There Is No Way To Attractively Photograph Cream Cheese Spread

No, there isn't. I tried. Unfortunately, while this looks like the cat had a bad case of indigestion, in fact it was a really great appetizer. If you squint your eyes, you can even see how I even tried to form the cream cheese into a little star shape instead of just plopping the cream cheese down like the brick that it comes in. This was so delicious. Although no one asked me for the recipe, their actions did the talking. After all the crackers (and even the molecule size fragments of crackers) were used like mini-spatulas to get up every last bite, I was seriously afraid one person was going to lick the plate to get the last bits up.

Cranberry and Red Pepper Jelly Spread

1/2 cup red pepper jelly
1/2 cup canned whole cranberry sauce
1 8 oz. brick cream cheese

Combine jelly and cranberry sauce in a separate bowl, stirring well to combine completely. Spoon over cream cheese. Serve with crackers.

Class Feast!

My son’s kindergarten class had a Feast on Monday, sort of a warm-up to Thanksgiving if you will. Everyone brought something: I was carb girl. (and then some.)

My instructions were to bring authentic, traditional-like-the-pilgrims-had dishes, but for some reason this kept echoing through my head…..

Lightning McQueen: "Alright, Luigi, give me the best set of blackwalls you've got."
Luigi: "No! No, no, no. You don't know what you want. Luigi know what you want. Blackwall tires. They blend into the pavement. But a this... whitewall tires! They say, 'Look at me! Here I am! Love me.'"
Lightning: "Alright, you're the expert."

from the Disney/Pixar Film "Cars"

My slightly off the white-wall offerings were (and forgive the photos, I barely remembered to take any at all!):

Buttery Rice with Vermicelli

(topped with buttery toasted pine nuts, mmmmmm....)

yes, I did scrub it and then soak it for 3 hours...
Apple Sage Cranberry Dressing
with fresh sage from my herb garden and apples from last weekend

Corn Pudding
(They totally snarfed this one up!)
and 10 Minute (homemade) Applesauce
(again, with fresh apples from the orchards - feel free to omit the brandy like I did here, but I've made it before with, and oooh, it's gooooooooood!)

Better than a Ferrari, eh? ;)