It was really fun to try a new slant on one of my favorite appetizers, Baked Brie with Curry Powder, Chutney, and Toasted Pecans last evening. We had been invited to dinner (social distancing rules in place, of course) at the home of our dear friends Jim and Margo.  I had offered to bring an appetizer, hence the reason for fixing an appetizer in the first place. (And no, we don’t usually enjoy appetizers before our evening meal unless we are entertaining. I do understand when and where to draw the line in our quest for a reasonably healthy life style!)

Anyway, in deciding what appetizer to prepare, I remembered that I had some cream cheese in my fridge quickly coming to the end of its shelf life. I also had a partial jar of mango chutney staring me in the face every time I opened the refrigerator door. So I did what I often do. I searched under the ingredients I wanted to use, in this case cream cheese and mango chutney. Then I simply took my pick of all the recipes that were metaphorically speaking – laid at my feet. (In other words, I let some other cook do all the heavy lifting so that I could take all the credit. (My mom never raised no dummy!)

Anyway, with a tiny bit of modification, this recipe from the food.com site is perfection personified. The flavors in this spread are unusual, so really fun to serve in that regard. And creamy and rich without being cloying. And visually attractive. And wonderfully easy to prepare. And I know I talk a lot about ease of preparation in my recipes. But the older I get, the more I search out fast and easy ways to bring delicious food to our table. And I’m not even busy raising children or working for a living. I’ve already had that pleasure. But I can still empathize with those of you who are busier than you have ever been. So I like to feature recipes that can be fixed with a minimum of effort.

Now granted, some of my favorite recipes like Kouign Amann, might be classified as “for later when I have nothing better to do” by many of you. I get that. When I had kids at home and was a working mother, I would have pitched a recipe like that right into my much used circular file. And instead would have settled for baking a cake or making a batch of cookies. Any labor saving device I could use to fill the kids tummies while at the same time preparing tasty and nutritious food. It’s a real balancing act for a busy home cook. And believe me, for many years I knew that proverbial pivot point (or should I say breaking point) all too well.

So when I mention that a recipe is easy to prepare, it’s really for my own benefit. But the end result is that it might help you out too. I simply like ease of preparation. It works for me in my golden years, and I hope it works for you as well. (And yes, once in a while I still go crazy and prepare a food item that takes hours to prepare. But this is happening less and less as the years go by.)

As always, stay active, stay productive, but stay reasonable. If you need to put your feet up, do so. If you need help, ask for it. If you can make a positive difference in someone’s life, please make it happen. But not at the expense of losing your own health or happiness. No one should even consider asking that much of you. Peace and love to all.

4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

1 tsp. curry powder (like McCormick)

¼ tsp. ground ginger

¼ c. minced green onions

¼ c. golden raisins, roughly chopped

¼ c. mango chutney

¼ c. chopped cashews

Combine the cream cheese, curry powder, ground ginger, most of the chopped green onions, and raisins together. Spread about ½-inch thick on a small plate. Spread the chutney evenly over the cream cheese mixture and sprinkle with the chopped cashews and reserved minced green onions. Serve at room temperature with crackers.