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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.
Hi Tina, Thanks for the tip about making it more than 24 hours in advance. As for your question I think you would be ok. The texture might be a little bit strange once the jalapeno and cilantro have been frozen, but I think the taste would be great. Good luck! Let me know if you try it. Have a great Thanksgiving! ~Jamie
Made this tonight for Thanksgiving tomorrow. It hasn't even had the chance to sit and is not over the cream cheese and it is already amazing! This seriously might be gone before our party starts! Thanks for sharing!!
Yummy recipe! I forgot to grab a jalepeno at the store this week, so I sprinkled in some ground chipotle chile for a bite. It's very good, in case someone needs a substitute. Happy Thanksgiving!
I made this for a dip to take to my daughter's mother-in-laws for Thanksgiving. It was a big hit and everyone loved it. It has a very nice sweet and a bite of hot flavor. I will make this again and again. Thank you.
Hi Tina,
Thanks for the tip about making it more than 24 hours in advance. As for your question I think you would be ok. The texture might be a little bit strange once the jalapeno and cilantro have been frozen, but I think the taste would be great. Good luck! Let me know if you try it. Have a great Thanksgiving!
~Jamie
how many cups of fresh cranberries would equal 12oz?
Mandy, I just made this and it's about 1.5 – 2 cups.
I'm in the process of making this right now. I couldn't get myself to add all that sugar either! I went with about 1/4 Cup.
When i first saw this I was imagining it being more savory than sweet anyway, so I think it's still gonna be awesome!
Just made this for Thanksgiving with family. Looking forward to sharing it. Thank you.
Found this on Pinterest and just made it for Thanksgiving. It is DELICIOUS! I only added 3/4 cup of sugar. Soooo good with Wheat Thins!
Made this tonight for Thanksgiving tomorrow. It hasn't even had the chance to sit and is not over the cream cheese and it is already amazing! This seriously might be gone before our party starts! Thanks for sharing!!
Yummy recipe! I forgot to grab a jalepeno at the store this week, so I sprinkled in some ground chipotle chile for a bite. It's very good, in case someone needs a substitute. Happy Thanksgiving!
Thank you so much for posting this recipe!
I made this yesterday for Thanksgiving, and everyone just raved about how delicious it was, and how beautiful and festive looking it was too.
I must say, i never thought the flavors would work in the manner in which they did–so bravo!
I will be making this again this weekend for a 2nd Thanksgiving with friends. I hope they appreciate it as much as my family did .
And PS. so easy and fun to make. such vibrant colors, and incredibly tasty! thanks again!
I made this for a dip to take to my daughter's mother-in-laws for Thanksgiving. It was a big hit and everyone loved it. It has a very nice sweet and a bite of hot flavor. I will make this again and again. Thank you.