Cheese Balls~Party Hit For Sure!

There is just no good name for a cheese ball. If you can think of one for this recipe~let me know. It is made with Blue Cheese and Blue Cheese Cheese Ball doesn't cut it, in the best of all worlds. Instead of 'name that tune' we can play 'name that cheese ball!' Wanna play?

I have concocted this recipe over the years and we do make it a lot for various gatherings over the holidays. Even people that are not crazy about blue cheese love this. We were looking for a cheese ball that was colorful and Christmasy and delicious. You know how they are normally boring looking with no color and just rolled in nuts? Not this one, it just screams Christmas!

We think we have a winner here. Some people even invite us to their gatherings on the condition we bring this! It takes a little time (especially if you are photographing it) but is easy and I like that part. I am not into a bunch of labor intensive cooking. What I do love is cooking with my hubby, he is a natural in the kitchen. Lucky me! He says food talks to him...OK, so he is a little wacko!

Tomorrow is our big family dinner for our relatives that live in our area, so Jim and I are cooking up a storm. Speaking of wacko, it's Official~ I am totally wacko about blogging! I have discovered it is fun to cook, photograph and to stage the food. It is 10 times more fun that just cooking! Multi-tasking lives on!

Hmmm, people do not always sell their houses but...everybody eats. Maybe I can dabble in a new facet of design for me to supplement the mad money. Actually I am pretty much kidding because these photos need much improvement but we had a lot of fun cooking and shooting the process. 

Chop up some green onions

Chop up some Craisins or dried cranberries
if you prefer calling them that

Chop up some Walnuts

This is enough for four cheese balls.
Four bricks of softened cream cheese,
a bunch of blue cheese,
(I am not into exact measurements, sorry!)
Craisins, green onions, nuts and some garlic salt~
because everything that isn't sweet need garlic!

I put it in a big mixing bowl and start mixing it together.

Every time I start with a big spoon but soon
find it works best to mix it all by hand and shape into balls. Thus the name...cheese balls. Brilliant!

Here are the 4 cheese balls I varied the sizes for different purposes;
parties, gifts, or whatever.

I put my wedding rings on the cutting board
to remind you to remove them
as it is no fun getting the cheese out of the rings
if you forget

Stab it with a cute Christmas Spreader~Fini~

Here I staged the food for you..
I had to put all these crackers back in the box afterword!
A little Pomegranate Sparkling Cider is nice with it!
Try It, You'll Like It!

Some of Our Christmas Treasures

This is the new wreath that
Sydne made for us this year.

Believe me when I say if you love Christmas, love decorating, and have 43 years of things you have inherited, received as gifts, found at favorite shops and destinations, you can accumulate a lot of treasures. Sometimes I get mad at myself because we have so much Christmas stuff it is crazy. (Esecially on the day Jim has to haul it all out of the attic and put it all back!)

But after putting this post together I feel better. So many of these things are threads in the tapestry of our lives and marriage..in fact all of them are. I love them all and the people that they remind me of, or that have given us these gifts and cherished times. They bring back such fond memories of Christmases past and places we have been together.

So these are just some things we love, that have been on the journey with us over the years or in some cases, have just come home to roost this year. It turns out I am not as much of a hoarder of Christmas things as I thought. I'm just a sentimental, lover of Christmas, family, friends and traditions. It's such a reminder of a wonderful life of many rich blessings, too numerous to count. I just don't think I can downsize, what would I give away? I don't think I can part with these things just yet...nor do I want to.

A Woodland Santa from a favorite
shopping trip with our girls in Utah

A metal art piece I love to hang in our
laundry room this time of year.
It had giant glass sparkles on it.

A metal angel that glistens in the
light of Christmas that Jen gave us.

Part of my pear collection that
I think looks Christmasy.

A lava light of glitter and candle to
lighten the antique kitchen cupboard
Uncle Tom made for me many Christmases ago.

Part of the mantel display with special ornaments.

More of the mantel

A red wooden bowl of metal
ornaments and balls and special bells!

The bells are from my father's sleigh
that he enjoyed at Christmas time
as a child, riding in a one horse open sleigh
with his family, in the 1920s.

An ornament that reminds me so
much of Italy at Christmas time.

I love to put small trees in some of the rooms.
This one is on its last leg and like
the Leaning Tower of Pisa!
Getting a new one next year!

Beautiful Buon Natale Sign made for us by
our daughter, Laura. It awaited our arrival in
Italy last year in our beautiful comfy room.

A child's metal and wicker chair
with a cute Christmas pillow Jennifer made
and a bald Santa my mom gave me.

A beautiful, hand-painted,
German candle globe given to me last year
by Laura's husband, our son, Robert.
He found it in a German
Christmas Market in Munich.

Just our little family room tree where
we spend so much of our days and nights.

The beautiful paper flower, in my favorite color
and bedazzled by glitter, that Julia,
our granddaughter made for me this year.

The Lobster ornament given to me
by Laura as a remembrance of our trip
in New England this year.

The old jointed metal Santa
that has greeted guests at our backdoor
for years and years.

My new woodland Santa arrangement
made by Sydne that sits in a half bucket
to fit nicely on the window sill in our kitchen.

A beautiful gift tag from my friend
Becky's shop on etsy.
I love its vintage, simple look so I
hung it up to display this year.

I just love this glass and metal centerpiece
I bought at a garage sale years ago.
I call it my museum piece I have
been meaning to fill it with ornaments
but haven't done it yet.
(Realistic translation of that is..I probably won't!)

Those metal cherubs make it a museum piece, right?
Thanks to my sister-in-law, Gail, for that family discount!

My cute snowman and ice skater made
by my good friend, Lanette, years ago.

A pumpkin colored glittered Santa
that I love in our Tuscan Kitchen

The window sill pretties in my office area

My beloved carolers from my mom

More carolers. Mom use to give me one or two a year.

Our funky Christmas wreath with the lime green
bows, babbles and berries.

The sign Jim made for me with the red lettering,
lovely message and glimmering, glittery finish.

A music box and another gift
from my mom years ago.

Metal Merry Christmas sign, purchased on one of Jim's Birthday
get-aways, on a Thanksgiving Weekend years in the Sierras.

Gold and white tiny nativity given to me
by my friend, Lee, many years ago.

Luscious large ornaments on a lacy plate
given to me by my co-worker and friend,
Barb at a work Christmas party back in the 90s.

Baby christening dress that hangs in our room with the
Crystal Christmas pin Jim once gave me long ago.

My shopping snow girl with her
metal package tree and gifts.
They sit atop our china cabinet this year.

Another beautiful floral by Sydne.
I have attached a beautiful sparkly red
cardinal given to us by The Shanahans one year.

A skinny, tall Santa that I think has a cute hat!
And beautiful glass trees.

One of the nativity sets we rotate in each year.

Our lawn jockey usually sports some kind
of Christmas decoration. This year it
is a big bunch of pretty bells that
belonged to our neighbor of 30
years that died awhile back.

Our butler's pantry holds
our Christmas dishes, the first fun purchase I
made after going to work when Laura started school.
They have entertained many a loved one over the years.

A metal, glimmery sign on our front porch
to wish you well on this happy Christmas of 2010.

P.S. Self discovery note: I knew I would say glittery a lot in this post but I am shocked by how many times I said metal! There is that thread of things we love in decorating, that I often tell clients about and I wasn't even aware I had this thread in my Christmas collection! Metallic, who knew??