The President Likes My Cheese Ball

Living on an Air Force base overseas is pretty exciting.  For instance, Air Force One could land on the flight line two blocks from our house, and President and Mrs. Obama could stop by for some appetizers.

Okay, maybe that isn’t exactly how it could happen.

Regardless, the tradition at my house is to always have a Cheese Ball at the ready for any neighbors, Christmas parties, emergency gifts, and random people who stop by on their way through……to things like the Asian Economic Summit in Tokyo.

Okay, no one stopped at my house before they went to the summit meeting either.

My mom has made Cheese Balls every December for forever.  I do not recall a life without this cheese ball in it.  It is so much a part of me that I refuse to try anyone else’s.

Roxie’s Cheese Ball

 

Ingredients:

·        2 eight ounce packages of Cream Cheese

·        2 teaspoons onion or garlic juice

·        2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

·        1 teaspoon lemon juice

·        1 teaspoon dried mustard

·        ½ tsp Lowry’s seasoned salt

·        ¼ tsp salt

·        2 cups shredded mild cheddar cheese

·        Parsley flakes, chopped dried beef, or chopped nuts

Put everything but the last two ingredients in a large mixing bowl.  Mush it all up with your hands until it is all mixed together.  It’s kind of messy but it gets the job done.  Now dump in the shredded cheese.  Mix that with your hands too.

Shape into balls and roll in parsley flakes, chopped dried beef (that's the beef in the jars in the canned meat section of your grocery), or nuts.  I almost always do the dried beef, but my mother does the parsley.  It looks more festive all green.  Nuts are gross so I don’t use them. 

One batch will make one very large cheese ball, 2 medium balls, or three tiny ones.  Serve with crackers (Ritz are best).  Veggies are good too.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use or give as a gift.

NOW WAIT!  Remember the President is coming over……in my dreams.  So this year, my daughter Abbey helped me make my plain old cheese balls a little fancier!

Follow recipe above until you have a giant cheese wad….

With your very cool painted fingernails…..

Shape cheese into a cone…..

Cut some cherry tomatoes in half……

Peel some orange or lemon rind into long skinny strips….

Cut a star out of some cheese or a yellow bell pepper….

Cover cone with parsley……

Arrange your tomatoes, orange rinds, and cheese star on your cone (we got help with some toothpicks), then garnish beneath with crackers meat and veggies.  This is what you get......

A Cheese Ball Tree!!!!

Thanks Abbey for your help!  I think we did a pretty good job, don’t you?

Here’s where I am linking this post!