FCG: Dips 12/07/07

Seasons’ Greetings Gang!
Hope your holiday seasons are going well. I got to visit with some family and cull some great recipes, one of which is listed below. My season is so far marked by stress as I try to manage teaching my Seminary class (those teenagers require a lot of prep work), working my job, Christmas Shopping, Figuring out how many things I can jam in the boxes I will use to ship said Christmas junk to people, assisting with (read: running) a service project at church, and just for extra fun putting myself through the torture of trying to sell myself to a University PhD program. I’ve had more fun, let me tell you. Fortunately, most of my shopping is done, I will be able to face the marathon wait at the Post Office (since all waits there are marathon these days), and next Saturday (15th) is the due-date for most of my applications, so soon I will have time just sitting around that is not already slated for six overlapping activities. I can hardly wait! At that time, I intend to do some cooking, but until then, I’m kind of living on takeout and snacks much of the time. Not the healthiest way to go, so I’ve been trying to come up with easy-to-fix, easy-to-store things to eat that have some redeeming nutritional value. Here are two recipes for your holiday enjoyment that can be dressed up for company or eaten out of the old cool-whip containers (for those of us who dine alone) easily and quickly and with relatively little trouble. Thanks to Erin of our group for the Sweet Pumpkin Dip recipe: something that just might turn me into a pumpkin eater someday. The other dip recipe comes from allrecipes.com and was really good. Happy Holidays, Peace to You & Yours, and as always, enjoy! – Devon

Sweet Pumpkin Dip

2 packages (8-oz/each) cream cheese
1 can (15-oz) pumpkin (this is the smaller can)
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger

Beat the cream cheese and pumpkin until smooth. Add the sugar (to taste: I didn’t use quite two cups because I didn’t think it needed it. Maybe I got a sweeter batch of pumpkin in my can) and spices and mix thoroughly. Refrigerate for at least one hour prior to serving. Serve with sliced fruit, cinnamon graham crackers, gingersnap cookies (my personal favorite), toasted bagels or toast slices, etc.

Dukkah
(This is “an Egyptian spice blend that is wonderful. The more you eat it the more addictive it becomes. Serve with toasted crusty bread and olive oil. Dip bread into olive oil, then into hazelnut mixture and enjoy this unique and addictive mix.”)
2/3 cup hazelnuts
1/2 cup sesame seeds (your typical spice container holds just less than a half cup)
2 TBSP Coriander Seeds
2 TBSP Cumin Seeds
2 TBSP freshly-ground Black Pepper (I substituted this with 1 TBSP f/g black pepper and 1 TBSP f/g Grains of Paradise and was quite pleased with the result.)
1 tsp flaked sea salt (or whatever you have on hand)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Put your hazelnuts on a baking sheet and bake them for about 5 minutes until fragrant. Remove from oven and put hot nuts into a tea towel and rub them around in this until the skins are gone. Let these cool. In a dry skillet (I used a saucepan and just shook my pan more often) over medium heat, toast your sesame seeds until light golden brown and then dump them in a bowl to stop the cooking. In the same skillet, toast the coriander and cumin until it begins to pop. Transfer these two spices to a food processor (you could use a mortar & pestle if you’ve got it, but the food processor would be easier)and process until finely ground. Add this to the sesame seeds and then process your cooled hazelnuts until they are finely ground. (Watch this: You do NOT want hazelnut butter!). Stir this into your spices and sesame seeds and add your pepper and salt and mix the whole thing up. Get yourself some olive oil and a hunk of good bread (I think Wonderbread would be a desecration) and enjoy.