Phil's International Flair | Seasoned Cooking

Welcome to Seasoned Cooking and to Phil's International Flair!

The holidays are upon us! This holiday season many of us will entertain guests in our homes or be invited to someone's house for a get together. When visiting or having guests, it's always nice to provide a nice treat for everyone to share. This recipe fits the bill. Most of the preparation can be done a day ahead of time, making it easy to finish up in a short period of time.

In addition, this holiday pine cone is decorative as well. Just dress it up with a few pine sprigs and a few other holiday decorations.

Now, on to the recipe! Be well, and good eating!

Holiday Pine Cone

This recipe comes from my sister Corinne who picked it up from some unknown source. The makings from this recipe can be used to make a delightful decorative piece for the winter holiday table. The dip itself is molded into the shape of a pine cone and decorated with almonds to emulate the pine cone seeds.

8 oz. cream cheese
1/2 cup mayonnaise
5 slices of crispy fried bacon, crumbled
1 Tbsp. green onion, chopped
1/2 tsp. dried dill weed
Pepper to taste
1 lb. toasted almonds

Mix the cream cheese, mayo, bacon, green onion, dill and pepper in a bowl. Refrigerate overnight or at least for 3 hours to allow flavors to marry. Once the dip has chilled, merely form it into a pine cone shape and press roasted almonds into the form at angles forming concentric rows. Garnish the "pine cone" with sprigs of real pine leaves for an extraordinary holiday display, and an extraordinary holiday treat.

Enjoy!

Yields: 12 servings
Preparation Time: 25 minutes