01.11.04 - 11:15 a.m.

In this morning's paper - ta-da! - the recipe for the spinach dip my grandmother always made at Thanksgiving. Every Thanksgiving, lunch was my favorite part, I think. We had veggies and different cheeses and crackers, this huge assortment, ring bologna (a Pennslyvania Dutch thing), and sort of whatever else people could find and put out, and the spinach dip. I love cheese and crackers, but only if I have cut veggies and spinach dip around to liven it up. Since grandma always cut up cucumbers and green onions (my grandfather loved raw green onions, and they make a great little bit in a cheese-cracker-cucumber-spinach dip mini sandwich), the little cracker sandwichs I made had a nice bite.

So, this Thanksgiving I volunteered to make the spinach dip. I found a recipe in a cookbook and made it. My mom said that she thought grandma's spinach dip had red things in it, so we put pimentos in. It was good, but not my grandmother's dip. Now, however, I've found the recipe, among the ads. I know it's the correct recipe because my aunt said that grandma always made it with soup mix, that she got the recipe from the soup mix package.

So, without further ado:

Spinach Dip

1 package (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 container (16 oz.) sour cream
1 cup mayonnaise
1 package Knorr Recipe Classics Vegetable Soup, Dip and Recipe Mix
1 can (8 oz.) water chestnuts, drained and chopped (optional)
3 green onions, chopped (optional)

1. In medium bowl, combine all ingredients. Cover and chill 2 hours to blend flavors.

2. Stir before serving. Serve w/your favorite dippers.

Yogurt Spinach dip: Substitute 1 container lowfat yogurt for sour cream (Ed Note: Gross! Dips are supposed to be fattening. They're for special occasions! Why ruin them?)

Spinach and Cheese dip: Stir in 2 cups (8 oz) shredded Swiss cheese with spinach. (Ed Note: Also gross! Really, really gross. I despise Swiss cheese. That's a completely unnecessary addition.)

So that is my grandmother's spinach dip, and now I can find the recipe whenever I wanna find it. The picture on the add looks exactly like the dip my grandmother made, and it has little red things in it! presumeable from the vegetable soup mix.

Mmm. Yum.