Could you eat dip for lunch? Join the club
By Andrea Weigl, Staff Writer
'Oh! It's time. It's time," Virginia Ingram cries as the clock hits noon.
Ingram is one of a dozen Capstrat employees in the company's kitchen for the monthly dip club lunch. One Friday a month, each Dip Club member brings in a homemade dip -- from Israeli fondue to spinach-feta hummus.
The Dip Club is the invention of Heidi Hecht, Anna Adlard and Kira Peoples. Adlard and Peoples went to lunch one day and agreed that they could just eat dip for lunch; thus the club was born last summer at the Raleigh public relations, marketing and lobbying firm. The pair recruited Hecht to be the club's rules maker.
Hecht is serious about that role. The company's internal wiki sets out the rules: "You must bring a dip to eat a dip. You will be asked to share your dip's name in the days before to avoid duplicates. You must bring a serving container, serving apparatus (spoon) and a dip ingestion tool. This can include but is not limited to: tortilla chips, potato chips, pita chips, veggies, wheat thins, etc. If you need further instruction on dip ingestion tool see Heidi."
The rules continue: "Oh, and this must be a homemade dip. No running to the store for chips and salsa, or any such cheating." (Hecht explains that this rule was created specifically for a company vice president who routinely threatens to bring in a store-bought dip.)
There is even a hall of fame of sorts called "Dip Club Recipes of Greatness."
On a recent Dip Club Friday, the lunchroom's tables and counters are covered with crockpots, bowls and platters filled with dip and dip ingestion tools. One is a "Pineapple of Cheese," a pineapple-shaped cheese dip decorated with pecans and rosemary to replicate the fruit's texture and stem. A fluffy lemon dip features frilly toothpicks to pierce the grapes and strawberries before dipping. There is Hecht's regular contribution, a Buffalo chicken dip that they refer to as "chicken crack" for its addictive quality.
The club members graze with paper plates in hand. One member, Charles Hodges, decides it is time to try the fluffy lemon dip, a sweet-tart concoction. "Once I make this leap, I can't go back into guacamole," he says.
A debate breaks out about whether pigs-in-a-blanket would qualify as a dip ingestion tool. "It's not an appetizer club," Ingram declares. Hecht adds: "I think one time I tried to bring in an appetizer and it was decided it was not a good thing."
Just in time for your ACC basketball tournament watching, the Dip Club members share a few of their recipes of greatness.
andrea.weigl@newsobserver.com or 919-829-4848
