1-To make this cranberry cream cheese dip: start by rinsing 6 oz fresh cranberries and adding them to a small pot with 1/4 cup sugar, 1/2 cup water, and 1/8 tsp salt. If you want some heat, prepare the jalapeño by removing the stem, slicing it lengthwise, removing seeds for milder flavor or keeping them for spice, then finely dice and add it to the pot.

2-Stir the mixture, cover the pot, and heat over medium-high until it boils. Once boiling, stir again, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes until the cranberries burst and the sauce thickens. Turn off the heat and chill the sauce in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes.

3-Next, place 8 oz cream cheese on a plate or shallow bowl, creating an indentation in the center. Spoon the cooled cranberry sauce over the cream cheese and top with the sliced 3 green onions. For the best results, let it cool as directed in the preparation time: prep takes 5 minutes, cooking 10 minutes, cooling 10 minutes, for a total of 25 minutes.