Cranberry Sauce

It's the red headed step-child of Thanksgiving, but it's tasty and something that just makes Thanksgiving, Turkey Day.  My mom and I have a pretty standard recipe that I tweaked a little bit because I like to, along with the added bonus of annoying my Mom by making a slightly different version of what she usually does. :)

Cranberry Sauce:

8 oz fresh cranberries
2/3 cup water
1/2 cup - 1 cup sugar (depending on how sweet you like it)
pinch of salt
cinnamon stick
2-3 pinches of allspice
zest of 1 orange

Add everything but the zest into a sauce pan.  Bring to a boil, taste for sweetness adding more sugar if you like.  Then add the zest and cook over low heat for 5-7 minutes.  Let cool and then refrigerate.  Serve with zested orange.

Spinach Artichoke dip

This past weekend a good couple friend of ours, Z and M, hosted a Holiday Cocktail Party.  M made delicious food and we all had fun playing games and getting into the holiday cheer.  I tried to help her out by bringing an appetizer, using my go-to easy Spinach Artichoke Dip.  It's semi-healthy, using low fat sour cream, mayonnaise and cheese, but let's face it, it's not the most calorie conscious dish.  It is however, really tasty.

SPINACH ARTICHOKE DIP:

1 bag of frozen spinach, de-thawed and all the water is pressed out of it OR 1 bag of fresh spinach, wilted with some olive oil, salt and pepper
1/2 a bag of shredded low moisture part-skim mozzarella cheese
2/3 cup of light sour cream (estimate on this one, it may be more or less depending on
2/3 cup of light mayonnaise
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp of freshly cracked pepper
zest of 1/2 a lemon
3 sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves picked off
1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese
1 can of artichokes in water, drained and chopped
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 F. Combine all ingredients a bowl and place into a large Ramekin dish (those heavy, white, circular thingys). Bake for 30 minutes or so, till it's bubbly and starting to brown but cooked through. Serve with pita chips, bagel chips, crusty bread, whatever you have to devour with. Be careful, this is super addicting and you'll think that because it's better for you, you can consume more. This is one of my favorite dips and my friends all seem to agree.