Sunday, November 20, 2011

Thanksgiving Appetizers

Even though Im on a DIET....(oh the bad "D" word!!!! I wanted to share 2 of my favorite apps!!!!

First up Creamy Artichoke Dip
In a food processor add the following:
8 oz of room temp cream cheese
1 cup of artichoke hearts ( packed in water NOT oil and seasonings)
1/3 cup parm cheese
1 tbsp parsley
2 tsp of fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp of each salt and pepper
1 clove of garlic

Whirl in the food processor and serve with crustini, crackers or crudites....it even can be a sauce for chicken or fish!


Cranberry topped Brie

First recipe for Homemade Cranberry Sauce:

1lb of fresh cranberries
1 orange
1 1/2 cup of sugar

REMOVE all the zest of the orange use a citrus zester and then chop the zest to a fine mixture

Juice the whole orange

In a glass/microwave safe dish add all the ingredients, microwave on high for 4-5 minutes stir and microwave again 4-5 minutes. Let stand and it will thicken as it cools! Set aside

On to the Brie part of this recipe; Preheat oven to 500 degrees

Cut a circle in the top of the white rind of the brie to about 1/4 of the outside edge. Remove the rind and top of the cheese. Place the cheese round in a glass pyrex pie dish, spread the cranberry mixture on the top of the brie. Bake at 500 for 5-8 minutes or until the cheese is heated thru not melted. Bring out your favorite crackers, crustini or french bread and ENJOY!

I hope you all have a GREAT Holiday with your families and create new traditions, keep the old ones and have a wonderful day! BLESSINGS