Rosemary Boursin

I always looked forward to having company over growing up. It promised happy chatter, hugs & most importantly, good food. My dad would whip up various hor d'ourves & spread them across the tall bar in our kitchen. Despite our best efforts, we never did venture out of the kitchen. We always stayed belly up to the bar waiting to see what else he would crank out. My favorite snack to cross the bar was his boursin (which was, until relatively recently, garlic cream cheese to me).

True, you can pick up a box or boursin at the market, but it pales in comparison to home-made. Making it from scratch only takes a few moments & you can tweak the recipe to fit your whims. Don't have red onion on hand? Fine, use green instead. Don't have rosemary? That's okay, use oregano. And of course, you get the satisfaction of knowing you whipped up a snack that will satisfy with your own two hands.

Rosemary Boursin

1 16 oz. block cream cheese, softened

1 8 oz. stick butter, softened

4 -5 cloves garlic, finely minced

1/4 tsp. or less curry powder

1 tbsp. red onion, finely minced

1 tsbp. parsley, finely minced

1 tbsp. rosemary, finely minced

1 tbsp. (give or take a bit) black pepper, ground

pinch cayenne

pinch curry powder

In a medium bowl, whip together the cream cheese & butter with a fork. Add the garlic, onion, curry powder, cayenne pepper, rosemary, & parsley. Fold to incorporate. Top with ground black pepper & refrigerate until ready to serve.