Welcome to Cooking with Geeks!

First off, let me say Cranberry Salsa is AWESOME! If you want something fast, easy and different for a holiday party, snack, or an easy homemade gift, try this out.

For this recipe, you will need:

1 12oz bag of fresh or frozen cranberries
1 Jalapeno, w/o seeds and chopped
1 Green Onion, chopped
2 tsp fresh lime juice
3/4 cup Sugar
1-2 tsp fresh cilantro, chopped (optional)
1/2 tsp cumin

Basically blend it all in a food processor and chill over night to let the flavors blend.

But since this is Instructables, I'll go through all the steps with you.

Step 1: Gather Your Tools & Ingrediants

Ok we need:
- a cutting board,
- a small knife,
- a large knife,
- a food processor of some type.

Step 2: Gather the Ingredients.

So lets review those ingredients:

1 12oz bag of fresh or frozen cranberries
1 Jalapeno, w/o seeds and chopped
1 Green Onion, chopped
2 tsp fresh lime juice
3/4 cup Sugar
1-2 tsp fresh cilantro, chopped (optional)
1/2 tsp cumin

Notes: with any cooking, the more fresh ingredients you use, the better, but even with Jalapeno's from a jar and lime juice from a bottle, it's still a great dip.

Step 3: Chop Chop!

Let's start cutting!

NOTE: If you don't wear glasses, be careful because I could feel the Jalapeno juice hitting my face while chopping.

The Jalapeno and Onion:
First, chop off the cap at the top of the pepper and the base of the onion where the roots meet the bulb.
Next, slice down the middle.
Lastly, with the small knife, carve out the seed "bud" in the center and set aside. You can either toss the seed, plant them, or save them for other cooking projects.

Caution: if you get a notion to taste a seed, you may spend 30 minute trying to get the burning to stop. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Now chop up the Jalapeno and Onion. If you are using Cilantro, chop it up and add it to the mix. If you like Cilantro, you will want to use it. If you don't care for it, like me, you may still like it in this - this is the only food I've found that I like with Cilantro.

ANOTHER SIDE NOTE ABOUT THE SEEDS: You can put the seeds in a bottle (leave them on the "stalk"), add enough vinegar to cover them and in a week or so (the longer the better) you'll have some really hot pepper sauce that will liven up green beans, greens, okra, or any other green veggie. If you happened to use sliced Jalapeno's from a jar, save that juice for the same purpose. Keep it refrigerated for best flavor.

Step 4:

And we put it all together.

Add the cranberries, sugar, lime juice, cumin, and pepper/onion/cilantro. Try to distribute evenly as you are adding each ingredient and mix it up just a little before starting the machine.

Step 5:

Will it Blend? Yes it will!

Blend until it appears to be forming a liquid. You may need to stop and stir some of the chunks off the side to get them to mix.

Step 6:

Here is the final product. Dip a couple chips in and do some taste tests. You can now fill your bowl, or that jelly jar you've been saving for a special occasion and stick it in the fridge overnight. This will cause the flavors to blend. Use within a week (might last longer, but why would you want to go to all this trouble and not scarf it down?)

This makes about 14oz of salsa.

Merry Christmas and Enjoy from Sparky's Kitchen.

PS: When I first posted this, I suggested having it with chips, but I have sense discovered that it is just as AWESOME with some cream cheese on a "club cracker". My cousin is allergic to corn and really appreciated it.