Cranberry Cream Cheese Spread

I had something very similar to this at a friend's wedding and had to recreate it. Here is what I've come up with...

1 8oz brick of cream cheese
1 6oz bag of craisins
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 tsp sugar

Let the cream cheese sit out for a bit to soften. When it gets to the point that you can start mixing the other items in, add about half of the craisins.

Using a fork, fold the craisins into the cream cheese until well incorporated.

Next, add the other half of the craisins and mix them in. (It just seems to be easier to do it a little at a time, instead of all at once.) Now add the cinnamon and sugar and mix those in really well.

By now the bowl you are using is probably pretty messy looking. Spoon the mixture into another bowl so that it looks prettier for presentations sake.

Either serve it immediately or cover it and put it in the fridge for later use. I serve this with crackers, graham crackers, or a sliced baguette.

Spicy Buffalo Chicken Dip

My version of buffalo chicken dip...

2 boneless chicken breasts, diced into small pieces12oz bottle of Frank's Redhot (I put that s#*t on everything!)
Cream cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
4oz pkg of crumbled blue cheese

My crock pot is in use right now, so I'm trying something a little different with this. I want the chicken to cook slowly and stay moist, so I put it in a pot on the stove on low heat and added the hot sauce. Stir this often! You don't want it to burn. Okay, so this step only took about 45 minutes. So much for slow cooking on the stove top!

Once this has cooked for about an hour, use a slotted spoon to remove the chicken from the sauce and shred using two forks. Set the shredded chicken aside in a bowl as you work. When it's all shredded, put the chicken back in the pot with the hot sauce.I had about 6oz of cream cheese in an 8oz tub, so I added that next. Let the cheese start to melt into the chicken mixture, stirring every five minutes or so.

Once the cream cheese was well incorporated, I decided it needed to be thicker and cheesier, so I added about a cup of shredded cheddar cheese. I turned the heat up to medium and stirred every five minutes until it was all warm and bubbly.

It's hours before game time, so I went ahead and put the dip into a small Pyrex dish. When it cooled I put it in the fridge for a few hours. When you're about a half an hour from serving, top the whole thing with crumbled blue cheese. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. When the oven reaches temp, put the dip in the oven for about 20 minutes. Serve with celery sticks and tortilla chips.