Smoked Bacon, diced (about 8 slices of streaky or 6 of thick -- more if you want it)

1 onion, finely diced

3-4 cloves of garlic, (maybe less if you don't want people to know what you had for lunch....) put through a press or finely diced

about 1 lb of mushrooms, sliced  -- Try to get some shiitake or other flavoursome mushrooms in there

1 tsp Salt

1 1/2 tsp fresh thyme or  1/2 of dried

1 x 250g package of cream cheese

sour cream -- about 300ml, but you will need to play with this one.  You will need more if making a dip, possibly less if you are making a spread.  It depends if you want a thicker or more runny spread.

green onions  -to use as a garnish,mix them in, or leave them out! (we call these spring onions - Ed)

1.  Fry off bacon in a large fry pan over medium heat.  Remove to a plate to cool.  In the remaining bacon fat, (or if your bacon was a bit lean, add some butter or oil), fry off the onion until soft.  Add the mushrooms and fry until golden brown.  Add the garlic, thyme and continue to fry until fragrant.  Remove to a bowl or plate until cool.

2.  Place cream cheese into a large bowl -- you will be adding everything in here, so make sure you have a bowl that is big enough for you to get it all in there and be able to mix it up.  Mix the cream cheese until soft.  Crumble/chop the bacon and add to the cream cheese.  Combine the mushroom, garlic, & thyme mix to the cream cheese.   Now comes the judgement part --- If your mix is too thick, start to add sour cream until it reaches your desired consistency.  When your dip/spread is the way you want, mix in some green onions.  The dip/spread is now ready for use, but it does taste better if covered and left in the fridge for a bit.  This will keep in the fridge for quite awhile!

--recipe inspired by Martha Stewart