Easy Holiday Appetizer #1

I like to entertain. I do. But, I hate to be stressed out over complicated dishes to prepare. I also dislike too many ingredients in one dish, especially when I'm making several things for a large crowd. So, let's make an appetizer that you can whip together in less than 5 minutes! I'm serious! This pretty thing is what I will call.....um....how about Cranberry Island, no, no, um...Cranberry oooolala? I don't know, let's just call it The Cranberry Thing.

First get some good goat cheese. Yum. I love this stuff. It costs about $4. If you have a goat then for Heaven's sake go make some.....only if you have a female goat....and she's giving milk, don't try to milk a male goat, that would be baaaaaaad. Sigh , sorry, you knew it was coming.

Take the chilled cheese out of the wrapper and form it into a ball.

Like a snowball. Now slap that pretty white puppy on a small dish. I use this glass candy dish that was a wedding gift, then I put it in the middle of one of my grandma's glass platters where the crackers will be arranged in a perfect circular pattern. Ha ha ha haha. No seriously.

Now, place a guard or soldier or something near the cheese so people will know they WILL DIE A PAINFUL DEATH IF THEY EAT ANY OF THE WHITE CHEESE BALL!! And then stick it. I mean stick the cheese ball in the fridge.

Moving on. Get a bag of cranberries. They are super cheap in the stores right now. My friend, Kelli, called me and told me I needed to blog about a cranberry dressing I made for a salad the other night because she thinks I need more ideas for my blog posts and with cranberries being so cheap the salad dressing would be a good thing to write about. Yes, even my friend's lives revolve around my blog...muwhaha, muwhaahaha.

Put about one and a half cups of berries in a bowl and add about 2-3 tablespoons of water.

Now stick it. I mean put it in the microwave for 2 minutes. Check if the berries are starting to crack, give it a stir, then nuke some more, stir, nuke, stir, nuke. It usually take maybe 4 minutes. You can do this on the stove top too, but I'm a modern woman with a microwave and I like to say, NUKE IT!

Here's what you're looking for. You have the bursted berries and the not so bursted berries. It's thick you know, like cranberry sauce........uh it is cranberry sauce. While it's hot stir in sugar to your sweetness, like 3-4 tablespoons, I like it more tart. Add a sprinkle of cinnamon and a dash of salt. Stir it in and stick in the fridge to cool.

When it's cool, ladle the cranberry sauce over the cheese and top with some almonds or walnuts or pecans or as my 4yo would say LEAVE IT LONE...LEAVE IT LONE!! Serve with your choice of crackers and make sure you put a cute spoon or delicate little knife along the edge. Watch as people ooooh and ahhhh over its beauty and then eat it all gone. The End. You're Welcome.