Apple-ginger cream cheese recipe

Cream cheese-based dips are delicious with fruits, such as the Caramel Apple Dip shown, or made with fruit as with our apple-ginger cream cheese dip below. Photo courtesy of Kraft Foods; click on it to get the recipe. Cream cheese is such a versatile ingredient.

Just like butter, it can be spread on breads, or it can be baked in them. Melt it down to make easy sauces, or blend it with other ingredients for delicious dips, as we did below. 

The best thing about cream cheese, however, is that it comes in fat-free, reduced-fat and regular versions. That means it's great for experimenting according to your need for less fat or maximum richness.

 We made the recipe below with fat-free Philadelphia cream cheese to test its flavor making the dip with the lowest calorie count possible. The result was a pleasing apple dip that was great with pretzels and crackers. Because of the juiciness of the apples, it's more dip-like in texture, but not so wet that we couldn't spread it on toast. It was great that way, too.

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Reduced-fat cheesecake recipe: Hass avocado cheesecake bites updated

Avocado cheesecake bites have a shortbread cookie and pistachio crust. Click on the image to get the original recipe from the Hass Avocado Board.The recipe for Avocado Cheesecake Bites with Pistachio-Shortbread Crust is an indulgent one using whipping cream, a full pound of cream cheese and full-fat yogurt.

It is easy to lighten the Hass Avocado Board recipe without losing the creamy satisfying flavor. Simply switch to non-fat or reduced-fat dairy products.  For an even lighter cheesecake treat, use traditional graham crackers in place of shortbread for the crust.

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Quinoa Revolution: Apple-cabbage salad with quinoa sprouts

A salad of red cabbage, apples, carrots and sprouted quinoa is among beauty shots in the "Quinoa Revolution" cookbook. Photo by Ryan Szule

The suggestion that we strive to fill our plates with color, might be one of the most beneficial nutritional suggestions of the last few years. The goal of this advice is to give us an easy way to eat a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, and with them a wide variety of nutrients. 

I'm convinced, though, that when the color on our plates is also beautifully presented, it somehow nourishes us psychologically as well.

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Gourmet slow cooker recipe: Triple Apricot 'French Toast' Bread Pudding

The featured recipe for Triple-Apricot "French Toast" Bread Pudding with Sea Salt Caramel Sauce is a three-step production that also includes an apricot-peach topping. 

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Traditional Irish breakfast: St. Patrick's Day and the Sunday morning fry-up

Sunday morning fry-up: Cuts of the Irish breakfast meats known as black pudding and white pudding share a plate with rashers (back bacon), bangers (sausage links), tomatoes, baked beans, mushrooms and eggs. / Image courtesy of Shannon Maria Tisdall tells me the Irish breakfast meats known as black pudding and white pudding are a bit like Scrapple.

Doesn’t explain much to someone who spent years in Eastern PA without as much as a bite of the Pennsylvania-Deutsch slice-and-fry loaves that jokesters first told me were made of “whatever’s swept up from the butcher shop floor.”

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