Cranberry Salsa Dip with Cream Cheese

Turned out wonderful! I give this a thumbs up! My dad thought this would be good on pork too! I stirred up the leftovoers and I think I like it better all stirred up, even though it's prettier, presentation wise on top of a block of cream cheese.

1 (12-ounce bag) or 3 cups fresh cranberries, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup minced green onions
2 small (approximately 2 tablespoons) jalapeno peppers, cored, seeded and minced
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, minced
2 tablespoons finely grated fresh ginger
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese
Cranberries and/or cilantro sprigs for garnish


Rinse, drain, and pick over cranberries, (discarding all that are soft or bruised). Place them in a food processor; pulse until finely chopped but not mushy.
Place crushed cranberries in a bowl; mix together with onions, jalapeno peppers, sugar, cilantro leaves, ginger, and lemon juice. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 4 hours so flavors develop (salsa will be too sharp and tart to begin with).
On a serving plate, place cream cheese; cover with the dip. Garnish, if desired, and served with crackers.

COCKTAIL SAUCE

This is the best cocktail sauce!

1/2 cup chili sauce or catsup
2 tablespoons hot cream-style horseradish
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
2 teaspoons freshly-squeezed lemon juice
4 drops Tabasco
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced
In a small bowl, mix ingredients together to taste, cover and chill until ready to serve and to develop flavor.
Makes 2/3 cup.

Easy Yummy Granola

You could buy your granola, which always expensive. Why not just throw some stuff together and make your own? No, it's not hard trust me:)

2 c rolled oats
1 c mixed seeds (any kind like sunflower seeds (not in shell), pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds) I used sunflower and sesame.
1 c mixed chopped nuts (walnuts, pecans, almonds, pistachios, hazelnuts) I used what I had: pecans and hazelnuts
1/2t salt
1/2 c honey
1/3 c canola oil
1 T vanilla extract
1 c assorted dried fruit (raisins and berries)

Preheat oven to 350. Combine oats, seeds,nuts, and salt. Whisk honey thru extract and then drizzle over dry ingredients and combine. Spread on baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake 15-18 min, or until golden brown, stirring once or twice during baking. Cool on tray until dry and crunchy.

Break into bite-size pieces and stir in dried fruit. Store in airtight container.