Nacho Dip 

Salsa, queso, french onion, nacho cheese, and veggie dip. These are all great things to dip your chips in. All reasonable and typical options that most people turn to when they want to add a little something to their normally basic corn chip. Despite While there is a wide variety of dip options that many people enjoy, but one just tops them all. My dip of choice is one that my mom had learned from her mother. 

• 8oz./bar of cream cheese
• one pound of ground hamburger
• 8-16oz. of salsa
• your choice of shredded cheese

~RECIPE~ To understand why I enjoy this dish so much you must first know how it is made. To make this dish you will first need to cover a pie plate with a layer of  8 oz./bar of cream cheese. This will serve as the nacho dip shell or crust. After this you will need to cook a pound of ground hamburger. Once cooked, drain it and mix it with 8-16 oz. of salsa. Fill the pie plate with the hamburger and salsa mixture. Take your choice of shredded cheese and cover the top of the entire dish.Once the cheese is covered over the top put the pie into the oven at 350 degrees at 30 minutes, or until the cheese is melted to the desired consistency. This dish is best served as soon as it is out of the oven with the cheese still bubbling. In our household it doesn’t tend to last very long so leftovers aren’t normally a thing, but you are must likely to keep the dip in the fridge for week to two weeks if kept cold.

I call this dish Nacho Dip but my Nana refers to it as Salsa Pie. My mother told me that my mom says that my Nana got the recipe from one of her bunco, a dice game my grandmother partakes in once a month, buddies that brought it to one of their bunco nights. Once my mom learned how to make it we started serving it a lot at family functions and large gatherings since it is simple to make. We normally make it on New Years Eve, for a super bowl game, or for when we need to bring a dish to an event. Not only does our family enjoy this dish but our friends and mostly anybody who tries this dish. Overall, this dish can be served at a variety of different events and gathers and is suitable for all occasions. 

I like this dish for many reasons. The first being that it is very tasty. Another being that it reminds me of family, my mother expressed similar sentiments,“I think you also liked that we fixed it at family gatherings which you have always enjoyed too.”

My family and I are very sentimental when it comes to the food we eat, especially if it reminds us of family events. If there is a dish we make a lot or have a lot during family gatherings it is because we connect with the dish. For my mom that dish is our families chicken pot pie and our homemade cinnamon rolls. She enjoys this dish because her grandmother taught her how to make it. She says the dish “feels traditional and reminds me of Christmases in my past when all my loved ones were still around.” The nacho dip is not a “traditional” dish but it is still made a lot in the family and for holidays. It may not have as deep a connection as my mom does to chicken pot pie, but it is still meaningful to me. 

We tend to have this dish a lot during events. One event being the Super Bowl we normally have finger foods along with similar game foods including wings, crackers, cheese platters, etc. We also have it for dinner on New Years Eve. We had if for Christmas at my grandmothers this year. We also make it a lot for events that you have to bring a dish too. But we also just have the dish for dinners when we don’t feel like cooking a lot and when we just want to sit around the table to talk and play games. 

Food brings people together. Food brings friends together. Food brings family together. From sweet, savory, treats  like the homemade cinnamon rolls that have been passed down for generations, to the crisp crust and gravy infused chicken pot pie dish that my mother loves so much. Many people have different reasons as to why they enjoy their favorite dish so much. For my family and I we enjoy our dishes because it gives us a sense of home. It reminds us of old family members and family events. I don’t just enjoy the nacho dip because it reminds me of big events, I enjoy it because of the conversations and laughter that happen around the table while eating it. I enjoy the competitive UNO games my parents, siblings, and I play when we are all together. I enjoy the conversations with my parents when we talk about “what I did a school today.” I enjoy the conversations and laughter I share with my sister when we are just joking around. These are all things that happen while eating this dish and those moments are why it makes nacho dip my favorite.