Garlic Cheese Spread

This is a delicious and easy to make recipe for a garlic bread spread that will go great with your favorite Italian meals or as a side for your grilling favorites this summer.

Garlic Cheese Spread

1/4 cup butter, softened

4 oz cream cheese, room temperature

1/8 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp parsley

Mix all the ingredients together and spread over French bread.  Refrigerate.

Pear Butter

The aroma of pears and cinnamon will spread throughout your home chasing away the winter blues with this pear butter.  I chose to use the crock pot but you can make it on the stove top.  

Pear Butter

8 Bosc or Bartlett pears, peeled, cored and cut into small chunks
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp sea salt

Place the pear chunks and lemon juice in your crock pot or large saucepan.  The pears will release juice as you cook so there is no need to add in additional liquid.  Turn the heat to medium and cook the pears until they are soft.  Use an immersion blender or run the pears through a food mill and return to the crock pot/saucepan.  Add in the brown sugar, cinnamon and salt.  Cook until it thickens.  

Cinnamon Cranberry Butter

Give me a bag of cranberries and I'm going to make sure I find a way to use it all.  This recipe is easy to make and a nice added touch to serve on your holiday table.  It also is great on a turkey sandwich for the leftovers you'll have to contend with.  And you can whip this up in your food processor so very little handwork.

Cinnamon Cranberry Butter

1/4 cup frozen cranberries, chopped

1 stick butter, softened

2 tbsp honey

1/4 tsp cinnamon

Chop the cranberries in your food processor.  Add in the remaining ingredients and combine until completely mixed.  Refrigerate in an airtight container.  Take out of the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature before serving.

Apple Butter

It's that time of the year again.  Actually it's a little late but the apples are still good so it was time to get some apple butter made for the winter.  I made it in the crock pot so the apples cooked down overnight and were ready to go first thing in the morning.

Apple Butter

3 lbs apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ginger

Put sliced apples into a crockpot with water and lemon juice.  Cook until apples are tender. Puree apples in a food mill or I took an easy way and used an immersion blender.

Add sugar and bring to a low boil.  Add spices and stir well.

Put into clean, dry jars leaving 1/2" head space.  Put into boiling water bath for 12 minutes.

Garlic & Herb Cracker Spread

My weakness is crackers and whatever you can put on top of them.  My other weakness is cheese.  So feeding these two together - win-win for my tastebuds.  I used a product very similar to this to make mashed potatoes a few weeks ago.  It was kind of expensive.  I started thinking that I could make it much cheaper plus maybe healthier.  I mean, the base of it is the same as a cream cheese frosting.  I opted to use an organic Neufchatel cheese.  In it I used one of my favorite herbs - dill weed.  It adds so much flavor and it's kind of odd that I like it so much since I am not a fan of pickles.

Garlic & Herb Cracker Spread

1 - 8 oz Neufchatel cheese
4 tbsp butter

Let both come to room temperature and mix together completely.

Add in the following ~

1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/8 tsp dill weed
1/8 tsp basil
1/8 tsp marjoram
1/8 tsp thyme

Stir in spices to they are evenly spread out in the Neufchatel mixture.  Place in your serving container, cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Cinnamon Honey Cream Cheese Spread

I had bought some wonderful cinnamon bagels and wanted to make a special topping for them and my refrigerator held 4 oz of leftover cream cheese from the wontons the other day so this is what I made.  I hope you enjoy it.

Cinnamon Honey Cream Cheese Spread

4 oz cream cheese, softened
1 tbsp honey
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Mix all the ingredients together until completely incorporated.  Keep in refrigerator until ready to use.