“It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas…”
Since it snowed this last weekend, I am officially thinking of the holidays. There is something so pretty and festive about putting pistachios and cranberries together, making this a perfect appetizer for a holiday party!
Food and cooking is defiantly one of my love languages. Especially in a fast moving, fast food world, what better way to say “I love you” than taking some of your precious time to cook something fabulous. When I get excited for an event, like any women, I start thinking about what I am going to wear; like any foodie (food lover), I also think of what I create in the kitchen.
It may not be Christmas yet, but the welcome home party of a best friend is just about as good in my book.
Around the same time I started this blog, one of my best friends, Anna-Jane, came home some serving an 18 month mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Las Vegas, Nevada. Many of my friends have served missions, including my husband, who served in Paraguay {now that was the longest two years of my life}. There is something to be said about someone who leaves the comfort of home, and everything they know, to share something they believe in and devote that period of their live to service.
“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” –Mahatma Gandhi
Good friends are good for the soul.
Anna-Jane {or AJ as I call her} is seriously the sweetest, most caring, and genuine person I have ever met. Without ever meaning to, she continues to inspire me. It would be an understatement to say I am beyond ecstatic to have one of my best friends home. Did I mention she is my workout buddy?! Swimsuit season here we come.
Most people start their new years fitness resolutions at the start of the new year, but with time to still progress, we are hitting the road {or treadmill since it is cold}.
One of the reasons I love this recipe is that it is such an easy and different way to use cranberries. Go ahead, Google recipes with cranberries. It is full of cranberry bread, cranberry sauce, and leftover turkey sandwiches with cranberries. Cranberries seem to be associated with the holidays, because they are in season during the fall and winter, when other berries are not in season.
This is good news to us, because cranberries have vitamin C and fiber, and are only 45 calories per cup. In disease-fighting antioxidants, cranberries outrank nearly every fruit and vegetable–including strawberries, spinach, broccoli, red grapes, apples, raspberries, and cherries. Only blueberries top them!
This recipe was adapted from a recipe on Gimme Some Oven, one of my favorite blogs to follow! I adapted the recipe to reduce the amount of sugar to lighten it up and used fresh squeezed orange juice!
You will find my blog will be a mix of my own creations and recipes I have adapted to make healthier, fit my dietary needs, or make it more flavorful. I will always include a link back when I do so {all photos are truly mine} — and I ask that you do the same if you choose to adapt one of my own!
- 2 cups fresh cranberries
- ⅛ cup granulated organic sugar
- ⅛ cup granulated organic brown sugar
- ½ cup water
- zest of one orange
- juice from half of an orange
- 1 wheel brie
- ¼-1/2 cup shelled pistachios
- (crackers for serving)
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Add cranberries, sugar, water, about half of the orange zest, and orange juice to a medium saucepan, and stir to combine.
- Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to low and simmer for while the brie is baking.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil, and place the brie in the center of the sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and just begins to ooze out the side.
- Transfer baked brie to a serving tray. Then top with the cranberry sauce, and sprinkle with pistachios and remaining orange zest.
- Served best when warm with crackers.
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