Hey Man Turn it Up! Is that Experimental Cream Cheese?!

Ah, I love when I find a very simple way to add variety and excitement to my life. Friends, I’m talking about my recent discovery of gourmet cream cheese. At Wheatsville Food Coop, where I like to shop on occasion, I found that they sell tasty cream cheese spreads in their prepared food case.  With a price of about $3, this is not an expensive treat, but I thought, “Hey, experimental cream cheese, sounds like a 1968 Rock Band!”

So here are the ones I’ve made so far:

Italian Spread

This is great on bread for a sandwich or roll instead of meat.

1 Box of Generic Cream Cheese (leave out of fridge for an hour or so to soften)
1 Can of Black Olives, drained, then coarsely chopped
1/4 Cup Sun Dried Tomatoes cut into strips
1 Table spoon Minced Fresh Rosemary
1/2 – 3/4 Cups Chopped Italian Parsley
1-3 Cloves of fresh garlic, minced (use more or less depending on who you’ll be kissing later)
1/2 Cup Chopped Pecans
Salt  and Fresh Pepper to taste ( I used Fleur De Sal, which is a finishing salt. I like it in the cream cheese because it basically disintegrates into the mix)

Mix all this stuff together, and stir covered in the fridge.

GORP inspired Spread

I think you could probably use anything sweet and dry you have on hand for this. Dried cranberries, m&m’s, what have you.

1 Block of Cream Cheese
1 Cup Pecans
1 Single Serving Box of  Raisins
1/4-1/2 cup Chocolate Chips
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix it up! Store covered in fridge. Tasty on apples, as well as breads and crackers.

I’m thinking I might try smores spread, with marshmallows, chocolate chips, and graham crackers. Or, I might do an Asian Spread, dried crumbled nori, toasted chopped almonds, toasted sesame seeds, etc. I think the key is to keep the mix in’s dry, so they don’t break down and make the cheese watery.