I mentioned a couple of days ago that we were putting up our Christmas decorations that afternoon. We did…and it was just as fun as it is every year. I made a batch of Christmas Cocktails (with a smidge of bourbon in ours, of course!), some tasty hot caramelized onion dip with bacon and gruyere and we set the girls loose.

Why is it so much more fun to watch them decorate?

This dip was perfect for our little Christmas fiesta. Warm and gooey and quite filling, it was nice to have it to devour snack on while we got everything organized. I’m such a huge fan of caramelized onions – I could eat a bowlful with nothing else – adding a little bacon and cheese just makes it even better. I sliced a soft french bread into thin slices then toasted them, a bit like large crostini. This dip would go great with crackers, too. It’s delicious but heavy, so some grapes or sliced apples on the side would be a nice complement.

I first found the recipe through Pinterest and included it in a post that included some delicious looking dips I wanted to try. Like most recipes I want to make, this one only took me about a year to get to! I made it better adapted it slightly by adding more bacon and cheese, some light brown sugar and plain ol’ sherry instead of sherry vinegar. A cast iron pan is your best choice here, but any oven safe skillet would work (or just transfer to a pretty baking dish for oven time).

What about you? Have you taken the Christmas decoration plunge or are you holding out awhile longer?