FANTASTIC Cheese Dip Recipe

My sister made this and brought it for New Year's and it was SOOOOO good. We spread it on little slices of bread (hmmm...will have to find out what kind of bread it was from my sister...it was really good) but you could use crackers or whatever you wanted too. Thought I'd share the recipe with everybody:

Cheese Dip/Spread

• (2) 8 oz. Cream Cheese
• 1 cup Mayonnaise
• 12 oz. Shredded Swiss Cheese
• 4-5 Green onions chopped
• Hormel Real Bacon pieces

Combine all ingredients except bacon bits. When well blended, put in 10" pie pan and sprinkle bacon bits on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

My sister splits the recipe into two smaller dishes, and freezes one for a later time. All you have to do then is thaw and bake.

This is great to have in the freezer for unexpected guests who stop by.

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Fantastic Stuffing Recipe

I've made it the past several Thanksgivings with good results (and I'm a bad cook so this is cool, lol).

Cranberry-Apple Bread Stuffing

1/2 cup butter
3 medium celery stalks with leaves chopped
1 cup chopped yellow onion
6 cups crumbled corn bread or 6 cups corn bread stuffing mix (two 8 oz packages)
6 cups dry white or wheat bread cubes
2 cups chopped unpeeled Granny Smith apples
1 cup dried cranberries, cherries or raisins (I use dried cherries)
2 Tbsp snipped fresh sage leaves or 1-1/2 tsp dried sage leaves
1 Tbsp snipped fresh thyme leaves or 1 tsp dried thyme leaves
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1-3/4 to 2 cups chicken broth (if using stuffing mix, use 3 to 3-1/4 cups broth)

In large dutch oven (I don't know what a 'dutch oven' is...I use the biggest pot I have, lol...is that a dutch oven?), melt butter over medium heat. Cook and stir celery and onion in hot butter about five minutes or until tender. Remove from heat.

Stir corn bread, bread cubes, apples, cranberries, sage, thyme, salt and pepper into onion mixture. Drizzle with enough broth to moisten, tossing lightly to combine.

Spoon stuffing into a 3 quart baking dish (13 x 9 x 2). Bake covered in 325 degree oven for 35 minutes. Uncover; bake for 15 to 20 minutes more or until heated thru and to desired moistness. Makes 12 to 14 servings.

Between this recipe and my candied sweet potatoes and apples, I wonder if I have my in-laws fooled into thinking I can cook. Probably not.

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Filling Up On Appetizers

Something I always do when we go out to eat (which isn't often given the price of everything and number of mouths we have to feed) is fill up on appetizers. I don't mean to but they taste so good! There are times when all I order are appetizers. One of my favorites is spinach artichoke dip. My daughter and I can finish these by ourselves without help from the rest of the family.


Since we can't to go out to eat all the time, I have found an online site, Myrecipes.com, that has appetizer recipes, including my favorite. With the upcoming holidays, these recipes are going to be needed. I'm not an imaginative cook but I can follow a recipe. This site is great!

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Cooking Not My Thing

I am not a very good cook. It's not that I lack talent (I don't think), I lack the desire. Period. I do cook but I don't get all fancy like my little sister does. I am basics. She genuinely seems to love to cook. I guess I didn't get that gene. She is a fantastic cook. She can take a recipe and turn it into a feast for several families. At family gatherings, everybody looks forward to what she brings to the table because we all know it is going to be good. I am making myself hungry thinking about it, lol. I probably shouldn't be blogging about cooking at lunch time!

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