Open Hearts, Open House

On the “low” Sunday after Christmas, we decided to attend worship at Lovely Lane, the “mother church” of Methodism in this country. I had visited 30 years ago on a field trip with my confirmation class, when the building was in disrepair. They have since restored the beautiful starry ceiling, wooden auditorium seats, and stained-glass windows in the round sanctuary. The scripture passage was about Jesus’ parents finding him at the Temple in Jerusalem, and the sermon was about how we’re preparing ourselves to find God in the new year.

Then it was home to finish getting ready for an open house with many old friends from church and growing-up.

Recipe:  The hands-down star of the show was my SIL’s cranberry salsa, which you spread over cream cheese and eat with Wheat Thins or other crackers.

Ingredients:

If you're serving a crowd, use 16 ounces cream cheese = 2 standard blocks at room temperature.

Otherwise it's a more even ratio to use only 8 ounces = 1 block.
12 ounce bag fresh cranberries, washed
2 jalapenos minced (adjust according to taste)
½ cup sliced green onions, roughly chopped
¼ cup chopped cilantro, roughly chopped
½ tablespoon lime juice
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup sugar, plus more to taste
Wheat Thins or some other sturdy cracker

Instructions:

• Set out the cream cheese to soften.
• Finely chop cranberries, jalapeños, green onions, cilantro, lime juice, salt, and sugar, in a food processor.
• Add salt and sugar to taste.
• Chill in fridge for about 2 hours or more. 
• To serve, spread room temperature cream cheese evenly in a pie plate or other shallow serving dish, like an 8×8 pan. Spread salsa on top and serve with crackers.

N. stayed for dinner so we could keep talking, and afterward we played Baltimore in a Box, the Monopoly knock-off. There’s a one-hour version that involves handing out properties at the start and limiting the time of play. At one point, three of us were in a traffic jam together! Daddy Money-Bags won.