BARBARA ANN'S INCOMPARABLE OLIVE CHIP DIP

Prep Time: 15 minutes Yield: 1 ½ to 2 cups
Serves 8-16 at a party (Serves one if I'm present)

To my mind, this is the best chip dip going. I've never tasted anything store bought or restaurant made that is half as good (or addictive). With the creamy white of the cheese and the red and green from the olives it's very festive as well! This is a long-time family favorite and I always beg my big sister Barb to make it for the holidays.

Tastes better when made the night before; it gives the dip time to get happy with itself in your refrigerator. Save yourself some disappointment and please double the recipe if you’re inviting me to the party, or no one else will get any! Grin

1 10 oz. jar of green stuffed (Spanish) olives, reserving half of the juice from the jar
1 ½ Pkgs. of cream cheese (12 oz.), softened
2 tsp. onion powder*
½ tsp. black pepper
½ tsp. garlic powder*
½ tsp. ground celery seed*
Milk or half & half as needed

Prep and Cooking Instructions

With the knife blade of your food processor, pulse olives and juice from jar until you have little bits of olive, but not until it becomes a paste. Change the blade to the mixer blade, add the cream cheese, onion and spices. Process again until completely combined and smooth, adding milk slowly (one tsp. at a time) as needed until dip is creamy and yields easily to your chips (this is the testing phase and I encourage lots of tests!).
Refrigerate until ready to serve. The longer it you leave it alone, the better it tastes. Serve with chips, crackers or veggies. Fritos® Corn Chips are wonderful with this dip (and may have been the original source of the recipe for all I know); it’s a match made in heaven!
My sister created this recipe in the sixties, so you can do it up retro style and serve this in a vintage chip bowl with the little glass dip tray that hangs off the side in a little metal hanger…I’ll feel right at home!

*My sister uses garlic salt, onion salt & celery salt, and that’s too much salt for my taste, so I use the powdered herbs. For variety, you can also use 1 small diced garlic clove and 1 tbsp. of minced fresh onion instead of the powders, but they will give a much different (not bad, though) flavor to the dip.

FINAL NOTE: THIS IS JUNK FOOD! That means it’s not supposed to be ‘healthy’; reduced-fat cream cheese and skim milk will not give good results in this recipe.