Can you see what this is? Probably not... let's zoom in a little closer.
It's all crystal clear now, right? Let me spell it out for you.
- Cream Cheese (Philadelphia is far and away the best)
- Cherry preserves (I chose this super-fancy brand called "HyVee" but I'm sure any old cherry preserves would be delicious)
- Crackers (these happened to be pita crackers from Aldi, but whatever makes you happy will probably, well...make you happy).
- Mezzatta's Tamed Jalapeno Peppers.
Guys... these peppers. So. Good. I love jalapenos and I love spicy, but these one's are "tamed." I'm not sure how they tame them, but I would love to figure it out. The tamed heat makes them perfectly delicious on thier own. Spicier peppers need to be eaten with something, but I could eat these like I eat pickles.
For the past two weeks, I've had these cherry preserves staring my in the face every time I opened the fridge, and I kept thinking to myself, "Self... I wish I had more excuses to eat these preserves, particularly a crunchier excuse to eat them." We don't generally have bread around the house, so we don't go through jams, jellies, and the like very quickly.
Meanwhile, Mindy always has these peppers at work and last week they took my lunch of leftover enfrijoladas to a whole new level. (Side note: I am eternally indebted to Mindy for introducing me to these peppers. Or perhaps to Dustin, who was the first one to buy them and introduce them to Mindy.)
Last night I had Bunco Club, so I decided to put these delicious things together. I've read about cheese trays in which you put cheese, maybe some jam, relishes, and crackers together and call it good and it seems super nice and fancy. So I did this. But all along, I knew I just wanted to put the cherry preserves and tamed jalapenos together.
So I did. With some cream cheese. On a pita cracker. And my life was changed.
It hits that perfect snacking combination:
Sweet & Salty
Soft & Crunchy
Spicy & Plain
So, so good.
I now have a new definition of the perfect evening: going through an entire box of crackers this way while watching a season of New Girl. New Girl. Another one of my favorite things.
This isn't a paid advertisement for anything. I just really like these foods.
Sounds good, even though I'm pretty full from just finishing dinner! They do sound like a "must try" -- maybe even to be added to my bucket list!!
ReplyDeleteSo, I was thinking about parties, and how it's good to have more allergen free sorts of foods nowadays. Do you think the toppings would taste good on celery, or a slice of water chestnut, or a rice cracker? And if you substituted the preserve flavor, what do you think would be your second choice?
ReplyDelete