distributed to all of the Chicagoland area grocery stores. You just let the cheese spread and cream cheese get to room temperature and blend it! Bada bing bada boom, DIP! I like to add some chives for that onion flavor, but it’s up to you how you like it. Let it cool to get firm again, then eat up with all the celery sticks or mini pretzels.

It’s hard to make a two-ingredient recipe work as well as this one. The cream cheese helps to tone down the saltiness from the pub cheese spread while keeping the consistency more creamy, fluffy, and most importantly, LESS SALTY! Have you ever had those spreadable cheeses on their own? So salty! How bad can it be to bulk up your cheese spread and take in less salt? These older people know what’s up.

Foods like these are a part of growing up in my family. For all the family get-togethers, birthdays, holidays, vacations. Dips and appetizers ruled. My grandma and I would always say “We’re snacky people” as we grazed at the dining room table. She’d get the biggest kick out of saying that because it annoyed her kids and it was an excuse for her to not sit with us at the dining room table during family dinners.

My grandma was such a provider and loved to serve her family. She was so grateful for us and would never let us forget. As my grandma cooked less and less in her old age, this dip always stayed with her. It’s like a tradition in my family to adopt one dip and that’s the dip you make FOREVER! We’re snacky people, what can we say? I hope you adopt this dip into your family and who knows, maybe this one can you be your dip too!