DIY Christmas 2012 with Cathy Pegau

Holy moley. I think I died and went to heaven. Last year, Cathy Pegau tempted us with salmon pasta. This year it's a salmon dip. I am definitely making this for the next party.

And look! There's a giveaway. Leave a comment for your chance to win.

PS  You can also leave a comment on Shelley Munro's giveaway too. All contests end December 21st. So you have a chance to go back to any previous giveaway during this year's DIY series.

SMOKED SALMON SPREAD

Yeah, I know. Last year for DIY I had a smoked salmon pasta recipe. What can I tell you, we have a lot of salmon here. And since I’m a big fan of fast and convenient, we use it a lot.

When I make this spread for company, I have to give explicit instructions to my kids to keep out of it until the guests arrive. They would devour the entire bowl before the doorbell rang if I didn’t.

Super simple and super yummy. That’s how I roll ; )

You will need:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

4-6 oz. sour cream

Dash of lemon juice

8 oz. smoked salmon, broken up into flaky bits. If canned, save liquid.

1 green onion, white part diced

1-2 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. paprika, smoked if you have it otherwise regular paprika is fine, plus some for garnish

1 tsp. dried parsley or 1 ½ tsp fresh, with a little reserved for garnish

Salt and pepper to taste

What you do:

Whip cream cheese and about 4 oz. of sour cream together. Add lemon juice. Add more sour cream if necessary to make the consistency “dippable” meaning swiping a cracker through it won’t break the cracker or have it running off in a soggy mess. A little stiff is fine if you’re going to add some liquid from the salmon.

Fold in salmon, onion and spices. Taste it. Adjust spices as needed. Taste again. And again. Okay, you can stop now. Hey! This is for guests! Put. The spoon. Down.

Spoon into serving bowl, smooth surface and sprinkle paprika and parsley on top. Very festive, yes? Serve with your favorite crackers or crostini.

Enjoy!

Cathy Pegau lives in Alaska with her husband and two daughters. Husband loves to fish and Cathy and the girls love to eat it. Win-win.

Cathy’s new release CAUGHT IN AMBER is a science fiction romance coming from Carina Press January 28, 2013. Read an excerpt here: http://cathypegau.com/?page_id=12 and pre-order it from Amazon here: http://tinyurl.com/bg4ugam if you’re so inclined.

Find her at http://cathypegau.com or on Twitter at https://twitter.com/CathyPegau

Drop a note in the comments and someone will receive a free copy of CAUGHT IN AMBER ; )