Dip it - dip it good

At work, I am becoming somewhat famous for my dip recipes. Once a month, we have "birthday day," when everyone in the department brings in food to celebrate whomever's birthday falls that month. (Luckily, every month has at least one birthday in it.) Then we just eat all day and compare recipes. It's excellent for morale. :)

Anyway, I'm becoming known for dips because usually about all I can muster the night before birthday day is stirring. I would love to bake or make something more complicated for my lovely coworkers, but this is life. So pretty much every month, I bring dip. Sometimes I really take the shortcut and just throw a mix in some sour cream and call it a day. But occasionally I put in a little extra effort.

That said, here are my three favorite birthday day dip recipes. The first one on the list is one I just tried for the first time today, and it was super good.

Garlic Onion Dip
Adapted from Simple & Delicious magazine (I think!)
2-8 oz. pkgs. cream cheese, softened
3 green onions, green parts only, chopped
2 strips cooked and crumbled turkey bacon
3 tbsp. apricot preserves
1 tsp. minced garlic
Dash of pepper

Really good on whole wheat crackers.

Spicy Avocado Dip
From kraftfoods.com; EVERYONE loves this one, and it makes a lot
2 medium avocados, mashed
16 0z. sour cream
1/4 cup chopped green onions (about 4-5 onions)
1 envelope ranch dressing mix
1 tbsp. lime juice (I just squeeze half a lime without trying very hard)
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

This is good on everything - veggies, Wheat Thins, other crackers...but it's the best on blue corn chips.

Salsa Onion Cheese Dip
I think I made this one up.
16 oz. sour cream
1 envelope onion soup mix
About 1/2 cup salsa
About 1/4 cup shredded cheddar jack cheese

The best on Fritos Scoops...but works on other chips and veggies, too.

I would rather eat chips and dip than cake. I know that's weird, but I can back this up - because there's always cake on birthday day, and I hardly ever eat it because I'm full of chips and dip.