I’m afraid that when I was planning my little Thanksgiving snack table this year, I forgot that not everyone loves cranberries as much as I do. Cranberries are just so “in” at this time of the year!! My eyes were enticed by all the lovely-looking cranberry recipes online…their beautiful shape and color….and especially the ones robed in cheese!!! I didn’t even think about people in this world who do not favor the red little things.
Fresh cranberries were on my shopping list, and didn’t need no “checking twice!”
This baked cheese and cranberry dip was very easy and quite tasty. Great for filling one of those hollowed out sourdough breads….
I used this recipe called Gooey White Cheddar and Cranberry Dip with only four ingredients: cream cheese, white cheddar, fresh cranberries and olive oil. Of course I added in a bunch of freshly ground black pepper because that’s what we do at our house. It was quite a mild tasting dip, but I really enjoyed it; the tart, hot cranberries were delish.
Then there was this spicy sounding recipe for Cranberry Salsa that just looked so gorgeous and used all of my favorite ingredients. It is pictured in the orange bowl in the middle of the table above. Now this recipe was interesting…..so easy to make. But it was not a favorite with my bunch. In fact, no one really liked it much….except me. I ate it for days afterwards! On and in everything. Sometimes I’d be eating it and it just tasted like a regular tomato salsa, the cranberries didn’t stand out super much. But other times I really got the cranberry flavor. And it was sweet. So sweet and spicy!! I think I will totally make it again and eat it all, by myself if necessary! Such a healthy salsa! The main ingredients are fresh cranberries, cilantro, green onions, honey, cumin, lime juice and a jalapeño (I didn’t have a fresh one, so used some pickled ones. Careful, don’t make it too hot!) You can click on the link above for the how to.
I also made some hot pink cranberry punch with more fresh cranberries and juices (smells wonderful). With all the cranberry going on, it was a good thing there were also a few non-cranberry foods on the snack table, like some cheeses, grapes, chips, Texas Trash and Turkey Cheese-ball for those non-fans of the tart berry!!
It was a fun Thanksgiving snack table to put together, though almost as much work as the main meal! Oh well…..
Happy cranberries everyone!
denna's ideas 