Cream Cheese Dip for Fresh Fruit

Christmas breakfast at my house growing up consisted of warm cinnamon rolls, orange juice, and fresh fruit served with a whipped dip.  This is a tradition that we continue in my house now, although we've added a breakfast casserole of some kind to help tame the sugar rush and to keep my husband full until the late afternoon meal.  This dip makes every fruit taste better and to top it off it's super easy.  Two ingredients and a hand mixer are all you need.  I've included another recipe that I found last year when to my dismay on Christmas morning I realized that I had forgotten to buy Marshmallow Cream.  It's a good substitute for when you're in a pinch.   I hope you love them as much as I do.

Cream Cheese Dip

Ingredients:
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
About ½ a small jar of marshmallow cream, or to taste
Directions: Whip together and serve with fresh fruit.

Cream Cheese Dip Backup

Ingredients:
8 oz. Cream cheese, softened
¼ c. pineapple juice
¼ c. light corn syrup
¼ c. honey
4-5 t. sugar
Directions: Blend all ingredients thoroughly.
 (This recipe was originally found on cooks.com

Blueberry Cheesecake

Cheesecake makes me happy.  All kinds of cheesecake.  But the one that makes me the happiest is the one I grew up with.  I wasn't introduced to New York style cheesecake until I was in high school and while I love that, I sometimes just want the light creamy texture of this cheesecake.  My mom would make this for my Dad's birthday and it was my favorite to dessert to make for a Sunday evening.  I remember asking for it for my birthday, but since I also wanted lasagna my Mom said that would be too much cheese.  Some years I got my wish, others I didn't.  But I don't think I ever stopped trying.  Now that I am in charge of my birthday dinners, we eat both.  You only get one birthday once a year after all.    This cheesecake is refreshing.  It's not as rich as New York style cheesecake so you have to be careful that you don't eat the whole pan.  You obviously don't have to use blueberry pie filling, you can use whatever you prefer.  I go back and forth between blueberry and cherry.  I hope you love it as much as my family does.  A word of advice – do not use Imperial margarine in your crust.  It has too much water in it so it makes your crust soggy...ick.  You can find Dream Whip in the cooking aisle usually on the top shelf above the jell-o.

Blueberry Cheesecake

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 3 minutes
Chilling Time: 2-4 hours
 

Ingredients:

CRUST:
1¼ c. graham cracker crumbs
¼ c. sugar
¼ c. softened margarine
 

FILLING:
2 (8 oz. Each) packages cream cheese, softened

1 c. sugar
2 envelopes Dream Whip
¾ c. milk
2 t. vanilla
Directions: For crust: Mix together the crumbs, ¼ c. sugar and margarine and press in a 9x13 pan.  Bake at 375° for 3 minutes.  Cool.  For filling: Whip the cream cheese with the 1 cup sugar in a large bowl.  In a medium bowl whip the Dream Whip with the ¾ c. milk and vanilla until mixture is stiff.  Mix the Dream Whip with the other mixture and spread over cooled crust.  Refrigerate until set.  Serve with pie filling of your choice. 

Festive Appetizer Spread

This is one of my favorite things to bring to a party.  It's a little unexpected, full of flavor and is always gone by the end.  Plus the batch makes a lot so I have enough to take to several parties with very little notice.  I love spontaneous parties.  Fresh cranberries are top on my list of things to have around from Thanksgiving to New Year's.  Throw them in your freezer and they'll last forever, okay not forever, but a very long time.  You can find fresh cranberries in the produce section of your grocery store in bags.  I also don't add the almonds into the mixture, but sprinkle them on top when I serve it.  Otherwise they get mushy in the leftovers.  I hope you love this! (And Kelsi, I hope this is the cranberry recipe you were asking for.)

Festive Appetizer Spread

Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes
Yield: 3 cups

Ingredients:

1 c. water
1 c. sugar
1 package (12 oz.) fresh or frozen cranberries
½ c. apricot preserves
2 T. lemon juice
1/3 c. slivered almonds, toasted
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese (for each cup of spread)
Assorted Crackers (I recommend Wheatables, Ritz, or Wheat Thins)
Directions: In a saucepan over medium heat, bring water and sugar to a boil without stirring; boil for 5 minutes.  Add cranberries; cook until berries pop and sauce is thickened, about 10 minutes.  Remove from the heat.  Cut apricots in the preserves into small pieces; add to the cranberry mixture.  Stir in lemon juice.  Cool.  Add almonds.  Spoon over cream cheese; serve with crackers.  Store leftovers in the refrigerator.

(This photo came from tasteofhome.com.  This looks much better when I make it so when I make this next I'll replace the photo. It doesn't happen very often that my food looks prettier than the magazines.)