Thanksgiving to Christmas

I LOVE Thanksgiving, and I fully believe in embracing all the Thankfulness, football, turkeys and pilgrims that come along with it. But I always find myself a little antsy about Christmas this time of year as well. As soon as Starbucks breaks out its Red Christmas cups.... it's official. The Holidays are here.



So what I end up doing is having a little mix of both in my house. Christmas music playing while the kids color turkeys. Red Pointsettas sharing a flower pot with mums.



I made this appetizer for a party we had last weekend, and I love the way it transitions from Thanksgiving to Christmas. Cranberries, apples, cinnamon... those ingredients are fair game for a Thanksgiving appetizer, but will transition perfectly into Christmas as well. So put this one in your recipe file to use up over the coming weeks!



Baked Brie with Cranberries and Apples



Preheat oven to 350



1 round of Brie (about 4 inches in diameter)

1 medium apple

a handful of dried cranberries

2 tsp cinnamon (love the Pampered Chef Cinnamon, its the same one Cinnabon uses)

2 tablespoons brown sugar

Sliced Almonds

Wheat thins for serving





OH and... left out a really healthy ingredient. Just 2 tablespoons of butter. :)

Melt the butter in the microwave, then mix in the cinnamon and brown sugar

Steer it up

Chop your apples real small, and if you have a food chopper, you're really happy right now.

Add in the brown sugar/butter mix, the almonds, and the cranberries and give it a stir
Then slice the Brie in half lengthwise

Put the bottom half cut-side up... this was perfect on a round stone but you can use a cookie sheet too.

Scoop half the apple mix on top

Put his hat on

And scoop the rest on top! At this point, if you were traveling, you could wrap the Brie up in aluminum to transfer it to your party.

Bake for about 15 minutes or until gooey. I served it on the round stone and put wheat thins all around it.

Sadly, I have no "after" pictures, because my family stood next to this appetizer like vultures and devoured the entire thing!!