Walking through the cracker aisle for saltines, I decided to pick up a couple boxes of snack crackers. I have my favorites and I usually know exactly what I’m going to use for a spread or dip. I mean, you can’t eat a cracker without a spread or something to dip it in. Can you?

I never met a cheese I didn’t like. So today, Foodie presents three dips and spreads with cheese. Their flavors range from zesty to rather mild.

Creamy Horseradish Dip

• Half pound Velveeta cheese spread, cubed
• One third cup horseradish sauce or 2 T. horseradish
• 1 fourth c. milk
• Microwave ingredients in a one-quart microwave safe bowl on high at 2-minute intervals, stirring each time, until cheese is entirely melted or until you can stir them into a creamy mixture.
• Makes about 1 and 1/3 cups. Serve with vegetables, chicken nuggets, or chicken fingers. Sometimes I add a dash of hot sauce for a little more kick.

Bacon Cheese Spread

• 2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 T. finely chopped onion
• One third c. sour cream
• 3 slices crisp-cooked bacon, crumbled
• Mix all ingredients together until thoroughly blended.
• Makes about 1 one half cups

Serving suggestion

Hot Artichoke and Spinach dip

• 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
• One fourth cup mayonnaise
• One fourth cup grated parmesan cheese
• One fourth cup grated Romano cheese
• 1 clove garlic
• One fourth t. garlic powder
• Half t. basil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 14 oz. can artichokes, drained and chopped
• Half cup frozen spinach thawed and thoroughly drained
• One fourth cup grated mozzarella
• In a large bowl, beat until smooth the cream cheese and mayonnaise. Blend in the Parmesan and Romano cheeses, garlic, basil, garlic powder, salt, and pepper together in a large bowl.
• Gently stir in the spinach and artichokes. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 baking dish. Transfer mixture to dish. Top with mozzarella and bake at 350 degrees until cooked through and bubbly, about 30 to 40 minutes.
• In addition to the old standby tortilla chips, pita chips and crusty bread are good choices for dipping in this one.

And here’s one that uses dairy, but not cheese, and adds something fruity to your zesty dip choices.

Fruit Dip

Mix by hand 1 cup plain yogurt or sour cream, 1 fourth t. paprika, 2 t. honey and 1 fourth cup crushed pineapple (drained). Chill for about one hour before serving for flavors to blend. You can use the juice from the pineapple to soak apple slices for dipping. Dip the usual fruits or try vanilla wafers. For a sweet/salty taste, dip mini pretzels.