My husband, Mark, grew up eating this dip regularly and takes great pride in making it. According to Mark, “It’s perfection in its simplicity. You can vary what you dip but you don’t mess with the ingredients.”

Makes 1½ cups.

1 8-oz. package cream cheese, at room temperature, or 1 cup Yogurt Cheese
1 6.5-oz. can minced clams, drained, reserving the liquid
¼ cup minced red onion
Tabasco sauce to taste

1. Place the cream cheese in a shallow bowl and mash. Add the clams and onion and mash again. Add 3 to 4 tablespoons of the reserved clam juice and mash until it has the consistency you like. Season with Tabasco.

2. Transfer to a serving bowl and serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate for up to 3 hours.

Serve with potato or corn chips, baby carrots or carrot sticks, celery sticks, or endive spears.

From Party Dips! 50 Zippy, Zesty, Spicy, Savory, Tasty, Tempting Dips (The Harvard Common Press, 2004)