Cranberry and Bacon Swiss Cheese Dip

September and Bay View is doing that perfect thing it does in September — warm enough for the balcony but with that first cool edge in the mornings that makes you want coffee outside. I've been sitting out there after Megan leaves for school, drinking my coffee and watching the neighborhood wake up. I'm going to miss this balcony when the baby comes and outdoor sitting becomes a much more complicated operation. I'm also going to be fine about it. But I'm appreciating it now while I can.

I've been smoking things this week just because I can and it's perfect smoker weather. Did a brisket flat on Saturday — twelve hours, oak wood, wrapped at the stall, finished on the rack. Sliced it Sunday and it had that deep bark and the soft pink interior and the kind of juice that runs down your arm when you cut into it. Megan, who is 35 weeks pregnant, ate a full plate and said nothing because she was entirely focused on eating. This is the highest possible endorsement.

Tom and I watched the first Packers regular season game together on Sunday. Green Bay at home, they won comfortably, and Tom was so happy for about three hours that he was almost chatty. He asked about the nursery and I told him about the mobile and the crib and the green paint, and he listened in the way he listens, which is quietly and with his full attention, and at the end he said "your kid is lucky" and went back to watching the postgame. I'm keeping that one too.

The small Lakefront Brewery shift-work continues to be the small steady-paycheck. The small forty-hour-week brewery-floor job pays the small twenty-two-an-hour rate that the small Milwaukee-blue-collar-economy supports. The small benefits are the small union-decent. The small ten-year-tenure-target is the small career-anchor.

Megan is from a small Irish-Catholic Milwaukee-suburban family. The small Sunday-dinners at her small parents’ house rotate with the small Sunday-dinners at Jake’s parents’ house. The small in-laws on both sides have been the small welcoming-presence. The small two-family-network is the small extended-support the small newlywed-life rests on.

The small future-kid-conversations have begun. Megan teaches small fourth-grade at a small public school in Wauwatosa. The small adoption-vs-biological conversation is in the small early-discussion stage. The small five-year-plan includes the small kid-or-kids in some form. The small kitchen is the small place where the small future is being practiced.

Megan and Jake married in June 2024. The small newlywed-rhythm is in its small second year. The small two-bedroom rental on the small east-side of Milwaukee continues to be the small first-home. The small thirty-year-mortgage-eventually-someday is the small five-year-goal. The small marriage is the small foundation the small life is being built on.

The small Polish-American heritage is the small kitchen-identity. The small pierogi-recipe-cards from Babcia Helen (Jake’s grandmother who passed in 2018, who had lived two blocks from the small Bay-View family-house) is the small monthly-Saturday-tradition. The small kielbasa-and-sauerkraut. The small bigos. The small recipes that came over from the small Krakow-region in the small 1910s.

The small Milwaukee-winter is the small six-month-condition. The small cold-weather-comfort-food rotation runs October through April. The small soups, the small stews, the small braises, the small heavy-baked-goods. The small Midwestern-comfort-vocabulary is the small kitchen-language.

The brisket was the main event, but the Packers game called for something to put on the coffee table — something you can eat without really thinking about it while Green Bay does what Green Bay does in a home opener. This dip has been in our rotation since last fall: Swiss and cream cheese, bacon, cranberries, the whole sweet-and-savory thing that makes sense when September starts turning. Tom didn’t comment on it, but he ate most of it, which is the same as a compliment.

Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 30 min | Servings: 8

Ingredients

8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups shredded Swiss cheese, divided
1/3 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
6 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled, divided
1/2 cup dried cranberries, roughly chopped, divided
2 green onions, thinly sliced, divided
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Crackers, sliced baguette, or crostini for serving

Instructions

Preheat. Heat your oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a small baking dish or oven-safe skillet (an 8-inch round or equivalent works well).
Mix the base. In a medium bowl, beat together the softened cream cheese, sour cream, and mayonnaise until smooth. Add the garlic powder and black pepper and stir to combine.
Fold in the mix-ins. Reserve about 2 tablespoons each of the Swiss cheese, bacon crumbles, cranberries, and green onions for topping. Fold the remainder into the cream cheese base until evenly distributed.
Transfer and top. Spread the mixture evenly into your prepared baking dish. Scatter the reserved Swiss cheese over the top, followed by the reserved bacon, cranberries, and green onions.
Bake. Bake uncovered for 18—22 minutes, until the cheese is melted, the edges are bubbling, and the top is lightly golden.
Serve warm. Let it rest for 3—4 minutes before serving. Put it in the middle of the table with crackers or sliced bread and let people figure it out themselves.

Nutrition (per serving)

Cranberry and Bacon Swiss Cheese Dip — Game Day After the Smoker