Artichoke Dip

I was clearing my camera card before packing for Chattanooga and forgot I had this picture of Artichoke Dip I made as a little appetizer before dinner when my brother-in-law and sister-in-law had dinner with us. Truth be told, I made it mainly because I know Bonnie, my sister-in-law, loves this dip. My brothers also have a strong fondness for this dip.

To get straight to the point, my brothers would not allow me entry into our mother's home on Thanksgiving or Christmas years past unless I had Artichoke Dip. Now since the holidays meals are at my house, my brothers will call "just to make sure" I haven't forgotten to make Artichoke Dip.

This is very easy to make but for some reason and I don't know why, if the artichokes are cut instead of mashed (i.e., food processor or knife), the taste of the dip changes dramatically for the worse.

Artichoke Dip -

This is best made the night before.

Drain two cans of artichoke hearts in water. They can either be quartered or halved. Using your hands and ONLY your hands mash the artichoke hearts. Your hands will hurt a little as you do this. As you can see by the picture, the dip is meant to be chunky. Let the artichokes drain a bit more.

Place the artichoke hearts in a glass bowl and add 1 packet of Good Seasons Italian Salad Dressing Mix (dry powder), 1 tablespoon garlic powder and 1 cup of mayo. Blend with a regular table fork, cover and refrigerate over night.

Place dip in a bowl surrounded by plain Ritz crackers and enjoy.

Note: This is a chunky dip and Ritz crackers seem to be able to stand up to the pressure better than several other crackers we have tried. You also want a somewhat plain tasting cracker so the taste of the cracker will not compete with the dip. Dip will last in refrigerator covered for one week.