Thursday, January 05, 2006

Pssst... wanna know a secret?

Here it is: potato chips and onion dip. Preferably the kind you make yourself with sour cream and onion soup mix.

This is THE KEY to a successful party. What? You think I'm crazy? Try it yourself. Over the past year I have been conducting a quiet experiment and the results are incontrovertible. No matter how much they claim to be foodies, people love chips and dip. At the past two parties I have hosted, people have huddled around the bowls with the chip and dip as if it were manna from heaven. You needed dynamite to get in amongst them. These are adult people. People who advocate low-fat diets, exercise, and send their kids to school with carrot sticks and yogurt in their lunches.

Lest you think I'm a lousy host or a bad cook, both parties featured a wide array of edibles, healthy and not, highbrow and low, sweet and savory. But it's the chips and dip that get them, every time.

posted by Jen at 10:34 AM

19 Comments:

  • That is very true. Also, the key to a good veggie tray is doing the sour cream (not that stupid low fat kind) and ranch mix.

    By Blogger Brooke, at 11:57 AM  

  • You've got my number. Chips and dip is my weakness. I'll come to any party you host ;)

    By Blogger Jennifer, at 1:04 PM  

  • And you've got mine, Jennifer. :) The real reason I put them out at every party is so *I* can have some. I can't have them in the house or I will vacuum them right up (and too much makes me very sick) so I throw a party every now and then!

    By Blogger Jen, at 1:09 PM  

  • I'm on my way!

    By Blogger Estelle, at 2:45 PM  

  • I love that chip and dip, too ... we call it "Thunder Dip" in my family because of the ... er ... stimulating effects it has on some of our gastrointestinal systems.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2:53 PM  

  • Sometimes, I wish I could get into chips. It would be so convenient. Really. I'm the only person (woman) I know who doesn't like both chips or chocolate. Maybe that'll become my pregnancy craving food. That would be groovy.

    By Blogger J, at 3:22 PM  

  • Is this on the menu for your shower? {drool}

    By Blogger Display, at 3:35 PM  

  • Em - Yes. It was my only food request. :)

    By Blogger Jen, at 3:37 PM  

  • Yeah, that's good eats.

    By Blogger lagiulia, at 4:45 PM  

  • oh yeah, baby! The holidays dont count as far as diets go, so all I can say is: BRING.IT.ON!

    :)

    By Blogger Shelli, at 4:46 PM  

  • Recipe, please!

    By Blogger deanna, at 6:06 PM  

  • Kickass!

    By Blogger Display, at 6:49 PM  

  • I think I would honestly be a happy person if this was the only food in the world (And HD of course). I love it so. I guess that was pretty predictable. Seeing as how we are awfully much the same.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 7:06 PM  

  • Deanna - calling it a recipe is a stretch, but here ya go:
    1 16-oz. container sour cream
    1 packet onion soup mix (you can use L1pton's but you don't have to - I use store brand)

    Stir together and let sit in the refrigerator at least 1 hour before serving. Serve with RUFFLED* potato chips. This part is very important. :)

    YUM, YUM, YUM!

    FYI, Ruffles has recently come out with "natural" chips with reduced fat and sea salt. Normally I don't advocate fake foods but these are actually really good. They don't have anything artificial in them, just less bad stuff and remarkably, it works.

    *Unruffled ones can't handle the dip.

    By Blogger Jen, at 8:16 PM  

  • My mother has been making dip that way for years and no matter who is on what diet it always gets eaten! Your post made me laugh and think of home thank you. I am a new reader and enjoy reading about you and your partner's journey in pregnancy.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8:49 PM  

  • They are the key! Did you notice at our house warming that the first things gone were the generic cheetos and grape soda?!?! I make all sorts of fancy stuff and the first thing gone is the junk.

    Hey - email me and let us know what yer up to this weekend.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 10:11 PM  

  • Yeah, Jenny, and I was SO happy you had Bug1es! Yum, yum! :)

    Instamom, good lord, if anyone deserves some entertaining shortcuts, it's you! Definitely serve chips and dip at your next party and smile!

    Paige, welcome and glad to bring up a good memory.

    By Blogger Jen, at 7:20 AM  

  • anti-ruffled chips ---->

    Plain ol' Lay's are my first choice. I will, of course, eat ruffled chips when offered onion dip with them, but I don't know if I've ever bought them for myself.

    By Blogger Display, at 11:31 AM  

  • Me to un-ruffled chips: "You can't HANDLE the dip!"

    And it's true. They crumble and then you have gross, soggy chip remnants in the dip.

    I prefer ruffled chips in general, too, but that's form, not function. The dip issue is all about function.

    By Blogger Jen, at 12:15 PM  

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