Nurturing my inner... caterer's secret

First, I'd like to thank the probably three fans who actually read my postings.  I imagine the trio of you as my panel of judges - without the harsh, brutally offensive commentary that would rip my tender, hopeful, budding chef's heart out of my chest and stomp on it with designer shoes.  This is the beauty of being a nobody.  Don't knock it.

Second, I post original recipes when I'm cooking except when I note otherwise.  I don't take credit for other people's work - not in my professional work life and not in my personal blog life.

Thus, I cannot take credit for today's recipe.  It came from an old coworker's wife's mother's catering business.  Normally I try to keep this one to myself, so no one else can bring it to a party, but what fun is there in finding a tasty delight and keeping it all to myself.  I liken it to the ghastly selfish people who hold famous art pieces in private collections in their homes for no one to see but themselves - I so hate that!  Good things are meant to be shared.  And since its just you and me today, let's keep it between us.  Okay?  Okay.

Grape, Cream Cheese & Pecan Spread

8 oz cream cheese
1/2 stick of butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup chopped, toasted pecans
1 cup seedless red grapes, sliced in half

My friends ALWAYS ask me to make this for our parties.  The last wine tasting we had, I didn't say I was bringing it... but I surprised them with it anyway!  All were delighted.  You will be too.

Take out the cream cheese and let it warm up a bit and soften.  It's harder to mash up if you don't.

Chopped up so it warms faster and is
easier to smash with a fork.

I cut up the butter for the same reasons.  It's a pain to have to put in more arm work than you'd like to because you didn't plan ahead just a little bit.

Small cubes speeds temperature adjustment.

Throw them both into a bowl.

They can even be left to warm in the bowl.

Once the butter and cream cheese are closer to room temperature, an ordinary fork can be used to mash them up.  (You'll know if it's still too cold if the pieces shoot around and you have to put more muscle into the smashing part than you'd like.  Just stop, take a break and put the bowl aside for a bit longer.  I'm sure you have towels to fold or buttons to sew to kill a little time.)

I'm usually impatient and mashing
before they are soft.

After a couple minutes, the two will be incorporated.  Mostly you're just going for no large chunks of either the butter or the cream cheese.  You want them both well blended.  (It would be really gross if you got like a big bite of straight up butter.  Blech!)

Balanced, blended harmony.

It gets easier to hand mix after this.  Sour cream and sugar aren't as dense as the other two, so the mixture gets thinner.

The sour cream adds a nice tang.

Add that in and use that fork!  I wonder if you could also use an electric mixer.  Eh, as I like to go by the way of the early settlers and do things by hand, I may never know.

Ah, much easier.

It quickly turns into a soft, light, fluffy amalgamation of cheesecake-like familiarity.

I mean it. Just like cheesecake.Taste it, you'll see.

But it would be too boring if you skipped this next part.  Add some toasted pecans, which are better than the raw ones, for some texture and slight bitterness.

You could buy raw pecans and toast, then chop,
but Trader Joe's has them ready to go.

Add crunch to smooth.  Opposites attract.  Just like with people.

I had a friend make it with sliced almonds
because that's what she preferred.

And stir that all together.  The more you blend, the more the elements become fully integrated and they are also warming over time, so it gets easier on the arms.

I tasted it, again, to make sure it was still 
alright. (And because I couldn't help myself.)

You'll want to add the fruit at the very end because it is most delicate and juicy.


The spread has fruit in it, so it can't be all
bad for you. It's got vitamins.


Wash the grapes, then slice in half.  It's vital for them to be seedless or you are going to be in big trouble later.

I never would have thought to add grapes,
but hey, here we are.

You can't just harshly stir anymore, so lightly fold the grape halves in.  Be gentle and don't over mix.

You don't want to break them up into juice
or lose the shape of the pieces.

And there you have it.  Done.  Not ready for human consumption just quite yet though.

The hard part is waiting until it
is properly chilled.

I like to place in a glass bowl, I have one that is the perfect size, add a few grape halves on top for decoration and set in the fridge to chill.

It should look good as well as taste good.

Lid on, into the ole ice box it goes and no matter how badly you want to dive into it at that very moment, think no more on it until tomorrow.  (Though, it may follow you into your dreams.  Ahh, sweet dreams...)

A generous dollop on a cracker and
you'll be the hit of the party.

I like to serve it on delicate water crackers.  Sesame ones.  Any light cracker will do.  You don't want a strong, competing flavor.  (Might even go really nicely on graham crackers.  My mom always made her cheesecake with a graham cracker crust.)  However, this spread tastes so good, you will be tempted to eat it right off the spoon.  Cracker?  We don't need no stinking cracker!

Now remember, this is just our (your, my and the caterer's) little secret.  Shhhh...