Pomegranate Blue Cheese Dip

Hello out there! I've been a little incognito lately... but luckily I'm just in time for some fun holiday recipes! :o)

Fresh pomegranates are abundant in the States this time of year...but sometimes it's hard to figure out what to do with them...

So here's a festive holiday dip that uses fresh pomegranate...and it's really simple to put together. The flavor ranges from sweet, to tangy, to spicy, and the pomegranate seeds provide a nice crunch.

Not sure how to remove pomegranate seeds without making a mess? No worries, all is explained in my pomegranate post from earlier this year. :)

I hope you give this dip a try!

Pomegranate-Berry Cheese Dip


4 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup chunky blue cheese dressing
2 tablespoons seedless raspberry jam
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar or lemon juice

2 scallions, finely chopped
4-6 drops chipotle tabasco sauce
1/3 cup fresh pomegranate seeds, plus some for garnish

In a small bowl, whisk the cream cheese, blue cheese dressing and raspberry preserves together until smooth. Stir in the worcestershire sauce, vinegar, scallions, and chipotle.
Then, gently fold in the pomegranate seeds. Garnish with extra pomegranate and scallion if desired.

Serve with crackers and/or crunchy raw veggies.

Enjoy!


Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Pomegranate Vinegar Drink

Isn't it weird how you can be totally oblivious to something, then all of a sudden it pops up everywhere you turn?

This happened last year when I kept coming across articles and info about drinks / cocktails made from vinegar. Yes, vinegar!

I'm sure at one point or another, many of us have heard of those apple cider vinegar cure-alls, but it was new to me that people actually drank vinegar for enjoyment, lol.

photo: my korean diet

The most recent resurgence of trendy vinegar coolers began in Asia, where drinking aged vinegar for health reasons has already been in practice for centuries. But even here in the States, refreshing vinegar drinks called shrubs were very popular during the late 19th century through mid 1900's, usually made from summer fruits like raspberries and apricots.

Consuming acetic acid, a main component in vinegar, has been linked to improving cholesterol, blood sugar levels, cravings, arthritis, and interestingly even acid reflux.

Who knows if this is all true...all I know is it tastes good mixed into a nice fruity drink. :o)

The one caveat: acetic isn't much of a friend to tooth enamel, so do use a straw when indulging in vinegar drinks.

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I got the final push to try vinegar drinks after stumbling onto the photograph in this post from Near and Far: This Time in Seoul, a wonderful blog with enchanting photographs of daily life in Seoul (and beyond), all from an ex-pat's perspective.

An array of fruit vinegar drinks from (the now defunct) Cafe Vine Eau, Seoul (Photo: Felicia Shelton)

Although all the flavors in the photograph were intriguing, I was especially interested in the pomegranate because it seemed the most accessible compared to cactus and red ginseng!

Now, I didn't know how to get or make pomegranate vinegar, but even if I did, I probably wouldn't have wasted it being experimental! So I figured if I couldn't really make it, I'd fake it...

Actually, I did have lofty plans to make some of my own fruit vinegar from scratch this summer...but yeah, that didn't work out, lol.

But, I looked up how to make fruit-infused vinegars, recently...so I now have a small batch brewing. Hopefully it'll turn out okay (read: I won't poison myself! ) and then I can play around with some more vinegar-based cocktails!


Homemade Plum Vinegar

1 1/2 cups natural apple cider vinegar
~1 cup chopped ripe plums

I'm going to let it rest at room temperature for about 4-5 days, then drain off the vinegar into a new bottle and store.

The color from the plums has already started leaching into the vinegar after only one day.



Okay, enough of my rambling, here is an easy little mocktail, inspired by fruit vinegar drinks...

It's surprisingly refreshing, a little like lemonade...


Pomegranate Vinegar Drink
serves 1


4 ounces pure pomegranate juice (no added sweeteners)
4 ounces water
1 tablespoon honey
2-3 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
Ice cubes (optional)




Mix the honey and vinegar together until dissolved...



Then top off with water and pomegranate juice.



Add ice if desired!

I've also made this with apple juice and pineapple juice, but I had to adjust the honey because they were a little too sweet. So play around with other fruit juices and see what you like.


Enjoy! :o)