Can you remember the first dip you ever made?

Mine was onion dip made with Lipton soup mix. It was the easiest thing I had ever encountered in the kitchen.

Every party we went to there a bowl of California onion dip with potato chips.

I still keep packets of onion soup mix in my pantry but it goes in my crock pot or hamburgers now instead of my dip.

But I haven’t stopped serving onion dip, I’ve just elevated it a notch.

Caramelized onion dip

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon peanut oil

1 large red onion, quartered and then thinly sliced

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/8 teaspoon Tabasco

Melt and heat the butter and peanut oil in a large skillet. Add the onion and cook on medium low heat until the onion is soft and caramel brown. This takes approximately 20 minutes.

While the onion is cooking, mix together all of the other ingredients.

When the onion is ready, set it aside to cool. When it is room temperature, mix it into the other ingredients.

Place in refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

It might be September, but in most gardens there are still zucchini and summer squash running wild.

You’ve made bread, sautéed and frozen it by the bushel, your neighbors won’t answer the door when you knock and still there are zucchini that need to be eaten.

Here is a new dip I found this summer that will help with this problem. I like this served with raw vegetables but crackers are great also and most people will never figure out what is in it.

Zucchini cheese spread

4 ounce sharp cheddar cheese shredded

1 small zucchini grated

3/4 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup toasted walnuts, chopped

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon dried oregano

6-10 drops of Tabasco

Grate your zucchini and lay it in a colander on a double thick layer of paper towels for about 10 minutes. Mix all the ingredients together and let it sit in the refrigerator for at least two hours.

Sometimes I use a 1/2 cup of mayonnaise and a 1/2 cup of sour cream to stretch this a little more.

Christina Hall writes a weekly column for The Democrat. She can be reached at christina.hall@natchezdemocrat.com.