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Thanksgiving will be comin’ round the mountain in just a few days now you know, folks. I just can’t wait. It’s always such an enjoyable day. I love enjoyable days. Days spent eating delicious food, and visiting with wonderful family members. Looking forward to it!
Today for me, was one of “those” days. You know about them, don’t you? Not the really enjoyable kind. The kind you just try and plow through while you wonder how many things are going to go wrong!
A few months ago my cute TeenNephewJayDee told me, “Aunt Jamie, everything you cook is like perfect, and everybody like LOVES everything you make because it is like ALWAYS so good.”
Wow. What a cute and thoughtful boy. I wonder what he would think if he were to have witnessed the “like”perfection going on in my kitchen this morning.
This morning my goal was to make and photo this fabulous Cranberry Cream Cheese Dip….just for you all.
Ten minutes into the project, I had burned both of my hands on some hot and fiery jalapeno pepper seeds.
Then….I filled my blender up with cranberries. (While running to the sink every 30 seconds to pour water over my burned hands) Trying to get the cranberries to break up in the bottom of the blender, I stuck a wooden spoon down into the cranberries and chopped the thing to bits. At this point I spent a good 5 minutes contemplating the pros and cons of inflicting wood poisoning on my family. My blender can grind things up pretty fine you know.
Then…. I poured the CranberryWoodChipDelight down the disposal.
My sink wasn’t that impressed with the concoction and chose to get all clogged, and plunger needy. Nice.
Right at that same moment…. another form of plumbing…. in a separate room…..(white porcelain piece of work with a lid) got all plunger needy. Don’t hold that picture in your mind for too long…this is a food blog you know.
It was a plunger happy, hands on fire, wood chips in my teeth kind of morning. And right on a day I was going to not drink any Diet Coke, too. Let me just say, Diet Coke doesn’t taste that great if you’ve got wood chips in your teeth. Perfect. Just perfect.
But lucky for us….this Cranberry Cream Cheese Dip is super fabulous! My TeenNephewJayDee would give it the “like” perfect thumbs up. It’s got a little bit of a spicy kick to it. If spicy-kick isn’t your cup of tea, no worries. Just leave the jalapeno out. Then you would also most definitely not burn your hands with it’s venomous seeds. Double bonus!
1. Put your cranberries in a food processor. I used my mini chopper (one batch of CranberryWoodChipDelight was enough for me. The blender and I aren’t speaking to each other at this point….) You could also, just chop them up.
2. Chop up your green onion, cilantro, and jalapeno pepper into small pieces. Careful of the seeds now. Throw on a pair of rubber gloves or something, please. The seeds are the hot part of the pepper. If you don’t like a lot of heat on the old pallet, just leave the jalapeno out.
3. Add all ingredients (but the cream cheese and the wheat thins) into a bowl. Mix them all together, cover and store in the fridge for at least 4 hours. The sugar needs some time to soak in to the cranberries and break up their bitter taste.
4. When you are ready to serve, place your cream cheese bricks on a plate.
5. Spread the cream cheese out as evenly as you can.
6. Pour your cranberry mixture over the cream cheese.
7. Spread it all around.
8. Serve immediately with Wheat Thins, Ritz Crackers or Tortilla Chips.
1. Put your cranberries in a food processor. I used my mini chopper. You could also, just chop them up.
2. Chop up your green onion, cilantro, and jalapeno pepper into small pieces. Careful of the seeds now. Throw on a pair of rubber gloves or something, please. The seeds are the hot part of the pepper. If you don't like a lot of heat on the old pallet, just leave the jalapeno out.
3. Add all ingredients (but the cream cheese and the wheat thins) into a bowl. Mix them all together, cover and store in the fridge for at least 4 hours. The sugar needs some time to soak in to the cranberries and break up their bitter taste.
4. When you are ready to serve, place your cream cheese bricks on a plate.
5. Spread the cream cheese out as evenly as you can.
6. Pour your cranberry mixture over the cream cheese.
7. Spread it all around.
8. Serve immediately with Wheat Thins, Ritz Crackers or Tortilla Chips.
He!He!He! Oh my Heavens! I almost wet my pants, I was laughing so hard! Don't you just love days like that! At least the wood chips count as fiber! Your recipe sounds delicious with or without wood chips.
