I like Brie as well. I serve it heated up to almost runny with honey and almond slices on top.

My favorite dip is an easy to make clam dip. 8 oz. of soft cream cheese, two shallots minced fine, 1 can of minced clams (drain half the juice), a couple of dashes of worcester sauce all mixed together in a bowl. Refrigerate for a few hours so the flavors can blend and serve with Frito scoops.

I always serve Havarti, Gouda, and Edam on my cheese tray, and like you, use the Townhouse cracker.

I know this is going to sound strange and disgusting, and most people will swan around making gagging noises and all, but I like making chip dip out of tofu. Yes, you heard me TOFU. Get the "softest" variety you can find (not the "firm" kind that comes in vaccuum packs) - it should be available in big tubs at asian food stores (and it's much cheaper, too). Drain it thoroughly (I've never had to "press" the excess water out of it) and put it in your food processer (I have one of those hand held wand types). Puree. Add lemon juice if you need it thinner/to taste. From there you can add just about anything you want your dip to taste like: garlic, dill, even add in some bleu cheese. The tofu is low in fat and high in protein, which is healthier for you than sour cream, etc.

Then there's always the venerable bean dip. I like to make mine from scratch, soaking and boiling the kidney beans myself - you have better control over the consistency. Then again, canned beans are already pretty much mush as it is, so you could probably get away with that. Add your favourite seasoning (chili powder, liquid smoke, jalepeno, whatever)

A friend of mine had a classic spinach dip that she would serve in a hollowed out rye bread loaf, with the "guts" of loaf used as the dipper. I have the recipie around her somewhere, I'll have to see if I can find it for you. It's to die for, but is high in fat and calories, because it has both sour cream and real cream IIRC.

Hummus (pureed chick peas with sesame seed paste) and baba ganoosh (roasted eggplant with garlic) are good, too.

Then of course there is a whole variety of "finger foods" like mini-meatballs on sticks, mini shish kabobs, pot-stickers and what have you, that are almost a meal in themselves.

Yeah, I'm weird - so what?

Hummus is good, and you can get various flavors at a market as well. I like the Tribe brand. Very tasty.

Triscuits are a nice change from plain crackers, with various flavours as well.

For cheese, I like a sharp and a mild. Just pre cut/slice so people do not have fumble with it themselves.
For the sharp, I usually get extra sharp cheddar, like Cabot, maybe the special reserve for a small holiday group.
For the mild, Black Wax Gouda. It is almost like candy, aged at least two years, absolutely NOTHING like the sharp young gouda you usually see in the market. It surprises those that have not had it before. Worth searching for.

Some hot salsa is nice, easy to make if you want to, but can be from a jar.

Fruit like grapes or something easy to eat without being messy, like cubed melon or pinapple. Avoid messy varieties that leave waste, like whole apples, pears, plumbs.

Dry almonds or walnuts that do not have oil on them are usually very popular.

I generally avoid chips, except for relatively dry ones. Too messy for most folks.

A really good dip that you don't have to make yourself is Bodacious Onion Dip made by Heluva Good. My mother-in-law serves it for Thanksgiving appetizers and it is awesome.

If you want to do veggies, add some jicama sticks for something different. It's a Mexican root vegetable, kind of like a turnip. People will think you are so cultured.

Hummus is trivially easy to make if you have a blender or food processor. It was, of course, once processed by hand. Google lists a half million recipes, mine, with ideas for variations, is here.

Box of Velveeta

pound of hamburger or ground pork or combination thereof.

one or two cans of Ro-Tel diced tomatoes and chiles (you can get them from mild to hot)

I know the Velveeta makes this sound classless, but it is very good in this application.

Brown the meat, drain. Put the Velveeta cut into smaller pieces (aids in melting) in a crock pot, melt the cheese, add the meat and Ro-Tel stir in well.

This is almost impossible to screw up. You can put it all in the crock pot at a time (provided the meat is cooked first), you can halve the cheese or double the meat, both or either with the Ro-Tel, whatever suits your taste. It is a heavy and filling dip. I prefer the hot Ro-Tel,but either is very tasty. However, let me warn you, it can capture you knoshing hand and by the time turkey is on the table you may not be hungry. But damn, it's good. And it works well for us brainless. Needs very little work for a lot of reward.

Taco Dip or we call it Swamp
1lb hamburg
1 8oz package of cream cheese
1 jar salsa
1 bag (2 cups) Mexican Cheese
1 pack of taco dip

brown the meat and drain
mix in taco dip (the kind i use i dont use the water makes too soupy)

Line a pie pan (glass) with cream cheese
pour the meat
then the jar of salsa
top with the mexican cheese

Bake at 350 till the cheese is melted and bubbly.

Serve with SCOOPS.

You can also omit the meat altogether.

This is our FAVORITE for games, and tv nite.