Mr. Barefoot's First Guest Post!

[Editor's note: I didn't write any of this, except where indicated.]
Alright, after many dropped hints, I've finally gotten around to writing my first guest post, and the funny thing is that I didn't even end up preparing this dish. In any case... Beer cheese dip was brought into our life by my grad school buddy Brad, now returned to his homeland in the cheese state of with his wife and 1.5 kids and sadly missed by all. This dip is great because it is a) delicious; b) incredibly easy to make; and c) again, delicious. Everybody loves it. It's one of those dishes that we have to refrain from making because it's so easy and nobody wants to be a one-trick pony. Unless it's a really good trick.

We had a big family party today, for which Ms. Barefoot was responsible for obtaining the lion's share of the food. As a recovering student leadership slut, she's learning to delegate, and my one task was to make the beer dip. Then I discovered we were out of cheddar cheese, and wound up waiting fifteen minutes in the express lane at Shopper's an hour before a Ravens away game. We were supposed to be at the party 35 minutes away in an hour, and I hadn't showered yet. So when I got home, she made the dip and I showered. But I had every intention of actually making it myself, I promise. So here it is:

Ingredients

2x 8oz pkg cream cheese

1x 1oz pkg ranch dressing mix (typically the brand the stores have is Hidden Valley. The little envelopes are usually in a display tray near the bottled dressings)

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1/3 cup your favorite beer

Equipment

Mixing bowl

Serving bowl (if you consider yourself too sophisticated to serve your dip in a mixing bowl)

Spoon or other utensil for mixing

Procedure

-Let the cream cheese soften on the counter for an hour or two. Cream cheese straight from the fridge is hard to mix.

-Mix the ranch dressing into the cream cheese, then the beer, then the cheddar. Use all the cheddar. It may look like a lot, but if you don't you're just eating ranch cream cheese and that isn't nearly as good.

-Cover and refrigerate if you have time, because it's probably a little mushy.

-Enjoy the rest of the bottle of beer and reflect on your culinary prowess. Wasn't that easy?

[Editor's Note: Best when served with those flat pretzel chips that are so delicious. Otherwise regular pretzels or even potato chips will do. You can also use low-fat cream cheese and cheddar.]