Cranberry Cream Cheese Dip

Not so long ago, I went to a baby shower.  Not just any baby shower, though.  This was baby shower Bingo!  It was, by far, the best idea for a baby shower.  We went to someone's house, brought some food, and played bingo for two hours- they have the bingo cage, the Bingo bopper-things, and prizes for winners.  After we all played Bingo, we opened the baby presents.  This was pure brilliance.  Not only was the idea of playing bingo brilliant, but this dip was among the food table, and it was brilliant.  Never in a million years did I think that I would eat a cranberry salsa on top of cream cheese and say that it is amazing.  However, this stuff was ridiculous!  One of my friends sitting next me must have eaten three or four helpings of this stuff.  I only had one helping, but it's only because I had splurged on every sweet concoction on the table before I indulged in this.  Luckily, the girl that made it not only had recipes already printed out, but she had some left-over salsa that she gave me to take home.  Score!  This dip would be a lovely addition to a Christmas Eve buffet since it's got the red and green.  Or, shoot, eat it any time for a taste sensation.

Cranberry Cream Cheese Dip
source: Lil (thanks, pal!)

1 12 oz pkg fresh cranberries
1/4 c green onion, chopped
1/4 c chopped cilantro
1 small jalapeno, deveined, seeded, and diced
1 1/4 c sugar
1/4 t cumin
2 T lemon juice
dash salt
2 8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened

Chop the cranberries by hand, in a mini-chopper, or a food processor.

Add the chopped green onion, cilantro, and jalapeno to the cranberries.  Add the sugar, cumin, lemon juice, and salt to this.  Mix it together, cover, and refrigerate it for four hours.  The sugar and the cranberries blend together or something because they are not bitter at all! 

After four hours, place the cream cheese in your serving plate (preferably something with a rim) and spread it.  Top with the cranberry salsa.  If you don't want to bother with spreading the cream cheese, you can just plop the softened brick of cream cheese on a plate and top it with the salsa like I did in the picture. 

Serve it with Wheat Thins, Ritz, tortilla chips, or whatever other crackers you like. 

I know it looks crazy, but don't judge a book by its cover!  This stuff is glorious!