Oh, why did I think I was the only one? Last night I was feeding my family of six plus two young men with big appetites. I called to make sure they were hungry and that they were going to be prompt. Then I started cooking my dinner of ham, scalloped potatoes and peas. I pulled the ham out of the freezer and started thawing it in hot water just enough to get the wrapper off. There was a strange black jell all over the ham and I started peeling it off. About half way through, I realized it didn't come off too well, and called the company that distributes it, only to hear a recording saying the black stuff is edible and don't take it off. Now the ham looked positively gross! Nevertheless, into the oven it went! I still had an hour and a half till company arrived. I thought that I should maybe add some rolls to the menu, because my hubby loves them so much, but the bread machine takes too long to make dough, so I started making it all by hand. I set out my yeasty milk/butter/sugar mixture to proof, and started slicing potatoes. That's when my toddler informed me that she needed to go potty and I had to come with her. Finally I got back to the potatoes and got them all peeled and sliced into a bowl of water when I realized that half an hour had passed and I hadn't added the flour to my bread stuff. I finished mixing up the dough, and got back to the potatoes. I got them in the oven with the ham and tried to hurry my bread dough by setting next to the fire place, but it wouldn't budge! In walks my husband and asks if there will be dessert. Well I can't put anything in the oven, and home made pudding wouldn't chill in time. Thankfully I had a frozen apple pie (pre-cooked even) on hand. Did I mention it was frozen? I squeezed the pie into the oven somehow, and took out the ham. 15 minutes left and the ham is still frozen in the middle, the potatoes aren't done, and the dough hasn't risen much. I put my microwave to good use, but I felt awful about the whole thing. In the end it was the pie that made everything OK. I'm glad I'm not alone in my craziness sometimes!
We loved this at the holidays and I was in the mood to make it again but couldn't find cranberries. I substituted strawberries and blueberries and it came out almost as yummy. I actually made it for the 4th and it went well with the color scheme:)
I just read recently that if you put vegetable oil on your hands before handling peppers, it keeps those oils from getting into your skin! Next time. This looks delicious and I am anxious to try it.
Emily E, The cranberry mixture can definitely sit overnight. The flavors will continue to combine and soak into each other. Good luck! Hope you love it!
Anonymous, No, you don't boil the cranberries. Chopping them and then letting them soak in the sugar really breaks them up nicely. Hope you enjoy it!
Oh, that does sound good! I might use lime juice instead of the lemon though. I'll have to give it a go for the Holidays. Thanks for sharing!
He!He!He! Oh my Heavens! I almost wet my pants, I was laughing so hard! Don't you just love days like that! At least the wood chips count as fiber! Your recipe sounds delicious with or without wood chips.
Oh, why did I think I was the only one? Last night I was feeding my family of six plus two young men with big appetites. I called to make sure they were hungry and that they were going to be prompt. Then I started cooking my dinner of ham, scalloped potatoes and peas. I pulled the ham out of the freezer and started thawing it in hot water just enough to get the wrapper off. There was a strange black jell all over the ham and I started peeling it off. About half way through, I realized it didn't come off too well, and called the company that distributes it, only to hear a recording saying the black stuff is edible and don't take it off. Now the ham looked positively gross! Nevertheless, into the oven it went! I still had an hour and a half till company arrived. I thought that I should maybe add some rolls to the menu, because my hubby loves them so much, but the bread machine takes too long to make dough, so I started making it all by hand. I set out my yeasty milk/butter/sugar mixture to proof, and started slicing potatoes. That's when my toddler informed me that she needed to go potty and I had to come with her. Finally I got back to the potatoes and got them all peeled and sliced into a bowl of water when I realized that half an hour had passed and I hadn't added the flour to my bread stuff. I finished mixing up the dough, and got back to the potatoes. I got them in the oven with the ham and tried to hurry my bread dough by setting next to the fire place, but it wouldn't budge! In walks my husband and asks if there will be dessert. Well I can't put anything in the oven, and home made pudding wouldn't chill in time. Thankfully I had a frozen apple pie (pre-cooked even) on hand. Did I mention it was frozen? I squeezed the pie into the oven somehow, and took out the ham. 15 minutes left and the ham is still frozen in the middle, the potatoes aren't done, and the dough hasn't risen much. I put my microwave to good use, but I felt awful about the whole thing. In the end it was the pie that made everything OK. I'm glad I'm not alone in my craziness sometimes!
We loved this at the holidays and I was in the mood to make it again but couldn't find cranberries. I substituted strawberries and blueberries and it came out almost as yummy. I actually made it for the 4th and it went well with the color scheme:)
Addy,
What a clever idea! I'll have to give it a try. Thanks for the tip and have a great night!
~Jamie
I just read recently that if you put vegetable oil on your hands before handling peppers, it keeps those oils from getting into your skin! Next time. This looks delicious and I am anxious to try it.
Jamie- Have you ever let the cranberry mixture sit over night?
Sounds great! So you don't have to boil the cranberries? Aren't they hard as rocks fresh? Thanks for the recipe.
Yum…I may just have to try this for Supper Club this Saturday evening!!!
Emily E,
The cranberry mixture can definitely sit overnight. The flavors will continue to combine and soak into each other. Good luck! Hope you love it!
Anonymous,
No, you don't boil the cranberries. Chopping them and then letting them soak in the sugar really breaks them up nicely. Hope you enjoy it!
Thanks,
~Jamie