elakin wrote:I love this thread. I strongly dislike ranch dressing and abhor the fact that some folks seem to need to smother whatever they're eating in it in order to choke down their food.

At Ravinia last night, the group sitting next to me on the lawn had a big ol' bottle of the stuff. They were dipping raw veggies and other items I couldn't identify. Needless to say I chuckled to myself. To each his own, I guess.

Fast-Food Customer Irate Over Ranch Dip Charge

Police say a Seattle fast-food customer who wanted three packets of ranch dressing but learned he would have to pay for the third flew into a rage and attacked a 68-year-old man who tried to calm things down.

On their website, police say the ranch fan at a Jack in the Box restaurant started yelling about being overcharged when he was told the third packet would cost 25 cents.
...
[AFter being given a third container of Ranch dressing and pushing an elderly customer to the floor]
The angry customer mumbled something about having a knife, climbed on a purple bike and rode away.

Ranch Dressing seems to have been invented in my lifetime. At least, growing up in Baltimore, we never knew of it.

[Pause]

I just looked it up on Wikipedia. It really was invented in my lifetime! And, astonishingly, it really was invented on an actual dude ranch near Santa Barbara called--wait for it--Hidden Valley Ranch.

I'm remembering now that one time at the Chicago Diner we saw the actress Loretta Swit take out a bottle of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing from her purse in order to put it on whatever she ordered. This was funny because at the time (and for several years) Sally Kellerman was the voiceover on Hidden Valley Ranch's commercial campaigns. Sally Kellerman, who originated the role of Hot Lips Houlihan in the movie of M*A*S*H--the character played by Loretta Swit in the TV version. It was as if Loretta Swit felt the need to walk a step behind Sally Kellerman in every thing she did.

Rene G wrote:This is something that has puzzled me in recent years. When and why did ranch dressing become our country's universal condiment?

Ranch Nation: How one creamy, peppery salad dressing became America’s favorite flavor.

As a young republic, our nation embraced the dressings of many lands: Italian, French, Russian and the magical Thousand Islands. But with the creation — and inexorable rise — of ranch, we have forged the one true American dressing.

Invented in the 1950s, ranch is now far and away the most popular salad dressing in the country, according to a 2017 study by the Association for Dressings and Sauces, an industry group. (Forty percent of Americans named ranch as their favorite dressing; its nearest competitor, Italian, came in at 10 percent.) And it has spread far beyond salad.

It is a routine dip for chicken wings, baby carrots, French fries, tortilla chips and mozzarella sticks. It is incorporated into American classics like macaroni and cheese, fried chicken, potato salad and Thanksgiving-turkey stuffing. And it is drizzled over tacos, Tater Tots, casseroles and — perhaps most controversially — pizza.
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Last year, had family in from Iowa. Went to the original Lou's. And sure as sh**, my nephew's wife dipped her pizza in ranch. I immediately discounted it as actions of a rube. But I guess she's not alone...

I remember Lucky Peach (R.I.P.) doing a whole story about ranch dressing obsession in West Virginia. Unfortunately, I disposed of my copies and I can’t find the story online. If anyone out there has a copy of the Lucky Peach Obsession issue (#14), it’s in there.