Beer Cheese Dip

Beer Cheese Dip (slightly adapted from Kraft Recipes, Servings: 15, Total Time: 3 hours, 5 minutes)

Ingredients

·         1 pkg. (8 oz.) Neufchatel cream cheese, softened

·         ¼ cup ranch dressing

·         1 cup shredded taco/nacho cheese

·         ¼ cup beer

·         2 green onions, chopped (white parts only)

Directions

1.)    Beat cream cheese and dressing in medium bowl until well-blended.

2.)    Stir in remaining ingredients.

3.)    Refrigerate until chilled.

I was a little hesitant to try this recipe after reading some of the reviews, but I’m glad that I took the plunge.  It was delicious!  I normally would have used fat-free or light ranch dressing, but I didn’t want to mess up the recipe, so I stayed with full-fat.  I also used taco/nacho cheese instead of shredded, I thought that a little Mexican-flavor couldn’t fail.  Finally, I used Yuengling Light beer to keep the dip from being overpowered by a beer taste.  In the future, I’ll probably stick with this, although I’d be tempted to try something else a little more full-bodied (maybe regular Yuengling or an Amber Lager).

The taste was mostly ranchy Mexican – a little hint of spice, a lot of cheese, and a good bite of ranch.  I couldn’t taste the beer, but it did make it very creamy and easy to spread on crackers.  I chopped the onions very small and I think that added just a hint of onion flavor – I don’t even think that I’d notice them if I hadn’t made the dip.

This went over really well with my party attendees. My mom even asked for the recipe!  Awesome!  Unfortunately, there were no leftovers.

Rhubarb-Vanilla Compote

Rhubarb-Vanilla Compote (from Eating Well, Servings: 4, Total Time: 15 minutes)

Ingredients

·         4 cups diced rhubarb

·         ½ cup sugar

·         ¼ teaspoon cinnamon

·         ½ teaspoon vanilla

Directions

1.       Combine rhubarb, sugar and cinnamon in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat; reduce heat to a gentle simmer, cover, and cook until the rhubarb begins to break down, about 5 minutes.

2.       Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

We received some rhubarb In a recent Community-Supported Agriculture delivery, so I found a quick and easy recipe to use it.  I found this and thought it would be tasty on some homemade bread.  I served it when my mom and stepdad came to visit.  He didn’t have any, but my mom liked it.  That was good, because neither my husband nor I did.  It definitely was not sweet enough – more sugar, vanilla, and/or cinnamon would all help it out.  I do not plan to make this again.